Chapter Four
Chichi, Bulma, and Videl just stood and watched. No matter how many meals they had with these sayians, the site of the feeding frenzy in front of them never became routine. Goku was racking up rice bowls as if they were candy wrappers, and Vegita was nearly finishing off the chicken. Gohan hoarded the soup and slurped every bowl as if it were the leftover milk after the cereal was gone.
Dishes were now leaning towers as the sayians continued their feast. Goten and Trunks were no slouches either. They had reached the dinner table before anyone else and were now on their fiftieth bowl of rice. Pan didn't eat nearly as much, as was now watching the men inhale their food.
"You could lose a hand in there," said Videl.
"Does Gohan eat like this back home?" Bulma asked the young wife.
"Oh no," Videl answered. "I told him we have to set a good example for Pan to follow, so he always has good manners at the dinner table. But I guess now that he's back with the guys, it's ok to pig out like he used to."
Chichi stood back and smiled. This was how a family should be. Everyone was together, and no one was fighting. All she heard was the beautiful sound of everyone enjoying her cooking.
"More rice anyone?" Chichi asked as she carried a gargantuan punch bowl full of steaming rice.
"Oh yeah!" shouted Goku with a mouth full of mashed potatoes.
"Kakarrot," said Vegita after he swallowed the rest of his chicken. "Don't eat it all, I want some more too."
"No problem," Goku returned.
Two minutes later, the punch bowl was empty, and the three sayians were leaning back in their chairs. Goku rubbed his stomach and sighed happily.
"Now that's my kind of meal," he said.
"Yeah," Gohan added. "I wish I could eat this good everyday."
Videl's face reddened.
"What was that?" she shouted.
"Oh," Gohan said when he realized what he just said. "Uh…I mean I can't believe I get to eat like I do everyday."
"Uh huh," Videl said dryly.
Goku and Vegita couldn't help but laugh at Gohan. He was experiencing what men everywhere experience – the impossible act of pleasing a woman. Both of the older sayians had plenty of experience, seeing as how they were very different than the women they married. Still, if one thing could be said about Goku and Vegita, it was that they were true to their wives, never once considering the thought of anyone else. Gohan felt the same way, always looking at Videl with admiration.
But Gohan was more human-natured than sayian. He wasn't a lover of fighting, but of learning and teaching. That was why he took the job at the university. He wanted to teach those who didn't fight how to think, and how to make a difference by using their minds. He'd leave the martial arts teaching to his father.
A light suddenly appeared from somewhere in front of the creature. A small hole had appeared in the border between the dark dimension and the physical universe. Slowly, the fabric began to rip, both upwards and down. As the tear grew in size, it cast a dim glaze on the figure sleeping. Two huge wings were wrapped tightly around it, keeping in its body heat and casting an obscure shadow on its hidden visage. The leathery flaps between each claw were wrinkled and folded, begging the bony hands of the wings to spread. But the being remained asleep, its time not yet at hand.
"Hey Goku," Bulma said from the sink as she helped Chichi and Videl do the dishes. "Where's Ubuu?"
Goku was with Vegita and Gohan outside. He looked back through the window of the cottage.
"He's with his parents back in his village," Goku told her. "They were having some trouble with the local dinosaurs bothering the farmers. Ubuu's going out there to drive them into the next valley."
"Oh," Bulma said. "Ok."
Bulma still found statements like that unbelievable. When she first met Goku, those large lizards were downright frightening and a big deal to handle. Now, they were like little puppies that were misbehaving. The sayians had no trouble at all in handling the beasts.
Now if only they could handle their appetites…
The rip was growing, stretching ten feet tall and spreading three feet apart. But the creature that slept behind it was still motionless, a vague figure in the darkness of nothing. But now the light coming from the universe was shining more brightly, illuminating the two large wings like they were solar panels. A long, red tail hung below the beast, also still and lifeless.
Piccolo finally finished his training for the day. Feeling mentally and physically exhausted, he decided to find head for god's house, the place of dwelling for the earth's guardian. There, he'd find rest, and quench his thirst. Slowly he stood to his feet. The ground all around his was singed from his energy, leaving a ring of devastation around him. But the ground was soon erupted by the green alien's take off. He headed towards the setting sun, leaving behind him a trailing streak of displaced air.
