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The open air of this world that Goten was in was very strange; subtle, manipulative, comfortably cold. What was behind him would remain behind him for all time it seemed as he continued walking toward this structure that was smack dab in the middle of all the captivating air.
As he got closer, he could see that this garage-like little building was split into two halves; one side with a glass door, the other with a rusty metal sliding door. Of course, the one that was more welcoming to the young and confused man would be the nice glass entrance, so this was the one that he had chosen to inspect first.
In pulling the door open and glancing inside, he noticed that within appeared the atmosphere of a peaceful tavern. It was just like the Aqua Halo, only much smaller and more narrow. There were only two people inside. One was a man with soaked-back hair, standing behind the counter. The other was a young boy that Goten had thought looked just like himself at that age, sitting on top of the counter.
The two people turned their heads to him. The man behind the counter strangely looked as though he was about to speak, then stopped as he eyed the young boy who just sat there without moving a muscle. The man then spoke in Goten's direction with a casual tone. "Can I help you, pal?"
Son Goten was very thirsty at this point. Bloodshed was all he had seen on this never-ending day, and steaming confusion continued to run through his veins. "Oh...yes", he started to say as he blankly moved over toward the counter. "Can I get a glass of water please?"
The child beside him still seemed to just glare at nothing, and the man behind the counter, without answering, turned around to pour some water from the faucet into a small and wide glass. Goten held out his hand and took the glass, holding it in such an odd way that it was as if it was stuck to his hand and couldnt possibly fall, almost magnetically. "Thank you."
After giving the statue-like boy another small glance from the corner of his eye, Goten found a small table near a window with two chairs and sat down in one of them comfortably, stretching his arms back a bit to relax himself. It was when his eyes were met with the glass of water again that he was refreshingly overcome.
Ayeka was what he was overcome by. This water before him was clear, quenching, beautiful, something he longed for and could rarely get enough of. How much more closely could it be compared to Princess Ayeka? He felt for her about a thousand times more than he felt for this water...which let his thoughts drift even more wonderfully.
Goten realized that something had to be done fast. The last he saw Ayeka, she was laying there defenseless, in an admirable slumber. He made his declaration there that when her majestic eyes would open, the terrors would have already been taken care of. But....all this?
How could everything have taken such an uncontrollably bizarre twist? Though....."how"? That didnt matter. Was Ayeka alright? Or even..would he ever be so lucky as to see her again? This world that warped him away from whatever certainty he had known seemed so distant and isolated that none of this was clear.
Out of nowhere it seemed, suddenly, a sharply recognizable voice rang in his ear as if it were right behind him. "I hope you're prepared for some harsh training, son." Goten's expression froze at the farmiliarity of this sound, and he turned his head around slowly, facing nothing but the man behind the counter who was still right where he was.
The man had his back turned as if going about his business regularly. The little boy that was there before was now no longer there. Not a sound was made at all in whatever time passed between when he sat down and this moment. It was transparent to Goten at this time that vile trickery was expected, but this time the steadily-aimed Saiyajin was ready. No more hesitation, no more confusion, no more vexing horseplay.
The visual hold of his eyes grasped one last sight of the beautiful liquid in its simple container just before he kicked his chair in without much noise. He next used some energy to raise just a few inches off of the ground, floating over to the man in front of him, then slammed a balled fist on the counter.
The man froze in place and responded to the sound without much hesitation at all. "What do you want?" At this position, Goten had no idea why he was so positive that this man was somehow being mediated by whatever existed as the supremacy of this strange world.
"You know......exactly what it is that I want." His tone almost involuntarily got broader. "Exactly." The man showed response by turning around to face him shakily. "Is this true?" What an odd response. It seemed as though it became too odd for Son Goten, and some ki energy started to become visible within his closed fingers.
Then..from outside the place, a mechanically-enhanced voice rang through. "Don't be rude, Goten. You and I need to have a little talk." The young man instantly opened the closed fist of his and flew like an air-hanging frizbee right through the doorway that had been forced open by the wind. What would be waiting for him outside would startle his flight indeed.
A towering metallic creature with the bodily outline of a reindeer, the color of a midnight blue that was shadowed by the dimming lights of the dreamy horizon around them. Goten gazed up through the very light snow that had begun to fill the area, straight into the glassy eyes of the thing.
This....would be a problem. It was a structure just like the mechanical mantis he had fought with in the previous place, only this thing was enormous and threatening as all hell. Perhaps it was being guided by a person within it as the new Gohan did with the mantis; but who was piloting this one?
What had made this large power what it really was would be sitting inside, no doubt. That voice then came again. "It seems as though you've already torn your way through your brother and his Jasper Mantis. But what of my power and Steel Reindeer, Son Goten?"
