The Past Returns

Part Four

Kira laughed at her brother when she saw him after he entered the ship. She noticed that he had a long scar on his left cheek. He bragged about how he wasn't going to get a mark on him and here he had a long scar on the side of his face. "You actually let her hit you? You bragged how you wouldn't get a mark on you, but she got a hit on you." She laughed even louder. "You're losing your touch, brother."

"Hey, I let Chi-Chi attack me. I didn't think she could fight in her age."

Kira stopped laughing and looked at her brother confused. "At her age? What are you talking about? She has to be, what, fifty-four? That's not old."

"To us it's not, but to Chi-Chi it is. I didn't know Earthlings had shorter life spans than us." Kiro maneuvered Chi-Chi off his shoulder until she was in his arms. "Look at her. She looks a little like the picture King Apollo gave us of her, but this woman looks older."

Kira looked at Chi-Chi in her brother's arms and noticed that Chi-Chi did look like the woman in the picture except for the few lines around her eyes and mouth. She touched Chi-Chi's skin. It felt a little dry and a little loose, not and firm as a younger person's skin would be. "She does look a little old. Is it the same woman?"

Kiro walked out of the bridge of the ship carrying Chi-Chi down the hall. Kira followed her brother. "It's her all right. Her father was there, too."

"Ox King? He was there?" She asked. "Well, if she's aged, he certainly must look old."

Kiro nodded. "Old and decrepit." He entered a guest room and laid Chi-Chi on the bed. "I killed him."

Kira gasped in shocked. "You killed him?"

Kiro smirked at his sister. "Yep. He wasn't even a challenged. It took two hits to knock that man down."

Kira stomped her foot impatiently like a child. "No fair. You get to have all the fun."

"Did I?" He questioned as he looked his sister over. Her dark hair was a bit ruffled as was her clothes. "You looked like you came from a battle, too."

Kira smiled. "Yeah, I was. These three weaklings came to save the city I was destroying. They were pathetic. However, there was this one cute guy."

"Oh, good grief," Kiro groaned rolling his eyes.

"He was cute! He looked proud, arrogant and I usually don't like that in a guy but it's so sexy on him. He's built up very nicely, too. I love how the way his hair stood on its end like that. I bet that's not the only thing that can stand up for a long time."

"Ugh!" Kiro groaned putting a hand over his ears. "I don't want to hear this! Go talk to Siren about that when we get to Olympus."

Kira shook her head. "You're just acting like a baby. It's probably been a while since you got some anyway." She pointed to Chi-Chi on the bed unconscious. "Why don't you screw with her to get some relief since you're in need of some?"

Kiro looked at his sister in disbelief. "Are you crazy? I'm not going to mess around with King Apollo's fiancée. Besides, she's old. I do have my limits."

"He's not going to know and as for her age…" she looked at Chi-Chi. "She's not that old looking. King Apollo might kill her anyway once he sees her. You know how he is. So, you should use her while you have the chance."

Kiro let out an aggravated groan.

Kira rolled her eyes. "Baby. I even considered taking cutie with me. He would've been a nice toy to play with but he refused and I didn't have the time to force him. King Apollo wants us to kill Iris. She's following our trail here. I guess she thought she could stop us or even lead Chi-Chi's family to us."

Kiro let out a sigh of relief. "Finally, some good news. That Iris gets on my last nerves."

"So, should we tell King Apollo about Chi-Chi being older?" Kira asked.

Kiro laughed. "No way. I'm dying to see the look on his face when he sees Chi-Chi and if he kills her, no sweat off my back."

Kira laughed. "I know what you mean. I wish I had a camera with me. It's gonna be a memorable look."

"You know I just realized something. Before she attacked me, Chi-Chi said that she was married to the greatest martial artists ever. I thought King Apollo said she was a widow."

"He did," Kira said.

Kiro looked at Chi-Chi on the bed. "Then what did she mean? Did she get married again?"

"Possibly," Kira thought. "Hmm. Maybe we should've done a recent check on her before we came to Earth. If her husband is the greatest martial artist ever, he's a pathetic one if he's one of the guys I fought or a coward for not showing up."

****

Trunks flew into the city and saw devastation. Most of the people have gotten to safety which was good. Trunks sensed out his father, brother and Goku's ki. To his shock, he found their ki's to be very low. This made him fly into the city even faster. He searched for his father's ki first. He found Vegeta's low energy under a large pile of rubble. Trunks figured his Dad must be under there. Apparently, half a building fell on him.

