Sorry for the wait, here's the reward for your patience. And, once again, thanks for all your reviews.
Chapter 6
Dende's antennae rose suddenly and the young namek ran to the edge of the sacred lookout.
'Another one?' He reached out with his senses to find out who it was, this time. His eyes widened in disbelief. "Goku!" Even the mightiest warrior on Earth had fallen to this strange new threat. But what was it?
A few hours ago, Dende had sensed a strange source of power hit the Earth. It had only stayed for a few seconds, and then disappeared. Deciding it was best not to take chances, Dende had done a mental sweep of the area. Since it was near East Satan City University, he'd thought it might've been Gohan, although he considered it strange that Gohan would risk raising his power level like that near such a public place.
But he sensed Gohan moving away from the university and, upon further probing, he found that he was unable to sense Videl anywhere! He and Piccolo had found it hard to believe that someone could attack Videl and win in only a matter of seconds. She wasn't as powerful as the other fighters, but she certainly wasn't one to be taken without a fight. So the two nameks had mentally scanned the area for any sign of residual ki.
What they found added to the strangeness of the situation. The brief power they'd sensed was fresher than that Videl had used against her supposed attacker. This meant that the anomaly Dende had sensed, took place after Videl's fight.
Piccolo had decided to see the situation for himself, so he'd flown to the university. However, before he got there, Dende had contacted him telepathically, telling him that the same strange energy had just appeared briefly in the countryside, near Goku's house, and he was now unable to sense either Gohan or Goten.
Upon hearing that Gohan had disappeared, Piccolo immediately changed course and headed towards the Son residence. But, on the way there, he got another message from Dende, saying the same thing had happened at Capsule Corp and Trunks had disappeared. Then, not long after that, another one occurred at Hercule's home, but nobody had vanished that time.
Just as he was approaching the Son house, Piccolo not only felt, but saw the bright blue beam shoot down from the sky. It stayed for a few seconds and then completely vanished. And, along with it, went Goku's ki signature.
He landed outside the house, where a startled Chichi was on the ground, still staring at the spot where her husband had been standing not a minute earlier. She looked up as Piccolo touched down on the grass. Chichi had always been a little weary of Piccolo, but this time she was actually happy to see him.
"Piccolo!" She got up and ran up to him. "Something terrible has happened!"
"I know." The namek answered. 'Dende,' he reached out with his telepathy. 'Who have we got left?'
'I can still sense Krillin and Vegeta at Capsule Corp, but their energy's low. Of course, I can't tell how 18 is. Buu seems to be fine. He and Hercule are on their way to Capsule Corp now.'
'Alright, I'll meet up with everyone there. Surely someone must have an idea of who's doing this.'
Piccolo was about to take off again, when he felt a sharp tug on his cape.
"Hold it!" Said Chichi sternly. "I know you and Dende can see everything from up on that lookout! Where are Goku and my boys? What's going on?"
"That's what I'm going to find out!" Piccolo replied as he pulled his cape free. "You should stay here. You'll be safer that way."
"Don't be so sure, Greeny!"
A thin beam of energy flew at Piccolo from behind. The namek was able to move in time to avoid it hitting his body, but one of the shoulder pads on his cape got drilled through and caught on fire! Piccolo quickly threw his cape off and turned his attention to his attacker.
The fighter standing before him looked somewhat like Vyborg. He was a wolf-type creature with grey fur and blue eyes. His tail wasn't mechanized but, since he wasn't detecting a life-force, Piccolo immediately guessed what he was.
'Cyborg's. I should've known! That's why we didn't sense them arriving on the planet.'
"Another one?" Chichi remarked.
"What?" Piccolo turned his attention to her.
"Goku defeated a fighter just like him before that strange beam hit him." Chichi answered, pointing at the fur covered warrior.
"Is that so?" Piccolo looked at the wolf-man with a devilish grin on his face. "Then he's probably got the answers that I'm looking for." He reached up, pulled his turban off his head and threw it to the ground.
The wolf creature had also heard what Chichi had said. He gave a little laugh.
"So, it was Son Goku that defeated my worthless brother! Oh, well. It was bound to happen sooner or later!" His eyes focused on Piccolo. "Rest assured. I won't be nearly as easy."
Piccolo levitated just off the ground, then sped towards his opponent. The alien made a similar charge. But just before the two of them collided, they vanished, only to reappear in the sky exchanging vicious punches and kicks.
Chichi watched the action from below.
'Would it be too much to ask …' She wondered. '…to have a family reunion that doesn't lead to kidnapping or fights to the death?'
(Scene change)
"What the !" Dende watched the fight from up on the lookout. Mr. Popo came and stood beside him.
"It must've been fighters like him that attacked the others at Capsule Corp." The immortal remarked.
"Yes, but from what I sensed of Goku and the others, before they disappeared, they were all just fine. It seems like only those who beat their opponents are being taken. It's like some kind of twisted tournament. But who – Arrrghh!"
