Chapter 16 – The Onset of the Shadow Dragons
A short while later, they were all gathered at Gohan and Videl's house. It took some maneuvering, but they had all found a place to sleep. They took turns watching the television for reports of anything unusual.
Around dinnertime, Goten burst into the dining room. "They've found a dragon!" he yelled.
Gohan choked on his rice. "Where is it!" he asked frantically.
They crowded around the television and watched the news report. Krillin's mouth fell open slightly. "Oh, no..." he said.
Within a few minutes, he, Yamcha, and Tenshinhan were all speeding toward the Kame House. They had seen the report of an invisible monster terrorizing the Kame House and the area around it, and had been able to determine that its power level wasn't extraordinary. The three of them had opted to go, deciding to leave Chaotzu behind.
The Kame House did indeed look as though it had been through several attacks. Krillin landed and threw the door open.
"Master Roshi?" he asked cautiously.
He saw the couch quiver for a moment. Then it was overturned as the old man ran over to him. "Krillin!" he cried. "Where have you been!" Looking past him, Krillin saw the pig Oolong poke his head out of the refrigerator while a nearby toaster transformed into the cat Puar in a cloud of smoke.
"Master Roshi, what's going on?" asked Yamcha, poking his head in the door. Tenshinhan appeared behind him. "What's with this invisible monster we heard about on TV?"
"He's everywhere, Yamcha! I never know when he's going to strike next! When I'm eating, when I'm reading...sometimes he's even interrupted me on the toilet! I don't know what's worse, him or those damned news choppers that keep flying around here!"
"He's an evil dragon, Master," said Tenshinhan. "Goku and the rest of us are trying to hunt all seven of them down."
"What?" asked Roshi. "Why wasn't I in on this?"
Krillin looked away, embarrassed. "Um, yeah, well, we meant to call you, but..."
"You're weak, 'Master,'" came a voice directly above Krillin. He snapped his head upward, but saw nothing.
"What did you say, Krillin!" fumed Roshi.
"Me?" asked Krillin frantically. "Nothing! That wasn't me!"
"Who was it, then?" demanded the old man.
The same voice came from behind Master Roshi. "Who indeed," it said. Roshi whipped around, but a cold laugh came from his other side.
Tenshinhan's eyes widened in surprise. At the instant the dragon had changed positions, he had seen a flash of green.
"Hey, guys!" he called as Roshi chased the laughing voice in circles. "That thing's not invisible!"
The laughing stopped, and a blur of green came to a halt in front of Tenshinhan. "Perceptive," he said, standing still. "I think you've earned the right to know my name. I am Haste Shenron."
Haste Shenron was light green in color and no larger than Krillin. He made up for his size, however, with an impressively muscular body. Two long antennae protruded from his skull, and he was smiling quietly.
"You're a shadow dragon," said Tenshinhan.
"Bravo," he replied in a clear, deep voice. "Are your two friends as intelligent as you?" His image blurred for a moment. Tenshinhan heard Krillin and Yamcha give a single cry behind him, and saw them face down on the ground, rubbing their backs. He turned back; Haste Shenron was still standing there.
"Amazing, isn't it?" he said. "Krillin didn't even see me coming, and Yamcha is just struggling to move now." Tenshinhan stared at the dragon, who narrowed his eyes and grinned evilly. "Isn't it incredible, Tenshinhan?"
"How do you know us?"
"I am a shadow dragon, like you said. The power that created me was caused by a wish on the Earth Dragonballs. In my case, the wish to restore the youth of Piccolo the Demon King." Tenshinhan's mouth fell open.
"It's an old wish, to be sure, and the passage of time, in addition to the low power of the wish itself, have made me the weakest of my comrades. However," he blurred again and now stood on the roof of the Kame House, "I'm still," he floated above the water to Tenshinhan's left, "more than a match," he was an inch away from his adversary's face, "for you!" He punched, and Tenshinhan skidded a few yards backward, clutching his face.
Krillin and Yamcha recovered at the same time, kicking off from the ground to get a better look at the enemy. But he was already gone again, which they realized as soon as they felt his feet impact their heads from above. Before they could cry out, they felt his fists in their stomachs; they gagged, suspended in midair.
"No!" Tenshinhan tried to shout, before Haste Shenron tripped him and he hit the ground hard. In an instant the dragon reappeared, standing on top of Tenshinhan in triumph.
