Chapter 4: A trip to Isengard

It was late in the afternoon and a group of Urah-Hai, sent forth from Isengard, was travelling east across Middle Earth in the search for hobbits. They had been travelling for days and, in typical orc fashion, were becoming suspicious of each other. Among the company, the greatest rivalry was between Ugluk (whom Saruman had put in charge) and Grishnakh. This feud had been forming and growing nicely since they departed from Isengard, but the others took no notice of it as it provided a bit of entertainment and the possibility of a killing or a fight to the death for control. Saruman didn't care who led the troop so long as they completed their mission. He would destroy them once he no longer needed them anyway.
"We're going the wrong way!" hissed Grishnakh.
"ugo y na telos phim a furo!" replied Ugluk.
"say what?" asked Grishnakh.
"Sorry. Had something stuck in my throat. I was trying to say we're heading east towards the Emyn Muil as Lord Saruman instructed".
"This isn't East", said Grishnakh. "We're going west".
"No we're not. Don't you know how to work a compass?"
"Of course I do. I'm holding it now and it reads west. We'll soon be in man's territory and then we'll all be dead".
"Lemme see….oh for the love of…"
"What is it?" interrupted Grishnakh.
"You've somehow managed to reverse the polarity of this thing".
"No I haven't. You just can't admit when you're wrong can you?"
"Of course I can! Look over your head. You see those birds there? Birds fly North for the winter, so we must be going east"
"Birds fly south stupid! Anyway, it's not even winter yet"
Another of the Uruk-Hai interrupted them: "Honestly. You two are like an old married couple!"
Ugluk and Grishnakh stopped fighting and looked round. It was a small orc who had said it. They each drew an arrow and quickly ended his life.
"Finally, something we agree on", said Ugluk, and they continued on their way.

Meanwhile, the team of Gohan, Krillan, Yamcha and Videl were flying west in search of the dragonball they had been sent to find. Having each studied the radar carefully, they knew the precise location of it. Little did they know, however, that the ball was in Isengard, and that in Isengard lay a terrible army of demons increasing in number by the minute. Nerves were fraying and tension was building among the friends.
"We're going the wrong way!" said Videl.
"No we're not", replied Gohan. "We're flying west".
"This is East Gohan".
"I'm telling you, it's west Videl".
"Honestly. You two are like an old married couple", said Krillan. Gohan and Videl both smiled at the remark and wondered if they ever would be married. They were, in fact, heading in the right direction, which prove that women have no sense of direction.
"I wonder how the others are doing", said Yamcha. Noone dignified him with a response; They all secretly hoped he's be written out of the story sometime soon cause he was so weak and boring.
"I just hope we don't run into any trouble on the way", said Krillan. "It might force me to state the obvious, get over-excited or make a sarcastic comment, and then you guys'll get annoyed and wanna kill me".
"That's true", said Gohan. "But if we killed you we couldn't bring you back to life with the dragonballs since you've already been dead twice". The others all smiled at this and got the same idea.
"Well, I'll try and not say anything anyway. I know how annoying my voice can be".
Everyone heaved a huge sigh of relief at this although they knew in their hearts that Krillan couldn't keep quiet for more than a minute.

Grishnakh watched Ugluk from the corner of his eye; he didn't trust him for a second if he wasn't in his sight. The others watched them both and made secret bets on who would kill who first. The smart money was on Ugluk since Grishnakh was not in command and therefore might still be willing to follow orders for the sake of Saruman. They had not, however, factored in the fact that Grishnakh doubted Saruman's methods. Even still, Ugluk was stronger and taller, and could probably take Grishnakh with one arm tied behind his back. Watching Ugluk closer than the rest of the Uruk-Hai, Grishnakh was the first to see him stop.
"What are you doing?" he asked. "You're wasting time!"
"Look above you", commanded Ugluk.
Apart from Grishnakh, they all looked up. Then Grishnakh cautiously lifted his head and hoped that he had not just made himself vulnerable to an attack from his leader. He saw what the others saw: Flying objects in the sky; UFOs. "Perhaps it's the Nazgul", he suggested.
"No", hissed Ugluk. "The Nazgul aren't that fast. Not even the Windlord is that fast".
"Shoot it down", hissed Grishnakh.
"I'm in command and I give the orders!" shouted Ugluk. "You shoot it down!"
Grishnakh reluctantly drew his bow and fired an arrow at the UFO. It hit its target, but the thing did not fall.

