(AN: *has tears in her eyes from all the nice reviews* Wow, someone liked my poems! *bows* Thanks every so much, Jacks. You made my day! Well, this chapter's pretty long, and warning to all peace-loving people- *pauses* Wait, if you were peace-loving you wouldn't watch DBZ. *grins cheerfully* Nevermind! Lots of fighting in this chapter! Ja ne! ~AC)
Chapter Six: Fall and Rise, Fall and Rise, Fall
Krillin and Rayne sat in silence, each thinking of different memories, but both remembering happy times in their lives.
"If you could go back to any time in your life, when would that be?" Rayne asked, breaking the quiet. Krillin thought for a moment.
"Probably Marron's eighteenth birthday," he said quietly. "It was such a perfect day. Juhachigou and Marron were so excited about Marron turning eighteen. They had planned the party for weeks, wanting everything to be wonderful on her special day. On the day of the party, everyone was there. Goku, Chi-Chi, Goten, Gohan, Videl, Pan, Yamucha, Puar, Tien, Chaozu, Bulma, Trunks, Bra, even Piccolo and Vegeta came. Although I think Gohan and Bulma dragged those two to the party. Marron was dressed in the gown Juhachigou and I had picked out, a long blue gown that brought out her eyes and made her even more angelic than usual. She looked beautiful, so flushed with pride and happiness. Her boyfriend at the time, Ryo Something, was in awe of her, never letting his gaze leave her for one second. Everyone was filled with happiness, and no one ever mentioned war or fighting or anything unhappy. Even Vegeta had a good time. It was a perfect day." Krillin sighed as he finished, his sigh filled with long forgotten bliss, but familiar yearning. "Juhachigou and I were so proud of our little Mar-chan." Rayne was silent, letting Krillin get lost in happy memories. He deserved to be glad.
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Gohan watched as Willis, Trotsky, Capra, and Indy marched towards the prison gates. He bit his lower lip. If the guards didn't listen to Willis and his group and simply shoot them down, the plan was shot, plus some of his best fighters would be down. He watched anxiously. This was the first deciding decision in Plan Save Rayne.
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Trunks followed closely behind his sister through the dusty corridors, but he was actually off in his own little world. Why had he stayed behind to check on Pan? Shouldn't he have gone to check on Goten instead? He was his best friend, after all. His eyes narrowed as he realized something. BRA had gone after GOTEN. When had his little sister ever known Goten had existed? Trunks chewed on his lower lip thoughtfully. Something was brewing here, but he didn't know quite what it was.
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"Where would you go?" Krillin asked suddenly, his dark eyes upon the girl. Rayne sighed, and was quiet for a long moment. Then she quietly said the memory long locked within her aloud.
"I would go back to the day before everything was destroyed. I was born into the war, you see, so there was always talk of war, but that day was unusually peaceful. My father and older brothers, Thunder and Bolt, were helping getting everything set for the lunch the next day. The Great Son Gohan was coming to visit the next day, you see. My sisters, Fall and Snow, were helping my mother bake a feast with the few supplies we had. I was taking care of my little brother and sister, Storm and Cloud, so they wouldn't get into trouble. The androids were mostly attacking the other continents that week, so my parents allowed Storm, Cloud, and myself to go outside into the forest. It was beautiful. Once Snow and Fall were done with helping Mother, they joined us in the forest. We played there, more relaxed and happy than we had ever been before. When it was late afternoon, Mother, Father, Bolt, and Thunder joined us in our games. I don't ever recall Mother laughing to gaily and Father smiling so care-free before then." Her voice was low and soft as she drowned in her memories of ancient happiness. "We were so glad that day." Krillin knew from her quiet tone that something had changed that soon afterwards, but he didn't press the subject, letting her continue when she wished. Rayne took a deep, shuddering breath. She had a weak, twisted smile on her face as she continued, her words so faint that Krillin had to hold his breath to hear them. "How short that happiness lasted."
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Bra eyed Goten as they walked through the silent hallways. His face was sketched with strain, and his dark eyes glittered with an unknown emotion as he stared straight forward. Concerned, Bra gently touched his shoulder. He turned his head to stare down at her, and managed a slight smile in her direction.
