Orphaned- Chapter 5
Disclaimer- I don't own 'em.
Note- This is gonna be a long one. First, I would like to apologize for how long it's been taking me to get these out. Second, I would like to thank everyone who has stuck with me, even though I'm so slow. Third, I wanna apologize for blowing up a dragon ball so unceremoniously. First off, I said the dragon ball was the four star, I believe, unless I took that part out. Well, in any case, that's not possible, 'cuz Goku had the four star. My next point brings me to questions some peeps have had.
To Mars- Yes, Gohan has his tail. I don't remember if I mentioned it, but it will definitely come into play later. Also, thank you for your question regarding Piccolo and Kami. I truly meant to put something in there, but I totally forgot! Urgh, its driving me nuts now. Oh yeah, the question was 'how would they react if a dragon ball was destroyed'. Well, I think they'd definitely feel a paranormal tug, or something, at least Kami would. But it shouldn't affect their health too much, but maybe… Urgh, who am I kidding? I dunno where I'm going with this. Please, bear with me. It will come together.
To Guess- 'Are the Dragon Balls indestructible?' Are they indeed… Well, I think not, because of the one episode with Krillin Gohan and Vegeta on Namek, right when the Ginyu force found them. Vegeta yelled at Krillin to destroy the dragon ball he was holding. Well, I don't know how much Vegeta knows about dragon balls, but as Dende said 'Nothing lasts forever, not even the Dragon Balls' or something to that extent. Oh, my spell check is going nuts… OK, to wrap this up, I couldn't have Goku and Chi-chi getting wished back now; it would ruin the plot line slightly. Did I say wrap it up? Oh we're not done yet, not by a long shot.
OK, so now why doesn't Kami just make new Dragon Balls… well, if anyone asks me that question, they should know I will not answer. That comes later. But trust me, even though I'm a bit of a schitzo, I know what I'm doing, kinda.
OK, that's all very well and good, but I'm still finding it hard to believe that Krillin and Yamcha and them didn't even realize Goku was dead. I mean, come on! The guy was their best friend! Truthfully, they would have noticed. Yeah, OK, they should have. I admit. There are a million different little things that should have happened. Goku shouldn't have been able to take Gohan home right away; there are hospital rules about that kinda stuff. Chichi shouldn't have died! What about Goten! Oooooo, I did a bad thing… but Goten doesn't seem destined to live in this time line.
All right, whatever, how about Namek's dragon balls? Ah, no one knows about them yet. And if I have my way, no one will. But, as my sister says, 'The idea decided to become a story with out consulting me first.' So, I'm a bit ill prepared, and am trying to keep up. OK, so I hope I answered any questions anybody might have had, and if I sound irritated, I'm not. I'm just trying to answer questions before they pop up. You know the saying. 'Intellectuals solve problems, geniuses prevent them.' Well, I hope you enjoyed my little discourse- now, on to the story! (Finally)
Oop, wait, not through yet. First- a recap of the unimportant events in the last part. Radditz blew up a dragon ball, Mr. Chute felt the force of an angry Gohan, and Piccolo went to fight Radditz, not being able to rely on the help of Krillin and Yamcha. Radditz began an attack on Ivy City, and Gohan and his new-found friend Chris went to talk to Mrs. Marx. The end. Oh yeah, the last sentence of Chapter 5 had to do with Gohan and Chris and Mrs. Marx. 'What they saw almost made them scream.' Oh, and don't mind if Mrs. Marx changes from a Mrs. to a Miss, I told you my memory is bad and I'm to lazy to look it up ^.^ OK, now you can try and enjoy the story.
*****
As Radditz continued his reign of terror on Ivy city, Mrs. Marx struggled to get the orphanage evacuated before the walls literally fell down about her ears. Gohan and Chris stood frightened in the midst of their fellow four- and –five year olds, most of whom were sobbing and scared. Gohan and Chris, however, stood rigid in shock. No one had seen what they had. A tall man with huge, conspicuous black hair had been walking down the center of the street. Gohan hadn't seen any sort of weapon, but the man had been firing and effectively destroying buildings. He was absolutely terrified, and could tell that Chris was trying not to tremble. And, though it should have been the least of his worries, Gohan's stomach was really bothering him. It wasn't so much as a stomach ache anymore as a head ache; a sort of a buzzing in the back of his head, and it seemed to be making him more frightened.
"That guy is very strong," He found himself saying to Chris. She looked at him oddly.
"How do you know?" She asked. Gohan shrugged. Chris scoffed. "I bet he's really weak, but it's just his weapon that makes him seem powerful. Only weak people need weapons to take over cities." She finished matter-of-factly.
"So the entire human race since the beginning of time has been weak." Gohan mused. Chris grinned.
"Precisely." Gohan smiled weakly. "There, that's better! You look so grim all the time, lighten up!" She exclaimed. "Come on, let's go talk to my friends. They look like they could use some lightening up too." Before he could respond, Gohan found himself being dragged over to a group of girls he recognized as Chris's sandbox buddies. They all looked especially apprehensive. "Hey guys, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine. This is Gohan." She shoved Gohan forward and he waved timidly. "Gohan, this is Al," A girl with jet hair scrutinized Gohan from head to toe, nodded, and stuck out her hand. Gohan shook it awkwardly. "Bobbi," A curly-haired brunette stepped forward.
"Hi!" She exclaimed, nearly bouncing from apparent excitement. "I'm Bobbi! Nice to meet you!" Gohan shook her hand and she bounced over to Chris.
"And Dani." Chris finished. A red-head looked at Gohan and into his eyes. Hers were ice-blue and scared him. She sighed and said simply,
"Hi."
