Chapter 7
The Evil-Videl stood with a flourish and Gohan rose behind her. "Protect me from him," she said, indicating Piccolo. She allowed the shield to drop and stepped back.
Gohan shifted to super-Saijin. The golden power, his birthright, was different, flecked with blue and shades of green, as though his aura itself were gangrenous. His face a silent mask, he advanced on Piccolo.
A look of pure horror crossed Piccolo's face. The numbing evil he'd felt, Gohan was now an extension of it. Would he really attack? Could he fight his friend and teacher? Gohan answered that question when he launched himself at Piccolo. "God help us all."
Piccolo took the battle defensively, countering and dodging whenever he could, never launching an aggressive attack, hoping that Gohan would come to his senses. The kid wasn't unleashing any devastating energy blasts, and to Piccolo that said something. He didn't appear to be trying to kill him. Maybe he was fighting whatever was controlling him.
Evil-Videl leaned down over Rinback and retrieved the variety of crystal spells she'd sent with him. With a wave she bound the hovering pixies back in their crystal. Then she used a different crystal to levitate Rinback through the gateway to her world. "Gohan, keep them away from the gate. I will be right back. I need to get some things ready." Her new lover didn't pause in his battle with the green-skinned fellow, but there was no need for acknowledgment, his will belonged to her.
Once through the gate, Evil-Videl began to chant over the body of Rinback. He had been a powerful acquisition and a loyal lover. He would not be forgotten in her garden. Now his flesh as crystal would be given the honor of storing excess energy, as her other former lovers did.
All of her consciousness was required to change Rinback to crystal, but she committed that attention without fear. What did she have to fear in this dead world? She neither saw nor sensed the blow, which struck her in the back of the head. It killed the body she was animating, but she knew immediately where the attack had originated. "Videl, how did you escape?" Videl spun slowly, looking for the origin of the disembodied voice. "Do you think you've helped? That body was no more than a fingernail, a piece of furniture with which to trap my next meal. And I have that. Your Gohan is more than I'd ever dreamed. His energy is intoxicating. I don't know if I'll be able to stand this much pleasure."
Videl blinked the tears out of her eyes. That thing was lying. It didn't have control of Goahn, and if it did? "This isn't over, beast. You haven't won yet."
"You think you can fight me? I'm smoke, formless magic. I can't be killed only weakened and starved." A laugh, which shook the cathedral erupted from nowhere. "I'm engorging myself even now. The boy fights with his heart and soul. Delicious."
**************************
Goten and Trunks exchanged puzzled looks. "Gohan is gone," Trunks said. "His energy isn't out there anymore."
"But the bad guys just got a whole lot stronger," Master Roshi said.
"Yeah, and that looks a lot like Gohan out there fighting Piccolo," Goten said. "We Haf-to help. Right Trunks?" Trunks nodded and went super- saijin. Goten followed suit.
Master Roshi didn't protest; it looked like Piccolo could use the help. It would be nice to know what the heck was going on, but this fight was a bit out of his league.
Outside, Piccolo felt the children power up. It was time to try something, before things got out of hand. He launched his first actual attack on Gohan, knocking him back a few hundred feet and down into the earth. Hopefully, his attack would buy him enough time to act. He met the two kids in the air and held his hand out stopping their questions before they were uttered. "Gohan is being controlled by some type of creature. If we're going to save him, we have to destroy the monster."
Goten and Trunks nodded. "What do we do?" Trunks asked.
"Dampen your energy and sneak through that gate in the air, there. The creature looks like Videl, or it did. Kill it and come back as quickly as you can. I doubt the gate will outlive the creature by much. I'll keep Gohan busy. Now go, quickly."
The two children were barely out of sight when Gohan launched himself into Piccolo's stomach. "Let's not do anything you're going to regret in the morning," Piccolo said. "Like kill me."
****************
Videl brandished the piece of statue she'd plundered from what had looked like a giant crab and wandered slowly through the crystal garden. There had to be a way to kill the creature, no matter what it said. There had to be a way. The psychotic thing hadn't even deemed to talk to her since declaring its immortality. Videl wiped a line of tears off her face angrily. How could Gohan have let that thing control him? Was he so weak and easy to fool? He shouldn't have let the thing touch him. He should have known it wasn't her.
Videl heard approaching footsteps and ducked behind a larger statue.
