BY MARA ROBERTS
Chapter 1In Otherworld, two figures appeared before King Yemma. One was awake and kicking violently, demanding and screaming incoherently. Then he spied the other one, a boy, a few feet away, in a heap on the floor. King Yemma gasped. The boy looked just like Goku! But, it couldn't be…
Before his guards could restrain the one known as Frieza, he delivered a mighty kick at the unconscious boy's torso, hurling him beyond the fence to Kami only knows where. Finally, four demon-guards wrestled the monster down and 'escorted' him to HFIL (1) – the Home for Infinite Losers.
King Yemma sighed in dejection. The evil ones always put up a fuss at being dead. So much paperwork!
"Kibuto!" King Yemma ordered his demon-guard. "Find that boy and bring him here, he needs to be checked in."
"Yes sir," Kibuto
replied.
"Set up a search grid, and what was that boy's name?" Yemma asked.
"Umm… I believe…" Kibuto checked the list.
"Gohan," he replied. "Son, Gohan."
King Yemma gasped in a sharp intake of air. Needless to say, he was quite surprised. Startling himself out of his shock, he sent Kibuto to look for him, along with a search party.
Son Gohan. Son Goku's son? It had to be; the resemblance was remarkable. But he was so young, and Goku would never let anything happen to his family; he would die first. So why wasn't Goku here in Otherworld? It was still puzzling him when King Yemma looked up to see the long line that had formed during the minor delay. Inwardly, he groaned. He hated paperwork.
* * On Earth * *
Meanwhile, back on Earth, Chi-Chi was worrying herself senseless. Something had happened, she knew. A mother always knew. Goku was hurt; she could sense it. And Gohan? Well, planet Namek was a long way away from Earth, and Gohan didn't have as much power as Goku and was harder to sense. Not that Chi-Chi had ever perfected ki sensing in the first place. She shrugged it off and told herself not to worry. But the nagging doubt would not go away.
* * Otherworld * *
Gohan woke up to feel a horrible pain in his stomach. He looked at his cracked armor and winced at the nasty bruise he saw through the hole. Wonder where that came from? He thought to himself. He stood up and brushed himself off, never mind there wasn't any dust to brush off. Old habits die hard, after all. Die.
The word echoed in his skull. Yes, he was dead. "So," Gohan mused. "This is Otherworld. Where's that King Yemma Dad had mentioned?"
He looked around. Everything was white: the floor, ceiling, and walls. Everything. Doing a slow three hundred sixty degree turn, he spied a corridor not four yards from him. "Hmm. I wonder if he's down this pathway? Funny, dad never mentioned it. On the other hand, why would he?"
There were strange symbols above the arch-doorway. Probably Kai-language. Shrugging to himself and working the kinks out of his shoulders, Gohan opened the big, heavy white door and proceeded to enter. It had a curved ceiling, almost an arch, except it was a hallway, though there were archways every so often that Gohan could see. And between these arches were images, like a convoluted, contorted (2) television screen, showing an image from every channel all at once. He even recognized a few people, like his dad. It was an image of his battle with Frieza. Another few feet down and there was Krillian going up against the Ginyus. Most people though, he didn't recognize. Gohan guessed this tunnel showed important past events, or something. It didn't really matter. He kept on walking; the images kept changing. The corridor never ended.
* * On Earth * *
Six weeks had passed, long enough for Bulma to reach Earth. She had begrudgingly strapped Piccillo to a med-stretcher and bandaged him up as best she could. Which was, she admitted, a pretty damn good job. She was a genius after all. Telling herself that if Piccillo died the dragonballs would disappear, she nursed her own sore head while half-heartedly cursing Gohan. He was dead; there was little doubt of that. And he had saved her, poor kid. Bulma sighed. What would Chi-Chi say? Whatever it was, it wouldn't be harsh enough. Unconscious or not, she had abandoned Gohan, had failed to convince him to return to Earth. No matter that he was right, that Frieza would have probably come and destroyed Earth. That wouldn't matter to Chi-Chi. She was his mother, and he was her pride and joy. And he was dead. But we still have the dragonballs! Bulma thought fiercely.
As she lightly set down in Capsule Corps expansive back yard, she spared a glance back at Piccillo. He was definitely mending, and would survive. She climbed out of the Namekian spaceship, getting the hoverbed ready for Piccillo. Chi-Chi came charging out of the building, making a mad dash to the ship. Bulma had called two hours into the flight, when she had woken up, to announcing her coming return. She hadn't told Chi-Chi the news. It was best, she had thought, to tell her face-to-face. Now she wished she had just gotten it over with. At least she'd have been a few million parsecs away. She could have even landed on another planet! Oh, well.
She grabbed Chi-Chi's arm before she bolted up the ramp. "Chi, we need to talk. You might want to sit down."
Of course, Chi-Chi did no such thing, but she worried. "What?!? Is Gohan hurt, is he sick? Let me go to him!"
Bulma sighed and shook her head. "He isn't there. He isn't there…"
Bulma's voice trailed off in grief as she bit back a sob. "He's on Namek, or rather, where Namek used to be."
Chi-Chi's legs slowly collapsed out from under her. She floated softly to the ground. "What are you saying?" She demanded, shakily.
"Gohan's dead. Namek exploded, and Gohan's dead," she answered, voice heavy with emotion. She then went on in a rush. "I tried to get him to come back to Earth, but he knocked me out, after saying he had to face Frieza again! I tried, Chi-Chi, I really tried!"
