"Tei, Tei listen. You have to live. Listen! You're still young, and you still have a chance to fully live out your life. You have to live to honor those who didn't survive this day. No matter how strong or powerful the pain you feel is, you have to promise that you'll never give up."
Sasami's final words to Tei echoed through his mind as he slowly opened his eyes with a loud groan.
"I'm…not going to give up," he muttered to himself, and with the force of full will alone, the young man push himself to his feet despite his wounds. Tei looked over himself and saw that he only had a few cuts, and a broken rib, which was nothing too serious by his standards. The red haired teen held his head trying to remember how he got into this position in the first place. But when he saw a massive pile of rocks not too far away, it all came back to him in an instant, and he remembered who was under it in a heartbeat.
"Oh god no! Father! Father!" Tei dashed towards the pile, and started to dig through the rubble furiously trying to find some trace of his father. In the back of his mind he wondered why he even bothered. No one could have survived such an attack. But his mother's stories of how strong, and stubborn he was gave him at least a glimmer of hope. For countless minutes the young man dug through the rocks, but every time he felt that he got close, more rocks would fall from the top covering his progress. However, his efforts were rewarded slightly when he noticed the deeply bruised and cut hand of his dad. Without a second thought Tei grabbed his father's hand and started to pull him free of his rocky prison. When he was fully released, the teenager placed his deceased father on the ground to burry him properly.
"I'm sorry dad, I couldn't protect you in this time either," Tei whispered sadly. The young man went to dust off the remaining small rocks, and dirt from his father's face. But the second he touched Telew's face, the older Arsudu's arm shot up, and wrapped around Tei's neck.
"I refuse…to quit…." He muttered, and dropped his arm. Needless to say, Tei was shocked. He quickly grabbed his father's arm to check for a pulse, and he found one. A slow weak one, but it was still proof enough that he was alive.
'I have to get him back to the Lookout and fast.' Without a second thought, Tei took to the air with Telew draped around his shoulders like a coat. As he flew, thought about his latest opponent, Akira filled his mind. 'That Akira, there really is something different about him. I've never faced an opponent that could defeat me so easily, and without having to raise his ki either. I doubt he was using even a quarter of his true against us. With an enemy of this power on Earth mother had better get back with those power limiters.'
Back at the Lookout, there was a great white flash that surprised everybody. When it faded it reveled Washu, and Bulma with box filled with what looked like rich expensive gold bracelets.
"Hey everyone, we're back," Bulma announced.
"What the hell took you so long!" Vegeta exclaimed. Bulma growled.
"Do you know how long it takes to make one of these things! And we had to make extra in case you muscle heads break them!"
"You dare talk me that way!"
"I'll talk to you any way I want!" While the "happy" couple continued to growl, and snap each other, Washu was passing out the power limiters.
"All right guys, come and get them!" the pink haired genius shouted as though she was serving lunch. As the Z warriors and Tenchi gang came to collect the limiters Washu looked around and saw Telew was missing. "Hey, where's Telew?"
"He just blasted off somewhere. I think he went to blow off some steam," Tenchi replied.
"Should we go after him?" Krillin asked. "With Salga and his men on Earth I mean."
"Nah, that moron can handle himself," Washu replied, and started to type something on her computer.
"She's worried isn't she?" Krillin whispered to Tenchi.
"Most likely," Tenchi answered with a nod. "Washu isn't really one to show an emotion like openly like that. And the times that she does are really rare."
"Does she not trust anyone or something?"
"Nah, she just doesn't like to show emotions like that. I don't really get myself, but Washu is really hard to figure out sometimes."
"Wow!" Goku exclaimed as he put on the limiter. "This really does limit your power! I don't even think I can even go to Super Saiyan!"
"At this rate Salga will have the entire Earth at grasp before we're even back to half our normal power," Tien said.
"That's why we have the Hyperbolic Time Chamber," Krillin reassured the three-eyed man. "With that room everything is fine."
"Hm, true."
"All right then, what are we waiting for? Let's get to training!" Goku shouted excitedly.
"Does he always get this excited when he's about to train?" Tenchi asked Krillin. The bald man groaned.
"You have no idea." As the group started to decide who would enter the time chamber first, Tei slowly descended on the Lookout with a barely alive Telew at his side.