"I get to kill it. It's controlling my brother. I have dibs."
"No you don't. I'm older, and I'm the world champion. I get to kill it."
Videl let out her breath. It was Goten and Trunks. With their help, maybe she could stop this thing, what ever it was. "Goten, Trunks, thank God." Videl stepped out of her hiding place and let her club rest on the ground.
The boys exchanged a look. "Piccolo said it looked like Videl," Trunks said.
"That looks like Videl," Goten responded.
Videl gasped. They think I'm it. "WAIT, I am Videl," she cried.
Trunks squinted at her. "What if she really is Videl? How are we supposed to tell?"
"Well she looks like Videl and she feels like Videl," Goten said. He shrugged to Trunks. "I don't know."
Videl was trembling with pain and frustration. Damn, damn, damn, help arrives and it can't identify the enemy. "Just wait. Goten, I learned to fly at the same time as you. Gohan taught us. And Trunks, you're the junior world martial arts champion. You beat my dad in an exhibition match. How would some monster know that?" Videl said. She gripped her club tighter and prepared to run. She wasn't any match for these two. If they went after her she was dead, and she needed their help. "We have to kill this thing. You have to help me?"
"I don't know Trunks, but I think this is the real Videl," Goten said.
Trunks nodded. "Unless she proves us wrong we have to trust her."
Videl felt a small degree of the tension leave her body. Now they just had to do the impossible and kill an immortal. "The thing in here, it's controlling Gohan, isn't it?" Videl whispered. She needed the confirmation of what she already knew. Trunks and Goten nodded. "Well we have to kill it. I don't know how. It claims to be immortal, a puff of magic that can't be fought, particularly when it has someone as powerful as Gohan to feed on, but we have to find a way. At least we have to try."
"I don't get it. How do we fight a puff of magic?" Goten said.
Videl laughed harshly. How was she supposed to know? "This is a blind guess, but I think maybe, this place has a heart. If we find it, then maybe, we can hurt the thing inside it."
Trunks turned a slow circle and smiled a little. "Are you sure you can't sense energy, because you're right. Everything is radiating from a center point."
Goten nodded. "Good, let's hurry, before Gohan hurts Piccolo."
The Evil-Videl stood with a flourish and Gohan rose behind her. "Protect me from him," she said, indicating Piccolo. She allowed the shield to drop and stepped back.
Gohan shifted to super-Saijin. The golden power, his birthright, was different, flecked with blue and shades of green, as though his aura itself were gangrenous. His face a silent mask, he advanced on Piccolo.
A look of pure horror crossed Piccolo's face. The numbing evil he'd felt, Gohan was now an extension of it. Would he really attack? Could he fight his friend and teacher? Gohan answered that question when he launched himself at Piccolo. "God help us all."
Piccolo took the battle defensively, countering and dodging whenever he could, never launching an aggressive attack, hoping that Gohan would come to his senses. The kid wasn't unleashing any devastating energy blasts, and to Piccolo that said something. He didn't appear to be trying to kill him. Maybe he was fighting whatever was controlling him.
Evil-Videl leaned down over Rinback and retrieved the variety of crystal spells she'd sent with him. With a wave she bound the hovering pixies back in their crystal. Then she used a different crystal to levitate Rinback through the gateway to her world. "Gohan, keep them away from the gate. I will be right back. I need to get some things ready." Her new lover didn't pause in his battle with the green-skinned fellow, but there was no need for acknowledgment, his will belonged to her.
Once through the gate, Evil-Videl began to chant over the body of Rinback. He had been a powerful acquisition and a loyal lover. He would not be forgotten in her garden. Now his flesh as crystal would be given the honor of storing excess energy, as her other former lovers did.
All of her consciousness was required to change Rinback to crystal, but she committed that attention without fear. What did she have to fear in this dead world? She neither saw nor sensed the blow, which struck her in the back of the head. It killed the body she was animating, but she knew immediately where the attack had originated. "Videl, how did you escape?" Videl spun slowly, looking for the origin of the disembodied voice. "Do you think you've helped? That body was no more than a fingernail, a piece of furniture with which to trap my next meal. And I have that. Your Gohan is more than I'd ever dreamed. His energy is intoxicating. I don't know if I'll be able to stand this much pleasure."
Videl blinked the tears out of her eyes. That thing was lying. It didn't have control of Goahn, and if it did? "This isn't over, beast. You haven't won yet."
