Chapter 6 – Go to Hell
The next morning was quiet in the main building of the CC. Everybody was sitting by the breakfast table, drinking their coffee and trying not to look at the empty seat that had belonged to Hotaru.
"I wonder if she's dead," Trunks suddenly said, "or just gone somewhere."
"She said she wouldn't survive the demon coming out," Bulma remarked thoughtfully. "But yeah, her body disappeared… perhaps she's just trapped somewhere."
Goku scratched his head with the coffee mug. "I could go to King Enma and ask him…"
"Do you think it's safe?" Chichi gasped. "With those powers of yours being messed up and all…"
Goku stood up. "I'll try. It can't go that wrong…" He closed his eyes and concentrated. Then he disappeared.
As the Saiyan dared to open his eyes again, he was a bit nervous. The translocation had felt like floating again and he wasn't sure what he would see when he would open the eyes. But whatever it was that he had been expecting, it sure wasn't the breakfast table.
"You know…" Haruka was the first one to open her mouth, "I don't know much about that stuff but wouldn't it make more sense to keep your darn hands off the table when performing the translocation???"
"Oops…" Goku noticed that although he had put the coffee mug on the table, he hadn't let go of it. The translocation had brought the whole table with him… and everyone sitting by the table.
Almost everyone.
"Hey, where's Mom? And Chichi? And Gohan? And I don't see Michiru either!" Trunks asked, looking around.
"Perhaps they were keeping their elbows off the table when the translocation took place," Haruka snapped.
"And how come you came along, Miss Good Manners?" Trunks retorted.
"Where the heck are we anyway?" the girl asked, ignoring Trunks. "That place looks odd."
The table was standing on a yellow square, by a pond that had blood red water in it. There were couple of benches and hedges nearby and some sharp mountain peaks were looming in the distance. The sky was pink.
"Hey, I know that place!" Goku shouted. "We're in the Hell!"
"Yeah…" Vegeta stood up too, "really… now I remember too. It's been a while."
Haruka stared at Goku. "You brought us to Hell?"
Goku took a few steps back and grinned sheepishly. "It's not such a bad place, really… and besides, they'll kick us out as soon as they learn that we're not dead."
"That's the hell?" Trunks and Goten were obviously disappointed. "Where are all the flaming rifts and tortured souls and the Devil?"
"Watch a little less TV," Vegeta suggested and turned to Haruka. "If Hotaru is dead, where do you think she is; in the Heaven or in the Hell?"
Haruka was examining the pond that had a little fountain in it. "Well, I believe she should be in Heaven… after all, she was with the good guys. Is that real blood?"
"What else do you think there would be?" They turned around to see a huge ogre with "HELL" written on his shirt. "I'm Mezu, the watcher of Hell, and as I can see, you guys are not dead. What are you doing here, if I may ask?"
"Uhm," Goku stepped up, "we sorta got here more or less accidentally. We would like to see King Enma… please?"
"Then you'll need an application in triplicate and it's a busy season so you might have to wait for a month or two," Mezu announced. "Hey, do I know you? You look familiar."
A wide smile appeared on Goku's face. "Yeah, I've been here before. You made me to compete with you in order to find a way out of the Hell and waaaitaminute, I still know where the secret passage is!" he flicked his fingers. "Come on, y'all, I know the way out of the Hell!"
"Where are you running?" Haruka sat down on the table. "Neither the Hell nor the Heaven is running away from us. Let me finish my coffee first."
"And I think I have a few bones to pick with a few residents here," Vegeta added with his mouth full, gnawing on a pancake. "It won't take that long."
"What bones?" Haruka asked him, pouring herself another cup of coffee.
"Well, there was this guy that killed me about nine or ten years ago, I'd like to pay him back and all," the Saiyan explained, grabbing another pancake.
"I want more maple syrup!" Trunks announced, sitting back behind the table.
Mezu blinked. "What is this, a tea party? I'm gonna get fired because of you guys, y'know!"
Vegeta swallowed the last pancake and turned to look at the ogre. "Since you're the security guard here, tell me where I can find Freeza."
Mezu pointed somewhere over his shoulder. "Over there, but please, could you get out of here now? You Saiyans have caused way too much trouble here already."
"Give me five minutes," the prince mumbled, heading towards a few trees with a table standing in their shade.
"That I gotta see," Trunks announced, following his dad. The others quickly finished their breakfast and went after him.
Around that table by the trees, there were sitting the most fearful, powerful and merciless villains that had ever lived. Freeza himself, the lizard-like tyrant that had enslaved the whole Saiyan race; his powerful father, King Cold; the android Cell that had once killed Goku; and the Ginyu force, the elite of Freeza's henchmen. All other inhabitants of Hell were staying away from them. They were the elite, the local bullies of Hell. Nobody wanted to mess with them. They really knew how to deal with anyone that dared to face them, even though they were dead.
Right now they were playing poker.
"A bar of chocolate???" Guldo slammed his fist on the table. "Are you nuts? These things are expensive here!"
