DRAGONBALL Z meets Sly Cooper
RUMBLE DOWN UNDER
Gohan's thoughts…
"At first, it was just like old times, the gang was back in action. As soon as we got back to the old gang's hideout, we celebrated the return of Murray. We had pizza, played the video games me, Sly, Bentley and Murray always used to play in our younger years, and watched movies with our sweethearts… well, maybe just me and Sly spent time with Carmelita and Videl but as per normal, everything was back to the way things were years before. It was one hell of a night, we woke up half dead almost."
"Everything was set right again. But little by little, we found out that Murray's heart just wasn't in. Without the Guru's permission to give up on his Dreamtime training, he never really felt comfortable returning to the game. He told us that in the morning and we all agreed that we needed to help him out. So we put our hands in together as a team and made an oath that we'd all contribute to this new and exciting task. Packing our things and whipping up some quick disguises, we headed for the airport and bought one way tickets for the Australian outback."
"It was quite an unusual group. Sly had taken in the whole punk look. His disguise consisted of a full leather outfit, aside from the dark brown turtle neck, and he even styled his hair so that he was unrecognizable. He also wore sun glasses with the lenses having a tint of red in it and clip on piercing to help change his appearance even more. It was amazing what he could get away with. Anyway, while Sly went as a punk, Murray went as a child dressed in jeans and suspenders, a red and yellow striped T-shirt and one of those weird helicopter hat things. Bentley got the right impression and dressed up as an old man believed to be too weak to walk and used a wheelchair, an outfit that suited him best. Carmelita went as a business woman, her outfit just a mere dark blue and white striped business uniform with a skirt that stopped way to high up above the knees for someone like her to wear but definitely showed off a lot of legging. Videl went as an American soldier, her connection with the army allowing her to check in her weapons, as well as many other things. As for me, I took up the whole Arnold Schwarzenegger Terminator look. I had to stay at a controlled Super Saiyan form throughout the whole trip, which wasn't a real big deal but I did have a lot of trouble combing my hair to the right style. Other then that, everything went alright, except for the fact that my appearance attracted a lot of attention from the women population and that did not go well on my part."
"Along the way Murray told us story after story about his teacher's amazing abilities. Apparently, this Guru of his was capable of fantastic feats. He used the Dreamtime to blend perfectly into his surroundings and even gain control over the weak minded. If even half the stories were true, then this was a guy I just had to meet. Our gang needed to grow its ranks for a chance at the Cooper vault job, and this Guru, this outback mystic was looking to be the best recruit we could ever ask for."
"However, by the time we got to the outback, we were shocked to find things have changed. Ayers rock and the entire landscape around it had turned from a once thriving natural environment to a polluted wasteland where a immense mining colony had set up shop. They were digging everywhere and dumping their filth in all places, Ayers Rock itself, the bush lands and Wave rock. The cultural disrespect was repulsive, vial and despicable. We ran a quick sweep over the region and the Guru was no where to be found. Murray was upset."
"We had to find the Guru and fast!"
Outback Australia, Ayers Rock
The once beautiful outback that shone with a golden glow with the illumination of the sun high above now stood barren and wasted. At the base of the giant red rock Uluru in one particular section of the region was the mining camp set up by the colony of miner dingoes who had moved in. It was this new, foreign set up that was leading to the polluting of the landscapes as the presence of the miners was having a huge affect on the natural habitat and the image that once portrayed this land. The once orange sands and dunes were now greasy black and the vegetation was slowly being eaten away from unsuitable terrain and foundations. All the sacred places and tourist attractions were being excavated and dug into by large drills with thousands of tunnels and shafts already created, ruining the once pure soil. Fossil fuels were a first for what else was polluting this land.