King Kai couldn't believe how much food he was eating, and how disgustingly fast he was eating it. He'd picked up too many bad habits when he was with Goku and his friends. Bowls upon bowls of what used to be rice were piling up in front of him. The little fast food stand he had decided to stop at was going to go run out of food if he kept eating like this. Reluctantly, King Kai made himself feel full. He paid the cook and headed for the Grand Kai's palace, only two miles away. He could just transport himself there, but he felt guilty for eating that much food. This way, he could work off those annoying calories.
The rip that opened the doorway between the two dimensions stopped growing. It was now twenty feet high, and fifteen feet from side to side. Past the frayed edges of the eternal fabric, the light from distant stars shined into the blackness of the dark realm beyond. The creature was fully exposed to the light, and, though the light was very dim, its body temperature was beginning to rise. His heartbeat came at closer intervals now, and the black blood flowed faster through his thick veins. His body was reviving.
"So, Goku," said Vegita. "Just how much stronger have you gotten since we last met?"
The two sayians were still standing outside. The night air was refreshing to them, and since Gohan had gone back inside to help Videl with the dishes, it was good for privacy. Goku knew Vegita must have wanted to know about his progress, and he wanted to know how Vegita was doing.
"I can feel my power level rising little by little," Goku told him. "But I'm not significantly stronger yet than when I was after Boo was destroyed."
"Ha," said Vegita. "Then I'm catching up to you. You'd better watch out, Kakarot."
"But my definition of 'significantly' is different from yours, Vegita," said Goku with a smile.
To Goku's surprise, Vegita was smiling back.
"It's not like it matters anyway," said Vegita. "Even if I could catch up to you, you have the ability to go super sayian 3."
"But not at a price, Vegita," Goku said. "Remember, I can only stay in that form for a little while before I run out of energy and go back to normal."
"It only takes a little while for you to finish your opponent in that stage anyway," said Vegita. "So it really doesn't matter."
In the shadow behind the being's wings, there was movement. Suddenly a bright red light illuminated the pitch, glazing the wings in luminescent crimson. Two red eyes were glowing, their slitted pupils narrowing to focus. A rumbling vibration rang through the creature's body. Its age-old muscles and tendons began to pull and contract, freeing the enormous limbs of the beast from their locked positions. As the muscles tightened, the two huge wings began to spread apart. Like curtains in a theater, the clawed wings slowly were pulled away, revealing a terrifying sight.
King Kai stopped walking. He felt a strange disturbance everywhere around him. But he couldn't pinpoint anything. The feeling was so obscure that he thought it even might just be the rice he ate at that stand. He'd have to remember never to stop at those small shacks because you never know where they get their rice, even up here in heaven.
The wings stretched wide, spanning almost thirty feet from tip to tip. The rubbery skin that stretched between each of the wing's talons were colored in a faint red hue that grew lighter as it was stretched. The being himself was nearly ten feet tall, its huge arms and legs packed with muscle. Red, organic armor guarded its limbs and chest. Two long horns spiked from the top of its forehead, reaching high into the air. More spikes ran from out of its back, following the backbone down to its waist. The tail was ten feet long, tight with muscle.
He was awakened by a thousand years of instinct, adrenaline finally returning the thrill of being alive again. His eternal purpose filled his thoughts. The universe was an organism by itself, always clean and pure. But living creatures were not supposed to be a part of it. They were a disease, a virus to the sterility of the galaxies.
This was why he was created. Formed in the bowls of hell by flame and brimstone, he was the purifier. His purpose was clear to him. Life must end.
The being of darkness approached the rip in time and space. He saw the infected universe that lay beyond the borders of the dark realm. His red eyes narrowed in disgust, sickened by the sight he saw. Even outside that dimension, he could feel the life forces of the contaminants living there.
With energy summoned from sinister determination, the creature moved forward. He closed his wings, tightening his massive frame to allow him to breach the mystic barrier. His head passed through the riff.
King Kai had reached the base of the stairs that led to the front doors of the Grand Kai's palace. That was where he was when he felt the dark presence.