"Dad!" Trunks called out. He landed at the rubble, lifted and knocked the debris away as fast as he could until he found his father's beaten and bruised body. Trunks pulled Vegeta's body out of the rubble. "Wake up, Dad! Come on, Dad," Trunks said gently shaking his father.

Vegeta groaned a bit, coughed up some blood and awakened. He saw Trunks who was looking down on him relieved. "Trunks?"

"It's okay, Dad," Trunks said helping his father stand on his feet and threw one of Vegeta's arms over his shoulder. "What happened?"

"Some aliens attacked us. They caught us off guard. I could've beaten them if I had full strength."

"What are you talking about?" Trunks asked.

"Kakarot, Gogeta and I weren't at our full power when we fought. We had just finished a heavy training session and we were all exhausted. Those punks we fought just got lucky. We have to find Gogeta and Kakarot."

"Right," he said. "Do you have enough power to fly?"

"No, I can barely feel my legs," Vegeta admitted.

Trunks handed his father the hover belt Ami gave him. "You can use this to help find them. Ami gave it to me before I left."

Vegeta reluctantly took the belt, struggled to stand on his own and put it on. He had watched Trunks operated it when he first tried it so he knew how to work it. "So, this thing finally becomes of use." He said as he levitated in the sky.

Goku sat up and groaned in pain. His injury was very bad, but that wasn't going to stop him from moving. Goku struggled to stand up. Once he was on two feet, he took a moment to gather his breath. His first thoughts were of Chi-Chi and to get to her but right now, he had to find his son. He last saw him in pain having his hand and stomach burned.

"Go…geta!" Goku called out in a weak voice. He walked a few steps and collapsed. The pain he was going through was unbearable. "Gogeta!"

Gogeta lied in a rubble not far away. He groaned softly as he struggled to wake up. Vegeta and Trunks landed before Gogeta. Vegeta saw Gogeta's right hand was burned severely as was part of his chest over his abdomen. Vegeta growled in anger that someone had hurt his son. 'They'll pay for this.' Vegeta slapped Gogeta's face gently. "Wake up, Gogeta. Wake up!"

Gogeta's eyes slowly fluttered open. He saw Vegeta looking down on him concerned. "Vegeta?" He turned his head and saw Trunks. "Trunks?"

Vegeta saw Gogeta's eyes were full of pain. He masked his concern for his son and looked serious. Vegeta kept quiet as he tore off a piece of his uniform and wrapped it around Gogeta's burned hand.

"Ow!" He winced in pain as his burnt skin came in contact with Vegeta's hand. Vegeta didn't say anything as he kept wrapping his wound. Gogeta looked to the sky. "Where did those guys we fought go?"

"I don't know. They might have left the planet," Vegeta answered tying the wound up.

Trunks heighten his senses to pick up any strange powers but he didn't feel anything. "I think Dad's right. I don't feel their power."

Gogeta saw Vegeta ripped off his left pants leg from his ankle to his calf and placed that over the wound of his stomach. "That doesn't make any sense, Trunks. As much as I hate to say it, they had us, so why leave?"

"They just got lucky," Vegeta growled.

Gogeta laughed and then groaned as his body ached. "Yeah, you're right about that." Gogeta looked around as Vegeta was still patching his wound up. "Where's my Dad? I don't see him."

"Kakarot's around here somewhere and probably just as injured as the rest of us," Vegeta said finishing wrapping Gogeta's wound. "Come on," Vegeta said as he and Trunks helped Vegeta stand. "We have to find Kakarot."

Gogeta sensed for Goku's ki. "Dad!" Gogeta called out. He winced again in the pain he was feeling but he wasn't going to stop until he found his father. He found Goku's ki and it was very low. Gogeta pulled himself from Vegeta and Trunks and took to the sky weakly. "Dad!" He found him two miles away, struggling to walk. "Dad!"

Goku looked up and collapsed on his knees. "Gogeta!"

Gogeta saw the injury on his father. "No, Dad!!" He flew to his father fast, ignoring the pain going on in his body. He helped his father to stand. "Don't worry, Dad. I got you." He placed his hand on Goku's wound. "Oh, no, you lost a lot of blood. I need to get you to Korin's Tower for a senzu bean or to Dende," Gogeta said putting his Dad's free arm around him.

