Dragon Ball Next Generation
Grey Saga
Part 1: The Atrocity
Chapter 2
The pain was horrible. With every step, pain shot through my arm. It was so bad I nearly fainted every time I felt it, but I endured. I just ran, my only goal was to escape from that place. The reality of what I had done, what had happened, had not really sunk in. I think that I ran because I really believed that if I ran fast enough, I could escape the pain.
I ran though alleys, and through crowded streets. People looked at, some turned their heads, but no one even offered to help me. There I was, a terrified boy, covered in blood, and no one even tried to stop me from running. Just goes to show you how our society has de-generated over the years.
I ran toward the edge of the city, where the "good" and the "bad" side of Satan City met. I ran into an alleyway and, between a dumpster and some discarded cardboard boxes, I collapsed from exhaustion. My legs burned, and I became aware that they were actually shaking, even though I was covered by sweat. My heart seemed to be beating a hundred times per second, and I was gasping for air. I inspected my shoulder, and saw that the dried blood had began to clot, along with my shirt. And then fell asleep sitting there in the alley.
***
I awoke to find the sky beginning to turn a pinkish-orange. I didn't know how long I had been asleep, but I felt a little better. My shoulder was now a dull throb. I looked over it, and saw another hole one that side too. The bullet had passed through my shoulder. I guess I was lucky. I tried to move my arm, but as soon as I used it, pain shot up and down, and the throb in my shoulder turned into fire.
I sat there another moment, waiting for the pain to subside. Then, slowly, I lifted myself up using my right arm. As I stood up, I realized my right hand was also hurting. I looked at my hand and saw most of the blood had dried and chipped away. I saw that my knuckles and parts of my fingers were covered with bruises.
*Well, I did break a guy's skull* I thought. That's when everything came rushing back to me, in a flood of memories. Ann was dead, I had killed a man, probably crippled the other. I felt dizzy, and grasped a trashcan for support, ignoring the pain in my hand.
I felt the taste of bile in my mouth. The sudden rush of vomit was too hard to control, and I barely had time to nock the lid of the trashcan off before I started to throw up. When there was no more left in my stomach, I began to dry-heave into the can.
I stood there a moment, as all of it sunk in, wondering what I was going to do. What was I supposed to do? I had killed someone, but in self-defense, in rage. in cold blood. Would I be sent to jail? Would I be labeled as a freak and shunned from society? I didn't know.
But I realized that I had to get help. I probably lost a lot of blood, and the wound could get infected. But, if I went to a hospital, would they call the police? I was so scared of going to jail, but the pain made me move.
As I walked out of the alley, my legs began to shake, and I could barely hold myself up. I was weaker then I thought. Fear crept up my spine like ice. What if I don't get help? What if I die here on the street?
I stumbled out of the alley, searching for someone, anyone. The street was empty and there were few lights on. I stumbled to the first door I found. It was a pawnshop. I banged on the door as hard as I could, and looked in the window. There came no answer. I moved on to the next building. I pounded on a door, waited, went to the next, and continued the process. I could feel myself weaken. I was afraid I would faint on the sidewalk and never wake up.
I turned the corner, and saw someone leaning next to a car. I hobbled over to him. He was wearing tennis shoes, baggy jeans and a long overcoat. He had a few days stubble on his face, and his black hair dropped down to his shoulder. Weakly, I came to him. He saw me and immediately backed away, looking at me like I was the most disgusting thing he had ever seen.
"Please, help me." I said, my voice quivering from fear and exhaustion.
"Hey, your that kid, from the orphanage." He said, pointing from me. I nodded weakly. He smirked, and began to giggle.
"Well hop in," he said as he opened the passenger door to the car, "We'll get you some help."
"No. hospital." I managed to stutter. His grin widened.
"Don't worry," he said, "I wouldn't be caught dead in one of those places." Without saying anything else, I climbed into car, and collapsed on the seat. I should have known something was wrong, but I had lost so much blood that I wasn't thinking strait. He went to the driver's side, slid in, and turned it on. He slammed on the gas, and the car jumped onto the road.
"I'm taking you to my place." He said. I nodded again, and then I slipped into darkness.
*** "Hey, kid, wake up." I felt a finger poking me in the ribs. I opened my eyes slowly, realizing I was still the guy's car. I saw that the sky was now completely dark now, or at least as dark as it could get in the city. I also saw that we were on the edge of Satan City. Beyond the half-ruined buildings stood mountains, and a forest of new trees. The city had recently planted almost an entire forest around the city's borders to up its appeal.