The sacred lookout was situated high up in Earth's atmosphere, far above the layers where clouds formed. This insured that whatever guardian was residing in the structure didn't have to wander around in cloud vapor and accidentally step off the edge whilst looking for the bathroom. Unfortunately, the absence of clouds meant that Dende and Mr. Popo didn't get the same warning that the others had. No clap of thunder, no darkening sky, just a sudden flash followed by painful paralysis.
However, neither the pain nor the paralysis lasted very long. Dende landed hard on his knees and, when he dared open his eyes, he found himself and Mr. Popo in pitch blackness. The floor beneath him felt solid enough, so he assumed they were in some sort of room.
Sure enough, just ahead off them came the mechanized sound of a metal door sliding upwards. As this happened, lights came on in the room, and Dende and Mr. Popo stood up to face the figure that walked through the door.
Dende couldn't help but gasp and Mr. Popo stuttered out,
"Y-you're a, a…"
"'Namek', I believe is the term you're looking for." Snail said with a smile. He gave a small bow to the confused pair. "Please, let me be the first to welcome you aboard my ship, the Revival." He then motioned towards the open door. "Now if you would be so kind, follow me."
Dende and Mr. Popo didn't really have much choice. It was either that or stay in the room. And besides, how else were they going to get any answers? They followed their 'host' down a brightly lit corridor. Snail walked with his hands behind his back and a relaxed smile on his face.
Finally, Dende spoke up,
"Who are you? You're not one of my brothers."
Snail looked over his shoulder at Dende and his smile broadened.
"Did I forget to introduce myself again? My, I always do this. My apologies. My name is Snail and, yes you are correct, I am not one of Guru's offspring. In fact, I'm not what would be considered a regular namek."
At this point they'd reached a metal door. Snail typed a code into a panel on the wall and the door slid open. Dende's eyes widened at what he saw inside. There were several small platforms set out in a line. Three of those platforms were occupied. Goku, Videl and Trunks were standing upright in individual funnels of blue light. Their eyes were closed and none of them were moving.
Dende ran past Snail, straight up to the platforms with Mr. Popo right behind him.
"Oh my God! What have you done to them?" He cried.
"Now, now, calm yourself my boy. They're not hurt." Snail walked into the room and looked at the three unconscious figures. "I just felt it best to take precautions, considering their … somewhat volatile nature."
Dende's teeth were clenched. He turned in anger to the older namek.
"Just who the hell are you?"
Snail didn't seem at all phased by Dende's show of anger. He just gave a little shrug.
"I suppose it's best that I start at the beginning. You see, some time ago, before you'd even met your Earth friends, my father came to this planet. His name was Slug, although he preferred to be addressed as Lord Slug. He made his way in the universe by - How shall I put this? – commandeering planets. He'd use the forces he'd gathered to take control of a planet and steer it through space, rather like you would a spaceship. From each world, he'd take new troops and any useful technology he could find. But, of course, taking a planet out of its' natural orbit and flying it through the cold of space does tend to have a negative effect on the ecosystem, and it wouldn't take long before the planet became inhospitable. When that happened, he simply had the planet destroyed and moved his ship to a new one.
Now it just so happened, that on one of the planets he captured, there existed these amazing things called ameron crystals. They had a profound affect on people, concerning their control of ki. I convinced my father to leave that planet in its' orbit and take over a neighboring one. Never one for patience, my father continued his voyaging while I remained behind and conducted research on the crystals.
Now would you believe it, the very next planet he chose for "colonization" was your own dear Earth. I witnessed everything that happened on the planet through the video connection to his ship. I saw him use the dragon balls to make himself young again. I saw him do battle against Earth's warriors. And I saw his destruction at the hands of Son Goku."
"So that's it?" Said Dende. "You came to get revenge on Goku?"
Snail gave a little chuckle.
"Now that would fit the 'avenging son' cliché, would it not?" He turned and looked at Goku. "But you have me all wrong. Yes, I was saddened by my father's death. But I bear no ill will to Goku. After all, my father was invading the planet. If somebody came into my home and started claiming it as theirs, I'd take action too."
He turned around and began walking out of the room.
"Besides," he said. "That would be a waste of such talent."
He stopped by the door and looked at Dende, motioning for him to follow. Dende didn't like the idea of leaving Goku and the others like that. But there wasn't really anything he could do. He didn't see any controls on the platforms. Snail must have those on his wristbands. And if he tried to break them out by force, the sudden shock could kill them!
So he and Mr. Popo reluctantly followed Snail, half wondering what he was going to show them now, and half not wanting to know.
(There you go! I'll try to have the next chapter up as soon as possible. Oh, by the way. Congrats to Marshmellow Dragon for being the first to spot the connection between Slug and Snail. I can't give you a prize or anything, but kudos!)