"So does he talk?" Al said skeptically.
"Yeah, I talk. Just not much." Gohan replied, not quite knowing what to make of the girls.
"OK, now that we're all aquainted, let's go play! The playground's empty."
"Play what?" Dani asked, still holding an eye on Gohan. She obviously had less than friendly feelings towards him.
"OOOO!!!" Bobbi squealed. "Let's save the city! Let's save the city!!!!" She was bouncing up and down again. Chris nodded.
"Sounds good, considering the current situation. OK, Gohan, you're the crazy guy and we're the four heroines who are going to stop you."
"Hey, why do I have to be the crazy guy?!" Gohan protested.
"You're the only guy here." Dani pointed out coldly.
"Plus, you look a little like him." Chris said, ignoring Dani's hostility.
"Thanks. That's just what I needed to here." Gohan replied.
"Anytime! Now try to look menacing!" Chris coached. Gohan grinned evilly and stretched himself as tall as he could. Flailing his arms and baring his teeth, he uncurled his tail from its position around his waist. Chris, Al, and Bobbi allowed their eyes to go wide and Dani narrowed hers to slits.
"What is that?!?!" Al nearly screamed. Gohan frowned and brought his tail around in front of him.
"My tail." He said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Tail?" Dani nearly hissed, not bothering to hide any animosity towards him. Chris smiled then and broke the staring contest the two were having.
"Wow, you have a tail just like Psycho Guy! You two could be related!" Gohan groaned.
"You mean you've been in the same dormitory as me for four years and never noticed, but you get a two-second glimpse of this guy and your radar instantly picks it up?" All the girls nodded solemnly, though not all of them had seen Psycho Guy. Gohan hadn't noticed a tail. He sighed. The game commenced; four young warriors and a monster duking it out in the midst of what soon would be a real battle.
*****
Piccolo followed Radditz's trail of destruction. Even if he hadn't been able to sense ki, it would not have been difficult to find the Saiyan. The remains of whatever he had demolished were still smoldering. Piccolo found the devastated suburbs of Icy City and the city itself in uproar. With a sudden start, he realized he had been to this city once before, four years ago. He remembered the boy very well. Gohan had been completely powerless then. What about now? Piccolo allowed a slight ray of hope to shine through. If Goku's son had inherited his power, perhaps he could be of some use. Piccolo blocked this thought quickly, however. The boy was but four. How would he do any good against this powerful an opponent? Besides, the only significant ki he felt right now was Radditz's; evil and taunting, daring Piccolo to test its depths. But he would do no such thing- a cool head would get him out of this, hopefully alive. He took a deep breath and landed in the city. He soon found Radditz continuing his rampage. He threw a ki blast at Radditz, hoping to catch him off guard, though it went against everything he knew about honor. Radditz's scouter gave a high-pitched beep and its owner spun around just in time to deflect the blast and send it careening into a building. He faced Piccolo.
"Nice try, but don't think I didn't see you coming." He said smugly. "Ready to fight?" Piccolo nodded. "Fool. Rushing to your death. The sun is not set yet."
"I don't care. Let's get this over with." Piccolo said, falling into his fighting stance. He wouldn't bother leaving the city to ensure the inhabitant's safety; he felt he was pushing his luck already.
Radditz attacked first, leading off with a punch aimed at Piccolo's face. Piccolo managed to block it, but Radditz followed through with a solid hit to his abdomen. After this, he didn't wait for Piccolo's reaction, but continued to hammer his stomach, driving him back little by little until Piccolo was up against a wall. Radditz gave one more strong punch to Piccolo's torso and the brick behind him cracked, sending tiny veins up the wall. With the next hit, the wall gave way, but instead of falling with it, Piccolo leapt behind Radditz to begin his offensive from there.
Piccolo started his attack, but Radditz matched his speed, and doubtless could have surpassed it. The battle continued on like this for some while, with Piccolo throwing millions of punches, and Radditz blocking all of them with ease. Finally, Radditz got bored with the game and grabbed one of Piccolo's flying fists. He tossed Piccolo effortlessly into the air and sent a small ki blast after him. Piccolo countered this one with a blast of his own and the two canceled each other out. Piccolo looked down on Radditz from the sky.
"Masenko!" He let loose a golden beam that headed directly for Radditz. Radditz charged up a blue beam and sent it at Piccolo's. the two beams matched for a second before Radditz sent a burst of energy through his, causing Piccolo's to shrink back almost to his face. Radditz gave a slight nudge and his hit Piccolo full-force before the Namek even realized what was happening. Instantly, his charred body could be seen falling with increasing speed toward the pavement, where bone and concrete cracked with a sickening thud. Piccolo struggled to raise himself from the newly-made hole as Radditz approached with disturbingly heavy footsteps. As Piccolo managed to bring himself to a half-standing, half-crouching position, Radditz extended his arm and raised his hand vertically.
"Sayonara." Piccolo's eyes widened as a small, powerful ki blast sped towards him with all the speed of death, leaving him unable to move for fear. Suddenly, he heard the explosion- far away and unreal. Maybe it was unreal, because piccolo felt no pain. Certainly this wasn't dying? He ventured to look up and saw a shadowed figure standing over him with his arm out. To the left of Piccolo, there was a fresh hole in a building. Radditz looked as though he was trying to decide between laughing and killing. Piccolo would live a little longer.
*****
I do hope you enjoyed that. The author's note seems longer than the story ^.^() hem, oops. I can't resist long explanations. OK, here's the good news; There is no way in hell the next chapter is gonna take as long as this one as long as I am unblocked. The bad news is I get blocked frequently. Welp, until next time, toodles!
~mysticGohan33~