Time Distorted
BY MARA ROBERTS
Chapter 5
Idib City
Year 686
Mie and Bardock decided to split up, keeping their Kis low. If they detected an enemy they would raise it, thus signaling the other to come help. Mie veered off to the southwest while Bardock took a more eastern direction.
Mie stretched her senses to their fullest, searching in futility for anything that resembled Bibidi's taint. Her mind washed over the familiar sensations that were Gohan, Kakorott and Bardock. She directed her search downward. Her quary would not be flying unless he wanted to be seen.
But even as her sphere of awareness reached out, her mind could not help but turn inward, knowing anything out of the normal would rouse her from her musings.
Mie walked down a long stretch of endless road, whiteness surrounding her, though for one trained in Ki and Psi, it was easy enough to pierce the veil and see through to the visions beyond it. The Corridor of Time held many secrets to those who knew its workings. It was a thing, not truly of Time, but of the Kai's attempt to control Time, to Order it. They had been only halfway successful. But that was of no concern to her, now. Now, she needed its knowledge – she needed to know what happened many millennia hence, when her grandfather had been but a boy himself.
Suddenly she stopped, at a place seemingly no different than any other in the eternal hallway, and yet she knew without learning that this was what she sought.
Bardock flew quickly, distancing himself from Mie, but slowed down just as soon as he realized it. He didn't want to miss the enemy, and going at the speeds he was going, with his limited mind sensing abilities, would not be a good thing at all. He fixed his incredible Saiyjin eyesight on the ground below, but it was not the ground he saw.
Kakorott raced forward, Ki bomb at the ready. Gohan hung to the side and Bardock himself was to the left. They skulked down the hall towards their destination… a circular room wherein their enemy lay waiting.
Smoke suddenly poured forth from the room, and the evil sense coming from it grew immensely. He wanted to run, but his honor wouldn't let him. He had to do this, he knew, more fiercely than he had ever known anything in his life, and faced the enemy with strong determination.
But before he could move, death met him at the wayside. Gohan fell, life's blood pooling on the ground beside his still form, eyes still round in shock. Bardock reeled at the force of the blow, a powerful wind forced him back, and he couldn't resist for much longer. Then there was blackness, and agony, and then a blinding light…
No, no, no, no, no! He shook the vision off with wild shaking of his head. It would not come true; he would not go crazy… he couldn't die again! If his death was the result of this quest, perhaps he should abandon it. Fear stilled the thought before it was even completed in his mind. He knew with certain dread that to run from this mission would be worse than anything. He had his pride, after all. It was only his pride that kept him from running. Nothing, nothing whatsoever to do with those-
With a long sigh he pushed the errant thoughts away and focused solely on finding the latest servant of the wizard.
>
Gohan flew, albeit unsteadily, so as to be high enough to glimpse the vast region yet close enough to see the area clearly. Kakorott stayed at his side, giving advice.
"You need to stabilize your energy output," he said. "Make it so you exert Ki equally under yourself, but buffer your backside, too, against the winds."
"Birds make it look so easy," Gohan said with a grin.
Kakorott laughed. "Yeah, well, they have wings. We don't… unless there's something you're not telling me?"
"And they use air currents, too. Should we be doing that?"
"Nah. We move too fast; they make no difference to us. Hell, we create wind currents."
"Think so?"
"Remember when we flew over the battle sight and there were some strange, long, shallow grooves in the ground?"
"That was from wind?"
"Yep. Power like we have is very destructive, even if we don't want it to be. But even so, it's still safe to fly in the cities. Building codes demand that the walls can withstand tornado-level winds. Ready to go faster?"
"Sure."
They sped up, Kakorott scanning the ground, but Gohan was having trouble seeing around the tears the harsh winds drew from his eyes.
"Ack." He veered off course to the right and slowed down, rubbing furiously at the moisture. "How can you stand it?"
"I keep a tight Ki shield just millimeters from my body, to protect my clothes and my eyes. Just expand your aura – you already had one up, or your gi would have been torn to shreds. Enlarge it to protect your face a little."
Gohan stilled and focused on his power, bringing it to the fore, but instead of concentrating it into an energy bomb, he distilled it around his person.
"That's better," Kakorott commented. "But you take too long. And you dull your other senses so you can focus. That could be deadly."
"It's the only way I know."
"Then you need to practice until it's as natural as breathing." Suddenly Kakorott's voice cut off. "See that?"
