(A/N: Erm, yeah, this fic is weird. I mean really weird. Anyways, I do not own DBZ or any of its characters, blah blah blah, read and reply, flamers will be hunted down and kicked. Or tortured with a spork. Either or. Enjoy! [I hope!])
CHAPTER ONE: Awakenings
Goku opened his eyes. The dark mist lifted slowly, some staying at the very edges of his vision. His head pounded some upbeat rhythm, and jolts of pain every time he moved forced him to stay still.
But he couldn't. He could feel that he was in some strange place; where it was, or how he'd gotten there, he had no idea. He managed to turn his head and look around.
Gohan was sprawled out nearby, his arm twisted at an awkward angle. Goku winced. That had to hurt. Krillin was a few meters away, lying flat on his face. And at the far end of the room – which, as far as Goku could tell, was made entirely of concrete – was Vegeta, slumped against the wall.
His vision completely clear, Goku ignored the pain and sat up. Now that he was able to look behind him, he saw that he was a little wrong about the room. There wasn't a bit of concrete anywhere; the floor, the ceiling, and three of the walls were made of metal. The fourth wall was really just a big window, a door with no handle at one end of it. Along the bottom of most of the glass wall – on the other side – was what might have been a long control panel of some sort.
Goku stood up – slowly – and peered through the glass. There was a narrow hallway on the other side that was only as long as the room. It ended in another door – that one solid metal with the words "Security Level 5" on it. The control panel was dizzyingly complex; none of the buttons or switches or knobs had labels. Most were even the same color.
On the wall of the hallway, opposite the controls, was what might have been a cabinet. There was a small speaker beside it, with a button and a knob beneath that. Peering closer, Goku figured out that it was for the sending and receiving of various items.
The metal door slid open silently, and two figures walked in. They paid no attention to Goku as they spoke.
One, a tall man with long blond hair, appeared to be the superior of the other, as he was giving orders. He used some odd jargon full of acronyms and code words that Goku could make no sense of.
The second person was rather short compared to the other, although – he? – was clearly of average height. This smaller person wore a brown camouflage uniform with a black balaclava and carried an automatic rifle. Just looking at this person's way of walking made it clear it was a man. No woman Goku had ever seen walked like that.
"Aye, sir," the shorter man said in response to anything spoken by his superior.
"…Those are your orders," the blond man said finally. "We're counting on you, Shade."
"I won't let anything happen, sir," the uniformed man – Shade – said, saluting.
The blond man smiled and placed a hand on Shade's shoulder. "I know." Returning the salute, he turned and went back out the metal door.
Shade watched the door slide shut, and then stood there momentarily, watching. Finally, he went over and locked it. Then, leaning his rifle against the wall, he went to the glass door leading into the room Goku and his friends were in.
He pressed a number of buttons on the small keypad beside the door. Then, placing a hand against the wall for balance, Shade leaned close to an optical scanner positioned above the keypad. Three beeps and a flash of a green light gave Shade permission to enter.
"Hmm," he said, surveying the scene. Three unconscious men and one looking distrustful. This could be tough. Could. Finally, he moved – straight toward Goku.
"Who are you?" Goku demanded, taking a small step back. "Where is this? What do you plan to do? How did we get here? Why are we here?"
Shade sighed loudly and kept advancing. When Goku sped up his retreat, Shade stopped where he was, his arms folded over his chest impatiently, and said, "Would you stop! I'm here to help you – if, that is, you'd be so kind as to let me."
Goku paused. "You're a kid?"
"Nooo," Shade said mockingly. "I'm seventy-two. Of course I'm a kid! They wouldn't let an adult this short join."
"But they let you?"
"Yup. They needed kids. Dunno quite why, but I'm willing to bet it's because we're easier to work psychotherapy on. Of course, they won't let kids join if they're gonna grow up to be short." Shade reached into a pocket and pulled out a small device that fit his hand perfectly. "I gotta see if they did any damage to you," he said, striding closer to Goku. "Hold still." He grasped Goku's arm and pressed the little device against his skin.
"Eh?" Goku felt a tiny prick, and then Shade took the device away and seemed to be reading a screen on its back.
"…Normal… normal…" he was muttering. "Hm. A bruise on your shin, but that's it. Consider yourself lucky. They're not normally this gentle."
Goku was about to contradict Shade – he hadn't felt anything on his leg – but, just to see, he checked. Just as Shade had said, there was a large bruise on his right shin. Now that he knew it was there, it began to hurt a little.
"This one's you son, isn't he?" Shade was asking. He had knelt beside Gohan and was now reading the results on the device.
"Yeah."
"Your DNA patterns match. Looks like his mother was human, though."
"You mean… you know I'm not human?"
Although he could only see Shade's eyes, Goku somehow knew the boy looked at him as though he were clueless. "Of course," the boy replied. "That's why you're here."
"But what about Krillin?"
"That one?" Shade looked. "Oh, he's human, then? Huh. Not the first time those guys have made a mistake." He shrugged. "Too late now. Lucky you guys got me."