"%&@#," Kai growled to himself.
He couldn't believe what he was sensing. A huge force of pure evil was entering the universe, darkening everything. His senses were overwhelmed, as his antennae on the top of his had were immediately singed. The signal of the presence was too intense. He couldn't concentrate.
From behind him, the Grand Kai had emerged from his palace and now stood on the top of the stairs. His expression told everything he was feeling. Great drops of sweat were rolling down his face, and his eyes were marred with sadness. This couldn't be happening. It couldn't be real.
Goku laughed as Vegita spit out his coffee. The sayian prince never once had tasted the drink before, but it was obvious that he hated it after just one sip. Bulma frowned, taking the mug away from her husband's hands and giving him back his beer. The sayain guzzled down the cold drink, trying to rid his mouth of the disgusting aftertaste of the sludge earthlings called coffee.
Goku suddenly stopped laughing. He stood paralyzed, his expressing changing from amusement to terror. Vegita noticed his friend's stare but didn't understand what had come over him – then he did. Vegita felt it too. It was too far away to pinpoint, but there was a dark presence out there. It was intense, making it hard to concentrate on exactly what it was, but it was evil…pure evil. The strength of it was indescribable, far outweighing both of the sayian's auras.
Gohan ran outside, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists.
"What the," he shouted.
But he found no answer to the question he half-asked. The others couldn't say anything. Truth was they didn't know what to make of it. The aura that had hit them was incredible, unbelievable in power.
Piccolo swore several times when the presence hit him. It was too evil for his mind to comprehend. The intensity of the darkness he was feeling was too much. His senses were being overwhelmed.
Everyone with a capable fighting level felt the presence. Though some only felt a subconscious tug, anyone with high power levels were hit big. Every one of the Z Fighters felt the dark aura enter the universe. Krillin cringed at Kame's house. Tien and Chouzu stood in disbelief. Yamacha was on a crosswalk in the middle of Capital City when he felt it, making dozens of angry commuters honk at the dazed man standing in their way. Even Mr. Satan felt it, though only slightly, passing it off as indigestion.
Chichi, Bulma, and Videl just stood and watched. No matter how many meals they had with these sayians, the site of the feeding frenzy in front of them never became routine. Goku was racking up rice bowls as if they were candy wrappers, and Vegita was nearly finishing off the chicken. Gohan hoarded the soup and slurped every bowl as if it were the leftover milk after the cereal was gone.
Dishes were now leaning towers as the sayians continued their feast. Goten and Trunks were no slouches either. They had reached the dinner table before anyone else and were now on their fiftieth bowl of rice. Pan didn't eat nearly as much, as was now watching the men inhale their food.
"You could lose a hand in there," said Videl.
"Does Gohan eat like this back home?" Bulma asked the young wife.
"Oh no," Videl answered. "I told him we have to set a good example for Pan to follow, so he always has good manners at the dinner table. But I guess now that he's back with the guys, it's ok to pig out like he used to."
Chichi stood back and smiled. This was how a family should be. Everyone was together, and no one was fighting. All she heard was the beautiful sound of everyone enjoying her cooking.
"More rice anyone?" Chichi asked as she carried a gargantuan punch bowl full of steaming rice.
"Oh yeah!" shouted Goku with a mouth full of mashed potatoes.
"Kakarrot," said Vegita after he swallowed the rest of his chicken. "Don't eat it all, I want some more too."
"No problem," Goku returned.
Two minutes later, the punch bowl was empty, and the three sayians were leaning back in their chairs. Goku rubbed his stomach and sighed happily.
"Now that's my kind of meal," he said.
"Yeah," Gohan added. "I wish I could eat this good everyday."
Videl's face reddened.
"What was that?" she shouted.
"Oh," Gohan said when he realized what he just said. "Uh…I mean I can't believe I get to eat like I do everyday."
"Uh huh," Videl said dryly.
Goku and Vegita couldn't help but laugh at Gohan. He was experiencing what men everywhere experience – the impossible act of pleasing a woman. Both of the older sayians had plenty of experience, seeing as how they were very different than the women they married. Still, if one thing could be said about Goku and Vegita, it was that they were true to their wives, never once considering the thought of anyone else. Gohan felt the same way, always looking at Videl with admiration.