"Yes, Bra?" he asked quietly. Bra gazed up into his obsidian-colored eyes for a few seconds, trying to figure out was emotion was glistening within their depths.
"Are you all right, Goten?" she asked him, silently wondering why she was so concerned for her brother's best friend. The words didn't seem to sink in for a few moments, then Goten blinked.
"Oh," he said after a moment. "Y-yes, I'm all right." The slight hesistation answered Bra's question, and she snorted.
"Well, that's a load of kuso," she said, apparently catching Goku's second son by surprise. He gaped at her before replying.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me." Bra kept walking, but crossed her arms and stared at his slightly bewildered face. "I said that's a load of kuso. You aren't all right. You're about to see your father, who is in a coma, and your brother is off trying to save the world. How could you be all right?" Her voice roise slightly at the last sentence as she glared accusingly at him. Goten blinked, and slowly the look of strain on his face was replaced by annoyance.
"Look," he began harshly, "I don't need your concern. I'm perfectly all right, and even if I wasn't, you can't do a thing about it, can you?" They glared at each other.
"Everyone needs someone's concern!" she spat, her blue eyes blazing. In that second, she looked exactly like Bulma when she screeched at Vegeta. "Especially you, Son Goten!" Goten stopped walking, and scowled at her.
"Like I said," he said slowly, "I don't need your concern. And I most certainly don't want it." He finished that sentence with a tone of finalty, and quickened his step to reach Bulma's side. Bra's eyes followed the half Saiya-jinn angrily as she yelled at his back, "Well, maybe I don't want to be concerned about you, baka!" To her amazement and disgust, tears rose unbidden to her eyes. She angirly kept them from falling, glaring at the back of Gohan's brother. She didn't know why she had even spoken to him in the first place. He was just a stubborn jerk who wouldn't admit when he wasn't all right!
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Pan and Trunks both winced as Bra's furious yell echoed down the corridors.
"Lovely," Trunks muttered under his breath so only Pan could hear him. "Now we have endure their fights the entire way there." Pan rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but agree with him.
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"What do you want, rebels?" the leader of the guards yelled down. Willis's reply came back harsh and commanding.
"We demand that you return the one called Rayne Sirec to our possession! She has done nothing to be killed for!" The guards laughed mockingly. By now, all twenty of the guards Gohan had seen were lined up on the gate, staring down at the rebels assembled there.
"Any rebel, man, woman, or child, deserve to die, boy!" one jeered, shaking his fist at the four rebels who stood at the gates. Willis stood his ground, and Gohan saw the young man's eyes turned a stone-cold emerald.
"No child deserves to die, monster," he replied, his voice cold and unyielding. "Especially not a foolish one." From his hiding place, Gohan couldn't help but agree. Rayne didn't have a lot of common sense. She had proven herself to be silly when she had gotten herself captured.
"Be silent, traitor, before you annoy me and I have to blast you," the leader of the guards ordered furiously. Willis laughed mockingly, and Gohan nervously checked his watch. The others should be activating the next part of the plan any second now.
"Traitor? You dare call me a traitor?" Willis yelled back, and Gohan could hear the utter fury and hatred in the young man's words. Gohan's eyes narrowed in concern. Willis was provoking the guards. Who would have guessed that the quiet, shy young man held such rage and hatred towards the androids and their army? He listened as Willis continued his tirade.
"Me, a traitor? When you have sold your lives, your bodies, your comrades, your very humanity, to serve monsters who would like nothing more than to destroy every last human on this planet? You truly are a fool!" The leader swore loudly and raised his gun.
"I'm warning you, rebel," he said coldly, his gun aimed at Willis's forehead. To Gohan's extreme shock, Terrence Anthony Willis smiled a truly delighted smile, his emerald green eyes filled with mirth. His dark auburn hair lifted in the night's breeze as he slowly began to chuckle. The guards watched without expression as the young man roared with laughter. When he was done, he looked up directly at the leader, who still had his gun aimed at him.
