The sun shone brightly on the valley of Mt. Paozu, giving
it the look of pristine serenity. In contrast to the peaceful appearance of the
valley, sounds of fighting could be heard all around, as two of its
inhabitants, Son Goku and Son Goten were sparring.
Son
Goku, who was recently returned to life by the elder Kai-o-shin for the purpose
of fighting Majin Buu, recognized that he had spent little time with his
youngest son and that it was good for Goten. So, Goku took out the entire day to
spend it with Goten, doing the only thing he knew how.
Fighting
in their normal modes, Goten was levitating to his father's chest and was
throwing a volley of punches, all of which his father was blocking. In a last
ditch effort, Goten threw a punch that had enough power to knock Goku off
balance, thereby giving Goten an opening to exploit. Goku, however, dodged the
punch. With So much power behind the punch, and no target to stop his momentum,
Goten sailed right by his father. Goku took advantage of his son's positioning
and landed an open palmed strike to Goten's face, sending him crashing to the
ground.
Before
his son could recover, Goku flew to where he was and delivered the knockout
blow which should've ended the match. But Goten moved out of the way, so the
punch only hit the bare earth and countered with a kick to Goku's chin.
Goten
used the opportunity to stand up and set himself aright, as Goku reeled
backwards from the kick. Both stopped momentarily, resizing each other up and
resting from the previous bout.
After
a few minutes, Goku smiled. "That was pretty good, Goten. Your mother taught
you well." Kind of strange, Goku thought. Where before, Chi Chi was always
strict and said emphatically that Gohan didn't need to know martial arts, she
was very liberal with Goten, teaching him to fight herself. He wondered what
brought on her change of heart.
"Thank
you, dad," Goten said in response to Goku's complement.
"All
right then, any time you're ready."
"All
right," Goten said, getting ready to attack again.
**Goku!
Goku!**
Goku
stood strait up. "Huh? Kamesennin?"
"KYAAAAAAAA!"
*WHAM!*
At
his moment of distraction, Goku was leveled by Goten's powerful blow. The hit
sent him careening through a grove of trees and slammed him into a rock face.
Immediately, Goten was at his father's side. "Daddy, are you all right?
Goku
brushed the rubble off of himself and rubbed his jaw. "That's quite a punch you
got there Goten. I'm very proud of you."
Goten
beamed at his father's praise. "Thank you, daddy."
**Goku!
Are you there?**
"Hold
on for a sec willya Goten?" Goku looked upward in the general direction of
Kamesennin's island and answered his sensei's telepathic call, **I'm here
Master Roshi. How are you?**
**Not
bad I guess. Listen, I have a strange feeling that something's going on. #18
and Kuririn have disappeared.**
**Oh?**
**Yeah.
Kuririn was feeling kinda down, and I told #18 that she should speak with him.
Oolong thinks they went off to talk privately, but they've been gone a long
time and I know that neither of them, especially #18, would leave their
daughter for such a long time.**
**I
see,** said Goku. **So, what do you think we should do?** There was no answer
from Roshi. **Master, you there?**
**Actually,
I was going to ask YOU what we should do?**
Goku
blinked and rubbed the back of his head. **Oh, okay…Well, let me see…** He
extended his senses to reach out for Kuririn's ki. But, "Strange, I can't feel
his ki anywhere."
"Who's
ki, daddy?" asked Goten.
"Uncle
Kuririn son." He turned his attention back to Roshi, **I can't sense his ki.**
**I
thought so. Something is going on. What do you think we should do son?**
**Well,
unless they turn up or something major happens, I don't think we can do
anything.**
**…All
right, if you say so. But I'm still worried.**
**I
know, old man…I am too…**
Dreamweaver Studios Presents
Dragonball Z
Tainted Hearts
Part
Two
Flying
high above Satan City, Gohan, a.k.a. Great Saiyaman was making his rounds. The
cleanup of the city was proceeding very well and the accidents that were
related to the damage from their fight with the Hirudegarn were minimal. It
looked as though, at least for a few minutes, the city could survive without
its hero.
