Won the Battle, Losing the War
Disclaimers: I do not own Dragon Ball Z or any of the characters. If I did Great Sayaman wouldn't exist. Yes. ~bows to her applauses~
Author's Note: Yeah! Okay another chapter. Sorry if any of you thought the last chapter was sappy. But hey I thought it would lighten the mood a bit. And thanks to you who enjoyed it! Well, now on with the show!
"Broken!?" Vegeta yelled pressed Gohan hard against the wall, "You broke the crystal?!"
"I don't know how." Gohan smiled sheepishly, "It was a accident!"
Goku picked up the crystal that Gohan had dropped when Vegeta tackled him thumbing the huge crack that was embedded into it's solid surface. Goku shook his head sadly and then turned to the two sayians,
"We don't need it anymore." Goku muttered, "So it doesn't really matter."
Vegeta let out a irritable sigh and let Gohan go. Gohan breathed thankfully rubbing his bruised arms,
"I said I was sorry."
Mirai Trunks walked into the room and without asking why Gohan was on the ground he announced,
"We're here."
"Already?" Videl muttered in confusion, "I didn't feel us land."
Mirai Trunks made a slight dark smile and stated,
"Probably because Haji's planet is a illusion."
"A what?" Everyone gasped.
"Yeah." Mirai Trunks muttered staring out the darkened window, "Haji's planet is enforced off his energy. So… if we die here. We become a part of his energy."
"Well, thanks for the wonderful thought." Chibi Trunks snapped sarcastically.
Gohan bit his lip hard as he got to his feet. A part of his energy? A part of Haji? No wonder Cell wanted us here… He always likes having the upper hand…
Then in the pit of his stomach rose a feeling that Gohan had been trying very hard to ignore for the last few days. A feeling that he had been overlooking something very important. Something so obvious…
The hatch of the ship opened at Mirai Trunks' command, revealing the planet beyond. The world outside the ship was dark and foreboding, causing everyone of the Z gang to hold their breath. The air was rich with damp soil reminding Gohan of a forest after heavy rainfall. It was a calming smell but yet again very forlorn. Gohan couldn't quite explain why his heart sagged with pain as he stared into the distance. It was if his instincts were crying out danger but yet no clear signal from which direction. It was a sign of doomed destiny. Of someone who had lost all chance of getting out….A soundless scream. It was a very tormented feeling.
'Goten.' Gohan thought wearily, 'Don't lose hope. We're here to save you.'
Then something hit Gohan like a blow to the chest. At first Gohan thought he must have been mistaken but on second check he was sure.
"Isn't Cell supposed to be here? I can't sense him." Gohan asked voicing his worry as they all started down the ramp to the new planet.
"Yeah." Goku nodded darkly, "I noticed that too."
"What does it mean?" Videl asked curiously as she took a cautious step onto the planet next to Gohan, "Is he playing a trick?"
"No." Goku said sharply causing Gohan to glance at him.
"Dad…What's wrong?" Gohan asked sternly.
"Gohan." Goku said softly placing a kind hand on Gohan's shoulder, "Cell is dead. Same with Frezia, King Cold, and the Genu Force. Haji destroyed them. Quite some time ago."
Gohan found his heart tremble with confusion and fear. If Haji felt confident enough to destroy his allies…what were they getting into?
"That's great." Vegeta snapped ignorantly, "Less idiots to worry about."
Chichi was the last to climb off the ramp. As soon as she had done so the ship let out a groan as if it was being crushed. Goku quickly pulled Chichi to his side so she wouldn't go with it. Videl got behind Vegeta and Gohan who were just as baffled as everyone else. Chibi Trunks just grabbed onto his other self's leg trying to block out the painful sound to his sayian ears.
Everyone covered their ears as the screams of the ship grew louder. And the noises continued to build until the ship, Bulma had so kindly given to them, the last piece of earth they had left, was compressed into a heap and faded from sight.
"Grounded." Goku hissed clenching his fists angrily breaking the unnerving silence afterwards.
For a while the gang just stood staring at were their last chance to get out of the nightmare once stood. Chichi had actually started weeping into Goku's chest trying hard to suppress her tears. There was no turning back.