"Ouch!" said Gohan and grabbed the cause of the sharp pain he now felt in his side. "It's a broken arrow!" The arrow had broken against his tough saiyan skin upon impact. Looking down, they spied the Uruk-Hai, and more arrows were being fired at them.
"Who are those guys?" asked Yamcha, catching an arrow that would have otherwise hit him. Gohan was too busy shielding Videl and Krillan didn't want to answer. They waited till the firing stopped, then followed Gohan as he flew down to find out what was going on.
Gohan landed and faced the Uruk-Hai, a serious expression in his face. "Why are you firing arrows at us?" he asked.
"Are you in command of your company?" asked Ugluk, ignoring Gohan's question.
Gohan thought before answering. Noone was in command as such, but it would be easier to deal with these creatures if they had a leader. "Yes", he replied. "I'm in command".
"Why are you travelling towards Isengard?" asked Ugluk, starting to take control of the situation.
"We're only travelling to find a dragonball", answered Gohan. "If it happens to be in Isengard, then that's where we'll be going. If it's not, we'll keep well away from Isengard."
"What's a dragonball?" hissed Grishnakh, earning a look of contempt from Ugluk who didn't like it when anyone spoke out of turn.
"It's a small orange ball with stars on it" said Gohan, not wanting to tell them the purpose of the object.
Ugluk gasped in shock. 'The Palantir', he thought to himself. He wasn't supposed to know about it, but had spied Saruman using it one day. As far as he could tell, Saruman was using it as a means of communication, to whom Ugluk did not know. What he did know was that Saruman valued the Palantir greatly and would not let anyone else even see it, other than perhaps Wormtongue (AKA Grima), his faithful servant. "That belongs to Saruman", hissed Ugluk. You will never obtain it." He drew a large sword and swung at Gohan. The others did likewise.
Krillan, Yamcha and Videl, who had been watching from the distance, rushed over to Gohan's aid. Krillan raised his hand and shouted "Destructo Disk!" as a small ki disk grew rapidly above him. An orc charged at him, but he released the disk in time and cut it in half before it could reach him. It went on to decapitate three more of the Uruk-Hai before disintegrating against a large tree. Meanwhile, Gohan was engaged in hand to hand combat with Ugluk, except Ugluk was using a sword. Gohan dodged the weapon at every swing before finally catching it between his hands. He struggled to bring it up to a safe level as fighting went on all around him. Ugluk laughed, feeling victory upon him, and increased the pressure. Realising he had no other option, Gohan turned Super Saiyan and snapped the blade in half, hurtling the sharp end towards another of the Uruk-Hai, who caught it with his neck and fell dead upon impact. Gohan had the upper hand now, and Ugluk panicked.
Meanwhile, Krillan and Yamcha had teamed up. They were firing rapid bursts of ki at the enemy. The ones that hit had a devastating impact, each one killing an Uruk-Hai or an orc. Beginning to grow tired, they decided on a more direct approach and used their fists as weapons in order to conserve energy. Videl was using her fists too. She had already killed an orc which wasn't bad for someone her size and strength. Now she was struggling against a larger opponent who outmatched her in strength. They had been fighting for several minutes and the others seemed to ignore them both. When she finally killed it, exactly half the Uruk-Hai were dead.
Gohan was ready to destroy Ugluk, and charged at him, full force. He zanzookened behind him, but soon found he had made a grave error; Grishnakh grabbed him and pummelled him into the ground. Apparently he still had some sense of duty. Either that or he wanted to be the one to finish off Ugluk. The two Uruk-Hai teamed up for once, causing Gohan to feel a tremendous amount of pain. He was weary, even as a Super Saiyan, and couldn't dodge them. He had one option left. Letting out an enormous explosion of energy, he turned Super Saiyan 2 and quickly jumped to his feet. His hair stood on end and blue surges of electricity circled his body. Ugluk and Grishnakh backed off in terror.
Krillan and Yamcha had killed many more of the Uruk-Hai and noticed there were only five left, (other than Ugluk and Grishnakh), huddled up together. They both put their hands together and powered up simultaneous beams. "Ka…me…ha…me…haaaaaa!!!!!!!!!" they screamed as the beams flew from their bodies and exploded on the enemy. "Alright!" shouted Krillan, annoying Yamcha greatly. They shook each other's hands and beckoned Videl to join them. She was standing amidst a pile of broken orc bones and guts, looking very pleased with herself. She walked over to her friends, and noticed them both panicking suddenly. "Look out!" they screamed. Turning round, she saw an orc they had missed. He had fired an arrow at her before she had seen him, and it landed in her thigh as she spotted him. Screaming, she fell to the ground. Krillan jumped over to the orc and kicked his head off before Videl landed. Rushing back, he found Yamcha by her side and joined him.