"Alright kid, lets go." Said the guy next to me. I saw him open the door and jump out of the car. I sat there for another moment, and then willed myself to get out. As I walked around the car the guy headed for a building next to us. It was a two-story rundown warehouse. Most of the windows were boarded up and the cargo bays on the side of the building had been beat in. It also could have used a paint job. It looked like it should have been condemned, but like I said, I wasn't thinking strait, and so I headed into the building.
As I entered, I saw that most of the building was just one big room. At my right, I saw a whole pile of cardboard boxes, stacked almost to the two- story level. To my left were about ten other guys watching a TV with bunny ears. They were cheering, so I assumed they were watching some kind of sport.
The guy kept on walking strait ahead. I followed him to the opposite side of the building. There were a few small cubicle-like rooms that looked like they used to be offices. The guy walked into the one on the far right, and motioned me to hurry up.
As I entered the room, I saw that there was only a small cot and a table in the room. The guy motioned for me to lie on the cot. I flopped on it and sighed gratefully, happy to finally be able to rest.
"The names Andy, you?" the guy said, while fishing for something in his coat pocket.
"I'm Celic." I said.
"Celic? What kind of a name is that?" Andy asked. I shrugged.
"I dunno, that's just the name in they gave me in the orphanage." I said.
"I kind of like it." Andy said. Then he pulled something out of his coat pocket, and then threw the coat to me.
"Here," he said, "your probably cold."
"Thanks." I said as I wrapped the coat around me.
Andy then slapped a plastic baggie on the table. He opened it up and poured out some white powder. Then he produced a small straw and placed one end of it next to the powder. He shoved the other end of the straw into his nostril and began to inhale deeply, moving the straw through the pile of powder. I saw him doing this, realizing that he was taking drugs, but I was too tired to care. Besides, it wasn't any of my business what he wanted to do; I had just met the guy. Then he looked over to me, his eyes open wide and a goofy grin on his face. He motioned to me with the straw.
"No thanks." I said.
"You sure? This stuff's the shit, man." He said, his voice slurred. I just shook my head. He shrugged and turned his attention back to the white powder.
"Yo, Andy, where's the money man?" I heard from outside the door. Andy and I both turned our heads toward the open door. A tall guy entered, and he looked pretty pissed. He wore faded jeans, and a T-shirt with some heavy metal band on the front. He was tan, completely bald, and had a scowl on his face.
"So, where's the money?" he asked again. Andy began to giggle.
"Don't tell me, you used up the shit before you could sell it, right?" the tall guy asked. Andy snickered and nodded.
"Damn it! How the hell are we supposed to pay for the shit if you keep using it!" the guy yelled. Then he looked and me. "And who the hell is this?!" What? Sell the drugs? Then it hit me, I was a drug house! I started to sweat.
"Hey, calm down Xavier, don't worry." Andy said as he shakily got up, stumbled toward Xavier, and clasped his hand on his shoulder. "I've got a plan." He stated, looking extremely proud."
"Yeah, what's that?" Xavier demanded.
"I say we go and sell all our stuff, then get money from them." He said, now almost unable to stand up.
"Damn it! We already do that, you stupid fuck! And maybe if you quit getting high every time you go out, maybe we'd sell some shit!" Xavier was now in a rage. "We even tried to rob a bank, but you know how that turned out!" He yelled, now in Andy's face. *Oh no!* I thought. *What if they find out it was me!*
"Hey, remember what Cortez did to the last guy who couldn't pay?" Andy said, laughing so hard that he fell on the floor. Xavier's eyes got wide, and his hand moved toward his crotch.
"Oh, yeah, about the bank robbery," Andy said, pointing at me, "this guy's the one from the orphanage, and I brought him here 'cause he knows kids from the orphanage, and I thought that he could sell the stuff to the kids and the orphanage." Andy had a triumphant look on his face. I tried to stifle a gasp of horror.
"WHAT! You brought that kid here!" Xavier screamed, his veins almost literally popping out of his neck. He looked at me with a gaze full of hate and fury. "You little shit! Do you know what you did to me!?" Then he sucked in his breath, sighed, and seemed to calm down a little. "Maybe you don't. Well, how 'bout I show you." With that, he reached behind his back and produced a gun. He pointed it at me and pulled back the hammer. I shut my eyes and held my breath.
"THIS IS THE POLICE, WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED, DROP YOUR ARMS AND COME OUT PEACFULLY" I heard, the voice seeming to come from the walls. In the background, I heard gunfire.