"You think you can fight me? I'm smoke, formless magic. I can't be killed only weakened and starved." A laugh, which shook the cathedral erupted from nowhere. "I'm engorging myself even now. The boy fights with his heart and soul. Delicious."
**************************
Goten and Trunks exchanged puzzled looks. "Gohan is gone," Trunks said. "His energy isn't out there anymore."
"But the bad guys just got a whole lot stronger," Master Roshi said.
"Yeah, and that looks a lot like Gohan out there fighting Piccolo," Goten said. "We Haf-to help. Right Trunks?" Trunks nodded and went super- saijin. Goten followed suit.
Master Roshi didn't protest; it looked like Piccolo could use the help. It would be nice to know what the heck was going on, but this fight was a bit out of his league.
Outside, Piccolo felt the children power up. It was time to try something, before things got out of hand. He launched his first actual attack on Gohan, knocking him back a few hundred feet and down into the earth. Hopefully, his attack would buy him enough time to act. He met the two kids in the air and held his hand out stopping their questions before they were uttered. "Gohan is being controlled by some type of creature. If we're going to save him, we have to destroy the monster."
Goten and Trunks nodded. "What do we do?" Trunks asked.
"Dampen your energy and sneak through that gate in the air, there. The creature looks like Videl, or it did. Kill it and come back as quickly as you can. I doubt the gate will outlive the creature by much. I'll keep Gohan busy. Now go, quickly."
The two children were barely out of sight when Gohan launched himself into Piccolo's stomach. "Let's not do anything you're going to regret in the morning," Piccolo said. "Like kill me."
****************
Videl brandished the piece of statue she'd plundered from what had looked like a giant crab and wandered slowly through the crystal garden. There had to be a way to kill the creature, no matter what it said. There had to be a way. The psychotic thing hadn't even deemed to talk to her since declaring its immortality. Videl wiped a line of tears off her face angrily. How could Gohan have let that thing control him? Was he so weak and easy to fool? He shouldn't have let the thing touch him. He should have known it wasn't her.
Videl heard approaching footsteps and ducked behind a larger statue.
"I get to kill it. It's controlling my brother. I have dibs."
"No you don't. I'm older, and I'm the world champion. I get to kill it."
Videl let out her breath. It was Goten and Trunks. With their help, maybe she could stop this thing, what ever it was. "Goten, Trunks, thank God." Videl stepped out of her hiding place and let her club rest on the ground.
The boys exchanged a look. "Piccolo said it looked like Videl," Trunks said.
"That looks like Videl," Goten responded.
Videl gasped. They think I'm it. "WAIT, I am Videl," she cried.
Trunks squinted at her. "What if she really is Videl? How are we supposed to tell?"
"Well she looks like Videl and she feels like Videl," Goten said. He shrugged to Trunks. "I don't know."
Videl was trembling with pain and frustration. Damn, damn, damn, help arrives and it can't identify the enemy. "Just wait. Goten, I learned to fly at the same time as you. Gohan taught us. And Trunks, you're the junior world martial arts champion. You beat my dad in an exhibition match. How would some monster know that?" Videl said. She gripped her club tighter and prepared to run. She wasn't any match for these two. If they went after her she was dead, and she needed their help. "We have to kill this thing. You have to help me?"
"I don't know Trunks, but I think this is the real Videl," Goten said.
Trunks nodded. "Unless she proves us wrong we have to trust her."
Videl felt a small degree of the tension leave her body. Now they just had to do the impossible and kill an immortal. "The thing in here, it's controlling Gohan, isn't it?" Videl whispered. She needed the confirmation of what she already knew. Trunks and Goten nodded. "Well we have to kill it. I don't know how. It claims to be immortal, a puff of magic that can't be fought, particularly when it has someone as powerful as Gohan to feed on, but we have to find a way. At least we have to try."
"I don't get it. How do we fight a puff of magic?" Goten said.
Videl laughed harshly. How was she supposed to know? "This is a blind guess, but I think maybe, this place has a heart. If we find it, then maybe, we can hurt the thing inside it."
Trunks turned a slow circle and smiled a little. "Are you sure you can't sense energy, because you're right. Everything is radiating from a center point."
Goten nodded. "Good, let's hurry, before Gohan hurts Piccolo."