Deeper into the forest, the fight between Ugluk, Grishnakh and Gohan raged on. They had no idea how far they had travelled from the rest of the battle and also no idea as to what had happened to their troops. Gohan was being swung at by Grishnakh's sword, and dived back until he could find an opportunity to attack. Ugluk watched and laughed, once again feeling victory upon him. He was unaware that Grishnakh was his only remaining warrior though. Ugluk walked alongside him, distracting Gohan, taunting him mercilessly as his fighter kept up the attack. "Not so tough now, are you, Super Saiyan?" he said, leaning as far in to Gohan's face as he could. This would be his bane; Grishnakh swung his sword to the side, slicing off his commander's head. "Oops!" he said, looking at what he had done. Gohan spotted his opportunity and shouted "Masenka-ho!" as a spiralling beam of energy flew from his hands towards the last of the Uruk-Hai. This would be Grishnakh's bane.

"Is she hurt?" asked Krillan.
"Duh!" replied Yamcha.
Videl screamed in agony.
"Do you think we should pull the arrow out?"
"I dunno. Better leave it till Gohan gets here."
At that moment Gohan arrived, running as fast as he could. He was eager to boast his killings, but then he spotted Videl. "What happened?" he asked, running to her side.
"She got hit by an arrow", said Krillan. "It's still in her as you can see."
"AND NEITHER OF YOU THOUGHT TO PULL IT OUT?!?!?!??!" shouted Gohan. He pulled the arrow ou and noticed the poison on its tip. Cleaning the wound, he knew there was no way he could suck all the poison out of her. Besides, she'd probably scream rape if he did. "Someone has to take to her to Dende", he said at last.
"I'll go", said Yamcha. "I'm sure you all want me written out the story anyway".
"Thanks", said Gohan. "That kills two birds with one stone".
Yamcha picked up Videl and nodded to his partners before flying off.
"Hurry!" screamed Gohan, as they disappeared into the distance.
Krillan looked up at Gohan and smiled. "Looks like after all these years we're finally back together as a team, eh Gohan?"
Gohan rolled his eyes. "I think that creature said something about the dragonball being in Isengard."
"Yeah, but how are we going to get there? We have no idea where Isengard is!"
"Yes, but I have a feeling these creatures are from Isengard, and they left a trail. All we have to do is follow their footprints, and we should be there in no time."
Krillan agreed, and they both set off in search for Isengard.