All along the canyons and cliffs were the sure signs of outside interference. Ayers rock's surface has been chipped away by the miners moving their drills to the more harder to reach places and wave rock was suffering a real blow in its side from a huge drill truck parked beside it, digging its saw like blades into the surface. A river flowed through this region, but it was no longer sparkling crystal clear. It was green and undrinkable, the miners having dumped their wastes into the river that was vital to the survival of the wildlife population around here. Other then the offenses these miners have committed just so they could excavate for the rare opals buried under ground, the full scale of their operation has led them to build a small town here. Up on the far side closest to the lake which the river flowed in to was a large cabin built as a bar, its exterior décor attracting the attention of the miners and serving as their getaway and rest area. Shacks and cabins had been built along the highways of rock and stone where these routes were used to move the heavy equipment through from one place to another. Trucks were parked in many places, loaded with rock and valuable minerals. Power lines were hung up along the walls and cliffs to filter power through to the drills and satellite dishes allowed tip top communication between two out posts. Pipe lines also ran along the grounds and cliffs where leakages were constantly checked. A single power station was also set up to supply the town with electricity. However, of all the various buildings and refinery's around here, one of which, a oil factory was built. This consisted of a couple of pumps and oil towers. It was also apparent that there was a lot of oil underground and the miners were also going to large extents to get to it; even if it meant digging deeper and polluting the sacred places. If you were to look closely, you could tell that the sky had blackened from the carbon and smog emissions from the vehicles, factories and machinery. Whoever was in charge of this entire outfit was unknown, but whatever the case these miners have got to go.
Speaking of which, the groups of miners and patrols weren't really much to speak about but did pose a real threat and challenge to the Cooper gang's mission here. A full arsenal of Spot light guards, troops and legionnaires. To make things more complicated was that they had a helicopter patrolling the skies or more specifically a gyrocopter. It constantly hovered about the skies, dropping its ordinance on whatever seemed suspicious. However, that was not the problem…the problem would be muscling any possible way through this place. The spot light guards were a pack of muscle bound dingoes with a physic similar to the spot light guards back in Venice but were far stronger. Dressed in white singlets, blue jeans, an outback hat atop of their heads, combat boots and armed with a Mossberg ATPS 500 with plenty of back up ammunition, they made up a lot in both strength and their commonly fearsome appearance. The troops or miners consisted of smaller breeds of dingoes and kangaroos. The dingoes were a bunch of toughies wearing tattered jeans, green vest jackets and purple turtle necks. Their primary weapon was a whip, and they put it to great use. The kangaroo squadron was a breed of green fur colored kangaroos wearing purple vests and outdoor hats. Armed with brass knuckles, they could sure put up a good fight at close quarters. But the legionnaires were something to think about to. They were a group of human Australian mercenary soldiers. These Tommy's were dressed in desert combat uniforms and were armed with either a Winchester model shot gun, an Enfield 303 rifle or a M16 assault rifle. There was only a small garrison on patrol rounds, separating into groups of two. They were highly trained in combat and were far more agile then the muscle bound spot light guards but were certainly not as strong.
Just as the patrols were busy following their respective time tables, they failed to notice a certain person leaping over the various rooftops and high places created by grand rock formations. Under the cover of shadow and keeping at a high elevation to avoid suspicion or detection, Son Gohan made his way over to the chosen shack the gang was using as an elaborate safe house. This shack was built on the far side of the region the mining colony had set up shop and was far away from the patrol routes of the miners and spot light guards so the gang was safe. It was a big shack and hard to miss as it was also built on a high point with windows allowing the resting gang to look out onto the landscape and keep a lookout on what was going on around the camp and inform the other members of the team who were working out on the field.
Leaping on to another roof slanted shack, Gohan crouched low and quickly made another leap onto a rock platform high above the ground. He stopped and pulled out his binocucom, focusing it onto the safe house built up on the high ledge above him. The rusty, steel walls of the building failed to even shine in the light of the setting sun but it surely left the windows clear and easy to look through. Sitting in front of the window facing in his direction was Bentley, Murray and Sly, all three of them on duty while Videl and Carmelita were somewhere below level working on a few weapons and preparing a little meal in the kitchen. This was something they were getting used to in their free time.
Having spotted his friend's wave to him, Gohan nodded and turned round, averting his binocucom so he could enhance his view on a large cliff section. This made up part of the mining colony's perimeter and definitely dwarfed the small buildings making up the town. All along the cliff there were wall hooks, ledges, wires and tree roots. There were plenty of points for either him or Sly to use while making their way up to one particular part of this large cliff. Because the cliff ran along the perimeter just behind the safe house and along the right length side of the disfigured rectangular area, the cliff, as well as the region Gohan was aiming for was in full view of the rest of the gang from the safe house. This particular part of the cliff Gohan was aiming for was a large formation of rocks forming a platform with a boulder arrangement set up in front of a small cave dug into the side of the cliff. The frame work was prehistoric especially since the door was a thick stick atop of the frame with a painted cloth hanging over the front entrance of the cave.