Gohan
landed on the roof of Orange Star High School and pressed the button on his
modified wristwatch that Bulma designed for him to change back to his regular
outfit. Strange, he thought; even with all of the devastation around them, they
decided that school should still be in session. Perhaps they thought with so
many heroes around, The Great Saiya-team and, of course, 'The Greatest Fighter
in the World', Mr. Satan, they would be safe, no matter what was happening.
As
he proceeded down the staircase to the hall where his class was, he smiled.
Gohan and Videl, the Great Saiya-team, protectors of Satan City. He loved the
concept and he was so glad when Videl said that she wanted to become a hero
like he was. He loved fighting along side her. In fact…he wasn't as naïve as
his father was. He recognized that he loved her period. But as most males did,
he was afraid to tell her so…afraid, basically, of either outcome; marriage or
rejection.
To
spend the rest of his life with Videl in marriage didn't sound so bad. He
didn't understand why he would be afraid of that. But if she did reject him, he
didn't know how he would react. He could become another Vegeta. Wouldn't THAT
be nice?
He
cleared his mind of those thoughts as he reached the entrance to his classroom.
As he reached for the doorknob to enter, he stopped, realizing that a ki
signature was missing from the assembled students: Videl.
He
knew better then do doubt his senses, but to verify, he took a peak through the
small window on the door. Sure enough, Videl wasn't in her seat. Gohan made a
U-turn and strode with purpose back up the roof of the school. He pressed the
button on his watch, re-dawning his Great Saiya-man guise and took to the air.
"You
won't find her," a voice said from below.
Gohan
stopped before he got too far away. He knew who the voice belonged to.
"Piccolo? What're you doing here?"
"I'm
here to tell you that you won't find your girlfriend anywhere."
"Videl?
What happened to her? Do you know?"
"Being
stationed on Kami's lookout, not much escapes my notice," Piccolo said.
"That's how I know something strange is going on. As far as I know,
nothing out of the ordinary happened. She just dropped off of the face of the
Earth."
Gohan
looked out towards the city. "I can't feel her ki anywhere..."
"It's
just like I said. You might want to tell the others that Kuririn and Yamucha
are missing too. Something may be going around snatching all of the warriors
away. I think it would be good if all of the warriors that are left be warned
about this."
"But...Videl..."
"If
this is a new threat, I'm sure they'll show themselves soon. They'll know what
happened to her. We'll get her back. Okay?" Gohan's shoulders slumped and
he nodded. "Good. I'll go back to Kami's lookout to see if anything else
changes. You take care."
"I
will. Thanks Piccolo."
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
Some
time later, Gohan arrived at the headquarters of the Capsule Corporation to
relay Piccolo's news to Vegeta and Bulma. He told them in detail about the
disappearance of Kuririn, Yamucha and Videl. Bulma was shaken by the news of
Yamucha's disappearance. As for Vegeta…
"And
what does their disappearance have to do with us?"
"Vegeta,
I can't believe you said that," said Bulma. "These are our friends you're
talking about."
"That
may be," Vegeta answered. "But if they weren't strong enough to look after
themselves, then that's their problem."
"Piccolo
thinks that someone or something is going around snatching all of the warriors
away," said Gohan. "We should all be on the lookout for anything strange."
Vegeta
snorted, "No one is going to snatch me or my son away. Anyone who tries won't
live long enough to brood over their failure."
"You
should probably tell Mr. Satan about this too," Bulma suggested.
"Didn't
you hear him?" Vegeta said. "It's WARRIORS that're being snatched away."
"Yes,
I know, I know. But still, his daughter was kidnapped. He has to know about
this."
"Do
I have to?" asked Gohan.
** **
As
per Bulma's suggestion, Gohan visited the Satan estate. He pressed the button
on the intercom to announce his presence. He really didn't want to be there,
because he knew what Satan's response would be, not only to the message, but to
the messenger as well.
"Please
state your name and your business," a person said over the intercom. Gohan
figured it was a security guard.
"M-my
name is Son Gohan. I am a classmate of Videl. I-I have some urgent news to
relay to Mr. Satan regarding her."
There
was a short pause on the other end. Finally the guard answered, "You may
enter." On cue, the gate to the Satan estate opened. Gohan traversed the long
walkway from the gate to the front door, where he was met by one of the
security guards who ushered him in.