"Goku, Dende!" he called out.
"Tei? What the heck happened to Telew?" the Saiyan exclaimed. Dende rushed over to him, and placed his hands over him.
"How is he?" Tenchi asked.
"Well he's breathing, I wouldn't exactly say alive. I can heal his wounds, but that won't exactly insure that he'll regain consciousness. His head took some major damage. Who did this Tei?" the guardian of the Earth wondered.
"A monster," the teen replied. "Goku, we have a major problem."
OOOOO
Meanwhile on the other side of the Earth Melanie and Akira returned to the landing site where the other soldiers were waiting for them.
"Did you get him back?" the first figure asked.
"Yes Shakaku I got him back. See him, standing right behind me," Melanie replied.
"Where was he?" the third figure asked.
"In a forest, killing people."
"What the hell were you doing there! We've received no orders to attack yet!" Shakaku shouted at the cold teenager.
"I wasn't attacking. I was just having a look around. I was investigating an interesting ki. And you had better watch your tone brother or you might end up like those two red heads I killed today," Akira said coldly, but it didn't faze Shakaku.
"One, you're not the commanding officer hear, so I can talk to you in however tone I want! And two, quit acting like you're so special! We were all taken in by Salga remember! Not just you! So there's no difference between us!" Akira shot an ice-cold glare to his older brother.
"There's a big difference between me and you!" he growled as rocks started to float around him. "I'm hundred times stronger than you!" Shakaku smirked as electric charges started circle around him.
"We'll see about that!" But before the two could attack a wall of water appeared in front of them.
"Enough you two!" Melanie shouted. "Shakaku, as much as you might hate to admit, Akira is a key part of this mission! And it would only make master Salga angry! So just back off!" Shakaku just growled, and folded his arms. Akira gave his older brother a slight cocky smirk.
"Fine," the elder brother growled, obviously not liking the idea of being bossed around by his younger sister.
"And Akira, you maybe a key part of this mission, but that doesn't give you authority over me! Now go back to your ship and don't come out until we receive the order to move out! Understand."
"…" Akira glared with his hands slowly coming out of their folded position. Melanie returned the glare as water started to slowly wrap around the rock fighter.
"I said do you understand!" the grip of the water suddenly tightened intensely bringing Akira to his knees. "Well, do you!"
"Yes…I understand….sister," the red haired teenager replied weakly. The water abruptly disappeared into the ground releasing Akira from its grip.
"Good, now go!" The rock fighter got to his feet, and returned to his ship. But not before shooting an ice cold glare to his two siblings.
"Sibling love," the third one chuckled, but water suddenly wrapped around him as well.
"What were you saying Haouro?" Melanie asked fiercely.
"Nothing….captain," Haouro replied, and the water disappeared.
"Jeez, you sure are bitchy today," Shakaku commented.
"You want me to put you out electric boy?" Melanie growled.
"No, but you aren't usually this fierce. What the hell is going on?"
"I don't know. This whole damn mission is so stressful. Keeping Akira in check, along with the others that will be coming, and keeping up with Master Salga's standards. God! I can't take it anymore!" the teenage girl shouted.
"And this is only your first job as commanding officer. It only gets harder after this." Melanie just groaned and lay out on the ground.
"Arg! All this goddamn waiting! I wish Salga would just us the damn order to move out already, and get this over with!"
"Temper, temper Mel-chan," Shakaku chuckled, only to have his sister's hands wrap around his neck.
"How many times do I have to say, don't call me by that stupid name!"
"But you used to love that name."
"Key word dear brother, used to! Now if you call that again I'll give Akira full permission to kill you." Shakaku grumbled a quiet "okay" and Melanie released her grip.
"So, who else is coming?" the older brother coughed, trying to recover from his younger sister's steel grip.
"Everyone Shakaku. We're just the first unit to get here. Master Salga really has his eyes on this place."
"But why? I just don't get it."
"Just follow orders and ask questions. You'll live longer that way Shakaku."
"Yeah, right."
"Master Salga is even bringing in Lina."
"What!" Shakaku exclaimed. "But she's…!"
"I know, that what I was thinking. But we all have to start somewhere."