"Go to hell, all you worshipers of Judas," he called mockingly. As Gohan watched, horror-struck, the leader's eyes narrowed in burning fury. Just as the guards opened fire, explosions rocked the prison walls. Even as Gohan cried out in horror and Willis fell onto the starlight grass, the smile forever frozen on his young face, Plan Save Rayne had completed its first stage.
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Rayne and Krillin were jerked awake from their light dozing as explosions shook the walls around them.
"What the hell?" Rayne yelled to Krillin as the walls trembled violently. The monk only shrugged helplessly, looking as bewildered as she felt. Suddenly a thought came to Rayne, and she laughed as the explosions send loud noises through the night.
"What's so funny?" screamed Krillin over the explosions.
"It's General Gohan!" she yelled. "He's come to rescue us!" A hopeful smile formed on Krillin's lined face, but he asked loudly, "How do you know?" Rayne smiled, a sure, triuamphant grin.
"Who else could catch the guards at Jinzohen Prison by surprise?" she cried, and a happy smile formed on Krillin's face. They were going to be rescued.
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Gohan blasted them all. Every single one of the guards he blasted through the chest until only the leader was left. Gohan descended on the terrified man. Grabbing him by the throat, the enraged general pulled the man so close that their noses were nearly touching.
"You'll pay for gunning down my best squadron," he growled.
"Mercy-" the lead guard choked out, then a strangled cry escaped his lips and his face froze in a grimace of fear as Gohan effortlessly snapped his human neck. Tossing the body to the earth, he turned to stare down at where four of his best fighters had stood. Floating down to land gently, he knelt beside their bodies.
"Terrence Anthony Willis," he whispered, gently closing the boy's eyes. He moved on to Indy's bloody remains. "Claude Paul Indy." On to Capra. "Vincent Thomas Capra." His hand hovered over Trotsky. To his shock, the woman groaned and stirred, coughing up blood.
"You're alive!" he cried, forgetting in an instant that he was the general of all the rebels of the world and tenderly cupping her jaw in his hand. She managed a bloody smile, staring at her commander and friend.
"Of course, sir," she choked out, grimacing at the pain. "You gave me orders to stay alive, and I never disobey an order." Gohan gave her a weak smile, then surveyed her wounds.
"Are you all right?" he questioned. There didn't seem to be any wounds that looked life-threatening. Trotsky laughed, then coughed painfully.
"I'll be all right," she said, wincing as her words sent pain up and down her body. "They stuck a bullet in my side though." For one of the few times in Gohan's life, he didn't know what to do. If he left Trotsky alone, chances were that she'd been found and killed. But he had to continue with the plan, and that involved him entering the prison.
"Son Gohan?" The quiet voice made him turn. He sighed with relief.
"Marron." His tone was firm. "Take Trotsky and get her to the meeting place." He hesitated as Marron nodded and knelt to help the injured woman to her feet. "If she dies from anything other than that side wound, it'll be on your head, just as Willis, Capra, and Indy's are on Rayne's." Kare's wife's eyes flicked with surprise for a moment, then she nodded grimly.
"Yes, sir," she said. Gohan turned back to Trotsky.
"Soldier, you are not to die on Marron, do you understand?" A small smile hovering on her lips, Trotsky nodded, saluting him weakly.
"Yes sir," she said. Without another word, Gohan powered up and flew as fast as he could over the prison walls. Time to put stage two into action.
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Krillin and Rayne were in the middle of cheering their brains out when suddenly the door to their cell was snapped off by its hinges. Blinking, Rayne stared at the figure, his face hidden in the shadows.
"Gohan?" she asked hopefully.
"Not quite," the cold voice sneered. "You two are not going to get away that easily. Actually, you're not going to get away at all." Recognizing the voice, Rayne raised a disbelieving eyebrow.
"And why not?" she questioned coolly. The figure laughed, stepping into the dim lightbulb overhead's light.
"Because I'm going to kill you both first," said Morris, the pale light illuminating the very satisfised smirk on his face.