Gohan scanned the area when Kakorott stopped, the boy's eyes darting around, his Psi expanding as he searched for unnatural energies.
"No," the warrior replied.
"His energy's muted," the demi-Saiyjin mused. "It's bright out; there's nowhere to hide," he continued as they floated over the region. Then his eyes widened and he drew Gohan behind a building with blinding speed, not giving the man a chance to speak.
"What are you doing? I thought he was back there!"
"No, he's down there," Kakorott pointed to a round manhole in the street.
"The sewers?"
"Remember what Malan said about the man's clothes? I bet that green was grime from the waste. Besides, there's nowhere else to hide. You go down this entrance, I'll take the other. Nimbus, go high and keep Malan safe."
Gohan nodded and lifted the grate.
"Keep your Ki in check. They might have scouters or be able to sense you. Same for sounds; these things echo."
"And you know this how?" Gohan really wasn't sure he wanted an aswer.
"It's a round, hollow, metal tube. Of course it's going to echo. If you're in trouble, boost your Ki. I'll the same."
Kakorott left and Gohan quickly lowered himself into the sewer, gagging at the stench. Fortunately, whatever system of government took care of waste disposal kept lights running across the ceiling in case of emergencies. Gohan wouldn't have to fight in the dark.
He crept forward, wincing as the swoosh of water around his feet made him feel like he was all but announcing his presence. He could hover over it, of course, but he didn't want to raise his Ki. He made his way forward as quickly as he dared, keeping himself as close to the side of the pipe as possible. He knew echoes were most likely in the center of a hollow.
Eventually he came to a fork and had to make a decision: Right, left or straight? He stretched out with his senses as far as he could, hoping to pick up the faintest trace of an aura. What he found surprised him; the life force was warped – no surprise there – but it was powerful! How anyone could be that strong…
Gohan withheld a gasp. There, in the man's right hand, was the source of the warped, powerful energy he had felt! He realized it was the energy gathered from the people of the village; the man himself had little power compared to that. Not that he wasn't a force to be reckoned with, but he wasn't out of Gohan's league.
Before Gohan could attack, the man pulled out a communicator, and a voice spoke from it very quietly. The man held it purposely to the edge of the tunnel; apparently he too knew about the echo. Gohan couldn't hear a thing. For whatever reason, Gohan got the feeling it was important. Grimacing as he pulled himself into the muck so only his nose and ears were above water, he crawled closer to the stranger.
"How many kilis of energy have you taken, Kirum?"
"The Kienst reads about fifty kilis, M'Lord," Kirum read from the device in his right hand.
"That's it? That isn't nearly enough! We need eight hundred more kilis for my project!"
"It was a very small village, M'Lord. And a weak one, as well."
"Very well. Report back when you have better news for me."
"Yes, M'Lord."
"And Kirum?"
"Yes, M'Lord?"
"You have an enemy in there." With that, the land shifted. It didn't change so much as a wit, but a wave of dark energy passed through it and the people in it; namely Kirum and Gohan. Kirum started looking around for signs of the intruder.
During the course of the conversation, Gohan had taken the chance to set up an attack. Ever so slightly, throughout the conversation, Gohan had been sending bits and blips of his energy to the other side of the man, about thirty yards down. It would be hard doing, but if he could gather the energy into an attack despite the distance, his enemy would turn in that direction, leaving his back exposed to Gohan.
That energy was ready. Quickly, Gohan focused all of the enrgy into a brilliant sphere and hurled it at the man. Kirum barely had time to dodge, and it glanced off his side. As hoped, however, he headed off in the direction the blast had come. Gohan wasted no time and leapt at him. The man went forward with an "oof" of displaced air, but quickly regained his balance.
Gohan's fist struck Kirum hard in the place where he'd been burned. Gohan knew he only had a temporaty advantage, however. This Kirum was stronger and more powerful than he was. If Gohan was to win, he had to use tactics and speed.
A blow out of nowhere made Gohan reedit that last thought. Scratch that. I'll have to use tactics to win. They traded hits for a few more rounds, pretty much equal in ability. Kirum had been poorly trained in the martial arts, though his speed and strength allowed him many mistakes, and he endured.
Gohan retreated from another attack, which sent metal flying in all directions and reached out with his mind to see how long it would take Kakorott to reach him. Surely he can sense me by now.
But there was nothing outside his sphere of awareness. The very earth was dead to his mind. It was like they weren't in the sewers at all, just in a place that mirrored it. But that was impossible; no illusion could be so well created. Kirum picked up the Kienst and stabbed himself with the cone-like end. Suddenly there was an influx of energy into Kirum's body, and Gohan could only wonder at how it was done.