"But is Master Salga really willing to place Lina in the same unit as Akira!"
"It appears that way."
"Akira is already enough trouble, but Lina too! Damn this is going to be one pain in the ass mission."
"At least your not the commanding officer," Melanie grumbled. Shakaku laughed.
"That I guess that is a bright side for me!"
"Shut up!"
OOOOO
"So that's what happened," Goku said after Tei and finished telling the group about Telew's fight with Akira.
"This isn't good, this only means our enemy is mobilizing," Kiyone said worriedly.
"This Akira, you say that he used rocks in the entire fight?" Piccolo asked Tei, who nodded.
"That's what I saw. And he used it in a way I've never thought was possible. But the weird part is, I didn't feel him use his ki at all. It was as though it was automatic or something."
"So is some kind of android or something then?" Goten wondered.
"If he were an android I wouldn't be able to sense his ki at all. No he was human. No, I take it back, he wasn't human at all."
"Then what was he?" Tenchi asked.
"I think, he was…an Arsudu." Tenchi and other's eyes widened.
"You mean like Telew?" Kiyone said.
"Damn! Are you saying there's more!" Ryoko exclaimed. "One is enough trouble!"
"What's the big deal?" Krillin wondered. "What the heck is an Arsudu anyway?"
"We don't much about them. Telew never really talks about where he comes from. Not even to Ms. Washu," Ayeka said.
"The only the thing we do know is that Telew has this demon form, which is like Gohan's Super Saiyan, but much more wild. It took him awhile to get it under control. I'm guessing that all other Arsudus have it. In that form he was just as powerful as Gohan," Tenchi added. The Z team's eyes widened in understanding in response to this.
"If Telew was just as powerful as Gohan in that form…." Yamcha started.
"And if Akira is an Arsudu as well," Bulma continued. "And he was able to defeat Telew and Tei without raising his ki…"
"Imagine the damage he'll be able to do once he goes in that form!" Piccolo exclaimed.
"Let's get to training," Goku said, and the rest of the group nodded in agreement. Meanwhile deeper in the Lookout, Dende struggled to heal Telew's intense wounds with Washu watching.
"Well, how is he?" she asked the young namek.
"Too be honest not good. I find it amazing that he isn't dead. His body is completely trashed, and the only thing that's keeping alive is pure will," Dende reported. Washu just scoffed.
"He always was a stubborn one."
"Well that stubbornness saved his life. You should be grateful. Well anyway I'm going to see if I can get some Senzu Beans from Kroin. That should fix him up." When Dende walked out of the room Chibi Tei ran into the room.
"Will daddy be okay, mama?" he asked. Washu rubbed his head, and smiled at her son.
"It'll be all right. You know how tough he is. He'll be up and about in no time."
"You really think so? He's not moving at all mama."
"Don't worry baby, just go over and play with Goten and Trunks. I'll come get you once he wakes up, okay?" Tei nodded with tears forming in his eyes, but he held them back. His dad was always telling him to never show tears in front of others. When the small boy walked out, Washu looked over to the unconscious man.
'You had better not make me a liar Telew. If you do, I'll curse your grave so many times there will be no way for your soul to find eternal rest.' Before the pink haired scientist walked out she slowly brushed a few strands from Telew's closed eyes. When she walked outside she saw everyone training in their own way.
Piccolo was meditating along with Tien and Chiaotzu, 18 was sparring Krillin, and Goku was trying to convince Vegeta to practice the Fusion dance with him. In the air was Ryoko practicing aerial ki combos, while Kiyone and Miyoshi were working on improving their aim. Tenchi was trying to improve his swordsmanship with Yosho scolding him for every misplaced step. She noticed Goten and Trunks entering a room that seemed to lead into nowhere, which she figured was the Time Chamber, they were talking about.
'Everyone is doing whatever they can to prepare themselves for this fight,' Washu thought. 'But why is it that there are so many powerful fighters here, and I still have a bad feeling about this entire mess. Like something absolutely horrible is going to happen. Maybe it's because we cut it so close with Gallio. From what Tenchi and the others tell me, they just barely made it, and Salga is supposed to be much stronger than Gallio. Maybe I'm just worrying too much. But Gohan, we really need you right now kid.'
