Time Distorted
BY MARA ROBERTS
Chapter 8
Bardock gasped as he flung an arm up to catch the shore and heave his tired body onto the welcoming bank. He took several shallow, ragged breaths and flipped over onto his back. Staring at the stars as his heartbeat slowly returned to something less than heart attack levels, he noticed the sky was getting strangely dark and narrow before he realized it was just his eyelids closing of their own accord. Sleep overtook him.
He came to some time later in the night to see Mie in her nightgown hovering over him, Kakorott and Gohan a little bit away. A warm glow pulsed from her hands and suffused over him with its healing power and sleepy energy. Bardock sighed in relief as the pounding in his skull faded away and his breath came easier as his ribs were repaired.
When the healing was over he felt himself being hover-lifted a few feet into the air and headed for the inn. He fell asleep again before they reached it.
He roused in the morning with a satisfied yawn, stretching his shoulders and arms as he sat up in bed. It was the best sleep he'd had in a long time, with no visions to trouble him. The Saiyjin went through his morning routine without rush or delay, but at a comfortable plodding pace that worked to wake his body fully before he dressed and headed down to eat. He was positively starving!
When he entered the dining hall he was greeted by the sight of his companions sitting around the table, having a drink and apparently waiting for him. But more important to Bardock was the feast that covered the table and the empty seat pulled up next to it.
At his ninety-sixth meal and counting, the stares of his friends finally penetrated the brick wall that was his stomach. He slowed his pace and nodded at them to speak what was on their mind.
Gohan didn't need to be asked twice. "Just what happened last night, Bardock?"
"Dem-ness," he managed behind a mouthful of beef.
"You've come to terms with your visions," Mie told him. It was not a question. Bardock nodded anyway; how she knew about them wasn't important at the moment. The gulf in his gut was.
"So the question is, what are we going to do now?" Gohan asked.
Bardock finally finished his gluttony and regarded the question. "I think we should leave."
"Why?" Kakorott asked.
"We know that funny guy, Sam, his name is? He's probably Bibidi's man and that he isn't gonna make a move on this town while we're here. He doesn't know what we are and are not capable of and probably doesn't want to jeopardize his mission to find out. So, he's biding his time. If we want clues to Bibidi's whereabouts, watch what he does and follow the energy to Bibidi."
"And we leave the people to his mercy?" Kakorott stood up in anger.
"This is war, boy, and it's time you started thinking like a soldier. There will be casualties, but at least the whole world will not fall. Besides," he added with a frown, "Something tells me their deaths won't be permanent, strange as that may be to believe. Something with… stars?" He seemed to be questioning himself.
Kakorott held back an intake of breath, knowing immediately what he was talking about, but the elder Saiyjin didn't notice.
Gohan laughed. "And how would that be possible?"
"I don't know. But I was restored to life myself, so it is possible."
Gohan gaped.
Bardock's eyes narrowed and he glared at Mie. He spoke in a semi-accusing tone. "It was you! You brought me back. You… you're a goddess!"
Mie smiled half-heartedly. Her attempt to quell his memories had obviously been incomplete. "A goddess-in-training, anyway. I didn't mean to bring you back to life, it just sort of happened."
"It's just as well," Kakorott said. The others nodded in accord.
Gohan scowled. "Any more secrets I ought to know about?"
Kakorott winced. "Probably. But we can't tell you what they are. We're sorry."
"All right," he sighed, deciding if a goddess-in-training didn't want him to know something it wasn't his business to know. It was hard to take in, what Mie was; he didn't quite know how to treat her, so he just made up his mind to treat her as he had throughout the journey. She hadn't seemed to mind. "Let's get going out of town," Gohan said, reminding them of their earlier discussion.
They packed up their few supplies and met in the lobby a few minutes later. Gohan paid the clerk at the desk and they walked out the door to the outskirts where city met wood. They would hide in there and see if the stranger attacked and gather whatever information they could.
They waited there for two more days with no sign of change. It was the end of the second day, and the group set up camp about a mile into the forest – they changed location every night – and prepared for bed. Kakorott would take the first watch. At twilight, a vague and familiar sensation crept up along the spine of Mie's back during her turn as lookout. She looked around carefully for anything out of the ordinary. She saw nothing, but the prickly feeling increased. She decided to go with her instincts.
Mie walked a few circles around her fellows, tapping her cheeks as though to keep herself awake. Each time she circled she made a tighter loop around her friends until she was almost walking into them. She tapped Gohan's side surreptitiously until she saw him stir awake, but said nothing and moved on. Gohan lay still, thinking something must be up if Mie didn't relieve herself of watch. He waited and could hear her carefully rouse Kakorott behind him. She reached Bardock when they were attacked. The three men leapt up off the ground in defensive position, but Mie decided to attack. Within moments it was a blur of battles. They watched each other's backs and were overwhelmed by the number of men they were facing. Kakorott went to up his Ki, but Bardock screamed at him not to.
"We have to match them and just barely overwhelm them!" he hollered through the clamor of the battle. "They'll gather all the energy we expend; we don't want to give them more than we must!"