"Not my problem," Cell shrugged, "a bar of chocolate or you're out of the game."
Guldo snorted angrily. "Dangit… Jeice, do you have any money to lend me? I'll pay you back."
"Nah, sorry," Jeice snarled, "I'm broke. Although the baldy here," he glared at Freeza, "still has my hairbrush and I want to win it back!"
"Excuse me, guys." A small energy blast whizzed past Cell's ear and destroyed the poker table. Everyone hopped up and turned their heads to see the prince of the Saiyans standing a couple of feet away. He had a grin on his face.
"Can Freeza come out to play?" he asked, raising his arm to form another blast.
The tyrant's eyes narrowed. "Vegeta. It's been a while."
Mezu was about to get a heart attack. "That was our best poker table!!!"
"Although they had taken it without asking?" Haruka asked with a smirk.
"But it was still our best poker table!" Mezu complained.
"Vegeta," Goku shouted, "he's not even a good challenge for you anymore! Just, I dunno, punch him for a couple of times or something and let's get going already!"
Vegeta shrugged with a grin. "True…" He dashed forward with almost the speed of light and grabbed Freeza's tail. Then he raised Freeza up in the air by his tail, looking straight into the villain's upside-down face.
"Once you enslaved, humiliated and eventually killed me," he said. "And now your strength is the strength of a worm compared to me. Kakarot's right, that's not even challenging. Get out of my sight." He spun Freeza around his head for a couple of times and then let go. The tyrant flew far away over the sharp mountain peaks.
"Feeling better now?" Haruka asked with a frown.
Vegeta grinned widely. "Much better." The Ginyu force had taken several steps back. The Saiyan prince turned to look at them. Haruka sighed.
"Aw, come on… can't we go already? If Freeza's a worm compared to you then do they even deserve your attention?"
Vegeta seemed thoughtful. "Too true. Let's get going. Kakarot, where's the exit?" He turned around. Trunks chortled.
"Holy dung, Haruka, how did you know that this is the same tactics Mom always uses when she wants to prevent Dad from blowing something up?"
The girl smiled. "I have my logic. Yo guys, you're not planning to fly away without me, huh?"
"And don't you even think about leaving that table here!" Mezu warned, pointing at the breakfast table.
Goku raised his hand to surround the table with his energy, lift it into the air and bring it to the others. "Of course not. Haruka, sit on the table. And hold on."
Five minutes later they were flying high above the Hell. Goku had said that instead of looking for the exit they might as well go straight to the Heaven since it wasn't that far away. Haruka was sitting on the table with her legs crossed and holding the coffee pot in her lap because otherwise it would've fallen off the table.
"I'm sitting on a flying table that is taking me straight to the Heaven," she remarked sarcastically. "I could develop a whole new religion."
Goten sat down next to her. "What, praise the coffee tables because they're your tickets to Heaven? There's a nice idea. Are we there yet?"
"Almost," Goku nodded. "See?" He pointed at a yellowish pink planet that was floating right in front of them and approaching fast. Soon they landed in Heaven.
"Looks like a cartoon," Trunks said, examining the green fields covered with colorful flowers. "And the place is huge. How are we supposed to find her here?"
Goku looked around enthusiastically. "We'll ask someone. Hey, you, over there, yeah you, have you seen… say, have we met?"
The dead spirit he had asked the question from had red skin, two horns growing out of his forehead and a flower bouquet in his hands. He floated closer as a wide smile appeared on his face.
"Look at that, it's Goku! And Vegeta too! I'm so glad to see you! These two must be your sons?" He crouched down to pat Trunks's head. "I should have a chocolate bar somewhere… right, here it is! Take that, kids." He broke the bar into half and gave the halves to the brats.
"Erm, thanks…" Goten and Trunks blinked, stuffing the chocolate into their mouths.
The spirit stood up again and noticed Haruka. "And who's that lovely young lady? Here, take this bouquet; I'll pick a new one soon." He stuck the bouquet into Haruka's hands. The girl blinked as her eyes turned bigger and bigger.
"Uhm… thanks… I guess…" She sniffed the flowers, raising one eyebrow.
Goku scratched his head with a slightly confused smile. "Nice to… see you again, Dabra… Kids, Haruka, this is Dabra, uhm, the Master of the Underworld… or something…"
Dabra nodded with a wide smile. "The former master of the Underworld, or perhaps just the Devil if you like it that way. Pleased to meet you."
"My whole view of life just collapsed, poof, just like that," Trunks hissed to Haruka. The girl shrugged slightly and stuck the bouquet into her back pocket.
"I just got flowers from the devil. So? Listen… Dabra, was it? Have you seen a girl around here, about the age of 13, short black hair, a pale face, big purple eyes, may look a little… misty?"
Dabra thought for a moment. "No, I don't think so. But if you're looking for someone, why don't you go see King Enma? He knows everything about everyone in the Afterworld."
"That means we have to fly back," Goku muttered. "Fine then… thanks for the info. Haruka, on the table."
"And don't forget your flowers," Vegeta added with a grin. Haruka made a grimace at him.