But Gohan was more human-natured than sayian. He wasn't a lover of fighting, but of learning and teaching. That was why he took the job at the university. He wanted to teach those who didn't fight how to think, and how to make a difference by using their minds. He'd leave the martial arts teaching to his father.
A light suddenly appeared from somewhere in front of the creature. A small hole had appeared in the border between the dark dimension and the physical universe. Slowly, the fabric began to rip, both upwards and down. As the tear grew in size, it cast a dim glaze on the figure sleeping. Two huge wings were wrapped tightly around it, keeping in its body heat and casting an obscure shadow on its hidden visage. The leathery flaps between each claw were wrinkled and folded, begging the bony hands of the wings to spread. But the being remained asleep, its time not yet at hand.
"Hey Goku," Bulma said from the sink as she helped Chichi and Videl do the dishes. "Where's Ubuu?"
Goku was with Vegita and Gohan outside. He looked back through the window of the cottage.
"He's with his parents back in his village," Goku told her. "They were having some trouble with the local dinosaurs bothering the farmers. Ubuu's going out there to drive them into the next valley."
"Oh," Bulma said. "Ok."
Bulma still found statements like that unbelievable. When she first met Goku, those large lizards were downright frightening and a big deal to handle. Now, they were like little puppies that were misbehaving. The sayians had no trouble at all in handling the beasts.
Now if only they could handle their appetites…
The rip was growing, stretching ten feet tall and spreading three feet apart. But the creature that slept behind it was still motionless, a vague figure in the darkness of nothing. But now the light coming from the universe was shining more brightly, illuminating the two large wings like they were solar panels. A long, red tail hung below the beast, also still and lifeless.
Piccolo finally finished his training for the day. Feeling mentally and physically exhausted, he decided to find head for god's house, the place of dwelling for the earth's guardian. There, he'd find rest, and quench his thirst. Slowly he stood to his feet. The ground all around his was singed from his energy, leaving a ring of devastation around him. But the ground was soon erupted by the green alien's take off. He headed towards the setting sun, leaving behind him a trailing streak of displaced air.
King Kai couldn't believe how much food he was eating, and how disgustingly fast he was eating it. He'd picked up too many bad habits when he was with Goku and his friends. Bowls upon bowls of what used to be rice were piling up in front of him. The little fast food stand he had decided to stop at was going to go run out of food if he kept eating like this. Reluctantly, King Kai made himself feel full. He paid the cook and headed for the Grand Kai's palace, only two miles away. He could just transport himself there, but he felt guilty for eating that much food. This way, he could work off those annoying calories.
The rip that opened the doorway between the two dimensions stopped growing. It was now twenty feet high, and fifteen feet from side to side. Past the frayed edges of the eternal fabric, the light from distant stars shined into the blackness of the dark realm beyond. The creature was fully exposed to the light, and, though the light was very dim, its body temperature was beginning to rise. His heartbeat came at closer intervals now, and the black blood flowed faster through his thick veins. His body was reviving.
"So, Goku," said Vegita. "Just how much stronger have you gotten since we last met?"
The two sayians were still standing outside. The night air was refreshing to them, and since Gohan had gone back inside to help Videl with the dishes, it was good for privacy. Goku knew Vegita must have wanted to know about his progress, and he wanted to know how Vegita was doing.
"I can feel my power level rising little by little," Goku told him. "But I'm not significantly stronger yet than when I was after Boo was destroyed."
"Ha," said Vegita. "Then I'm catching up to you. You'd better watch out, Kakarot."
"But my definition of 'significantly' is different from yours, Vegita," said Goku with a smile.
To Goku's surprise, Vegita was smiling back.
"It's not like it matters anyway," said Vegita. "Even if I could catch up to you, you have the ability to go super sayian 3."
"But not at a price, Vegita," Goku said. "Remember, I can only stay in that form for a little while before I run out of energy and go back to normal."
"It only takes a little while for you to finish your opponent in that stage anyway," said Vegita. "So it really doesn't matter."