"Phew...I should catch my breath for a moment," he breathed. Less than one second later, he jumped off again. "That should do it," he laughed, and flew back to inflict more pain. "What the hell is this?" said Android 18, watching the news for signs of Krillin's battle. The report had suddenly switched locations. On the screen were the remains of Ginger Town. The few citizens who had survived Super 17's onslaught were now under attack again.
"We've received reports of another monster attacking the area," said the reporter on TV. "From the descriptions, it appears to envelop unsuspecting people in water, thereby--" He was cut off as a dark blue beast pushed him out of the way.
"Listen up, world!" he yelled, holding the microphone. 18 saw splotches of sea green patterned over the blue, with a small set of wings and pointed ears that extended backward. "I'm the newest dragon on the streets, and I'm takin' over! When you hear the word 'badass,' you'll think of Oceanus Shenron! Yeeeeeha!" He pumped a fist into the air and laughed uncontrollably.
Uub and Goten walked into the room and saw what 18 was watching. "What the hell is this?" asked Uub. 18 shook her head and clenched her teeth.
"How can they give this idiotic dragon air time and not focus on Krillin!" she yelled.
"Check out my power!" bragged Oceanus Shenron, shooting a series of small ki blasts at a group of people. "Oh, oh, and look at this!" he yelled. His body seemed to melt into water as he slithered along the ground, reforming in front of an old man trying to escape. "Surprise!" he yelled, terrifying the old man and laughing hysterically.
Goten closed his eyes and concentrated. "His power level seems pretty close to yours, Uub."
Uub groaned. "Why do I have to fight the insane one?" he muttered as he walked toward the door. After he left, Hercule wandered in, holding a large mug. He glanced at the TV.
"Hey," he said. "This guy looks pretty cool, for an evil dragon!"
Yamcha managed to see a light-green blur, and kicked as fast as he could. Immediately Tenshinhan fell over, gasping, onto the ground.
"Ha!" they heard Haste Shenron say from what seemed to be multiple places at once. "It almost looked as though Yamcha kicked you from all the way up there!"
From the roof of the Kame House--Master Roshi, Oolong and Puar had retreated inside--Krillin shot a series of ki blasts in every direction he could think of. As soon as he shot them, there was a flash of green, and they were all hit back at him.
"Yaaah!" Krillin yelled as he blocked the blasts.
"I'll go back to Gohan's house and get some more help!" called Yamcha as he started to fly back over the water. His head crashed into Haste Shenron's chest.
"No, you're not," he replied, disappearing again. Yamcha felt the impacts in his head, back, and stomach, before he was hurled into Krillin on the roof.
Krillin groaned. "What can we do?" he asked desperately.
"There's gotta be a way to overcome him!" yelled Tenshinhan. "Relying only on one skill isn't an effective way to win a battle!"
"There are those who would disagree," said Haste Shenron, sending Tenshinhan face-down into the wet sand.
He appeared in the sky above them. "Now, seeing as how you're practically standing still anyway, it may be better for you to just let me finish you off."
Tenshinhan sensed what the dragon was going to do before he did it. Sure enough, a moment later, Krillin and Yamcha were snatched off of the roof. Tenshinhan leaped out of the way just in time to see something hit the water behind him. Krillin and Yamcha popped out of the ocean, gasping.
"How...how'd you do that?" asked Yamcha.
"I don't know," Tenshinhan said. Suddenly, his eye glowed; "NO!" he cried, and pulled his friends to safety, just as the dragon shot his hands out of the water. Haste Shenron rose up.
"You're treading on very thin ice," he seethed. "Now, to hell with amusing myself. I'll just kill you all."
Tenshinhan's eye glowed again, but he was too slow to stop Haste Shenron from grabbing him. He had all three of them. Taking a gamble, Tenshinhan let out a burst of ki from his entire body, hurting his friends as well as the dragon. But he was free.
Escaping to the ground, he called out to Krillin and Yamcha. Guys! he yelled telepathically. You need to provide a distraction so I can get away! I have a plan!
"Are you sure you know what you're doing!" yelled Yamcha frantically.
Yes! yelled Tenshinhan. And don't speak to me, or Haste Shenron will catch on!
Krillin looked determined. He trusted Tenshinhan.
"OK," he whispered to himself.