"Shit!" Xavier gasped. He turned his gaze toward Andy. "You were so high, you led the cops here!" he screamed. Andy began to laugh hysterically. Screaming in fury, Xavier turned the gun on Andy and pulled the trigger. Andy stopped laughing as blood from the hole in his stomach began to stain his shirt. His eyes went blank and his head rolled to the side. Xavier pulled the hammer back again, and turned toward me.
CRASH!
A canister flew through threw the window and landed beside one of the legs of the table. Xavier and I stared at it for a moment, and then it hissed and smoke began to seep out of it. Xavier yelled and ran from the room. Coughing, I jumped out of the cot, wrapped the overcoat around me, and ran out of the room. I was met with the site of a line of people, all with guns, firing at a line of police in full SWAT gear, who were advancing towards us.
I didn't want to get picked up by the police. What if they thought I was part of this!? I looked for a place to hide. I saw the huge stacks of boxes along the opposite side of the building, and ran for it.
As I leaped behind a pile of boxes, I landed on someone, who responded with a frightened yelp. Quickly, I rolled off the person, and crouched behind a box. Then I saw the person I landed on was Xavier.
"You!" he seethed, hatred dripping from the word. He smiled and pointed his gun at me. Behind him, I saw police running towards us. I jumped up and ran. BAM! Xavier missed, and began to run after me. I dove over a line of boxes, and saw Xavier go the opposite way. He stood up, and began to fire shot after shot at the advancing police. I covered my ears as the police retaliated. Bullets slammed into him, creating seemingly hundreds of holes. He fell backwards with a thud, the gun slipped out of his hand and landed next to him.
I turned, still covering my ears. I saw that the cargo bay doors were open. I jumped up and ran blindly, praying I wouldn't get shot down. I reached the doors and leaped out, the sounds of gunshots still ringing in my ears. I was afraid I would go deaf.
I found myself running, again. This time, I was running on the border of the city. One side, a poor and rundown city, the other a young forest. Interesting, how it seemed to work, it was such a strange contrast. I saw a fire, with people huddling around it. I ran up to them. As I came within a few feet of them, I saw they were extremely poor, wearing only rags, dirt covering them, the fire was actually inside a old, metallic thrash can. I then stumbled, fell, and collapsed, my world going black.
Chapter 2
The pain was horrible. With every step, pain shot through my arm. It was so bad I nearly fainted every time I felt it, but I endured. I just ran, my only goal was to escape from that place. The reality of what I had done, what had happened, had not really sunk in. I think that I ran because I really believed that if I ran fast enough, I could escape the pain.
I ran though alleys, and through crowded streets. People looked at, some turned their heads, but no one even offered to help me. There I was, a terrified boy, covered in blood, and no one even tried to stop me from running. Just goes to show you how our society has de-generated over the years.
I ran toward the edge of the city, where the "good" and the "bad" side of Satan City met. I ran into an alleyway and, between a dumpster and some discarded cardboard boxes, I collapsed from exhaustion. My legs burned, and I became aware that they were actually shaking, even though I was covered by sweat. My heart seemed to be beating a hundred times per second, and I was gasping for air. I inspected my shoulder, and saw that the dried blood had began to clot, along with my shirt. And then fell asleep sitting there in the alley.
***
I awoke to find the sky beginning to turn a pinkish-orange. I didn't know how long I had been asleep, but I felt a little better. My shoulder was now a dull throb. I looked over it, and saw another hole one that side too. The bullet had passed through my shoulder. I guess I was lucky. I tried to move my arm, but as soon as I used it, pain shot up and down, and the throb in my shoulder turned into fire.
I sat there another moment, waiting for the pain to subside. Then, slowly, I lifted myself up using my right arm. As I stood up, I realized my right hand was also hurting. I looked at my hand and saw most of the blood had dried and chipped away. I saw that my knuckles and parts of my fingers were covered with bruises.
*Well, I did break a guy's skull* I thought. That's when everything came rushing back to me, in a flood of memories. Ann was dead, I had killed a man, probably crippled the other. I felt dizzy, and grasped a trashcan for support, ignoring the pain in my hand.
I felt the taste of bile in my mouth. The sudden rush of vomit was too hard to control, and I barely had time to nock the lid of the trashcan off before I started to throw up. When there was no more left in my stomach, I began to dry-heave into the can.
I stood there a moment, as all of it sunk in, wondering what I was going to do. What was I supposed to do? I had killed someone, but in self-defense, in rage. in cold blood. Would I be sent to jail? Would I be labeled as a freak and shunned from society? I didn't know.