It was a hard battle, matching so many opponents without powering up. It degenerated into a frenzy of blocks and defense more than attack. They had no choice but to power up and accept the consequences.
Just as Kakorott was about to ignore Bardock's warning, the strange man from the inn came charging towards him. Kakorott braced himself for an attack, unprepared for such a power, but it never came. The stranger went behind Kakorott and knocked down an enemy who would have attacked the boy.
"What have I taught you about watching your back, kid?" a familiar, gruff voice emanated from a strange and unknown face.
"Mr. Piccillo?" Kakorott turned to see if it was truly his mentor. Before his very eyes, the disguise melted away to reveal none other than his sensei.
"Mr. Piccillo!" Kakorott shouted with joy. "How?"
"Questions later, fighting now!" the now green man berated him. "And feel free to raise your energy; I destroyed all their available Kienst."
Kakorott leapt into the fray with renewed vigor, and Bardock and Gohan knew him for a temporary ally. Within minutes, it was over. Bardock was surprised to see Kakorott run over and hug the green alien. It was the most lighthearted act he'd witnessed from the boy.
"Greetings," he said casually. "It would seem we owe you a debt."
Bardock stood carefully; he not quite ready to trust this man called Piccillo.
"Don't worry, Bardock, this is my teacher, Mr. Piccillo," Kakorott reassured him.
"Forget it, kid, I understand his kind," Piccillo stated.
"What do you mean, 'my kind'?" Bardock said, a hint of warning in his voice.
"You are from a race of conquerors and cannot bring yourself to trust anyone easily. The reason you don't like me is because we're so much alike. I don't care of we get along well, or not. That's not why I came. I'm here to protect Gohan and help fight Buu and Bibidi."
"What do you mean you're here to protect me?" Gohan stepped forward in confusion.
"I wasn't talking about you; I'm talking about the kid."
Mie sighed. She didn't think they'd have to find out about this at all; it would only breed confusion and possibly paradox, but there was no help for it now.
Kakorott – Gohan – took a step towards the others. "Actually, my real name is Gohan, but I didn't think it would be a good idea to tell you that. It isn't a common name and would have put us under suspicion." He looked towards Mie and she nodded wearily.
"Please understand," he continued. "We still can't tell you everything, but I will tell you this. Mie and I are from the future. Bibidi's son, Babidi, is also trying to take control. That's why we're here, to keep Bibidi from gaining power and passing it on to his son. As I'm sure you've figured out, I'm named for you, Gohan. I'm your grandson, I guess you could say."
Bardock sniffed the air to confirm his thoughts. "Impossible," he declared. "You don't smell of his line." A thoughtful look crossed his face, and he sniffed some more, discreetly. Mie sent Bardock a small cold so his olfactory senses would not be delicate enough to discern more clearly what he thought he'd just smelled.
Gohan II nodded. "I'm not. But he adopted and raised my father as though he were his own son." He turned to Gohan Sr. "You'll recognize him by his tail, I'm sure."
Gohan Sr.'s eyes were getting wider by the minute. But then he came to his senses; he had some questions to ask. "How is it you came through time?
"And how is Bardock alive?" Piccillo demanded gruffly.
Mie stepped in. "I was undergoing a training session involving the afterlife. I made a mistake and Bardock wound up in the Corridor of Time. I tried to correct this but ended up taking him through the walls itself to bring him back to life. So you could say Time is imprinted on his memory. He is the only mortal to get so great a look at the big picture. But even so, his mind can only handle so much, so he only discerns that which is relevant to the situation or to himself.
"Ka-, I mean, Gohan, died in a planetary explosion but mistakenly ended up at the Corridor as well, instead of the check-in line. How he came to life, I cannot disclose, but because he was in the Corridor, he was revived in the past. I was sent to retrieve him and determine if he would be of any help. Obviously I thought he could be and brought him here, or rather, now."
"Anyway, Bardock," the goddess-in-training turned to address him. "Why don't you try to force a vision? See if you can't get a lead."
"I've never tried it, but it can't hurt." He sat down and relaxed against a tree. His breathing evened and he slipped into a prophecy. He found himself inside a small room. There was a door in front and behind. Bardock went to open the door he faced, and it opened automatically. Beyond lay a dank and dreary corridor, with a small clearing to the side. Primal bedding lay there, among a few other things. Bardock realized this is where the demoness must have come from.
He walked the length of the hall only to arrive at a fork. There were four directions he could choose and so he randomly picked one. Unfortunately, it only lead to a dead end. He frowned as he looked at the wall ahead of him, as though he could see through it. This was obviously part of the cave they had explored earlier, but that didn't explain the feeling that he was looking at something backwards.
His spine stiffened as a strand of Ki triggered his senses. Bibidi He raced to follow, but it fled far too quickly. But he didn't need to follow it; this was their lead. Somehow he managed to step sideways out of his corporeal self to scout the location, heading up and through the ceiling. He hovered over the place for a bit, blinking, but then his face settled into a smile. He'd been in the caves. Bardock roused himself to tell the others.
