Keys - Chapter 3
by TAFKAE
Disclaimer: Why do you even read disclaimers? They're all stupid and they always say the same thing. "I don't own whatever blah blah blah." Come to think of it, why do I even write them?
I own the ogres and the nameless demon.
~*~*~
Gohan and Krillin finally stopped at the bottom of a waterfall.
"Where are they?" Gohan shouted. "WHERE ARE THEY?! This is where the power levels cut off, so they must have stopped here!"
"Don't blow a fuse, Gohan," Krillin warned him. "I'm mad about what they did to 18 and Marron, too, but we have to stay calm."
Gohan hung his fists down at his sides and took a deep breath. "You're right. But where could they have gone?"
Krillin powered up to keep the force of the water from knocking him down, then floated through the waterfall. Gohan watched him. After just a few seconds, Krillin turned and called to his comrade. "There's a cave back here. I bet this is where Marron and Chi-chi are!"
Gohan nodded and stepped through the cascade after his friend.
~*~*~
Inside the cave, Master smirked. "How nice. I wasn't expecting visitors."
~*~*~
Krillin walked down the narrow corridor. It was starting to get dark, and the whole place reminded him of a science tour he'd taken in school once that involved a mixture of ammonia and rotting flesh smells in the air. Every time he heard a noise he jumped and whipped his head around to see if Gohan was still there, and every single time, he was. Most of the time the noise he heard was either himself or Gohan stepping in a puddle. Suddenly, he felt something cold and wet on his shoulder and let out a yelp.
"Ssshhh," Gohan said. "Stop."
Krillin did so while turning his head to see that the thing on his shoulder was actually his friend's hand. "What's up?" he asked, trying to sound as calm as possible, which really didn't work because he was super-freaked out.
"Shh." Gohan put a finger in front of his mouth, looking absently into the black depth of the cave. "Listen."
Krillin did. It wasn't hard to hear once he'd calmed down a little. A definite rustling sound. Like… a large set of vines… in the wind… in the middle of a jet-black cave, where nothing is supposed to grow except moss and lichen…
"That's weird," they both said at once, then gave each other an odd look. They knew what it sounded like, but it shouldn't have been possible. Without a word, they both floated off the ground, trying as hard as they could to be silent, and continued into the depths of the cave.
Finally, they reached a huge chamber. Actually, "huge" was kind of an understatement. It was lit only by a blue flame in a cauldron resting in the center of the floor. The far wall was covered in brownish-grey vines that almost looked like stone sculpture. And in one spot on that wall was -
"Marron!" Krillin shouted, flying up to her as fast as he could. It was his daughter, all right, her eyes closed, bound to the wall by stone vines around her wrists, legs, and midsection. Others protruded elsewhere around her, holding her fast like a giant set of clamps. A few feet away, Chi-chi hung on the wall in the same condition, and Gohan hovered in front of her.
"We gotta get them outta these things," Gohan yelled without turning away from his mother, almost as though he was afraid the wall would swallow her if he looked at anything else. Krillin gave an affirmative grunt and grabbed his daughter around the chest, trying to get her out, firmly but gently. Gohan tried to set his mother free the only way he knew how - smashing the rock around her.
Krillin made no progress. Gohan made less. For every vine that crumbled under his solid fists, another one grew back, and it seemed that the stone foliage was getting thicker every second.
"It's no use," came a voice out of the darkness, but it didn't belong to either Krillin or Gohan. "They won't be able to get out of there until I tell the wall to let go."
Both turned toward the voice's source. Out of nowhere, someone had appeared behind them. The hair was long and dark, the eyes cold and empty, the figure thin and its skin sallow.
Whatever it was, it was from the pits of Hell.
"You'd better let them go," Gohan shouted angrily. "If you don't, we'll have to kill you."
/Kill it?/ Krillin thought nervously. /I just wanna get Marron and Chi-chi outta here!/
It laughed. The voice was feminine, no doubt, and come to think of it, so was the figure and everything else. "You act like you could."
This only made Gohan more incensed. With a yell, he charged at the hell-girl, fists drawn, hair suddenly golden. He threw a single, deadly punch straight at her face -
- only to find it stopped by one finger. The hell-girl laughed her demonic laugh again, then grabbed Gohan by his hair and threw him at the wall.
He couldn't quite stop himself in time. The instant his back hit the wall, some of the stone vines cracked and turned to dust, replaced instantly by an armada of new vegetation that wrapped itself around his limbs and waist, not willing to let go. Gohan kept increasing his power, trying to shatter the vines and get free, but it was futile. Then, too fast for even his eyes to see, another one shot out of the wall and dug itself into his face… and another one into his chest… another one into his right leg… one each into his arms… and he screamed so loud that Krillin had a feeling Hell didn't hold a candle to whatever Gohan felt right now. But Gohan didn't stop screaming. His friend watched in horror as the vines continued to squirm their way deeper into his body…
"Stop it." Krillin couldn't stand it anymore. "Stop it!"