Goku groaned in pain as he struggled to speak. "Chi-Chi."

Gogeta shook his head. "No, we can't go home now. Mom would have a heart attack if she saw you like this."

Trunks and Vegeta landed before Goku. Both were surprised at how badly beaten he was. Trunks put a hover belt around Goku. "Wear this, Goku. It's a hover belt. You can use this to fly." Trunks put the last belt he had around Gogeta.

Still in excruciating pain, Goku struggled to speak as he was losing consciousness again. "Chi-Chi's…hurt."

Gogeta looked to see his father lost consciousness. "No, Dad. Mom's not hurt. She's fine. She's at home, far from here where it's safe. You're delirious now. No more talking. You need to save your strength. I have to get you to Korin's Tower." Gogeta floated in the air with his father. Following close behind were Vegeta and Trunks.

All of them flew to Korin's Tower. Korin, who actually had beans at his disposal right now, gave Goku two beans to be sure he will heal well and gave Gogeta and Vegeta one. Once fully awakened, Goku snapped to attention.

"Chi-Chi," Goku said in panic once he awakened.

Gogeta was confused. Why was his Dad still thinking about his mother? "Dad, Mom's not here. She's at home."

"No," he shook his head. "Chi-Chi's hurt. I know it. I felt it."

"Grandpa! Grandpa!"

Goku looked out over Korin's Tower and saw Pan flying towards him. "Pan?"

"Grandpa," Pan said and landed at the tower. "I've been looking all over for you. There was a strange man at your house looking for Grandma. Mom didn't trust him so she sent me to get you. I don't like him either. I think he wanted to hurt grandma."

A horrible feeling sunk into Goku. He knew it. Something had happened to Chi-Chi. "Chi-Chi!" He cried out and put two fingers to his forehead to use Instant Transmission to get to her quicker. "Oh, no!"

"What is it, Dad?" Gogeta asked concern for his mother now.

"It's Chi-Chi," he said his voice panicked. "I can't feel her ki. I have to get home." He jumped off Korin's Tower and flew home at tremendous speed. He was gone from the others vision in a matter of seconds.

"Wait!" Korin called out to stop the others from leaving. The white cat tossed Trunks a small bag with a few senzu beans in it. "If anyone's hurt at the house, you're going to need these."

"Thanks, Korin," Gogeta said. "Let's go."

Gogeta and the others were fast on Goku's tail flying after him. Pan explained what little she knew about Kiro to the others before she left to find help.

Listening to Pan's story, Gogeta started thinking. 'Wait a second. Could those guys father, Vegeta and I fought been a diversion while the real target was Mom? It would make sense now that I can't feel the aliens' ki. They had us but they didn't kill us. If that is the case, why Mom?'

'Please be all right, Chi-Chi. I'm sorry I wasn't there.' Goku thought as he flew home.

When Goku got home, he saw Gohan and Goten there tending to the Ox King and Videl but Chi-Chi wasn't in sight.

"Mom!" Pan called out and flew to her mother. She saw her father had her Mom in his arms. "Dad, is Mom all right?"

Gohan looked down at Videl in his arms. Her face was bruised and she was unconscious. "She's badly hurt, but she'll be all right once I get her to Dende." Gohan looked up and saw Trunks walking to him.

"Here, Gohan. I brought some senzu beans from Korin."

Gohan took the bean and smiled. "Thanks." He put the bean in Videl's mouth and helped her swallow it. "Come on, Videl. Take the bean."

Videl swallowed the bean. A few moments later, she opened her eyes. "Gohan?" she said weakly.

"It's okay. You're all right now." Gohan said and hugged her.

Gogeta and Goku went over to Goten who was kneeling beside the Ox King. The giant man was lying on his back with his eyes closed. Goku saw a grave look on his son's face. "Goten?"

Goten looked up at his father, a frown on his face. "Grandpa's gone."

A look of horror covered Goku's face. He knelt beside the Ox King and felt for a pulse. He couldn't find it. "Ox King…gone. He was killed?"

Goten nodded. "When I found him, he was faced down on the ground. He had a deep wound on the back of his neck. I think that's what killed him. He also has a few broken ribs." Goten sad sadly. "He was stuck twice--hard and quick."

Gogeta sat beside his brother and placed a hand on his deceased grandfather's chest. "Grandpa," he said sadly. He always had known his grandpa to be big and jovial. He loved his grandpa a lot and now he was gone. This angered Gogeta.