A few hours of walking was all it took to reach Isengard. That either meant the Uruk-Hai had not been sent out long ago, in which case they probably wouldn't be missed for a while, or they were slow walkers. The latter case certainly didn't show in their fighting ability, so Gohan concluded they must have been sent out that day. He was not sure of the reason though. He remembered Ugluk had said something about someone called Saruman. He wondered if Saruman was more powerful than the Uruk-Hai. If he wasn't, he probably wouldn't be able to control them without an incentive. Whatever was going on in Isengard, he knew they would have to be careful; those creatures they fought were tough and there would almost certainly be more waiting for them when they arrived. All these thoughts went through his head on the journey. Krillan thought of sex and ways to get a girlfriend.
"Hey Gohan. What are we going to wish for when we find all seven balls?"
"Don't bother me now Krillan. I'm trying to think up a plan."
"Oh. Okay. Don't let me bother you and your big plans then Gohan. I see you have no time for me now that you're a big-shot Super Saiyan".
Gohan sighed. "Look, I'm sorry Krillan. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. It's just that we have to find the dragonball. We got held up pretty bad back there and the others have probably all found theirs by now."
"I know Gohan", said Krillan looking very upset. "It's just…it's just…all those years ago, back when we were sent to Namek…well, we were a team back then. I know you were only five at the time, but we were a great team. Ever since you became a Super Saiyan, I just feel like you have no time for me anymore, like I don't matter to you."
"Krillan?"
"Yes Gohan?"
"This is the gayest argumet I've ever had in my life, and I'm not taking it any further".
Krillan shrugged his shoulders.
They stood by the outer wall of Isengard. It was twenty feet tall and spiked at the top to prevent unwanted company from getting in. Gohan flew over it, and Krillan followed. Now inside the fortress, they could see masses of beasts and demons at work. Some were fighting, some mining and other forging weapons. Thousands of Saruman's minions walked the grounds. In other parts of Isengard, trees were being torn down by the dozen. There weren't many left from what Gohan and Krillan could see, and the ones that were left would soon be gone. It made no sense. High up in a tower, a man in a white robe stood by a window watching the chaos. He had a long white beard and white hair. Gohan saw him, but the man wasn't aware of his presence. He then disappeared out of sight as he moved away from the window.
"Did you see him?" asked Gohan.
"Yeah", said Krillan. "He doesn't look like the rest of these monsters."
"Do you think he could be Saruman?"
"There's a good chance. Shall we go check him out?"
"Okay."
They flew outside Isengard again and high into the sky. Reaching the clouds, they descended upon the tower and slid down to the window the man was standing by, unnoticed. They looked in and saw him now standing by a table, looking at a round object with a cloth over it. After removing the cloth, Gohan and Krillan could both see clearly that this was the dragonball. The man looked into it and spoke. Images seemed to appear in the ball as if by magic, and the power emanating from it could be felt by the two z-fighters. After a brief conversation, the ball was re-covered and the man left the room.
"Come on", said Gohan, flying through the glassless window. They walked round the room, noticing nothing strange about it. Krillan removed the cloth from the dragonball again and looked into it. Suddenly, he found images pouring into his head and he felt as if he had been dragged into another world. Dark clouds surrounded him, and he could see nothing apart from a volcano and miles of barren land. An eye flew out from the mountain to meet him, and a husky voice sounded in his head. It seemed to be laughing at him, mocking him by feeding off his own insecurities. Krillan was terrified; He had to end this now. He closed his eyes and took his hands off the dragonball, knocking it to the ground.
"Krillan, be careful", said Gohan.
"Sorry", replied Krillan. "Acid flashback".
He took the dragonball and they got ready to leave, but a tall, scrawny man blocked their exit.
"What are you doing with the Palantir?" he asked.
"It's not a Palantir. It's a dragonball, and we're taking it", said Gohan.
"No you're not", said the man. It was Wormtongue; Saruman's servant/pet. He grinned and allowed Saruman to read his thoughts. In a minute, the man with the white beard and cloak was back in the room looking very annoyed. He pointed a long staff at the z fighters and they lost control of their bodies. Saruman pointed his staff at the door and they both flew into the main pillar of the tower of Orthanc against their will. He then pointed the staff upwards, and they shot up to the roof of the tower where they would remain his prisoners.