As soon as Gohan had his sights locked onto the cave high above the mining town, Murray's face suddenly appeared in the bottom left part of his binocucom, his background pink to suite his image. The hippo smiled at Gohan, the screen a bit fuzzy but as soon as it cleared, Murray began to talk. "My master spends most of his time up in that cave, looking over the valley and contemplating the deep depths of deepness. I'd really appreciate it if you speak with him about me rejoining the gang and breaking off of my dreamtime training Gohan", Murray communicated through their ear pieces, explaining to the young Saiyan about the layout of the situation. Gohan smiled and nodded, making sure he remained crouched in his position on the large flat rock sitting at a high elevation.
"That's alright with me pal. I'm actually looking forward to meeting him. Anybody you call 'master' must be one heck of a guy", replied Gohan. Murray grinned and nodded enthusiastically.
"Oh yeah he's awesome. He'd like get inside of your head and freak you out six ways from Sunday", said Murray, clearly awed by the Guru's capabilities. Having been trained by him, Murray had seen the guy do a lot in his few months of training. Gohan was impressed, even though he was confused at his friend's antics.
"Umm…awesome! Anyway, I'm on route for the cave now", Gohan informed. With an understanding nod, Murray dropped connection for the time being, allowing Gohan to switch off his binocucom and shoved it back into his pouch.
Glancing to his left and right, Gohan made sure that there were no wandering eyes from any near by guards and quickly, leapt into the air and onto the path leading up to the safe house, just before reaching it, Gohan made another major jump and landed atop of the shack. Upon landing on top of the shack, Gohan ran across it, cluttering against the steel roof before jumping towards the cliff side behind the building. The young Saiyan managed to leap from his high elevated position and across the road beneath the safe house before pulling out both his swords and slamming them against the cliff side, hooking himself onto the side of the cliff where he hung strongly.
It didn't take very long for Gohan to plot his route and after clambering side ways along the cliff, jumped toward one of the hooks hanging from a post sticking out of the cliff side. Grabbing hold of it, Gohan immediately leapt toward the next one, where he landed on top of the pole holding the hook up instead before dived toward the third hook. This well placed path allowed Gohan to progress across the grounds quickly and undetected without the use of flying. Well, he wouldn't be able to fly anyway as Bentley strictly forbade him to do so for he might be spotted by the gyrocopter that would certainly put their mission into jeopardy. They did not want this place to be put on full alert when they just got here.
Anyway, after grabbing hold of the third wall hook which kept Gohan suspended above two patrolling mercenary soldiers, the young Saiyan swiftly made another major swing toward a forth hook. He needed to keep out of their line otherwise they might spot his shadow. Gohan wasn't as agile as Sly and certainly not that graceful as he relied more on martial arts, but he still knew some sneaky moves. Anyway, after passing them by and moving onwards past a a drill farm where a small area has been placed under heavy excavation, Gohan made one last strong leap and, by passing the fifth hook, landed on his right knee and left food with his right hand slammed down on the ground for support. He needed to land crouched to prevent any earth shattering landings and because he had two swords, he had to execute this as safely as possible.
When he landed on the small rock structured platform, Gohan looked up and to his right toward the cave. From here, he was able to get a good view of the design of the cloth door. It had the painting of a aboriginal koala face that was done in the Guru's symbolic light purple and dark purple colors. But art and architecture was not what Gohan was here for, he needed to find the Guru. However, upon walking over to the cave and inspecting the interior of the small place by merely lifting up the door coverings and peering in, he came to a disappointing conclusion when he founds nothing. He frowned and lowered the door, pulling out his binocucom again and turning it on. Quickly, he focused it out onto the mining camp below.
Though the view was amazing, Gohan had little time to admire it when Murray suddenly appeared on the screen, concern etched on his face. "Sorry Murray but the cave is empty. Do you have any other idea where the Guru might be", asked the young Saiyan. Murray scratched his head. Just as he was thinking, Gohan's binocucom suddenly swept over an area on the other side of the camp where another cliff ran along the side of the town belonging to the mining colony. Murray shrugged and pointed it out.