Another fist came flying Gohan's way and he had no more time for introspection. He blocked it with his right arm and distinctly heard a crack. He felt it a heartbeat later as pain flared up in his abused appendage.
Gohan backed away quickly, holding his arm gingerly. Just a fracture, he reassured himself, forcing his arm into a fighting position. But Kirum left him no time to gather his wits, kicking him hard in the chest and following through with a strike to his hip. Gohan fell to the muck with a groan.
The abuse continued for a few minutes more, Gohan unable to mount a defense and Kirum carefully bleeding him of energy. At the edge of his consciousness, Gohan realized the energy he lost was going into the Kienst, which in turn was entering into Kirum as needed. Gohan closed his eyes in pain and submission.
Malan… She looked to lost and alone when they stumbled across them. So like another young face Gohan had once known. A blonde haired memory replaced the vision of the red-haired innocent of moments ago. Her village, too, had been haunted by strange and frightful events. Evil appearing where none had formerly been, friends becoming enemies, hatred became the norm. Paranoia and survival were the new rulers of men's heart; Darwin became their new God.
Gohan stirred. He couldn't let it end like this, He couldn't let Malan down, couldn't let himself down by giving up. He reached inside himself, to a place so deep in his heart he never knew it existed. Power came to him; it was so easy. It enveloped him, embraced him, caressed him, gave him strength. He stood, and did not waver despite the blood that poured forth from his injured body, and stared his enemy in the face. It was Kirum who looked away first.
Gohan could not kill this man. To do so would be to kill the villager's chance to be restored. But he could drain him. Gohan knew without learning what he had to do. He reached out to the earth around him, beyond him, though there was no life in this place. Gohan breached the barrier holding this dimension together and reached the life on the other side. He gathered that energy into himself, reflected it into the man, the monster whose life he sought. Gohan channeled the enrgy into Kirum, purifying him of the stolen life he so wrongly took from so many.
Kirum fell gently to the ground. No life coursed through his veins.
Gohan fell, but was steadied by the enrgy that came back to him that Kirum had taken for his own use. The aura of darkness once again washed over him, but this time in retreat. He felt the illusion disappear and he was once more firmly in the world of men and life. He leaned into the cold metal behind him, only able to shiver. The damage that had been done in that false place did not exist here. Kirum's corpse lay a few feet away in a heap, and the remaining energy was once again drawn into that strange contraption.
Gohan knew he should get up, go find the others, but for the life of him he could not move. Fortunately, he didn't have to. The others were waiting for him. Without speaking, Mie rushed to his side, placing her hand on his shoulder. Life spread through him with a gentle touch, soothing his hurts, replacing adrenaline with a comforting weariness. Gohan wanted only to sleep.
Sleep he did, as Mie eased his mind from the waking world. Bardock picked him up and carried him out of the sewer. Mie and Kakorott followed quickly. Mie took the Kienst and turned a few knobs. Within minutes the villagers were coming to, wondering what had happened and where the time had gone. Few seemed to remember having been attacked.
Kakorott directed Nimbus to land Malan beside her father. The red-haired girl immediately flung herself into her father's arms and cried in joy and relief. The faher looked askance in his confusion, but drew his daughter in even tighter.
The four landed at a small clearning on the outskirts of Idib. Kakorott lit a fire and Gohan was spread out next to it. The demi-Saiyjin then went to Mie, looking for answers.
"What happened in there?" he whispered softly, not wanting to rouse Gohan.
Mie sat in thought for a moment, wondering how she should explain. "Gohan channeled energy from the earth into himself and into his attack. It is related to the Spirit Bomb, only instead of destroying his opponent flat out, he used it to free the trapped Ki."
"Who taught him that?"
"No one taught him, youngling. To know without learning – it is called Intuition. All life forms have it, to a varying degree."
"Why did freeing the Ki cause that man die? And why wasn't I able to reach them?"
"The man relied too heavily on borrowed energy, so the shock of it leaving his system, of having to sustain his energy level with only his own power, was too much for his body to handle. That is why he died.
"As for not reaching them, they had been transported into another plane of existence. It was one very close to our own, and likely done to ensure that Gohan would have to face that man on his own, eliminating him. Bibidi must be frightened of what Gohan can do." Mie smiled in vicious glee, unnerving the six year old boy. "Bibidi is right to be afraid."