But Chi-Chi wasn't listening; she had fainted. The Ox King came out and said, "Oh, dear! What happened?"
"Let's go inside, and set Piccillo up somewhere else." She replied.
* * Capsule Corp. 35 minutes later * *
After Chi-Chi woke up and had to be retold, she sat very quietly, in shock, white knuckles gripping her teacup. Bulma could see hairline cracks start to form, but said nothing. Her father was taking care of Piccillo in the med room. Everyone sat around the couches, silent, thinking over what they'd been told. Except, of course, for Vegeta. He was as calm and relaxed as ever – on the outside, at least. Inside, he was boiling mad! How dare Goku surpass him again! And his son Gohan seemed to be a true Saiyjin, more so than his baka (3) of a father. How could a mere boy succeed where all others had failed, where he had failed? It unnerved him.
"But, listen. We can use the dragonballs! We just need to gather them and wish Gohan back!" Puar announced.
At that, Chi-Chi sat bolt upright, a glow on her face. "You're right! You're absolutely right! Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
"Which set of dragonballs should we go after?" Roshi asked. He was referring to Earth's dragonballs, and the Namekian ones. When Goku had been fighting Frieza the wishes hadn't quite gone as planned. Dende sorrowed at the thought.
On Earth, everything had worked out. They had wished that all the people killed over the past six months to be revived, so long as they hadn't been serving Frieza at the time. This brought back all the Nameks – including those slaughtered by Vegeta, and Vegeta himself was revived as well.
On Namek, however, young Dende had panicked and misspoke the wish. He had asked that all those who had been revived be sent to Earth, and thus the wish discarded Gohan, Goku, Piccillo, Krillian and Bulma, leaving them stranded on Namek.
No one blamed Dende, however. It was an honest, though fatal, mistake. But Gohan and Goku could still be revived. Vegeta was actually glad the wish had been messed up. If Gohan and Goku hadn't remained on Namek, Frieza would still be alive and go on a rampage. And since Goku was raised on Earth…
"And how can we tell them apart?" Oolong demanded. "Unless the radar can tell which is which?"
Oolong's questions pulled Dende from his musings.
Bulma answered the Turtle hermit's question first. "We'll use the Namekian dragonballs, so we don't have to wait a year and we get three wishes besides! And Earth's dragonballs are inert, so we won't have to pick them out from the other set."
Dende got up and paced excitedly. "Okay, then, let's hurry up. I screwed up big time and I want to make it up to Chi-Chi and Gohan!"
The Elder sighed, "We don't blame you Dende, but by all means, let's start."
* * One Week Later * *
The dragonballs were all assembled, and Porunga was summoned. The sky turned black, and a mighty thunder caused everyone to duck down in fright. A lightning bolt pierced the sky and stayed there, slowly forming into the dragon, Porunga.
"Okay, Chi-Chi, who do you want revived first?" Bulma asked.
"Bring Goku back! That way Gohan's daddy is here to see him!"
"Okay! Porunga, listen up, we want Goku and Gohan to Earth's check in station in Otherworld!!"
Red eyes glowed scarlet. "This cannot be done," the dragon replied.
"Eh, why not?" Roshi demanded. "What's wrong?"
"The one called Goku still lives."
"Oh!" Chi-Chi cried out, happily. "Then let's wish him to Earth!"
The eyes glowed again. "Your wish is granted."
Suddenly, Goku appeared, ten feet away in a ridiculous outfit, using crutches to balance himself. He bore an expression that spoke of recent recovery, which quickly changed to confusion as he recognized Earth. "Chi-Chi, Bulma? What's going on?"
Chi-Chi said nothing, speechless. She ran and sobbed in her husband's arms, finally letting the tears out.
"Listen, Goku," Bulma said. "Gohan died and we're about to wish him back. I want you to be strong for him and give him a hug, okay?"
Goku looked shocked, but nodded. "He must have been the one who put me on the ship! I landed on planet Yarduth. They described a very interesting technique I'll have to try…" His voice faded off. "Cheer up, Chi, Gohan will be home soon. Right, Bulma?"
"You got it, Goku! Porunga, we wish Gohan to the check in station in the spirit realm!"
Porunga nodded, eyes glowing a third time, not bothering to mention that all of Spirit World, until past Snakeway, was considered part of the check-in station area – including the mysterious corridor Gohan was still walking aimlessly down. All Porunga wanted was to go back to sleep. "It is done."
Bulma grinned. "And for our last wish… Let's bring Gohan back to LIFE!"
Bulma shouted out the last word.
Eyes glowed red for a forth and final time. "It is done."
The dragon disappeared and the balls scattered, not to be used for another Namekian year. Chi-Chi and Goku glanced around excitedly, looking for sign of their son. But Goku couldn't sense him, anywhere. The dragon must have made a mistake, but that was impossible. Wasn't it?
* * Otherworld * *
Gohan was still meandering the corridor, watching the pictures flash by, content with his slow, plodding pace. After all, he was dead, what time did he have to lose? Suddenly there was a blinding white light and a heaviness he was unused to – his body had mass again! Before he could ponder what this meant he was gone, teleported back to Earth.
(1) Ever notice how, if you add a dash to the bottom of F and I in HFIL, you spell HELL? That's also how I pronounce HFIL – I just say Hell. It's easier than pronouncing all the letters.
(2) convoluted – intricate, complicated; contorted – distorted, twisted
(3) baka – Japanese for idiot