"Well, that's his hut up there", said the hippo, typing in something into Bentley's computer so that green way point pinpointed around the small hut atop of the cliff. The small home like structure looked to be made of fabricated material and was also of a cave man like design. However it was smaller then what Gohan expected it to be; kind of reminded him of Yoda. Murray rubbed the back of his head and murmured before speaking again. "But he doesn't really hang around there much on account of the smell…"
Gohan raised an eyebrow, a sweat drop forming on the back of his head. "The smell..?"
Murray scratched his head. "It's a long story. I had to apologies to him up and down for like a month before he would speak to me again."
Gohan chocked back a laugh, suspecting the impossible. "What did you do?"
Murray shook his head and gave Gohan a deadly eye through the binocucom. "The unspeakable Gohan… the UNSPEAKABLE", Murray replied in a dangerously slow and cautious tone of voice. Gohan sweat dropped again at this and grinned nervously.
"Well… thanks for speaking of it. Look, I'm headed toward the hut, I'll keep tabs on my progress to you guys", said Gohan. Not wanting to be apart of another one of Murray's drastic conversations at this point at the newly brought up subject, Gohan switched off his binocucom before putting it away. Looking around the mining camp, he saw that no miners or guards were looking up and that the gyrocopter had past by not long ago so, it was safe to say that the coast was clear. Before any guards would show up along the various routes or shacks, Gohan crouched low and made a major leap across the landscapes below, the wind whipping past him as he sliced through the air like butter. He managed to make it across the shacks below and land on a large water tower.
With his landing silenced, Gohan came up close to the edge of the water tower tank, his back against the cold hard surface. Keeping to the shadows, Gohan sneaked around it, glancing so to make sure that no one was on it. Seeing this, it was safe for him to proceed. With the hut atop of the cliff that had grown above the famous tourist attraction Ayers rock, it would take a fair and fast climb up there without getting spotted. However, he still had a fair way to go from where he stood on the water tower.
Looking around the place, he found a couple of rock structure sticking up and out of the ground below, all of them surrounded by a number of shacks. He smiled, believing that they would provide him a good path across the miner's camp in order for him to get to the Guru's hut. So, he may as well get a move on before any trouble decides to strike.
Before taking in even a breath, Gohan leapt forward and dived down toward the nearest rock formation, landing on both his hands on its flat surface and steadying himself. Just as he shifted his weight forward and his legs started to fall, Gohan pushed off the ground with his hands while aiming for his next target. Leaping over another path the dingoes used as their travel route, Gohan landed on both his feet on top of a shack before making another small leap onto the giant rock the shacks were built around, landing on top of it. He was about to move again when he suddenly crouched, hearing the gyrocopter pass by overhead. The shadow barely grazed his as he watched it fly off, the pilot unaware of his presence or position on the rock. Gohan sighed in relief and when he did, he focused back on the task.
In front of him was the cliff and high up above on top of it, almost overshadowing him and blocking out the sun was the hut. However, on a lower part of this cliff was another structure of buildings, this one having a large, high fence. But it didn't look like anything to him so he just focused on the hut. Crawling a bit across the rock formation and peering over the side, Gohan saw a wide, green river flowing right under the cliff and cringed. His nose stiffened and he immediately pulled back. The stench of the river was unbearable at that range and he rubbed his nose to ease the sudden pain. However, this was only a small set back for him to endure and after his nose had stopped throbbing, he concentrated on the cliff in front of him, looking up and down its structure.
Upon closer inspections, he noticed a few wall hooks nailed into the sides of the cliff and many tree roots sticking out. He understood why the roots would be there but the wall hooks were a bit of a puzzle needed to be solved. But as soon as the reality struck him, he banged his head at how stupid he was. "The miners must use those hooks to help haul their drills and equipment from place to place. Guess I'll be having some rock climbing practice. Sly's the best climber, I'm just a beginner", he thought to himself, opening his eyes and looking back up at the cliff in front of him. Lowering left hand back to the ground, he reached behind him with his right and drew one of his swords.
Spinning it in his hands a couple of times, Gohan then sprinted forwards and, initiating a major leap, reached out with the sword in his left hand and hooked it onto one of the wall hooks closest. His feet slammed against the side of the feet and, hanging off of his sword that was hooked onto the cliff side, steadied himself. With an entire wall to climb, Gohan immediately got to work before he was spotted or any of the many spot lights passed over him. So, with strength and agility unlike anyone else on the face of the planet, Gohan began his climb, pulling himself up with his sword and throwing himself upwards towards the next wall hook, gripping hold of it with his sword again. He had managed to propel himself a couple of stories to reach this hook, even though there were many more beneath him. He was attempting to shorten his journey upwards without the need of any other obstacles interfering with his climb.