"Shut your Onna up, Kakarot." Vegeta hissed glaring at Videl as if he expect her to start crying too.
Videl ignored him and rushed over to help Goku comfort Chichi. Gohan only stood in a trance-like state, his eyes fixed on where the ship had been. He smirked slightly and glared over to the dark tree-like shapes about them,
"Funny, Haji." Gohan called, startling the rest of the group, "Trying to scare us, are you? Well, it isn't going to work. We control our own fate."
With that said, Gohan turned to the rest of the group,
"Come on. We can't stay in one place too long."
Chichi nodded but refused to release her hand from Goku's. And strangely Goku was showing a lot more compassion to his wife then he had ever shown before. As left over tears rolled down Chichi's cheeks, Goku wiped them off for her. They shared a warm hearted smile causing Vegeta to gag to himself.
Videl gave Chichi's shoulder a kind squeeze before rushing up to Gohan's side. Gohan sent a sad smile to his mother and then urged them all to get moving. The rest of the walk was in silence…
They had just reached a fork in the path they were traveling when a strange sound filled the air. Vegeta, who had currently taken the lead, froze and held up his hand to tell the others to follow his example. The sound was like a coyote howl yet much more lower pitched and with a bit of a echo to it. More like a wolf howl. Vegeta glared into the darkness tiring to see if he could spot something that was emitting this signal. But nothing came to him search. Even Gohan couldn't decide whether it came from behind or front. The sound eventually faded into the hum of the darkness around them. Mirai Trunks let out a small sigh after several minutes of silence,
"It's gone."
Abruptly, out of the darkness sprang hundreds of wolves just like Hajime's pack. Their teeth gleamed yellow as foam spilled from their snapping jaws. Their eyes shown crimson red taking on the appearance of their blood red and black fur. They growled loudly some making to occasional bark or howl at the group ahead of them.
The Z fighters closed in as the hounds somehow managed to surround them. Gohan cast a glimpse at his father as Goku clasped onto Chichi's hand tight.
"Hold on." Gohan muttered to Videl who immediately grabbed him by the waist.
All of the sayians let out bone chilling screams overmatching the wolves. The beasts cowered back slightly, their tails draped back between their legs as the Sayian transformed into 'Golden Warriors'. The energy was so tremendous that it caused one of the bravest wolves who dared to take a snap at them when they let out their battle cry to fly into a tree and break it's neck. The animal died instantly with some blood dripping out of it's opened jaw.
Videl screamed at the sight, her yell only being drown out by theirs. She could barely hang onto Gohan, her only safety that he had a handle of her wrist. Although his grip was strong it was far from harsh. It was the only thing keeping her from flying like that beast did. Apparently, Chichi was getting the same treatment with hanging onto Goku. As soon as the sayians believed they had enough running room they all powered down and ran for the nearest way out.
Chichi's hand slipped from Goku's having her to fall flat into the dirt. She rose her groggy head to come face to face three hungry wolves that had taken a fantasy to her. Chichi let out a scream as they lunged just as Goku jumped in blasting them all back with two ki blasts. His attack had strangely only momentarily stunned the beasts cause they were back even before Goku could get Chichi to her feet. Taking the chance, Goku tried to fly. But his feet wouldn't lift off the ground.
"Darn Haji. We're running." Goku muttered grabbing Chichi by the wrist and racing away from the snarling creatures.
Goku and Chichi found themselves at a dead end suddenly as a stone cliff face made of white granite came into view. Goku spun about noticing Vegeta at his side, prepared to meet the beasts when they came only to find them turn tail and run away.
"What?" Vegeta snapped, "Where are they going?"
"I…" Goku pounded looking around, "It was a trap."
"Huh?" Chichi and Vegeta questioned in unison.
"He wanted us separated. "Goku scowled, "It was a set up."
Vegeta looked about noticing all the children were indeed not with them. He stomped his foot in fury leaving a slight dent,
"Blast"
To Be Continued…
Please R + R!
So now it's two groups. Gohan, Mirai Trunks, Chibi Trunks, and Videl : Goku, Chichi, and Vegeta. Oh boy! Wait for the action next time on WB,LW!