OOOOO
Gohan let out a loud sneeze as he dashed through the forest with Cell and Frieza close on his tail.
"Aw man! Not good! Not good!" the Saiyan hybrid exclaimed as he dodged incoming ki attacks. The two super villains laughed as they had some target practice with the teen.
"Come on Gohan! What happened to all that strength you had when I faced you last!" Cell laughed as he fired Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon. Gohan quickly jumped to the side, barely avoiding it because of the heavy armor. Frieza suddenly came in from the side, and threw one of his Destructo Disks. The Saiyan teen dove to ground, and rolled out of the path of ten ki blasts courtesy of Cell. Gohan jumped to his feet, and while dodging a Death Beam from Frieza, dove into some bushes.
"You're smarter than that kid! Death Wave!" Frieza exclaimed and destroyed the group of bushes Gohan dove in, but when the smoke cleared Gohan was gone. "What! Where is he!"
"Hmm, he's faster than I thought," Cell said. "Come out, come out wherever you are Gohan!" Unknown to Cell, Gohan was hiding behind the tree behind him. The half Saiyan's heart beat rapidly as Cell continued for him around the area.
"Come on Cell he isn't around here," Frieza said. "Let's try over there." The android nodded and the two were off. Gohan let out a sigh of relief, and sat down to think.
'Man! That was too close! There's no way I can fight with this stupid armor on. I don't know what the hell grandpa was thinking, but this armor is defiantly not helping! How am I supposed to make to that mountain at this rate! I mean Frieza I can defiantly handle, but Cell, it took me Super Saiyan three to take him out last time I fought him. And if I did somehow manage to defeat him, what about Gallio?'
"Damn it!" Gohan exclaimed. "I'm doomed!" Before Gohan could even blink, the tree he was hiding behind fell. The black haired fighter slowly turned his head to see Frieza and Cell standing right behind him.
"Hello there Gohan," Cell chuckled. Without a second thought Gohan jumped back and cupped his hands at his sides.
"Eat this! Ka Me Ha Me HA!" With pure ease Cell slapped the blast away, and Frieza countered with a Death Beam. Gohan jumped to the side and took to the air ready to face the two head to head. The half Saiyan threw a strong punch, but Cell dodged it easily, and countered with a fierce knee strike to his gut. Frieza then came in and elbowed Gohan to the ground in a split second.
"You'll have to do better than that Gohan," the bio-android chuckled.
"All right I will! Masenko-Ha!" Cell teleported behind Gohan, and knocked him into a group of tree with a fierce kick. As he tried to regain his composer Frieza came up from behind, and with a fast blow from his tail, knocked Gohan to the ground. The teenager growled, and attempted a leg sweep, but Frieza saw it coming, and leapt into the air. The white alien came down seconds later and slammed his knee into Gohan's stomach. The half Saiyan cried out in pain as blood shot from his mouth.
"Such a set of lungs you have Gohan," Cell chuckled, and fired a powerful Kame ha me ha wave. The son of Goku rolled to the side, and got to his feet. But he didn't even have time to blink when Frieza's tail wrapped around his neck.
"Cell free hits!" the tyrant laughed as he started to pummel Gohan's backside with punches. The bio-android floated to the ground, and gave Gohan a fair amount of powerful blows to his chest and stomach. By the time Frieza released him, the teenaged fighter was covered in bruises, and too weak and heavy to move.
"He's like a turtle on its back," Cell laughed as he charged up a blast.
"This is quite amusing! I'd could do this for eternity!" Frieza chuckled and charged up a blast as well.
'Think Gohan, think!' he mentally yelled at himself. 'You're about to become nothing but a sprit, and then who's going to save the Earth? I could go Super Saiyan three. But even with my strength it still would be enough to win because I'd be too slow with this armor on! It'd be the same story with my other transformations as well, and right now I'm doing horrible!'
"Now get ready to lose your body!" Cell shouted, and fired his blast along with Frieza. Gohan jumped to his feet, and tried to run, but he was just too slow to escape. The blasts made a direct his with his back making him collapse to the ground.
"Hmm, he should have been reduced to nothing but a sprit, but his body still remains," Frieza noticed.
"Indeed, but because of this we get to have more fun with him," Cell replied as they approached Gohan.