(AN: There! The kiddies are off to see Goku, like Jevana asked! I seem to enjoy granting Jevana's wishes, don't I? *looks suddenly sad* Poor Willis. I liked him. Well, the ending of this chapter causes many questions, don't you think? Will Morris actually kill Rayne and Krillin? Will the kiddies see Goku? And will Goten and Bra ever stop fighting? Ja ne! ~AC)
Chapter Six: Fall and Rise, Fall and Rise, Fall
Krillin and Rayne sat in silence, each thinking of different memories, but both remembering happy times in their lives.
"If you could go back to any time in your life, when would that be?" Rayne asked, breaking the quiet. Krillin thought for a moment.
"Probably Marron's eighteenth birthday," he said quietly. "It was such a perfect day. Juhachigou and Marron were so excited about Marron turning eighteen. They had planned the party for weeks, wanting everything to be wonderful on her special day. On the day of the party, everyone was there. Goku, Chi-Chi, Goten, Gohan, Videl, Pan, Yamucha, Puar, Tien, Chaozu, Bulma, Trunks, Bra, even Piccolo and Vegeta came. Although I think Gohan and Bulma dragged those two to the party. Marron was dressed in the gown Juhachigou and I had picked out, a long blue gown that brought out her eyes and made her even more angelic than usual. She looked beautiful, so flushed with pride and happiness. Her boyfriend at the time, Ryo Something, was in awe of her, never letting his gaze leave her for one second. Everyone was filled with happiness, and no one ever mentioned war or fighting or anything unhappy. Even Vegeta had a good time. It was a perfect day." Krillin sighed as he finished, his sigh filled with long forgotten bliss, but familiar yearning. "Juhachigou and I were so proud of our little Mar-chan." Rayne was silent, letting Krillin get lost in happy memories. He deserved to be glad.
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Gohan watched as Willis, Trotsky, Capra, and Indy marched towards the prison gates. He bit his lower lip. If the guards didn't listen to Willis and his group and simply shoot them down, the plan was shot, plus some of his best fighters would be down. He watched anxiously. This was the first deciding decision in Plan Save Rayne.
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Trunks followed closely behind his sister through the dusty corridors, but he was actually off in his own little world. Why had he stayed behind to check on Pan? Shouldn't he have gone to check on Goten instead? He was his best friend, after all. His eyes narrowed as he realized something. BRA had gone after GOTEN. When had his little sister ever known Goten had existed? Trunks chewed on his lower lip thoughtfully. Something was brewing here, but he didn't know quite what it was.
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"Where would you go?" Krillin asked suddenly, his dark eyes upon the girl. Rayne sighed, and was quiet for a long moment. Then she quietly said the memory long locked within her aloud.
"I would go back to the day before everything was destroyed. I was born into the war, you see, so there was always talk of war, but that day was unusually peaceful. My father and older brothers, Thunder and Bolt, were helping getting everything set for the lunch the next day. The Great Son Gohan was coming to visit the next day, you see. My sisters, Fall and Snow, were helping my mother bake a feast with the few supplies we had. I was taking care of my little brother and sister, Storm and Cloud, so they wouldn't get into trouble. The androids were mostly attacking the other continents that week, so my parents allowed Storm, Cloud, and myself to go outside into the forest. It was beautiful. Once Snow and Fall were done with helping Mother, they joined us in the forest. We played there, more relaxed and happy than we had ever been before. When it was late afternoon, Mother, Father, Bolt, and Thunder joined us in our games. I don't ever recall Mother laughing to gaily and Father smiling so care-free before then." Her voice was low and soft as she drowned in her memories of ancient happiness. "We were so glad that day." Krillin knew from her quiet tone that something had changed that soon afterwards, but he didn't press the subject, letting her continue when she wished. Rayne took a deep, shuddering breath. She had a weak, twisted smile on her face as she continued, her words so faint that Krillin had to hold his breath to hear them. "How short that happiness lasted."
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Bra eyed Goten as they walked through the silent hallways. His face was sketched with strain, and his dark eyes glittered with an unknown emotion as he stared straight forward. Concerned, Bra gently touched his shoulder. He turned his head to stare down at her, and managed a slight smile in her direction.
"Yes, Bra?" he asked quietly. Bra gazed up into his obsidian-colored eyes for a few seconds, trying to figure out was emotion was glistening within their depths.