But I realized that I had to get help. I probably lost a lot of blood, and the wound could get infected. But, if I went to a hospital, would they call the police? I was so scared of going to jail, but the pain made me move.
As I walked out of the alley, my legs began to shake, and I could barely hold myself up. I was weaker then I thought. Fear crept up my spine like ice. What if I don't get help? What if I die here on the street?
I stumbled out of the alley, searching for someone, anyone. The street was empty and there were few lights on. I stumbled to the first door I found. It was a pawnshop. I banged on the door as hard as I could, and looked in the window. There came no answer. I moved on to the next building. I pounded on a door, waited, went to the next, and continued the process. I could feel myself weaken. I was afraid I would faint on the sidewalk and never wake up.
I turned the corner, and saw someone leaning next to a car. I hobbled over to him. He was wearing tennis shoes, baggy jeans and a long overcoat. He had a few days stubble on his face, and his black hair dropped down to his shoulder. Weakly, I came to him. He saw me and immediately backed away, looking at me like I was the most disgusting thing he had ever seen.
"Please, help me." I said, my voice quivering from fear and exhaustion.
"Hey, your that kid, from the orphanage." He said, pointing from me. I nodded weakly. He smirked, and began to giggle.
"Well hop in," he said as he opened the passenger door to the car, "We'll get you some help."
"No. hospital." I managed to stutter. His grin widened.
"Don't worry," he said, "I wouldn't be caught dead in one of those places." Without saying anything else, I climbed into car, and collapsed on the seat. I should have known something was wrong, but I had lost so much blood that I wasn't thinking strait. He went to the driver's side, slid in, and turned it on. He slammed on the gas, and the car jumped onto the road.
"I'm taking you to my place." He said. I nodded again, and then I slipped into darkness.
*** "Hey, kid, wake up." I felt a finger poking me in the ribs. I opened my eyes slowly, realizing I was still the guy's car. I saw that the sky was now completely dark now, or at least as dark as it could get in the city. I also saw that we were on the edge of Satan City. Beyond the half-ruined buildings stood mountains, and a forest of new trees. The city had recently planted almost an entire forest around the city's borders to up its appeal.
"Alright kid, lets go." Said the guy next to me. I saw him open the door and jump out of the car. I sat there for another moment, and then willed myself to get out. As I walked around the car the guy headed for a building next to us. It was a two-story rundown warehouse. Most of the windows were boarded up and the cargo bays on the side of the building had been beat in. It also could have used a paint job. It looked like it should have been condemned, but like I said, I wasn't thinking strait, and so I headed into the building.
As I entered, I saw that most of the building was just one big room. At my right, I saw a whole pile of cardboard boxes, stacked almost to the two- story level. To my left were about ten other guys watching a TV with bunny ears. They were cheering, so I assumed they were watching some kind of sport.
The guy kept on walking strait ahead. I followed him to the opposite side of the building. There were a few small cubicle-like rooms that looked like they used to be offices. The guy walked into the one on the far right, and motioned me to hurry up.
As I entered the room, I saw that there was only a small cot and a table in the room. The guy motioned for me to lie on the cot. I flopped on it and sighed gratefully, happy to finally be able to rest.
"The names Andy, you?" the guy said, while fishing for something in his coat pocket.
"I'm Celic." I said.
"Celic? What kind of a name is that?" Andy asked. I shrugged.
"I dunno, that's just the name in they gave me in the orphanage." I said.
"I kind of like it." Andy said. Then he pulled something out of his coat pocket, and then threw the coat to me.
"Here," he said, "your probably cold."
"Thanks." I said as I wrapped the coat around me.
Andy then slapped a plastic baggie on the table. He opened it up and poured out some white powder. Then he produced a small straw and placed one end of it next to the powder. He shoved the other end of the straw into his nostril and began to inhale deeply, moving the straw through the pile of powder. I saw him doing this, realizing that he was taking drugs, but I was too tired to care. Besides, it wasn't any of my business what he wanted to do; I had just met the guy. Then he looked over to me, his eyes open wide and a goofy grin on his face. He motioned to me with the straw.
"No thanks." I said.
"You sure? This stuff's the shit, man." He said, his voice slurred. I just shook my head. He shrugged and turned his attention back to the white powder.
"Yo, Andy, where's the money man?" I heard from outside the door. Andy and I both turned our heads toward the open door. A tall guy entered, and he looked pretty pissed. He wore faded jeans, and a T-shirt with some heavy metal band on the front. He was tan, completely bald, and had a scowl on his face.