Goku clenched his fist in anger. "No." He looked around and couldn't find Chi-Chi or sense her anywhere. Even her scent was long gone. He looked around the area from Gohan with Videl to the broken tree and knew a fight had taken place here. Goku knew Chi-Chi and he knew how strong willed she can be. If they were after Chi-Chi, no way she went willingly. She fought them off as best she could.

"Chi-Chi. They kidnapped her. What happened here?"

Gogeta felt the anger build in him, too thinking about his deceased grandfather and kidnapped mother. "It was a diversion."

Goku looked at Gogeta. "A diversion?"

"Don't you think it's strange that those aliens who got us didn't finish us off or attack the rest of the planet? That whole fight might've been a diversion so they could get Mom," Gogeta explained.

"Aliens?" Goten said puzzled. "What aliens?"

"The ones that attacked North City. It was breaking news," Trunks said as he approached them.

Goten shook his head as if he didn't know about it. "I was on Master Roshi's island and the TV wasn't on. I felt grandpa's energy vanish so I came home and found him and Videl on the ground.

"I arrived not long after Goten," Gohan said jumping in. "I was about to leave work when I felt something wrong with Videl and I came here. What were these aliens like?"

Goku rose to his feet and didn't say anything as Gogeta explained about the aliens they fought. He looked over to Videl in Gohan's arms. Though recovered, she was still a little hurt and needed some time before she can tell them everything and all she knew. Perhaps she can shed some light into this mystery. She was their only hope now that the Ox King was gone.

****

Iris sighed worriedly. She had been in space for hours now. 'I bet they captured Chi-Chi right now.' Her control panel beeped of warning. Iris looked at it carefully. She had programmed her small ship to warn her of any familiar ships coming in contact with her and only one ship could be out there now. "Uh-oh. Kiro and Kira are heading this way."

Iris maneuvered her ship to hide behind a large meteor. She knew she couldn't let the Gemini Twins find her. They might get suspicious. She decided to wait until their ship passed before moving again.

Kiro and Kira were in the bridge of the ship. Kira folded her arms and shook her head as she spotted Kira. She and her brother were watching a large meteor they were about to blast out of their way when they spotted something go behind it. After typing in some commands to tell what it was, the infrared sensors spotted a ship behind the meteor. It didn't take them long to figure out who that was.

"Would you look at that? Iris is trying to hide from us. She's mine."

"No," Kiro argued. "I'm going to kill her."

"You got to kill the Ox King!" Kira argued.

"But I always wanted to kill Iris. She gets on my last nerve."

Kira felt the same way, but she and her brother weren't getting anywhere this way. There was only one way to resolved this. "Jaken?"

"Fine," Kiro said. He made a fist like his sister. "One…two…three."

Kira jumped in the air excited. "Yes! Paper wraps rock! I win!"

"How can paper wrap rock? A rock should be able to tear through paper," Kiro complained.

Kira stuck her tongue out at her brother. "You're just a sore loser." She jumped in her seat and pressed a few buttons, launching a missile on the meteor Iris was hiding behind.

Iris' ship beeped wilding of warnings of a missile heading her way. Iris shot passed the meteor just as the missile hit it, making an explosion and causing the debris from the exploding meteor to hit her ship, damaging the back of the ship.

"They spotted me." Iris type some commands to fire on the ship Kiro and Kira was in.

Kiro laughed at the missiles Iris had shot at their ship. "Can you believe that? Iris thinks she has a chance against us in her small ship."

Kira laughed. "She's cracked." Kira grabbed the controls and focused on Iris' ship. When she got a good aim, she fired on it. Iris tried to dodge by flying in several directions but eventually it was a direct hit on Iris' ship. "Ha ha! Direct hit!" She smiled at her brother. "She's done."

Iris' ship began spinning out of control. "All the engines are locked down. I can't get a grip." She saw a planet nearby so she maneuvered the ship so it would crash there. At least she had a chance of surviving that way, instead of crashing into a meteor in space. Iris was able to get the ship to stop spiraling and slowed down some as she entered the atmosphere of the planet. "At least I won't burn."

But she was still going in the planet too fast. Iris couldn't tell where she was going to land in the lake or the ground. Either way, she knew it would be a hard landing. She saw little specks on the planet that looked to be people but considering how high in the sky she was she couldn't tell what kind of people they were. She only hoped they were good people.