"Are you all right, Goten?" she asked him, silently wondering why she was so concerned for her brother's best friend. The words didn't seem to sink in for a few moments, then Goten blinked.
"Oh," he said after a moment. "Y-yes, I'm all right." The slight hesistation answered Bra's question, and she snorted.
"Well, that's a load of kuso," she said, apparently catching Goku's second son by surprise. He gaped at her before replying.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me." Bra kept walking, but crossed her arms and stared at his slightly bewildered face. "I said that's a load of kuso. You aren't all right. You're about to see your father, who is in a coma, and your brother is off trying to save the world. How could you be all right?" Her voice roise slightly at the last sentence as she glared accusingly at him. Goten blinked, and slowly the look of strain on his face was replaced by annoyance.
"Look," he began harshly, "I don't need your concern. I'm perfectly all right, and even if I wasn't, you can't do a thing about it, can you?" They glared at each other.
"Everyone needs someone's concern!" she spat, her blue eyes blazing. In that second, she looked exactly like Bulma when she screeched at Vegeta. "Especially you, Son Goten!" Goten stopped walking, and scowled at her.
"Like I said," he said slowly, "I don't need your concern. And I most certainly don't want it." He finished that sentence with a tone of finalty, and quickened his step to reach Bulma's side. Bra's eyes followed the half Saiya-jinn angrily as she yelled at his back, "Well, maybe I don't want to be concerned about you, baka!" To her amazement and disgust, tears rose unbidden to her eyes. She angirly kept them from falling, glaring at the back of Gohan's brother. She didn't know why she had even spoken to him in the first place. He was just a stubborn jerk who wouldn't admit when he wasn't all right!
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Pan and Trunks both winced as Bra's furious yell echoed down the corridors.
"Lovely," Trunks muttered under his breath so only Pan could hear him. "Now we have endure their fights the entire way there." Pan rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but agree with him.
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"What do you want, rebels?" the leader of the guards yelled down. Willis's reply came back harsh and commanding.
"We demand that you return the one called Rayne Sirec to our possession! She has done nothing to be killed for!" The guards laughed mockingly. By now, all twenty of the guards Gohan had seen were lined up on the gate, staring down at the rebels assembled there.
"Any rebel, man, woman, or child, deserve to die, boy!" one jeered, shaking his fist at the four rebels who stood at the gates. Willis stood his ground, and Gohan saw the young man's eyes turned a stone-cold emerald.
"No child deserves to die, monster," he replied, his voice cold and unyielding. "Especially not a foolish one." From his hiding place, Gohan couldn't help but agree. Rayne didn't have a lot of common sense. She had proven herself to be silly when she had gotten herself captured.
"Be silent, traitor, before you annoy me and I have to blast you," the leader of the guards ordered furiously. Willis laughed mockingly, and Gohan nervously checked his watch. The others should be activating the next part of the plan any second now.
"Traitor? You dare call me a traitor?" Willis yelled back, and Gohan could hear the utter fury and hatred in the young man's words. Gohan's eyes narrowed in concern. Willis was provoking the guards. Who would have guessed that the quiet, shy young man held such rage and hatred towards the androids and their army? He listened as Willis continued his tirade.
"Me, a traitor? When you have sold your lives, your bodies, your comrades, your very humanity, to serve monsters who would like nothing more than to destroy every last human on this planet? You truly are a fool!" The leader swore loudly and raised his gun.
"I'm warning you, rebel," he said coldly, his gun aimed at Willis's forehead. To Gohan's extreme shock, Terrence Anthony Willis smiled a truly delighted smile, his emerald green eyes filled with mirth. His dark auburn hair lifted in the night's breeze as he slowly began to chuckle. The guards watched without expression as the young man roared with laughter. When he was done, he looked up directly at the leader, who still had his gun aimed at him.
"Go to hell, all you worshipers of Judas," he called mockingly. As Gohan watched, horror-struck, the leader's eyes narrowed in burning fury. Just as the guards opened fire, explosions rocked the prison walls. Even as Gohan cried out in horror and Willis fell onto the starlight grass, the smile forever frozen on his young face, Plan Save Rayne had completed its first stage.