As per attended, Gohan continued climbing, this time, flinging himself towards an outstretched root. With his right hand, he gripped hold of it, at the same time, pulling himself up and digging the blade of his sword into the side of the cliff. With one last big effort, Gohan pushed off the side of the mountain and launched himself towards the cliff edge, throwing his sword up and grabbing the side with his sword's blade. Only hanging their for several seconds, Gohan pulled himself up fully and flipped up onto the top of the cliff, crouching low near the edge and dropped into a fighting stance, his eyes looking left and right.
Unable to detect any signs of disturbances or any enemy figures around, Gohan got up and walked over to the place he was aiming for, which was the Guru's hut. Reaching it, Gohan found that this hut was built underneath the tree for extra shade and, from close observations was built sacredly. The Guru was a mystic and of course, had a thing for the Dreamtime. The hut's support frames were made of sticks, branches and bones and the exterior covering was made of fabrics and other cotton, linen and polyester materials. Like the cloth door of the cave Gohan had visited before, the covering of the tent was exactly the same. It was colored purple, light purple, white and pink and was darkly colored underneath the shadow of the tree. Unlike most huts, this one sort of resembled a tent but because of all the things hanging off of it such as crocodile skulls, chains of teeth, leaf infested branches and sacred writing painted over it, it was most likely a hut. Plus the foundation it was built on was proper and solid, making sure the structure didn't fall over or cave in.
Signs of a burnt out fire place just outside the entrance of the hut and other indications of the Guru's presence here such as empty bottles, seats and tattered rags, looked quite fresh. The fire had recently burnt out and was smoking slightly with ashes being the remains of the wood and branches used to make the fire. However, the only problem was the Guru wasn't here. Gohan discovered this upon investigating the hut itself. Peering in through the entrance, he immediately pulled back while pinching his nose, making a disgusted noise and facial expression. He waved his free hand in front of him and shook his head. God, the smell was awful. But that didn't really matter. It was now obvious the Guru wasn't here and there was no way he would be anyway.
Pulling out his binocucom, Gohan contacted Murray again, the hippo's image popping up on screen as the young Saiyan walked over to the edge of the cliff, focusing his attention on the mining colony far below. "Sorry Murray but nobody's home, and from the looks of it", Gohan began to say, glancing back at the hut before looking back into his binocucom. "I think he was fighting someone or something off here. I'm sorry to say this but I think the miners might have got to him."
Murray's expression fell and he looked away. "You're probably right Gohan. I mean, they'd just come in and be all angry and he'd be all peaceful. That'd just really tick them off. Then he'd try to find a 'middle way' and then they'd just get infuriated and smash everything up, then haul him off!!" Murray explained. Maybe he was a bit over exaggerating but it was clear that he was concerned with his master's safety. His tone of voice and hurriedness in how he said it was evidence to his worry. Gohan made no exception of it and shrugged, wanting to move on at this point and have some questions answered.
"Where do you think they might have taken him", asked Gohan. Murray gripped his head tightly and shook his head in plain view of the camera which Gohan found kind of awkward.
"THEY GOT HIM!! My Master's a goner!!"Murray screamed. Gohan cleared his throat and sweat dropped a little. Eventually, Murray calmed down but Gohan decided to move to an alternative source of information.
"Umm… Murray I think we should put Bentley on the line", said Gohan. Immediately, the screen fazed out in the bottom where Murray once was and a second later, Bentley's face appeared, concerned and thoughtful. Gohan smiled at the quick switch and murmured to himself. "Instant turtle…"
"I'm sorry Gohan but I think that this situation is transforming into a real mystery. It might take some detective work but I'd say that one of the buildings around here might be holding the Guru. If the miners are holding him prisoner, then they'd surely use a refinery strong enough to hold such a powerful entity", said Bentley, rubbing his chin as he spoke. Gohan questioned this and looked downwards towards the large building he had seen before. The same building appeared in his sights, the one with the real high fence that was sort of being eaten away. Perhaps it was how poorly it was built did it have this sort of appearance.