Iris crashed hard on the planet, creating a huge crater and she was knocked unconscious as she fell on the control panel unconscious with a large gash on her forehead.

Once the smoke cleared, the civilians on the planet who ran away when the ship crashed moved closer to the ship to check for survivors. A Namek saw Iris faced down on the control panel. He looked to his fellow Namekians.

"There's someone in here. She's injured badly." The Nameks went to the ship and with his friends pulled the door open. One of the Nameks checked her pulse.

"Is she alive, Nuri?" A namek asked.

Nuri carefully pulled Iris out of her seat and in his arms. He exit the ship. "Yes, but barely. We have to get her to the village."

To Be Continued

AN: Since Thanksgiving is next week and some of you are probably going out of town and I'll be hanging out with my family, I thought I update a little earlier. If I get a good number of reviews (20 is nice. Hee. Hee.), I might consider updating Tuesday or Wednesday, but it'll be before Thanksgiving regardless. I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving with my family and I hope you guys are too with yours. Stay safe, have fun and eat up. Forget about that diet. That's what next year is for.

Moonlight Angel: Yep, Ox King's gone. It looks bad now, but there's a ray of hope now.

Empowered Kane: Yeah, they got beat up but the aliens got lucky as Vegeta said. Hee. Hee. I'm a meanie yes, but everyone knows how this isn't the end.

Sammi: ::brings in two hundred orders of big macs, large fries and sprite drinks:: That should fill you up, Goku. ChiChi, you and Goku shouldn't be so modest because you are the best couple. You are the most loving and loyal couple on that show. Plus, you're just so cute together. I have a question for Goku and ChiChi again. Goku, if someone wanted to take your wife like Apollo in this story, how would you feel and what would you do to this guy? ChiChi, how does it feel to have Goku's arms around you and know no one can break you apart from him considering he's the most powerful man on the planet and he probably wouldn't like it?

Chuquita: I don't think ChiChi ever forgot her martial arts. It's kind of like driving or baking your favorite cake to me. Once you learn it, you don't forget it. Plus, ChiChi always been strong for a female and with a husband like Goku she needs to be, and I think she did pick up a few lessons from Goku sometime throughout their marriage.

Xephon: LOL! Who does? You already know there is some serious payback here.

GD: LOL! Where did that third thumb come from? Yeah, I've seen GT. There are so many blatant discrepancies that I don't considered it ever followed the DB/DBZ series.

Lady Athena: Videl yes, Ox King, um, no. If ChiChi dies, I think I'll be in a lot of trouble with the reviewers here. I better consider moving to the new Namek. I love the ending of the battle between Goku and Piccolo. I was screaming and cheering through all the fights especially when Goku won. I really get into the show. I loved the ending of Wednesday's show when Goku rejected Kami's offer, called for Nimbus, grabbed ChiChi and got on out of there. I was laughing so much at that.

Danichan: If you want bloody violence, I recommend getting the DVD where Vegeta is beaten up and eventually dies by Frieza. I can see why they edited the blood out on that one. That was a lot. Poor Vegeta.

CB: All that in a week? Is this a public or private school? In the first chapter when he saw her, Apollo thought she was pretty but revenge is top priority for him. As for the other questions, you're just gonna have to wait and see.

Gogirl: Evil and proud of it! Heh. Heh. Will they save ChiChi? Hmm, that's a good question. I'm loving the final fight between Goku and Piccolo. I was cheering Goku on and yelling excited when Goku won. I love the fights on the show. I really enjoyed the end of Wednesday show when Goku got away from Kami as fast as he could with ChiChi. That was so funny. So, you're going to try to pull an evil cliffy huh? We'll see. Bring it on.

Vampiric Entity: I'm not sure if you have but thanks for the compliment. I'm nothing compared to the great Akira Toriyama. That's the man. About the fighting, Goku, Gogeta and Vegeta didn't expect this type of fight because they already believe they are stronger than everyone else and since it happened so fast, they didn't think to transform. It really wouldn't have done much good anyway since they weren't at full power. I got the good luck at the end of the message. What does the other words mean?

Lady Kouga: Hmm, I guess we'll see, won't we? Hee. Hee. I'm really trying not to say much.

SSJchika: You feel sorry for Apollo? I'd like to see you say that at the end of Part seven.