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Rayne and Krillin were jerked awake from their light dozing as explosions shook the walls around them.
"What the hell?" Rayne yelled to Krillin as the walls trembled violently. The monk only shrugged helplessly, looking as bewildered as she felt. Suddenly a thought came to Rayne, and she laughed as the explosions send loud noises through the night.
"What's so funny?" screamed Krillin over the explosions.
"It's General Gohan!" she yelled. "He's come to rescue us!" A hopeful smile formed on Krillin's lined face, but he asked loudly, "How do you know?" Rayne smiled, a sure, triuamphant grin.
"Who else could catch the guards at Jinzohen Prison by surprise?" she cried, and a happy smile formed on Krillin's face. They were going to be rescued.
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Gohan blasted them all. Every single one of the guards he blasted through the chest until only the leader was left. Gohan descended on the terrified man. Grabbing him by the throat, the enraged general pulled the man so close that their noses were nearly touching.
"You'll pay for gunning down my best squadron," he growled.
"Mercy-" the lead guard choked out, then a strangled cry escaped his lips and his face froze in a grimace of fear as Gohan effortlessly snapped his human neck. Tossing the body to the earth, he turned to stare down at where four of his best fighters had stood. Floating down to land gently, he knelt beside their bodies.
"Terrence Anthony Willis," he whispered, gently closing the boy's eyes. He moved on to Indy's bloody remains. "Claude Paul Indy." On to Capra. "Vincent Thomas Capra." His hand hovered over Trotsky. To his shock, the woman groaned and stirred, coughing up blood.
"You're alive!" he cried, forgetting in an instant that he was the general of all the rebels of the world and tenderly cupping her jaw in his hand. She managed a bloody smile, staring at her commander and friend.
"Of course, sir," she choked out, grimacing at the pain. "You gave me orders to stay alive, and I never disobey an order." Gohan gave her a weak smile, then surveyed her wounds.
"Are you all right?" he questioned. There didn't seem to be any wounds that looked life-threatening. Trotsky laughed, then coughed painfully.
"I'll be all right," she said, wincing as her words sent pain up and down her body. "They stuck a bullet in my side though." For one of the few times in Gohan's life, he didn't know what to do. If he left Trotsky alone, chances were that she'd been found and killed. But he had to continue with the plan, and that involved him entering the prison.
"Son Gohan?" The quiet voice made him turn. He sighed with relief.
"Marron." His tone was firm. "Take Trotsky and get her to the meeting place." He hesitated as Marron nodded and knelt to help the injured woman to her feet. "If she dies from anything other than that side wound, it'll be on your head, just as Willis, Capra, and Indy's are on Rayne's." Kare's wife's eyes flicked with surprise for a moment, then she nodded grimly.
"Yes, sir," she said. Gohan turned back to Trotsky.
"Soldier, you are not to die on Marron, do you understand?" A small smile hovering on her lips, Trotsky nodded, saluting him weakly.
"Yes sir," she said. Without another word, Gohan powered up and flew as fast as he could over the prison walls. Time to put stage two into action.
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Krillin and Rayne were in the middle of cheering their brains out when suddenly the door to their cell was snapped off by its hinges. Blinking, Rayne stared at the figure, his face hidden in the shadows.
"Gohan?" she asked hopefully.
"Not quite," the cold voice sneered. "You two are not going to get away that easily. Actually, you're not going to get away at all." Recognizing the voice, Rayne raised a disbelieving eyebrow.
"And why not?" she questioned coolly. The figure laughed, stepping into the dim lightbulb overhead's light.
"Because I'm going to kill you both first," said Morris, the pale light illuminating the very satisfised smirk on his face.
(AN: There! The kiddies are off to see Goku, like Jevana asked! I seem to enjoy granting Jevana's wishes, don't I? *looks suddenly sad* Poor Willis. I liked him. Well, the ending of this chapter causes many questions, don't you think? Will Morris actually kill Rayne and Krillin? Will the kiddies see Goku? And will Goten and Bra ever stop fighting? Ja ne! ~AC)