"Well, maybe that place might be holding the Guru. I can't see much from here, but I can chance a guess that they might use that place with a high fence. Get Videl on the line", said Gohan. Bentley nodded and vanished from the screen, his image being replaced by Videl's. The raven haired girl smiled when she saw Gohan and nodded to him.
"What's up Gohan", asked Videl. Gohan smiled and nodded, pointing towards the structure below him. Whereas he was on a high point while the building was several stories below him to his left. The way it was built, it concealed most of itself but some of it was still in plain sight, especially the insides of the high fence perimeter.
"Videl, do you think that that property down there would be holding the Guru prisoner", asked Gohan. Videl, seeing this nodded and scratched her chin before crossing her arms.
"It most certainly would Gohan. That down there is a stockade, perfect for holding prisoners in an open area. Unfortunately for the Guru, his powers rest in the force of both nature that is channeled to him through the moon stone, the bridge between our world and the spirit world", said Videl. Gohan raised an eyebrow and was clearly impressed.
"Wow, really?! How'd you know that", asked Gohan curiously. Videl shrugged.
"You can't blame a girl for trying can you. Murray told me about it, but since he's in no condition to be talking, I might as well tell you myself. Anyway, do you see anything down there that would look like it could hold the Guru's staff and moon stone", asked Videl. Gohan took his time in examining the outer perimeter of the fence for any signs of a safe or crate. He found it, resting outside the gate of the giant fence: a safe resting on top of a box beside a snoozing mercenary soldier. The guy was clearly sleeping, his arms crossed and his outback hat dipped over his eyes with his feet stretched outwards. The guy had no idea what was going on around him.
"Yeah, that so called 'guard' that is supposed to be on duty", said Gohan. Videl grinned and balled her fists, holding them up in a fighter's like pose.
"This is your chance, get him while he's dozing", said Videl. Gohan, smirking wildly, shoved his binocucom back into his pouch and, crouching low beside the cliff's edge, suddenly leaned his body forward and dived down, straight towards the snoozing guard.
Flipping through the air, Gohan landed soundlessly several feet in front of the guard, right hand on the ground and sword shoved back onto his back. With the element of surprise, Gohan decided to use his ki in this occasions and threw his hand directly at the guard/. With very little effort and without waking the guard up until now fired off a force wave, smacking the guard over the seat with him letting out a yell of surprise.
After rolling on the ground a couple of times before coming to a rest flat on his gut, the human guard pushed himself up on his hands and knees, attempting to regain his bearings and make a grab for his Magnum 44, only to be grabbed by someone from behind and suddenly lifted into the air. With a terrified scream, the guy was thrown over the cliff and sent plummeting into the river far below. There was a loud splash as he vanished beneath the green, murky waters, surely never to be seen again as he would be swept down stream. With the guard removed from play, Gohan dusted his hands over before turning to the fence before him.
It was surely tall, stood to about two stories high and was poorly designed. Gohan came to a conclusion that it was built on short notice, especially since there were a lot of small holes, chipped pieces of wood, bent and uncoiled barbed wire and anything that would make a suitable obstacle. Crates were piled along the fence probably to steady it however little has been donated towards the security cause of the lack of prisoners needing to be held. Gohan was relieved by this as he did not want to go sneaking past any security today anymore. All he wanted to get on with was finding out where the Guru was. He found him however as soon as he reached the large gate designed as a part of the fence and to blend in with it, Gohan was suddenly met with the small form of the Guru himself. The mystic himself came up to the gate to investigate the commotion going on the other side.
Gohan was able to get his first good look of the Guru for the first time upon arrival. He had to admit, Murray had described who his master was thoroughly well. The Guru was an anthropomorphic Koala with purple fur and stood up to about half of Bentley's height when the turtle was actually standing. Unfortunately Bentley couldn't stand anymore. The mystic was also face painted. He had white lines going across both cheeks and a light dab of yellow over his big purple nose. The Guru also had sacred markings painted on his arms and the back of his hands. His head was covered with a bandanna and the only other clothing he wore was a type of tattered loin cloth. No jewelry was worn by the Guru except for two beads he wore on his beard and the only thing else to speak about was his hair which was made up of thick strands rather then forced into bunches. Gohan tilted his head at the Guru who looked up at Gohan in kind as if intrigued by the sight of the other.