"Why?"
"You'll know soon enough." Shade had turned Gohan onto his back and was messing with the settings on another small device. The thing beeped quietly, and he placed it against Gohan's neck.
"Huh…?" Gohan blinked several times. "What… where… Dad!" He sat up quickly, immediately wishing he hadn't. "Oww…" He cradled his injured arm.
"Shouldn't have moved," Shade muttered. "Look that way and clench your teeth," he said, pointing to the far wall.
"What're you gonna do?" Gohan asked, turning his head.
Shade didn't reply. He gripped Gohan's upper arm with one hand and his shoulder with the other, then twisted and pushed.
"Yeow!" Gohan cried as his arm popped back into place.
"Sorry," Shade said unconvincingly. He stood up and went over to Krillin. "We're kind of running short on painkillers. I could've done that while you were asleep, but that's no way to wake a guy up." He looked at the readings on the first device. "Normal, normal… hm. He's perfectly fine. I'll let him wake up on his own, I guess."
"Dad… what the heck is going on?" Gohan whispered, having stood up and going over to Goku. "Who's that kid?"
"Name's Shade, it seems," Goku said as the uniformed boy crouched beside Vegeta.
"Think we should warn him…? I mean, if he does that to Vegeta, he'll get his head blown off."
"I should think not," Shade said. "They put you in this room for a reason. See that?" He pointed to a metal orb on the ceiling. "That's a ki suppressor. No matter how powerful you are, you won't be able to do much more than knock someone over."
"Oh, goody," Gohan muttered darkly. "So we're prisoners."
"We all are." Shade started tapping the device. "The hell…?" He shook it vigorously, wondering why it was saying Vegeta was conscious. Then he stopped and looked up at Vegeta. "Aw, shit."
The Saiyan had opened his eyes and was staring at the boy. No sooner had Shade realized that the device's readings were correct than Vegeta struck out with his fist, sending Shade flying.
"Urgh…" Shade skidded to a halt, lying flat on his back. "Dammit…"
"A ki suppressor," Vegeta hissed. "Where the hell did you get that?"
"Don't ask me," Shade said, getting up. He matched Vegeta in height. "I'm just a guard."
"You lie," Vegeta hissed. "You've been lying all this time!"
"So have you," Shade retorted. "Now hold still. This might hurt." In one lightning fast movement, he whipped out a gun that had been concealed and fired a shot.
Vegeta looked down. A small white dart stuck out of his chest. "You…" He barely managed to finish his word. He collapsed in a heap.
"Beretta M92-F," Shade said, spinning the gun a few times before putting it back into its concealed holster. "Modified to fire tranquilizer rounds. Stunners, we call 'em."
"So… he's alive… right?" Gohan asked.
"Of course. It's almost impossible to kill someone with these things. Might as well hit 'em over the head with it. It'd do more damage." He went over and nudged Vegeta gently with his foot until the Saiyan was lying fully on his back. Then he sat right down and started fixing up the worst of his wounds.
"So, uh… Shade…" Gohan coughed. "What's going to happen to us?"
"I can't say for sure," Shade said, shaking his head. "It really depends on the whims of the leader."
"What exactly does that mean?"
Shade sighed. "I won't lie to you," he replied after a moment. "He's done some awful things in the past. Torture of every imaginable type – and more. Much, much more. His scientists runs tests… once or twice while I've been here he's tried breeding various different species." Shade shuddered. "He forces some of the prisoners to fight for him, he attempts to make the less sentient ones his pets… and as for the women…" He left that sentence unfinished.
"But what does this 'leader' want to do to us?" Gohan persisted.
"I don't know."
"Liar!"
"No." Shade stood up. "I told you. I won't lie. Not about that. Some things are worth hiding, but not that."
"I don't believe you!"
Shade pulled off his left glove and pushed the sleeve up all the way. Scars covered his skin, some looking like they were burns, others from blades, some even from bullets. "Like him," the boy said, nodding toward Krillin, "I've been accused of being inhuman. I went through a good deal of the torture and experiments before it was decided that I really was human. I know what it's like. I was lied to," he said, his voice rising slightly in volume and anger. "I was kept in the dark. Nobody cared about me. No one told me what I was in for. They let me think it was all just a prison. And then… this happened." He pulled his sleeve back down. "I was twelve during all that. But age doesn't matter to them. Experiments were conducted on me. I've been through nearly everything they have to offer. It was Hell. Do you really think I'd lie to you? Do you still think I'm lying?"
Gohan was silent. Neither he nor Goku knew what to say, what to do, what to think. Shade bent and picked up his glove.
"I'll be outside," he said, his voice emotionless. "Tell me if you need anything. Food will arrive within the hour. Keep an eye on Krillin." He began walking toward the door.
"Shade?"
The boy turned to look at Goku.
"If they did all that to you… why are you working for them?"
Shade's eyes smiled. "I'm not."