A/N: Sorry that this update took a bit longer than the others. The internet got disconnected. School has also started again for me so where I previously updated every second day I will update every forth day from now on. The time between updates could extend more (but not more than a week). Monday was the first day back at school and I have already been given 6 major assignments. I also need to format my computer, which I will probably do tomorrow. Hopefully everything will run smoothly and I'll be able to update soon.


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Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ. Blah blah blah...
Last time...

The vision ended and when Gohan blinked the green glow was gone. He merely muttered, "Damn."


Chapter 13: Danger and Confusion

The reality of the situation hit Gohan hard. It was no longer a question of how long it would be untill Vandrak's release. No, the question now became; was he ready?. Gohan stared into empty space as he started thinking about what else he could've done to improve more. He was so busy thinking and making plans that he didn't even hear Tien speak.

"Gohan, what did you see?" the three-eyed man asked. Gohan was oblivious to the question. "Gohan...?" Tien said again.

Before anyone could try again to get his attention, 18 threw a small energy blast at the teenager. He was knocked clean off his feet and through the wall. Seconds later a dusty Gohan re-emerged through the new 'doorway' with a scowl on his face. "What did you do that for 18?" he asked angrily.

"You were daydreaming and we needed your attention." She stated monotonously with a neutral glare.

"We want to know what you saw Gohan." Master Roshi said.

"Oh, right, sorry." After apologising Gohan retold his vision in as much detail as he could. As he did, he felt a strange sensation spread through his body. It felt similar to the times he left the wasteland, and he couldn't understand what was going on. The teenage Saiyan stopped abruptly in the middle of his explanation and said, "Something's not right."

"Gee, Gohan. Did you just figure that out?" Krillin asked sarcastically.

"Shut up baldy!" Vegeta was quick to retaliate and Krillin kept quiet. The prince then added, "Gohan what's wrong?"

Gohan sat down in a meditative pose and closed his eyes, "Give me a minute." He said and started meditating. He allowed the strange sensation to take over his body as he was taken back to the wasteland. The whole place was out of focus at first, but as he emerged completely from the shift everything sprang into focus.

He saw the familiar elastic trees swaying in the non-existent wind, the red sky with the grey clouds, and the dry reddish dirt with the millions of tiny cracks. Gohan knew someone wanted him to come here, he was nearly forced to. He kept his power as low as he could in order to hide it from Vandrak. Slowly he lifted himself off the ground and flew around with his senses on the alert.

After pointlessly flying around for a couple of minutes he heard something behind him. It was only one of the 'trees' that nearly slashed him, but he made the mistake of firing an energy blast at it.

Within seconds Vandrak appeared out off seemingly nowhere. "Gohan, now why would you come here? Do you want to me to kill you already? I distinctly remember telling you that the next time I saw you that I would kill you." He was smiling like a maniac as his power skyrocketed.

Gohan didn't dare reply; he was rooted to the spot in fear at the force he was sensing. Luckily for him his reflexes kicked in and he ascended to the second level. When he turned to try and escape he saw hundreds of black energy spheres fly past his shoulder and hit every 'tree' in his range of sight. Instantly they all became pitch black and rigid. The teenager threw his own blast at the nearest tree, but nothing happened.

Vandrak's shrill laughter pierced the silence that followed after Gohan's attempt to override the negative energy. "It's been so long since I've killed someone. You didn't actually think that I would let you escape this time, did you?" he asked maliciously.

"You need me to escape. You can't kill me." Gohan stated with confidence.

"On the contrary, the seal only needs a little more negative energy. I'll simply return the remaining dragonballs. Your friends will make two wishes, probably to restore you to life. I'll harvest the negative energy that is released and then I'll kill you again! Fun, fun, fun! Hahaha!" he laughed evilly.

Gohan's confidence disappeared. He stood in a fighting stance, ready to fight and die, when he sensed another energy signature in the distance. Vandrak was too busy laughing to notice. The maniac did, however, notice Gohan as he took off towards the new power. He cursed and flew after the speeding Saiyan.

Looking over his shoulder, Gohan could see no sign of Vandrak, 'Yes! I got away!' No sooner had Gohan finished this thought than felt a foot slam into his back, sending him crashing to the ground.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Piccolo, Vegeta, Videl, and the others were waiting patiently for Gohan to finish. They surrounded him in a circle and watched him as he meditated. By now, sweat was forming on his face and this worried Piccolo. His worry was increased as he saw a big bruise form on Gohan's left shoulder.

"Piccolo, why did Gohan's shoulder just bruise all of a sudden?" Videl asked out of worry and curiosity.

"Gohan's in trouble, and there's nothing we can do to help him. We can only wait." The Namekian answered through gritted teeth.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Gohan slowly picked himself off the ground and looked around for any sign of Vandrak. He found none, so he closed his eyes and focussed his senses. Gohan could sense the new power to his right and nothing else. Without hesitation he jumped into the air and flew in the direction of the new power. 'That other power feels a lot different from Vandrak's. I get a good feeling from it. It may be a trap, but it's all I can do at the moment.'

He kept his senses on high alert as he flew steadily towards the other power. Gohan didn't dare relax, he knew better than to take Vandrak's threats lightly. 'I'm almost there.' He thought, but not even two seconds later he felt the evil bastard right above him.

Vandrak shot down, ready to strike, at the teenager below him. Just before the evil entity's attack hit, Gohan moved out of the way and struck him with as much force as he could generate in that moment. He sent Vandrak flying to the ground.