Gohan smiled and waved his hand towards the Koala. "Hi. You must be the Guru. I'm a good friend of Murray's. I've come with a message from him. He says he wants to break off from his Dreamtime training if that is alright with you that is", said Gohan, not taking his eyes off of the Guru. The Koala blinked a couple of times and nodded. Then he started speaking in some sort of old language though didn't seem to make any sense was incredibly easy to understand through Gohan's ears and he was certain everyone else would understand.
"Yes, yes, if Murray has encountered some urgent needs he must see to, then he has my permission. However, I do request of him one more favor if he wishes to leave his training. I believe you are aware of the outsiders who have invaded the sacred lands out here", said the Guru, pointing out the mining colony, towns and drilling machines. Gohan nodded, crossing his arms as he looked over the land again with disgust evident in his expression.
"Yeah, I can see that the miners have really done a number on your land. Tell you what, I'll bust you out of here and I'll take you to Murray. That way, you will be able to speak with him and we'll come up with something to clear these miners out", said Gohan. The Guru, hearing this shook his head and pointed towards Ayers rock.
"No, I cannot leave as yet for many reasons. I must have my gear in order for me to leave otherwise I am of no use to you. And if I may ask, is there any other friends Murray has not told me of yet besides you", asked the Guru. Gohan raised an eyebrow at him and nodded, even though he was a little puzzled.
"Yeah, Murray has more friends, and they're all here waiting. Why?" asked Gohan. The Guru nodded to him and looked about the fences holding him prisoner.
"I must inspect Murray's friends and see how pure their spirits are. If you wish to work beside someone, then first you must see if you can trust them and whether they are trustworthy. Thus, I wish to speak with each and every one of your friends individually. However, you may bring them all here and I will speak with them one at a time, including Murray", the Guru explained. Gohan scratched his chin in thought at this new revelation and nodded with a smile, looking back up at the Guru.
"OK then. I'll call my friends over. Also, if you want to, is it OK if you join up with the gang in return of us clearing out the lands for you of all the miners?" asked Gohan, sort of sweetening the deal between him and the mystic. The Guru thought for a moment, scratching his chin before smiling himself and looking back up at Gohan. The mystic then pointed at him.
"If you help me then I will help you. We have an accord", said the Guru. Gohan smiled and gave him the thumbs up.
"No worries Guru, I'll call my friends over now. Don't worry, my friends are nice guys. You'll also find that we have a knack for getting back things that were wrongfully taken", said Gohan in a mischievous voice. The Guru chuckled and nodded back, seeing Gohan turn to the side and put his finger to his ear. The young Saiyan toned his voice a bit and lowered it to a whisper.
"Hey Bentley, gather the gang and head on over to the stockade. I've found the Guru and I believe he wishes to meet with all of us", said Gohan. Bentley, not needing for it to be explained to him twice nodded at his end and replied.
"The gang and I are on the way Gohan, hang tight…"
A few minutes later…
The gang had soon enough gathered outside the perimeter of the stockade's high fence and was currently waiting patiently several meters away from the gate. Because the gate continuously denied access to the area beyond to all of them and kept them all out as well as the Guru in, they were forced to speak with the Dreamtime master through the fence itself as Gohan had done. Gohan, already having spoke with the Guru has been cleared by the koala and now stands waiting and listening to the next. Amongst the entire gang, all of them were watching Murray speak with his master, apparently both of them investigating the situation deeply.
A few minutes later, Murray left the fence and his master with a big smile on his face and cheered, the Guru obviously amused by his student's antics as he walked over to his friends. Gohan and Sly smiled at each other and gave the other the thumbs up before turning back to Murray who was walking over to them. "Hey guys my master has given me permission to rejoin the gang. He also says he'll join us afterwards to fight off these miners", said Murray. Bentley grinned up at his friend and fisted his hand in triumph.
"Perfect, so long as he is willing to do so", said Bentley. Murray nodded down at his good friend and shrugged.
"He seems eager to. Anyway, he wants to see you next Sly. He'll call each and every one of you up one at a time. Guess he'll ask you some questions as well", said Murray. The entire group nodded and when they did, Sly walked over to the fence slowly, cane over his back and stance perfectly straight up and proper. The raccoon stopped before the fence and bowed. So on, the conversation went on between the two with Sly introducing himself and bowing his respects to the mystic.
