Disclaimer: Same old, same old…

Chap. 12

The dome....

"You let them fight each other?"

"It was necessary in order to obtain data on them. Since you want them destroyed, I feel that I should learn as much as possible about them."

"That act may have compromised the entire plan."

"Not really. They will return."

"Are you certain?"

"Of course. They are more than just warriors, Sherac. They are heroes. They will return."

"Then why did you activate the dark barrier?"

"I don't want it to be easy for them."

Elsewhere inside, Rose stealthy makes her way through the corridors of the complex. As she does, she sees the devices and technology around her. They all emanate with negative energy. This seems similar the Bison's Psycho Drive technology. Why is that? Huh?

Rose reaches a separate corridor. Entering into it, she gasps in shock at what she sees. There are rows of steel pods aligned on the walls. Inside each one of them was a fighter. Looking in the far left, she sees a group of men holding Ken and putting him inside another pod. He was sealed inside and the pod locked shut. The men left and Rose went in to examine them. They are alive. But there's no way to open the pods without alerting the others. No doubt they are linked with alarms should anyone unauthorized try to open them. She began examining them further and she caught an idea. That may work, but only for those of a high psychic level. She scanned the fighters, looking for fighters of a high mental level. Hmmm. Three strong auras. They will do. Rose closed her eyes and three balls of energy came out of her hands. The spheres hovered around and entered three of the pods. The three fighters phased through the pods and were set on the ground. Rose recognized two of them. Dhalsim. I guess that's to be expected. And I felt this young man had a high mental power. She looks at the green skinned fighter. But this one is really strong. At that moment, he began to awake.

"Arrhh. Where am I? What is this place?"

"Shhh. Stay quiet. I have freed you from your prisons. But you must remain quiet."

Dhalsim also awoke, a bit more quietly. "So it has come to pass."

"Yes."

Piccolo shook his head and then bent down to Tien, the third fighter released. Tien slowly awoke and shook his head.

"Ughh, my head. Where are we?"

Rose answered him, "Inside the dome. I have just released you."

Piccolo grumbled, "Oh yeah, that's right. Somebody gassed us."

"Yes. All of the fighters were gassed and brought here. I managed to escape though. Unfortunately, we are trapped in here by a negative barrier."

"What about the others?" Tien asked.

"I can't release them, not without raising alarm."

"So it's up to us then?"

I'm not sure. Earlier, before the barrier came up, I sensed other energies outside of this place. It may be possible that others have escaped as well."

Tien looked around at the pods, "Gohan. Choazu. Videl. I don't see Goku here or Vegeta."

Piccolo smiled, "They must have escaped. Leave it to them not to go out without a fight."

"If that is true, then it is likely they will attempt a rescue." Dhalsim added.

"Okay, so there's a chance that Goku and Vegeta may be out there attempting to get us. In the meantime, we can't just sit around here doing nothing."

"Agreed. We should check this place, see it there's a way to bring down the barrier and rescue the others."

They split into two groups. Dhalsim and Piccolo went one way while Tien and Rose went another direction. They had to find a way to bring down the barrier, set free the captives and stop whatever dark intent from occurring.

Lookout...

"Ryu. You really are here"

Goku had just arrived with Sean, Kairi, Chun-Li, #18, Goten, Trunks, Vegeta and Mirai.

"Sean. Kairi. You made it." His gaze then lowered to the ground. "Chun-Li."

Ryu ran down to his wife and held her, "What happened to her?"

"Don't worry, she's fine. She exhausted herself after fighting #18."

Ryu then remembered her fight, "Oh yeah, that's right."

Kairi then spoke, "Ryu. Akuma has returned."

Ryu's face turned grave, "I know. I just don't understand how though."

Dende then came forward with Mr. Popo by his side, "There's more to it. All of the monorail around the tournament have stopped and returned to the dome. And there's an energy barrier around it. I can't sense anything through it."

Kairi folded his arms, "There seems to be more to this than meets the eye."

Sean jumped up, "Who cares! My master is down there and I'm gonna get him."

Trunks also got up, "Yeah, and our moms are do there too. We have to save them."

"Hold it, guys." Mirai called out. "We have to know what we're up against. There's no sense in going in there blind."