The two friends awoke and rubbed their heads. The air was heavy at this high an altitude and they both had bad headaches. The last thing they could remember was Saruman pointing his staff at them, then everything went black. Gohan looked around. They were on the roof of Orthanc and all he could see was a platform. There were no stairs or doors or anything. He wondered how Saruman had got them up there. Krillan looked to be in some amount of pain and finally rose to his feet, but not before he lost control of his body again. Saruman had joined them, and he was holding the dragonball.
"Welcome to Orthanc", he said. "My name is Saruman the White and I shall be your host. Anything you need, don't bother asking for, cause I won't get it for you. You shall remain my prisoners forever, and the Palantir shall stay with me from now on."
Gohan struggled to break free of the spell.
"Oh, and don't bother trying to fly away", continued Saruman. "The roof of this tower has a magic shield around it. You won't be able to penetrate it. Goodbye", he added as a side note.
They regained control of their bodies as Saruman left and fell to the floor.
"Any more great plans?" asked Krillan, sarcastically.
Gohan looked angry now. He had lost his patience and sarcasm wasn't helping. Especially Krillan's annoying brand of it.
"Do you want me to kill you Krillan?" he asked.
"Um..no", said Krillan. "I'll keep quiet now". He smiled a stupid smile.
Gohan sat in silence, looking disappointed with himself and showing no sign of wanting to do anything constructive. Krillan decided to try something. He flew up and hit his head hard on an invisible object, then fell to the floor again. "Guess he wasn't kidding about that magic shield", he said, rubbing his head once more. Gohan said nothing. He could see it was getting dark now. Suddenly, Krillan jumped up, excited. "Hey! Why don't we blast through the floor?" he asked.
Gohan looked interested now.
"It doesn't look that tough. Hey, I bet even I could do it!"
"Go for it then", said Gohan.
Krillan aimed a kamehameha at the stone floor and fired it. The floor shook, but didn't show signs of breaking. Gohan got to his feet and helped his friend. They both fired large kamehamehas at the ground, and finally a crack appeared. The stones started to give way and rise from the floor. Finally, in a huge explosion, it was gone, and the impact sent them both into the magic shield. They hit their heads, then fell down through the hole they had created. Orthanc was large, and they were too sore to fly, so they dropped several hundred feet to the bottom of it.

They were unconscious for several hours. When they awoke, they both had bad headaches. Krillan nursed his bald head while Gohan rubbed his eyes and waited till they adjusted to the light. He realised they must have been out all night. The last thing he remembered was falling, then everything went black. Looking round, he saw that they were back on the roof. The next thing he noticed was the towering figure of Saruman standing over them. "Ah, you're awake now I see", he said. "As you can see, you're back on the roof and under my jurisdiction once more. Here you shall remain indefinitely until I find a use for you both". He turned around, then stopped. "Oh yes", be continued. "Don't try escaping again. I reinforced the floor with a magic seal. No amount of power can break through it now". Gohan rubbed his eyes again. When he re-opened them, Saruman was gone.
Krillan was able to think now. He looked at Gohan, expecting him to recite Plan B, but Gohan had nothing.
"Wanna blast the floor again?" asked Krillan.
"Sure", replied Gohan.
They both powered up large kamehameha beams. "Kamehameha!!!!!" they screamed as they fired them simultaneously. They hit the floor and had no effect. Gohan turned Super Saiyan and tried again. Nothing happened. He turned Super Saiyan 2 and tried once more. Again, nothing happened. He sat down, defeated.
"Guess he wasn't kidding about that magic seal", said Krillan, rubbing his head. "What'll we do now?"
"Nothing", replied Gohan.
"What?? You mean we're just going to remain trapped up here?"
"We don't have any other choice. The roof and floor are both magically sealed."
"That doesn't sound like the Gohan I know!"
"Shut up Krillan!"
"Sorry", said Krillan, covering his mouth.
"Anyway, I do have a plan", came Gohan suddenly.
"Really?"
"Yes. Saruman said we're his prisoners and he might find a use for us. Until he does, he'll have to keep us alive, and in that case he'll have to feed us." Krillan looked intrigued. He hadn't eaten for ages now. "When he comes to give us our food, we'll attack him and escape the way he comes in" continued Gohan.
"Wow Gohan, you're a genius!" exclaimed Krillan.
"The ironic thing is, if mom had let me train all those years dad was dead rather than study, I'd probably be strong enough to destroy ten magic floors".

And so they waited. Hours passed and there was n sign of Saruman. Krillan had beaten Gohan fifty five times at 'Stop the bus' and Gohan had beaten Krillan thirty eight times. The game was getting boring now. Krillan lay on the ground, tired and hungry. Gohan was growing weary too. He reached into his pocket and drew two sensu beans. Krillan lifted his head at the sight.
"You have s…s…sensu beans?" he asked.
"Yes", replied Gohan. "But only four. Dad gave me one for each of us, but since Yamcha and Videl have left, we can have theirs."
He ate one and handed one to Krillan. They both felt their energy charge up until they were completely revitalized and back to full health. No longer feeling tired or hungry, they decided to train for a while. They didn't do anything too extraneous though; they would grow tired again soon and there were only two sensu beans left.

