The intense pressure threatened to crush Gohan. He could feel the air being pushed out of his lungs by invisible force on his chest. It was as though his torso and limbs turned into lead and now weighed him down, preventing any movement.
Bulma's state of the art, sleek, private jet was nothing more than a helpless bird in the sky spiraling down to its doom. As it plummeted through the earth`s atmosphere, random fragments of metal broke off from the wings, tail and body, creating a small tail of debris behind the disintegrating aircraft.
They had been hit by something ・something traveling at an extremely high speed. Gohan wasn't sure when it hit exactly. He only felt the plane jerk upward for a second, as if Bulma had intended for them to dodge something. The next thing he knew, they were weightless and then the pressure hit. It grew to enormous amounts, which he guessed could've only meant the downward spiral of the plane. It was as if the earth's gravitational pull had increased two fold and -
And why are you complaining? He asked himself. It's not like you've never trained in one of Bulma's gravity rooms before! Point taken. Gohan clenched every muscle in his body, and very slowly, managed to get up. It had been awhile since he'd trained, and his body now screamed bloody murder. Gathering his inner strength, Gohan cleared his mind, forcing out all distractions, despite his current situation. It took a lot of concentration to ignore the pressure, the horrible motion sickness that threatened to make him display his lunch.

*          *          *

Emperor Doale had never experience such intense pain in his life. Anything that could hurt did. And it wasn't the sharp pain like that of a knife, more like a dull hurting somewhere inside him, slowly driving him insane. That and the darkness. Where the hell am I?

Doale opened his eyes and saw a blurry mesh of vibrant colors. The pain in his ears came from a high pitched creature singing somewhere up in a tree near where he lay. Doale absorbed his surroundings and yes, he was on the floor, sprawled out belly first, just like an Emperor should. Chirp! The bird sang again, and was reduced to a pile of burnt, once violet and red feathers. For a disoriented person, Doale's aim with a laser gun was spectacular. He'd always kept one attached to his belt in case of an emergency. Though this time it may not have been an emergency, it was necessary nonetheless.

Doale waited a moment for his eyes to focus. He planted his palms firmly on the ground, feeling the itchy grass poke through his fingers, and pushed himself up, grunting with effort. His entire back cracked and a whole new wave of pain erupted from it.

Refusing to be defeated, the Emperor rose to his feet, his eyes scanning the rubble that surrounded him. Burning pieces of what used to be his airship littered the lush surroundings of a forest with their charred black remains.

So the ship is gone. We must've collided with something in midair. But what about the others…? His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden movement to his right, somewhere in a dense bush. The rustle was too deliberate to be that of the wind. Doale raised an open palm in the general direction of the noise and spoke in a low menacing voice. "You have three seconds to show yourself before I put an end to your pathetic existence."

A short, round man popped out of the bushes, sporting gray, balding hair and a thick goatee. He spoke quickly and apologetically, bumbling like a fool. "My sincerest apologies your highness," he said, "Thank goodness we've found you! We lost track of your ship shortly after entering the atmosphere and started a search party. As the head of security I am most proud to say my efforts have finally paid off…"

Doale watched the man work himself into a slobbering dog with a curious intensity. What does he mean head of security? I've never seen this fool in my life!

A sharp pain somewhere in Doale's chest exploded suddenly. He clutched his chest and was brought to his knees, wheezing. The short round man didn't react well and nearly hyperventilated to death himself. "Oh dear, this is terrible, just terrible, your highness! Help!" He began running around in circles, screaming at the top of his lungs, "HELP!! Somebody! Our Emporer is down!"

Doale couldn't figure out whether it was his condition causing him to go red with rage or this panicked dwarf in front of him. "Get back to the others," he ordered, "and tell them to start up a camp. I want them to send medics right away!"

"Y…yes sir!" The apparent head of security paused in his panic for a moment and saluted the Emperor before running off again and tripping over a fallen log, disappearing into the forest.

*          *          *

Gohan couldn't believe it. Whatever Bulma had pressed, it caused the parachute at the back of the plane to burst open, stopping it's nosedive into the ground. Instead, the plane was carried safely onto the earth, and all those inside escape with scrapes and bruises. Nothing more serious.

They had been helping each other get out of the rubble when they heard the screams for help. Gohan and Goten volunteered to go check out what it could've been.

It was a surprising discovery for Gohan and Goten and first. The screams for help sounded pretty urgent. But upon arriving at the scene of trouble, it was little more than a boy crouching on the ground, clutching his chest. Perhaps it was more serious that it appeared.

"Hey are you alright?" Gohan asked, approaching the boy, who looked back with dark, black eyes. The dark hair on his head sat like a straw mat, uncombed and messy. He looked about Goten's age, but the aura surrounding him was definitely different. This one hadn't even uttered a word yet and already he seemed like a cold and cruel person.  This boy was dressed in a strange form of dark armor, as if from some other world. An enormous, elaborate cape wrapped around his shoulders, supposedly signifying some form of royalty. Gohan wanted to snicker a little because the boy was practically swimming in that grand cape. Nonetheless, Gohan was still willing to extend a warm hand of assistance. But he couldn't help but wonder why someone like him would be doing in the middle of a forest.

Gohan stood with an open, extended hand towards the fallen boy, who crouched on the ground, clutching his chest in pain, and that was when the familiar feeling returned.

"Goken you're not trying hard enough!!" Gohan could hardly contain his anger and frustration. Laziness, that's what it is! How is the world ever going to rely on us when all you can do is sit there and complain about how much you hurt all the time?

"When you drag me out in the middle of the forest so damn early in the morning, how can you expect me to be energetic without any breakfast?!"

"When Piccolo trained me in the middle of the desert, do you think I had all of these necessities -"

"Stop living in the goddamn past, Gohan!" Goken shouted. The next thing Goken felt was a sharp palm to the face and a solid punch to the chest, knocking him backwards and onto the cold ground. Goken ignored the pain that spread from his back and his head, but sat up and looked at his brother instead, seeing the cold look on Gohan's face.

Gohan, feeling the stab of guilt, extended his hand down to his fallen brother and said, "Come on Goken. That's enough for today. Let's go home."

The reluctance to accept his helping hand on Goken's face was once again reflected in the expression this boy bore. "I'm sorry," Gohan said out of habit. He wasn't even sure what he was apologizing for. Maybe for what he did to Goken? After all, this kid resembled his late brother quite a bit. The black hair, the age, the stubbornness … it was as if Gohan were looking at Goken in the past.

*          *          *

"I'm fine," Doale said. The look on the older boys face seemed to suggest he'd just been snapped out of a stupor. "Look I dunno who you are, but thanks for trying to help me." Doale felt his heart start to pound in fear. He knew his men would be sending medics for him soon. And if they discovered this stranger near their Emperor, his life and the life of his assistant would definitely be in jeopardy. The urgency raised in Doale's voice.  "Get out of here now! I'll be alright just go!"

The two good Samaritans hurried off, completely confused by Doales reaction. But Doale knew why he had to act the way he did. It was to save two innocent lives –

As if by itself, Doale's right hand brought itself up and slapped him across the face. What the hell am I thinking?? He wondered. Why did I feel the need to save innocent lives? I'm the emperor of an evil empire for god sakes! Maybe the fact that they seemed rather familiar had something to do with it. WHAT? Since when did they seem familiar? But now that I think about it … maybe they did …oh god I hit myself pretty hard there.