'Damn it! I'm not getting anywhere like this! A normal frontal attack won't work because I'm too slow! And even if I did charge up enough power for blast, they're always on their guard. Plus they'd expecting some kind of distraction. Man I'm screwed!' Gohan thought.
"Take this!" Cell exclaimed, and fired a powerful blast that Gohan managed to dodge. "After him!"
'Think Gohan, think! Every fighter has his or her weaknesses! I mean dad and Goten have their stomachs, and Vegeta has his pride, wait! Cell has the cells of Saiyans, which means his pride must be his biggest weakness as well. And Frieza is just as prideful. I think I just got an idea.'
"Hey Frieza!" Gohan called.
"What do you want monkey boy!" the tyrant shouted.
"You say you're the most powerful being in the universe right?" Gohan asked. Frieza just chuckled.
"Well I wouldn't say if it wasn't true."
"Well are sure about that? Are you sure Cell isn't the most being in the universe?"
"WHAT!"
"I mean think about it. Cell killed my dad someone who defeated and humiliated you ten times over on Namek. Plus he also killed Trunks, the one who killed you! Not only that but he made copies of himself that beat my friends to a pulp! Something your soldiers couldn't do. I mean Vegeta beat your top soldiers without breaking a sweat. But those Cell Jrs beat him without even trying. As far as I'm concerned Cell is the most powerful being in the universe." By now Frieza was steaming red from both anger and embarrassment, while Cell was taking everything in consideration.
"Now that I think about it, he's right. I am the most powerful being in the universe!" the bio-android exclaimed. Frieza flew in front of his face.
"Don't you dare say that!" he shouted. "I am the most powerful being in the universe!"
"You fool! Goku, someone from the race you despise and fear the most, beat you! And I killed him, which makes me the most powerful being in the universe!" Cell shouted back. The two glared at each other before flying back.
"Fine I'll prove that I am worthy of that title!"
"So will I!" The two villains dashed towards each other and a powerful shockwave shook the area. Punches and kicks flew faster than a normal eye could see. From where Gohan was standing it looked like Cell had the upper hand.
"Death Beam!"
"Ka Me Ha Me HA!" The two attacks collided and cancelled each other out. The two villains flew into the smoke, and sounds of punches connecting reached Gohan's ears. A few minutes later Frieza dropped from the cloud of smoke with Cell on top of him. The Cold family member twisted to the side and connected a strong punch to the bio-android's stomach, but it had little affect. Cell countered with a strong kick to Frieza's face which his descent to the ground much faster.
"Death Wave!" the former tyrant shouted as he blasted up from the ground.
"Special Beam Cannon!" Cell easily slapped away Frieza's attack while the tyrant dodged Cell's attack, and blasted towards him. The two locked hands together and tried to push each other back. Suddenly, both villains heard a strong,
"HA!" When they looked down they were engulfed in Gohan's Super Kame ha me ha wave.
'That bastard! He pitted us against each other so he would have enough time to gather energy for his blast!' Cell thought as his body started to vaporize. When the blast faded from sight, Gohan fell to his knees and went out of his Super Saiyan three form.
"Man, thank goodness that worked!" he laughed as he crawled under a tree. "It should be cake walk after this. Besides Gallio of course, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. Right now I need to rest and regain my strength." Meanwhile while Gohan slept, elsewhere on the mountain he's traveling to, Bardock and an old man were watching the whole thing on a crystal ball.
"See I told you he could pull it off," Bardock said proudly.
"That was a clever trick he pulled. He knew that those two would always be on guard so he had no chance to power up his attack. So he used their pride as a distraction. Very clever, but this only the first test," the old man reminded the Saiyan.
"I know, but he can do it I know he can."
AN: With Gohan's defeat of Frieza and Cell it seems his chances of passing this test have improved. But what other test await our half Saiyan hero? And is Akira truly an Arsudu? If so, what kind of dangerous powers lurk inside of him just waiting to be unleashed? Will our Earth heroes be able to repel Salga's invasion once it starts? You'll just have to read the next chapter of the Salga Saga! Oh and on another note, the Caribbean was great! It was very beautiful. We might be going there again next summer. Anyway see ya guys next chapter!