Several hours later they were down on the ground again, their bodies slouching at a rate of three inches an hour. Gohan wondered if they should use the other two beans. Before he could decide though, a hatch opened in the floor and in stepped Wormtongue.
"Lord Saruman sent me to give you…"
He was cut off mid-sentence as Gohan knocked him out.
"So that's how they did it!" he said to Krillan. "There was a camouflaged hatch in the floor."
He jumped through it, followed by Krillan. When they landed, they found themselves standing on the second highest tier of Orthanc.
"Now to look for the dragonball", said Gohan. "But it's not going to be easy."

Meanwhile, Yamcha had reached Dende's place. He wasn't the fastest flyer, and he had been slowed down even more by the extra weight of Videl. 'I wonder if I….no. That's illegal', he though to himself throughout the journey while looking at the young girl. He saw Dende watching them and landed on one foot. "She's hurt pretty bad", he told the Namek healer. "She got hit by a poisoned arrow."
"Place her down by my side", said Dende. "I don't know if I can help but I'll… no wait!…yes! I can help!"
Yamcha put Videl down and for the first time Dende noticed how young and supple her body was. He saw how her clothes clung to her tightly and ran his eyes down every curve. 'I wonder if I…'.
"No!" said Yamcha, reading the young Namek's thought from his body language. "That would be illegal."
Dende blushed and stretched his hands out. An aura of energy flowed from them and covered Videl. The poison began to disintegrate and the wound closed as if by magic.
"All done", said Dende. "That'll be £25.00."
"What?????" shouted Yamcha.
"Just kidding. Namek humour. So rarely understood by humans."
"Oh! Don't mind me. I'm just a bit slow", laughed Yamcha.
"Yes. I know", said Dende, narrowing his eyes.
Videl stirred and sat up. "What…happened?" she asked.
"You were hit by a poisoned arrow, but you're okay now", replied Yamcha.
"Where's Gohan?"
"I wish I knew", he replied.

"Keep still", said Gohan. "I'll try to sense his ki." He concentrated hard and did his best to locate Saruman. There were so many power levels floating about, but one was insanely higher than the rest. A lot higher than Gohan expected. "Wow!" he said. His power is close to 300,000,000!!"
"Um…Gohan", said Krillan, tapping his shoulder. "That's your ki".
"Oh yeah. Oops!" He concentrated again and found another power that was higher than the rest but not as high as his. It had to be Saruman's. "He's in the room we found him in before" he exclaimed, and they flew down to the source of the ki. The room was over the halfway mark of Orthanc and was located, alone, on a narrow corridor. Krillan and Gohan listened outside it and heard Saruman talking to the dragonball again. Krillan thought back to what had happened when he looked into it and shivered.
Gohan knelt down. "On the count of three, okay? One…two…"
He burst the door down and charged in. Saruman turned and saw them, raising his staff. Krillan remembered what happened the last time Saruman used his staff and shouted "Destructo disk!" He powered the attack up fast and aimed it at the staff. Gohan ducked and the disk cut the powerful object in two, rendering it useless. As Gohan stood up again, he felt the power of Saruman dimming. He ran over to the dragonball and grabbed it. As this happened, Wormtongue entered the room. He had heard the sound of the door being bust open and ran to see if his master was in trouble. Krillan swung his arm and knocked Wormtongue over the banister where he fell many flights to his death. "Fools!" shouted Saruman in a very intimidating voice. Gohan had flown out the window, and now Krillan joined him. Having escaped Orthanc with the dragonball, they were safe for the moment; Saruman was powerless without his staff. He simply watched from the window as his only link to Mordor disappeared.
There was only one thing left to do now: Destroy Isengard! Gohan had seen the evil of the place and knew he could not let it live. Krillan felt the same way. Letting out rapid bursts of energy, they levelled the place in a matter of minutes. The creatures below looked on helpless as they saw the ki bursts descend upon them; the last thing they would ever see. Not one remained alive when the smoke cleared. Only Orthanc remained. Magic was holding it up, and sheer power wasn't enough to take it down. They realised this, but didn't mind as Saruman was alone now and helpless. He had lost his minions, his faithful servant, the Uruk-Hai. He was alone. Gohan took one last look at Isengard then turned his back to it, never to look upon it again. Saruman watched as the two z-fighters flew into the distance and out of sight, never to return again.

Stay tuned for Chapter 5 where Goku takes a glimpse into the future.