"So, where's the money?" he asked again. Andy began to giggle.
"Don't tell me, you used up the shit before you could sell it, right?" the tall guy asked. Andy snickered and nodded.
"Damn it! How the hell are we supposed to pay for the shit if you keep using it!" the guy yelled. Then he looked and me. "And who the hell is this?!" What? Sell the drugs? Then it hit me, I was a drug house! I started to sweat.
"Hey, calm down Xavier, don't worry." Andy said as he shakily got up, stumbled toward Xavier, and clasped his hand on his shoulder. "I've got a plan." He stated, looking extremely proud."
"Yeah, what's that?" Xavier demanded.
"I say we go and sell all our stuff, then get money from them." He said, now almost unable to stand up.
"Damn it! We already do that, you stupid fuck! And maybe if you quit getting high every time you go out, maybe we'd sell some shit!" Xavier was now in a rage. "We even tried to rob a bank, but you know how that turned out!" He yelled, now in Andy's face. *Oh no!* I thought. *What if they find out it was me!*
"Hey, remember what Cortez did to the last guy who couldn't pay?" Andy said, laughing so hard that he fell on the floor. Xavier's eyes got wide, and his hand moved toward his crotch.
"Oh, yeah, about the bank robbery," Andy said, pointing at me, "this guy's the one from the orphanage, and I brought him here 'cause he knows kids from the orphanage, and I thought that he could sell the stuff to the kids and the orphanage." Andy had a triumphant look on his face. I tried to stifle a gasp of horror.
"WHAT! You brought that kid here!" Xavier screamed, his veins almost literally popping out of his neck. He looked at me with a gaze full of hate and fury. "You little shit! Do you know what you did to me!?" Then he sucked in his breath, sighed, and seemed to calm down a little. "Maybe you don't. Well, how 'bout I show you." With that, he reached behind his back and produced a gun. He pointed it at me and pulled back the hammer. I shut my eyes and held my breath.
"THIS IS THE POLICE, WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED, DROP YOUR ARMS AND COME OUT PEACFULLY" I heard, the voice seeming to come from the walls. In the background, I heard gunfire.
"Shit!" Xavier gasped. He turned his gaze toward Andy. "You were so high, you led the cops here!" he screamed. Andy began to laugh hysterically. Screaming in fury, Xavier turned the gun on Andy and pulled the trigger. Andy stopped laughing as blood from the hole in his stomach began to stain his shirt. His eyes went blank and his head rolled to the side. Xavier pulled the hammer back again, and turned toward me.
CRASH!
A canister flew through threw the window and landed beside one of the legs of the table. Xavier and I stared at it for a moment, and then it hissed and smoke began to seep out of it. Xavier yelled and ran from the room. Coughing, I jumped out of the cot, wrapped the overcoat around me, and ran out of the room. I was met with the site of a line of people, all with guns, firing at a line of police in full SWAT gear, who were advancing towards us.
I didn't want to get picked up by the police. What if they thought I was part of this!? I looked for a place to hide. I saw the huge stacks of boxes along the opposite side of the building, and ran for it.
As I leaped behind a pile of boxes, I landed on someone, who responded with a frightened yelp. Quickly, I rolled off the person, and crouched behind a box. Then I saw the person I landed on was Xavier.
"You!" he seethed, hatred dripping from the word. He smiled and pointed his gun at me. Behind him, I saw police running towards us. I jumped up and ran. BAM! Xavier missed, and began to run after me. I dove over a line of boxes, and saw Xavier go the opposite way. He stood up, and began to fire shot after shot at the advancing police. I covered my ears as the police retaliated. Bullets slammed into him, creating seemingly hundreds of holes. He fell backwards with a thud, the gun slipped out of his hand and landed next to him.
I turned, still covering my ears. I saw that the cargo bay doors were open. I jumped up and ran blindly, praying I wouldn't get shot down. I reached the doors and leaped out, the sounds of gunshots still ringing in my ears. I was afraid I would go deaf.
I found myself running, again. This time, I was running on the border of the city. One side, a poor and rundown city, the other a young forest. Interesting, how it seemed to work, it was such a strange contrast. I saw a fire, with people huddling around it. I ran up to them. As I came within a few feet of them, I saw they were extremely poor, wearing only rags, dirt covering them, the fire was actually inside a old, metallic thrash can. I then stumbled, fell, and collapsed, my world going black.