Goku nodded, "Mirai is right. We have to prepare for whatever is going on down there."

Trunks turned to him, "What do you mean prepare? We can take whatever happens. We know the fusion technique, remember?"

"Fusion?"

Goku answered, "It's a technique where to people of similar size or power can join into one body and become one warrior of great power."

Goten jumped up, "Yeah, we used it against that Akuma guy."

"Did it work?"

"Well, not really. But we were holding back to make sure. If we went...."

"You shouldn't have done that." Ryu spoke in. "You should never hold back when fighting Akuma. He'll kill you if you do."

Mirai nodded, "Yeah. I found that out first hand. I was beyond the Super-Sayian level and he still beat me."

Goten then turned to his father, "Hey you can beat him dad. All you have to do is go Super-Sayian 3. Then you can win for sure."

This caught Mirai's interest, "Super-Sayian 3? You mean there another level?"

"Yeah. We discovered it when we were fighting Majin Buu."

Mirai thought, "Majin Buu. Was he that pink monster?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"I suppose I should tell you." Mirai began to explain his account in the future

"Hmm. I see. That sounds like Supreme Kai. If he sent you here, then we're really in big trouble."

"Don't tell the great Kakkarot is afraid."

Everyone turned. "Vegeta!"

"Dad!" Trunks ran up Vegeta who smiled at his son. Mirai noticed this instantly. He's changed. Vegeta then looked at Mirai. Mirai suddenly remembered that Vegeta doesn't know his second name and shifted his glance at Trunks.

"You were with us during the Cell games." Vegeta inquired.

"Yes. My name is Mirai."

Vegeta nodded now learning what his future son has named himself, "Mirai." He looked back at Goku, "So do you have a plan or not?"

"Well, not exactly. We have to get through that negative barrier first."

"So. Let's just get through it."

"Well, there's a problem. We don't know if we have the power to get through the barrier. If we use too much, we could accidentally destroy the dome and everyone in it. "

"He's right. And even if we did, we still have no idea what we will be facing."

"If Akuma is only one of the enemies we will face, then we need to be prepared."

"Right. But are we strong enough?"

"There is only one way to be sure."

"The Hyperbolic Time Chamber."

"What is that?"

It's a room where the time is different. You can spend a year in there, but only a day will pass out here."

"Really."

"Yeah. We use it to train. But it's a harsh place. No one has ever been able to spend a long time in there. It's extremely difficult."

"I see. Perhaps we can use it."

"For what."

"Perhaps we can learn new techniques from you such as flying. Maybe even that fusion technique you told us about."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."

"But only two people can enter into the dimension."

"Well, that may not be true." Dende pointed out. This grabbed everyone's attention and he continued, "When Piccolo destroyed the door, I managed to repair it somewhat. Now it's okay for at least four people to train in there.

"Hey, that is great. So who should go in then?"

"Well, you'll have to go in Goku, since you are teaching the fusion as well. We also need two people to go in that are compatible."

"Hmm, that's a good idea. But who?"

"Well do it."

Everyone turned to see Chun-Li and #18 standing up.

Trunks gave a weird look, "You two?"

#18 nodded, "They have Krillian and Marron trapped down there. If anyone is going beat them up, it might as well be me."

Chun-Li agreed, "Yes. And all of our friends are down there, so we got to do whatever we can."

Kairi nodded, "Hey that is a good idea. During the tournament, they displayed an even power level. They're perfect."

Ryu straightened up, "I'll go in as well."

Goku smiled, "I had a feeling you might say that."

"So let's go. We shouldn't waste time."

"Right. Let's go."

They walked toward the new doors leading to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. Chun-Li, #18, Goku and Ryu stood before the door as Mr. Popo grabbed the handle.

"Alright, here we go. Remember, time is different here so don't worry too much, okay?"

Mr Popo opened the door and the four warriors entered. Then the doors shut behind them.

"Now we wait."

Next up, the battle inside the dome begins. Piccolo, Tien, Dhalsim, and Rose work together to try to free the other captives and learn more about the deadly secret within. Also, Trunks and Goten demonstrate the fusion technique and Mirai gets an idea. But Vegeta has a plan of his own. Does everyone have enough time though? Next chapter…