Gohan didn't bother to wait; he shot forwards at full speed towards the other power. He could feel that he was almost there and he could even see a change in the landscape on the horizon. When he looked over his shoulder to where he sensed Vandrak his heart stopped. A huge black energy wave hurtled his way and hit him dead-on. He was just able to cross his arms in front of him before it hit and he was now being pushed forward by the beam, and he realised that he would overshoot his destination. Vandrak obviously didn't want him to reach it.

With one last mighty yell, Gohan released enough energy to push himself off the death-beam. His body was severely damaged by the black energy, especially his arms, and he fell towards the ground.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Videl was standing right in front of Gohan's meditating body. The whole room gasped as deep gashes appeared on his arms, as though an invisible knife was cutting him. The young woman started to walk closer to him to try and stop the bleeding, but was stopped by a very strong hand.

"Let go! We need to stop the bleeding." Videl nearly screamed.

"No, just watch." Piccolo said as he threw an apple towards Gohan. It never touched Gohan. It disintegrated a metre from Gohan's body. "You see, while he is in such a deep meditative state a force field is created around his body. No one can go near him until he finishes."

Everyone remained silent after that as they just watched on as more cuts and bruises appeared.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Gohan was never aware of hitting the ground. He slowly opened his eyes and when he did he was staring straight at Vandrak's malicious and evil face.

His entire body ached and he could barely breathe because of the pain. Slowly, he was able to sit up, only to be grabbed by the throat. Vandrak lifted him off the ground and tightened his grip while laughing manically.

The teenager struggled against Vandrak's seemingly unbreakable grip. He kicked him as hard as he could, but Vandrak wasn't affected in the least. He tried to pry the maniac's fingers from his throat, but to no avail.

Gohan was ready to give in to the black abyss when something caught his eye. He was staring straight at a bunch of pure white obelisks, arranged in a circle. Someone was standing in the centre. As his vision became blurry he could only see an outline of the person, but whoever it was seemed familiar to him somehow.

The person was yelling something, but Gohan couldn't make sense of it. He had to get to the person in the circle; something spurred him on to stay conscious and to get into the circle of white obelisks.

Gohan felt a strange power deep within himself rise to the surface. It felt so familiar and yet he had never experienced it before, at least not consciously. It was warm and comforting, it filled him with hope, hope that he thought he had lost a long time ago. As he allowed this new sensation to spread through his body he saw Videl in his mind's eye. He saw Gatra. And then he relived the vision he had during his fight with Gatra. He saw his wife…His daughter…His son.

He could see his hand begin to glow white. Vandrak suddenly yelled out in pain as he let go of Gohan's throat. 'What the hell?' Gohan thought as he weakly stood on his own two feet. Vandrak tried to grab him again, but yelled out in pain once more as he touched the white-glowing Gohan.

Without stopping to wonder what was going on, Gohan walked to the obelisk circle. The moment he passed between two of the obelisks he could hear Vandrak scream in anger. Gohan didn't understand what was going on; he just kept walking to the familiar figure in the centre. With blurry vision he stumbled and fell. He couldn't hold off the darkness any longer.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

There was a deadly quiet in the room. No one spoke. They all just stood there, waiting. Everyone was lost in his or her own thoughts, but their eyes were focussed on the boy sitting in the middle of the room. They all knew something horrible was happening to him, but there was nothing they could do to help him. And they hated that fact.

There was a bloody mess surrounding the boy as he sat there with his eyes closed. His body had severe cuts and bruises and everyone was startled out of their thoughts when they saw his body, seemingly healing itself. Soon there were no cuts left, not even the slightest bruise could be seen.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Yamcha broke the silence, "So does this mean he's alright?"

A voice that no one recognised answered the question, "No, he'll only be alright once he comes back from the Neutral."

"Who the hell said that! Show yourself!" The prince ordered.

Two figures appeared out of thin air behind the group of people. One was known by Gohan as Shin, the Supreme Kai. The other was known as Kibito, the Supreme Kai's servant.

Everyone lost their ability to speak. From what Gohan had described they could all see that this short lavender man was the Supreme Kai.

"My stay will be brief. All you need to know now is that I have kept an eye on Gohan for the past thirty minutes. He was facing Vandrak after he was pulled into the Neutral by some other force. Right now he has been healed and you needn't worry. He is with a friend now. I am certain Gohan will explain everything once he returns.

"I will return tomorrow for Gohan, he has training to do. For now, I bid you farewell." He and Kibito then disappeared the same way they came.

The tension in the group was loosened up a bit from Shin's words, but they still waited anxiously for Gohan to return.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Shin reappeared in the Grand Kai's chambers. "Is Goku ready?" He asked.

"Well, he's nowhere near as strong as his son, but he's about on par with that Vegeta guy." The Grand Kai answered.

"Very well, push him harder. We only have a short time left to prepare." With that the Supreme Kai disappeared again.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

'At times life is unfair and it's plain to see.' Gohan thought as he lay with closed eyes, trying to get a grip on his senses. 'No one ever asked me if I wanted to be a saviour. I was just appointed as one. It's my destiny. And I can't help but wonder…Is my destiny to fail…Or to prevail…Time will tell…'

Gohan slowly opened his eyes. His body felt heavy, but the pain was at least gone. He looked at the person standing over him through blurry eyes.

Now that the man was standing so close, Gohan could make out his features, even with the blurry eyes. He was really confused at what he saw. 'What would he be doing here?' Gohan thought. Seeking an answer he asked wearily, "Dad…?"

TO BE CONTINUED…


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