A/N - :cackling laugher is heard: That's me laughing. This next chap is twisted and weird. But hey, there's a lot of weird stuff out there, so why not? Oh, if anyone answered my trivia, I'll catch ya in the next chapter since I'm posting this one with chap 5.
Changing Faces
Part 3 – Of Ladies and Dragons
Chapter 6 – The Gift and It's Abuse
Gohan's sense of time fizzled away as a weird new reality focused itself. He remembered nothing that happened beyond two seconds; he even forgot his name and family. Nothing made sense to him, but it didn't matter because he couldn't remember why he cared if it did.
There seemed to be a girl that he saw from time to time, and every two seconds something like 'Lime' came to him, but it was gone as soon as she left his sight.
And then there was the bed. How many nights had he been there? He didn't care; he couldn't remember why he would.
Suddenly, there she was.
Lime.
She took his hand and pulled him to the table.
"Eat," she said.
He ate.
Time went on.
She uses the Art well.
Too well.
I agree. She does not use the Art in its purest form.
That is a sin.
She must be punished.
I have an idea...
And then one day, Gohan woke up.
"Wow..." he stuttered, pushing himself up off the cushioned surface. Next to him was a curly brown-haired woman, sleeping peacefully.
I know that's not Videl...
"Lime?"
She stirred, but otherwise did not wake.
It was then that he noticed the candles by her window. They were burning furiously, as if all twelve red candles were pulsing the angry energy of the whole world.
"That is weird," he murmured, "This is all weird. Why am I lying here with Lime?"
Suddenly, it all became clear. Everything that had been happening played before his eyes like a movie. Dark anger swelled from within Gohan.
"She was tricking me! Using her gift... for wrong!"
She will be punished. She will pay for her wrongdoing.
You will aid us in her admonishment.
"Huh?"
And then it all fizzled away again.
Her shriek of surprise, and then her cries for him to stop fell on deaf ears. She watched as the bright candles burned lower and lower until none were lit.
She understood.
Leave, Gohan. Finish your quest. She will never bother you again.
By the end of that day, Gohan had found the last Dragonball. He decided to go home first and see his mother and brother.
After all, Lime had kept him for nearly two weeks.
Again, his anger bloomed, however, he pushed it away. He could sympathize with her feelings of loneliness, but that still didn't give her the right to use Gohan the way she did.
He still wondered what those voices had made him do to the young woman...
The familiar hills of his childhood home loomed in the distance, and Gohan charged up to Super Saiyan to hurry his flight.
"Gohan! Over here!" The excited voice of Goten called from his left and he saw the boy flying closer.
"You were gone so long, but I knew you were okay, I could sense you. Do you have the Dragonballs? What do they look like?"
His excited chatter brought a smile to Gohan's face. How could you not love the kid?
"You'll see them when we get back home. I want to see Mom," he answered, and they continued flight.
Soon, Gohan, Chi Chi, and Goten had gathered around the seven Dragonballs.
"I can't wait to see this dragon," Goten smiled.
"Go on, Gohan, call out the dragon and make your wish," Chi Chi encouraged.
"Alright," he paused, "Here it goes.
"By your powers combined, I am Captain Planet- (author smacks Gohan with a fish) Oh, wrong line."
"By your name I call you forth! Shenron!"