Goten glared past the continuous bits of snowflakes, a clear look at the challenge before him; another that would stand between him and his desire of eliminating the seperate minor hells of the surroundings that were cloaked upon everyone in his circle of life. Trunks, Vegeta, Jotaro, Ripper, Ayeka, Gohan, ...and his father.
"That must be-", Goten started to think as the incredibly mobile reindeer extended two curling horns down to snatch him off the ground, holding him before its eyes. The structure of these horns seemed to be pulling in some of Goten's strength, very dim glows circling the trapped young Saiyan.
"So", crackled the voice again in a lower volume. "You don't appear to be quite the threat you've been played out to be." The whites of Goten's eyes burned brightly with determinative pain as he hung his head back, throwing out muted bursts of power that barely moved the sucking steel antlers.
"What are you?!", cried out Goten as he forcingly looked ahead through the eyes of the reindeer, bits of snow sticking to the faces of both the Saiya-jin and the machine. "I am impassible", responded the source. Goten's tone dropped as he responded, almost as if much was already taken from him. "We.....we'll see about that.."
The inner ki that seemed to come flying out of nowhere now trailed up Goten's body as his hair shot up in the hue of light gold, now in Super Saiyan one. The grip of the steel reindeer's horns was weakening as Goten proceeded to throw out his arms to the side a final time, knocking the thing back a step, causing a small disturbance in the ground where they stood.
The instant after that move, in an unexpected advance, the reindeer's head detatched itself from the large body that held it up, and it went falling after Goten, the mouth of it closing on him and slamming him down upon the ground, the walls of its jaws encasing him like a cell.
In a quick change of atmosphere no doubt, tiny flames of a burning temperature fell from the roof of the reindeer's shadowed mouth in bunches around Goten, the heat increasing that much more as their light shined on. It was a very demanding difficulty for Goten to evade the scorching rain and try to break free from his confinement at the same time.
Gripping the sides around him, Goten kicked each side of the solid mouth at once to hold himself up, and flared up a barrier of energy that expanded with pushing force as it tossed the head of the mechanical monster off from him and into the sky...sooner falling upon the garage structure and crushing it where it stood.
Goten then turned to his side and ran past the smoke of the dead flames at what was now a headless body. The form had then shifted into a steel ball that started to roll in Goten's direction, sparking and pulsating in a strange way. In seeing this, Goten flew backwards, and in almost a slingshot movement, he cupped his hands and darted back ahead, yelling out "Kame hame..HAAA!!"
The wave of the Turtle Hermit was an optimum choice on Goten's part, as it had now slammed into the metal ball like a baseball bat, throwing it into the distance until it then shattered on the ground like an egg. The pieces of the container spilled across the air.
He who had been inside would now be there...amidst the enormously captivating energy that surrounded him. It was an extremely powerful force..but not quite at the degree that Goten had felt when he matched power with Red Ribbon Gohan. This was much stronger in a totally obvious way. The essence of the ki was unfarmiliar, but the magnitude held solid. This magnitude was that which belonged to the one that stood there visible through the barrier of power, looking sharply at Goten with his red eyes that were blackened at the edges. His hair was long and wild down his shoulders, and a tail extended out behind him. Son Gokou....Super Saiya-jin 4.
An incredible thing to behold, and a perfectly unsettling one at that. Goten, on instinct, enclosed himself in a glowing shield of energy that shined like a bubble, and he started to hesitantly move toward the image of his father. "Coming at me, Goten? Going to strike your father?"
The hair on top of Goten's had started to stand on end with flashes that passed every few seconds. His body continued to carry him toward the fourth stage Saiya-jin in front of him. This would be very different. The spirit energy within this figure's body was not the purity that was always a part of his father Gokou, but the force was there, and it was scary to say the least.
But the fact remained to Goten... "Stage four or stage forty....I will demolish this thoughtless monster, whether he appears exactly like my father or not."
The imposter that still stood there seemed blankly confident to no end as Goten was now mere inches in front of him.
Some words now left the lips of Red Ribbon Gokou. "Easy does it. Don't blow a fuse, son;..what good are you to anyone then?" The tips of Goten's hair sparked again just before he clutched a solid fist backwards, ready to slam the face of this wicked mirror image of the father that was clearly taken from him without a trace.
Then.....another voice came from low behind Goten..sounding as if it was underground. "Useless waste." Goten then dashed backwards to the other side of 'Son Gokou' and quickly looked over at the spot where the voice had come from.
A very odd glow was permeating through the ground at a slow pace. Something was burrowing itself through the floor. As the thing gradually forced itself above ground..it became easy enough to make out. It was an obsidian-colored casing that resembled a coffin, glowing steadily.