The
door closed behind them and a tranquil calm blanketed the Satan estate. The
calm came to a screaming end when, ten minutes later, the door to the mansion
flew open and Gohan ran out of the house with the World Champion following
closely behind.
"YOU BASTARD!!!" screamed Mr. Satan. "I KNEW SOMETHING LIKE THIS WOULD HAPPEN
WITH MY DAUGHTER HANGING AROUND YOU! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!?" Gohan took to
the air to bead a hasty retreat, one which he knew Satan couldn't follow.
"DON'T YOU FLY AWAY FROM ME!!! GET BACK HERE!!!"
"I
knew he would blame me for this," Gohan lamented.
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
"I'm
home," Gohan said, happy to be back.
"Hi
son," Chi Chi called. "Come in the kitchen, dinner's almost ready."
"Okay
mom." Gohan entered the kitchen and found that Goku and Goten were already
there waiting for dinner.
"Hi
son," Goku greeted. "How's it goin'?
"Not
too good," answered Gohan. "I got a visit from Piccolo at school today."
"Piccolo?"
Goku repeated. "What would be so important that Piccolo would leave Kami's
lookout to go to your school?"
"He
told me that their might be something or someone snatching all of the warriors
away. They already got Kuririn, Yamucha and Videl with no problem."
"Goku,"
Chi Chi said, "didn't you say that you got a message from Kamesennin saying
something similar?"
"Yes,
I did. He told me it was Kuririn and #18."
"#18's
been taken too?" said Gohan, astonished.
"It's
certainly strange," Chi Chi said while serving everyone dinner. "Why would
anyone take Yamucha, Kuririn, #18 and Videl?"
"I
don't know," Gohan answered. "I wish I knew who was next. Dad, what do you
think we should do?"
"Ku
kell guh troof, um nuh shoor," Goku said, stuffing his face.
"Uuh…never
mind."
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
Several
days had passed and there still hadn't been any word from Kuririn, Videl, Yamucha
or #18. Gohan had frequently visited with Piccolo and was slightly alarmed to
hear that no one else had been taken either. During that time, the remaining
warriors combed the Earth looking for their missing friends, to no avail.
Night
had fallen over the city and Bulma, who was coordinating the search efforts
from the Capsule Corporation building had just told everyone to stop their
searching and retire for the day. With everyone else's ability to fly and
Goku's teleportation technique, most of the world had been covered. Bulma was
beginning to take hold of the idea that some advance race of alien had come to
Earth and spirited them away. For them, such a thing was not impossible. That,
of course, would mean that they would have to shift their focus to outer space.
Bulma
took a sip of her tea and let out a heavy sigh. Earth was one thing, but space?
If they have been taken somewhere in outer space, there would be no way that
they could be located. But that was something to think about in the future. There
were still areas on Earth that needed to be covered and she was just too tired
to think about anything else.
Turning
her terminal off, Bulma got up to head for bed. Before she did, though, she
took one last look around the building, as she did every night. True, with the
security systems armed and with two of the most powerful beings in the universe
living with her, she didn't have to make these nightly rounds, but there was
nothing like the peace of mind making sure herself that everything was secure.
Halfway
down the hallway, she stopped and turned around. She re-entered her laboratory
and picked up her forgotten teacup. As she picked up her cup, she noticed on
the terminal surface a shadow that was not hers. She turned around to meet the
person behind her and found...
"Yamucha!"
Yamucha
smirked and Bulma let out a sigh of relief. "Uuh, Yamucha, you started
me."
"Oh?"
Yamucha said.
"Where
have you been?" Bulma asked. "We've heard that you Kuririn, #18 and
Videl had disappeared. Did something happen to you?"
"I'm
shocked! I thought you'd be too busy living it up with your lover boy to care
if anything happened to me." Bulma unconsciously took a step back. She
didn't like his tone of voice. "Actually, something did happen to me. I
had some time to reflect on how things turned out between us and I have come to
a decision."
Bulma
had been relieved when there wasn't much fuss when Yamucha originally found out
about her and Vegeta. She felt she should've known that the subject would've
come up again eventually. "W-what decision would that be?"
"I've
decided...to kill you."
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