"Or what? You'll hurt me too?" She laughed again. "Don't waste my time."
Krillin was enraged. He barely noticed when the cries of agony coming from his friend began to taper off, then ceased entirely.
"Should we take care of this one, Master?" came a low, husky voice from the darkness, immediately followed by its owner, the large orange ogre known as Quarter.
"Yeahyeahyeah, let us do 'im in!" Vermy, as usual, was sitting on his comrade's shoulder. "Do in the midget!" he yelled in a singsongy voice.
The hell-girl sighed. "Fine. Kill him."
Vermy jumped off Quarter's shoulder and reached for Krillin's arm, intent on having him meet the same fate as Goten… there was a hissing sound as the two different fleshes met… and Vermy jumped back, an ugly-chibi-in-pain expression on his face. "It burns, it burns," he whimpered. "It burns!"
"You're just a wimp, Vermy," Quarter replied maliciously. "I'll get 'im."
The fight soon descended to the ground as each of Quarter's blows was easily blocked by Krillin's forearms. The brawl was stunning, but Vermy was the only one watching. Master was more focused on other things.
"The Vale…" she murmured, hands behind her back, as she gazed up at the door. "All six Keys are in place, with a little extra energy from…" she seemed to search through memories that weren't hers "… this Gohan character. Excellent. Maybe now…" She was almost afraid to say it… it was too good to be true…
Quarter started powering up a blast from both of his misshapen hands, then fired it at Krillin, who almost managed to dodge, but not quite, and it hit him directly in the side of his head. He fell to the ground like a rag doll, bounced a few times, and finally came to rest several yards away, eyes closed.
The orange monster was surprised. That hadn't been a very powerful blast. He walked over to where Krillin lay and was just about to kick him when suddenly the smaller one's foot, seemingly out of nowhere, swept into his ankles, knocking him flat on his back. Krillin then rolled over and bounded to his feet, held one hand in the air, prepared his trademark move, and threw it…
"DESTRUCTO DISK!"
The circle of energy flew closer… closer… closer… Quarter could never have dodged it. A second or two later, the ogre was lying on the floor, his top half about four feet away from his legs.
Vermy quivered as the disk swerved with a quick motion of the former monk's arm and headed toward him… "MOMMA! AH NEVER LIKED YO' COOKIN' ANYHOWS!!!" was the last thing he said before he ended up in a state very similar to Quarter's.
~*~*~
Good thing ogres not very smart! R+R!
(o^.^o) The Artist Formerly Known As Ed
by TAFKAE
Disclaimer: Why do you even read disclaimers? They're all stupid and they always say the same thing. "I don't own whatever blah blah blah." Come to think of it, why do I even write them?
I own the ogres and the nameless demon.
~*~*~
Gohan and Krillin finally stopped at the bottom of a waterfall.
"Where are they?" Gohan shouted. "WHERE ARE THEY?! This is where the power levels cut off, so they must have stopped here!"
"Don't blow a fuse, Gohan," Krillin warned him. "I'm mad about what they did to 18 and Marron, too, but we have to stay calm."
Gohan hung his fists down at his sides and took a deep breath. "You're right. But where could they have gone?"
Krillin powered up to keep the force of the water from knocking him down, then floated through the waterfall. Gohan watched him. After just a few seconds, Krillin turned and called to his comrade. "There's a cave back here. I bet this is where Marron and Chi-chi are!"
Gohan nodded and stepped through the cascade after his friend.
~*~*~
Inside the cave, Master smirked. "How nice. I wasn't expecting visitors."
~*~*~
Krillin walked down the narrow corridor. It was starting to get dark, and the whole place reminded him of a science tour he'd taken in school once that involved a mixture of ammonia and rotting flesh smells in the air. Every time he heard a noise he jumped and whipped his head around to see if Gohan was still there, and every single time, he was. Most of the time the noise he heard was either himself or Gohan stepping in a puddle. Suddenly, he felt something cold and wet on his shoulder and let out a yelp.
"Ssshhh," Gohan said. "Stop."
Krillin did so while turning his head to see that the thing on his shoulder was actually his friend's hand. "What's up?" he asked, trying to sound as calm as possible, which really didn't work because he was super-freaked out.
"Shh." Gohan put a finger in front of his mouth, looking absently into the black depth of the cave. "Listen."
Krillin did. It wasn't hard to hear once he'd calmed down a little. A definite rustling sound. Like… a large set of vines… in the wind… in the middle of a jet-black cave, where nothing is supposed to grow except moss and lichen…
"That's weird," they both said at once, then gave each other an odd look. They knew what it sounded like, but it shouldn't have been possible. Without a word, they both floated off the ground, trying as hard as they could to be silent, and continued into the depths of the cave.