While the two of them were talking, Videl looked to her left towards Gohan to see him staring at the Guru, listening intently on their talk. Seeing this, Videl smiled and stepped over to her mate, giving him an eye and causing the young Saiyan to avert his attention and turn to her in surprise. "Find anything interesting", asked Videl. The young Saiyan shrugged in return before turning back to look at Sly and the Guru with Videl leaning into his chest.
"Nope, they're just talking about the miners but I think Sly is telling the Guru about the Cooper vault and how the he could help. Fortunately, the Guru seems to be wanting in on this. Not for any rewards but wants to help Sly get back his family's inheritance", said Gohan. Videl nodded, also keeping her eyes fixed on the two of them.
"It seems that way. He's the kind of guy that wouldn't want any money or wealth, he's already got everything he needs, such as the land and the richness of it", replied Videl in a whisper. This made Gohan smile as he slowly wrapped his arms around Videl and hugged her tightly, Videl finding comfort in his show of affection.
"If you say so, because I've got everything I need here", said Gohan, laying his chin on her shoulder. Videl was flattered by this and smiled, her cheeks reddening. She leaned back into him and sighed, closing her eyes in satisfaction. The two remained like that for a while, completely oblivious to everything else around them.
One by one, the gang members went up and back from the Guru, all of them being checked up by the master with grand results. Even the Guru was surprisingly impressed. When Sly returned, Carmelita went up, followed shortly by Bentley and finally Videl. All of them had earned a place in the Guru's presence and after all of Murray's friends have been interviewed, if you can use that word so early in the morning, the Guru called them all over. It was Gohan who was first at the gate as he was the first person the Guru had spoke to and had become quite an interesting subject in the koala's eyes.
Walking up to the safe beside the chair the guard had been sitting in moments before but has been dispatched by Gohan, the young Saiyan plied it open with a single pull and, grabbing the contents from inside, pulled them out. As suspected, the safe contained the Guru's staff and moon stone. The staff or walking stick was a large branch carved nicely into a cane with many markings and symbols on it. To complete it, tied to the thick top end of the staff with a strong fabric material was a pinkly glowing, spherical object about the size of a baseball. This of course was the moon stone as Gohan could sense a mass of spiritual ki coming from it.
With both objects in hand and the entire gang eyeing it curiously as Gohan walked back to the gate, the young Saiyan tossed it through one of the large holes above the Guru who caught it eagerly and took it into hand. The moonstone began to glow brightly as the energies clashed with the Guru's and the familiar strands of spirit were detected and reacted together. Once that was accomplished, Gohan shrugged towards the koala in question, eyeing the fence dividing them from the Guru. "So umm…you want us to bust you out now?" asked Gohan. The Guru nodded.
"Yes but be quick before the next shift of guard comes", replied the koala. Nodding, Gohan and Murray moved into action. Both of them took different sides of the large gate and using their combined strengths and partnerships, gripped both ends of the gate and plied it off with great ease. Together, they walked the gate around and laid it against the fence, the Guru allowing safe passage out of the stockade. When the gang had parted slightly and were all standing side by side with the Guru in their midst, Sly turned to all of them and pointed in the direction of the safe house.
"Alright guys, lets head back to the safe house and cook up a plan. We need to drive these miners out of this place", said Sly. Murray nodded.
"Yeah… and, if it isn't too much trouble err guys… could we get something to eat. I'm hungry", exclaimed the hippo. Immediately, the gang heard a loud rumble. They suspected it to be coming from Murray's stomach as he did say he was hungry. But that didn't come from Murray, it came from Gohan. It only took a second for the gang to narrow down on the sound and Gohan, reacting to this, crossed his hands over his gut and blushed in embarrassment. Videl merely giggled while Bentley sweat dropped. The rest of the gang couldn't help but laugh.
Carmelita shook her head and looked around them. "Don't worry guys, we cooked up something really good back at the safe house. Let's just hope it hasn't gotten cold. Who's up for Chinese and Italian", asked the vixen. Immediately the hands of everyone shot up except for the Guru's and Videl. Seeing this, the fox took the lead and left, leaping over the side of the cliff and landing on the roads on the other side of the river below. The gang immediately followed, all of them possessing the capabilities to jump and land despite the height and distance.
In a long line, the entire gang sprinted back to the hide out, making sure to stay out of the sights of any patrols, especially that gyrocopter.
For now, things were finally looking up.
TO BE CONTINUED…