In the shadow behind the being's wings, there was movement. Suddenly a bright red light illuminated the pitch, glazing the wings in luminescent crimson. Two red eyes were glowing, their slitted pupils narrowing to focus. A rumbling vibration rang through the creature's body. Its age-old muscles and tendons began to pull and contract, freeing the enormous limbs of the beast from their locked positions. As the muscles tightened, the two huge wings began to spread apart. Like curtains in a theater, the clawed wings slowly were pulled away, revealing a terrifying sight.
King Kai stopped walking. He felt a strange disturbance everywhere around him. But he couldn't pinpoint anything. The feeling was so obscure that he thought it even might just be the rice he ate at that stand. He'd have to remember never to stop at those small shacks because you never know where they get their rice, even up here in heaven.
The wings stretched wide, spanning almost thirty feet from tip to tip. The rubbery skin that stretched between each of the wing's talons were colored in a faint red hue that grew lighter as it was stretched. The being himself was nearly ten feet tall, its huge arms and legs packed with muscle. Red, organic armor guarded its limbs and chest. Two long horns spiked from the top of its forehead, reaching high into the air. More spikes ran from out of its back, following the backbone down to its waist. The tail was ten feet long, tight with muscle.
He was awakened by a thousand years of instinct, adrenaline finally returning the thrill of being alive again. His eternal purpose filled his thoughts. The universe was an organism by itself, always clean and pure. But living creatures were not supposed to be a part of it. They were a disease, a virus to the sterility of the galaxies.
This was why he was created. Formed in the bowls of hell by flame and brimstone, he was the purifier. His purpose was clear to him. Life must end.
The being of darkness approached the rip in time and space. He saw the infected universe that lay beyond the borders of the dark realm. His red eyes narrowed in disgust, sickened by the sight he saw. Even outside that dimension, he could feel the life forces of the contaminants living there.
With energy summoned from sinister determination, the creature moved forward. He closed his wings, tightening his massive frame to allow him to breach the mystic barrier. His head passed through the riff.
King Kai had reached the base of the stairs that led to the front doors of the Grand Kai's palace. That was where he was when he felt the dark presence.
"%&@#," Kai growled to himself.
He couldn't believe what he was sensing. A huge force of pure evil was entering the universe, darkening everything. His senses were overwhelmed, as his antennae on the top of his had were immediately singed. The signal of the presence was too intense. He couldn't concentrate.
From behind him, the Grand Kai had emerged from his palace and now stood on the top of the stairs. His expression told everything he was feeling. Great drops of sweat were rolling down his face, and his eyes were marred with sadness. This couldn't be happening. It couldn't be real.
Goku laughed as Vegita spit out his coffee. The sayian prince never once had tasted the drink before, but it was obvious that he hated it after just one sip. Bulma frowned, taking the mug away from her husband's hands and giving him back his beer. The sayain guzzled down the cold drink, trying to rid his mouth of the disgusting aftertaste of the sludge earthlings called coffee.
Goku suddenly stopped laughing. He stood paralyzed, his expressing changing from amusement to terror. Vegita noticed his friend's stare but didn't understand what had come over him – then he did. Vegita felt it too. It was too far away to pinpoint, but there was a dark presence out there. It was intense, making it hard to concentrate on exactly what it was, but it was evil…pure evil. The strength of it was indescribable, far outweighing both of the sayian's auras.
Gohan ran outside, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists.
"What the," he shouted.
But he found no answer to the question he half-asked. The others couldn't say anything. Truth was they didn't know what to make of it. The aura that had hit them was incredible, unbelievable in power.
Piccolo swore several times when the presence hit him. It was too evil for his mind to comprehend. The intensity of the darkness he was feeling was too much. His senses were being overwhelmed.
Everyone with a capable fighting level felt the presence. Though some only felt a subconscious tug, anyone with high power levels were hit big. Every one of the Z Fighters felt the dark aura enter the universe. Krillin cringed at Kame's house. Tien and Chouzu stood in disbelief. Yamacha was on a crosswalk in the middle of Capital City when he felt it, making dozens of angry commuters honk at the dazed man standing in their way. Even Mr. Satan felt it, though only slightly, passing it off as indigestion.