Finally, they reached a huge chamber. Actually, "huge" was kind of an understatement. It was lit only by a blue flame in a cauldron resting in the center of the floor. The far wall was covered in brownish-grey vines that almost looked like stone sculpture. And in one spot on that wall was -
"Marron!" Krillin shouted, flying up to her as fast as he could. It was his daughter, all right, her eyes closed, bound to the wall by stone vines around her wrists, legs, and midsection. Others protruded elsewhere around her, holding her fast like a giant set of clamps. A few feet away, Chi-chi hung on the wall in the same condition, and Gohan hovered in front of her.
"We gotta get them outta these things," Gohan yelled without turning away from his mother, almost as though he was afraid the wall would swallow her if he looked at anything else. Krillin gave an affirmative grunt and grabbed his daughter around the chest, trying to get her out, firmly but gently. Gohan tried to set his mother free the only way he knew how - smashing the rock around her.
Krillin made no progress. Gohan made less. For every vine that crumbled under his solid fists, another one grew back, and it seemed that the stone foliage was getting thicker every second.
"It's no use," came a voice out of the darkness, but it didn't belong to either Krillin or Gohan. "They won't be able to get out of there until I tell the wall to let go."
Both turned toward the voice's source. Out of nowhere, someone had appeared behind them. The hair was long and dark, the eyes cold and empty, the figure thin and its skin sallow.
Whatever it was, it was from the pits of Hell.
"You'd better let them go," Gohan shouted angrily. "If you don't, we'll have to kill you."
/Kill it?/ Krillin thought nervously. /I just wanna get Marron and Chi-chi outta here!/
It laughed. The voice was feminine, no doubt, and come to think of it, so was the figure and everything else. "You act like you could."
This only made Gohan more incensed. With a yell, he charged at the hell-girl, fists drawn, hair suddenly golden. He threw a single, deadly punch straight at her face -
- only to find it stopped by one finger. The hell-girl laughed her demonic laugh again, then grabbed Gohan by his hair and threw him at the wall.
He couldn't quite stop himself in time. The instant his back hit the wall, some of the stone vines cracked and turned to dust, replaced instantly by an armada of new vegetation that wrapped itself around his limbs and waist, not willing to let go. Gohan kept increasing his power, trying to shatter the vines and get free, but it was futile. Then, too fast for even his eyes to see, another one shot out of the wall and dug itself into his face… and another one into his chest… another one into his right leg… one each into his arms… and he screamed so loud that Krillin had a feeling Hell didn't hold a candle to whatever Gohan felt right now. But Gohan didn't stop screaming. His friend watched in horror as the vines continued to squirm their way deeper into his body…
"Stop it." Krillin couldn't stand it anymore. "Stop it!"
"Or what? You'll hurt me too?" She laughed again. "Don't waste my time."
Krillin was enraged. He barely noticed when the cries of agony coming from his friend began to taper off, then ceased entirely.
"Should we take care of this one, Master?" came a low, husky voice from the darkness, immediately followed by its owner, the large orange ogre known as Quarter.
"Yeahyeahyeah, let us do 'im in!" Vermy, as usual, was sitting on his comrade's shoulder. "Do in the midget!" he yelled in a singsongy voice.
The hell-girl sighed. "Fine. Kill him."
Vermy jumped off Quarter's shoulder and reached for Krillin's arm, intent on having him meet the same fate as Goten… there was a hissing sound as the two different fleshes met… and Vermy jumped back, an ugly-chibi-in-pain expression on his face. "It burns, it burns," he whimpered. "It burns!"
"You're just a wimp, Vermy," Quarter replied maliciously. "I'll get 'im."
The fight soon descended to the ground as each of Quarter's blows was easily blocked by Krillin's forearms. The brawl was stunning, but Vermy was the only one watching. Master was more focused on other things.
"The Vale…" she murmured, hands behind her back, as she gazed up at the door. "All six Keys are in place, with a little extra energy from…" she seemed to search through memories that weren't hers "… this Gohan character. Excellent. Maybe now…" She was almost afraid to say it… it was too good to be true…
Quarter started powering up a blast from both of his misshapen hands, then fired it at Krillin, who almost managed to dodge, but not quite, and it hit him directly in the side of his head. He fell to the ground like a rag doll, bounced a few times, and finally came to rest several yards away, eyes closed.
The orange monster was surprised. That hadn't been a very powerful blast. He walked over to where Krillin lay and was just about to kick him when suddenly the smaller one's foot, seemingly out of nowhere, swept into his ankles, knocking him flat on his back. Krillin then rolled over and bounded to his feet, held one hand in the air, prepared his trademark move, and threw it…
"DESTRUCTO DISK!"
The circle of energy flew closer… closer… closer… Quarter could never have dodged it. A second or two later, the ogre was lying on the floor, his top half about four feet away from his legs.
Vermy quivered as the disk swerved with a quick motion of the former monk's arm and headed toward him… "MOMMA! AH NEVER LIKED YO' COOKIN' ANYHOWS!!!" was the last thing he said before he ended up in a state very similar to Quarter's.
~*~*~
Good thing ogres not very smart! R+R!
(o^.^o) The Artist Formerly Known As Ed