Disclaimer, in case it wasn't obvious. I don't own Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, or really any other property. Thank you.
The Long Road
Chapter 49: Training Day
Vegeta:
Power.
All he'd ever wanted was more power, and to be recognized as the greatest Saiyan of a generation. For the first time in a very, very long time, he knew he was close to the goal, but he was still too far. After his last battle, and his near death, he knew his power had grown, the only question was how far. The very idea that Kakarot had increased his power, again, was incredibly unacceptable. He'd sensed the other Saiyan's might at the beginning of the battle with Garlic, and it'd rivalled that of Gohan's. If anything, right now, he would put his money on Kakarot if father and son came to battle. Given that Gohan could come back, at earliest, in just under a year, he suspected that Kakarot would only improve in that time.
It meant that he needed to improve. If that meant pushing himself harder than he ever had before, then so be it.
Slipping his legs out from his bed, Vegeta sat on the edge of it, looking out the window to the night's sky. The moon was only a sliver in space right now, not nearly providing enough blutzwaves for a transformation. Still, he stared into it for several more seconds before pushing himself up off the bed. The little green Namekian had healed him, of course, but even when he stared at his injuries after the battle, even the Prince of All Saiyans was concerned that he'd never fight again, not without the assistance of the Namekian or Senzu Beans. Both of them were not available immediately after the battle either.
For several days, when he was in and out of consciousness, his thoughts were torn in two. One part was for his family and their safety, the other? Was a fear that he'd never fight again. The idea that he'd just be some torn body, laying in a bed or weakly needing assistance from his family terrified him. The idea that he could become a burden was unsettling. It didn't cool his want for power, or for training. Instead, he could feel himself being propelled to push himself forward again. If he had been left in a bed, or left unable to fight, what could he really say he'd accomplished, for all his years of training and battle?
He'd defeated who? What great mountain had he climbed? He'd become a Super Saiyan, that much was true. He'd ascended beyond a regular Super Saiyan. He helped defeat Cell, one of the four warriors who did, but it was hardly his achievement. He could say that he competed with Kakarot and his boy, and that he hadn't kept up. He could say that he tried to climb the mountain, but never reached the peak, and simply watched the others take the summit.
"Vegeta?" a voice mumbled from behind him.
Turning his head slightly, Vegeta looked back towards the bed to see an exhausted looking Bulma starting to sit up, looking at him with exhaustion.
"What's wrong?" she asked, as if reading his mind.
"Nothing is wrong, woman," he corrected, before looking back outside the window, this time towards the space-ship, left unattended. "Go back to sleep."
I need to start training again, and-
Instead of finish his thought, he felt a hand rest on his shoulder before a figure moved up behind him. Sighing with irritation, he almost pulled away, but allowed his wife to continue to try and persuade him to do something counterproductive, like sleep.
"After what you've just been through, you should come back to bed, Vegeta. You were so hurt," she urged. "You've gotta get some rest-"
"The Namekian boy healed my wounds," Vegeta responded bluntly. "It is as if I was never hurt to begin with. He's healed far worse than what I experienced at the hands of that stupid brute, Garlic."
And it was the truth. It didn't matter if it was Garlic who maimed him, the little green healer simply took care of that. His flesh was mended, and it didn't matter that there was an immortal who'd nearly torn him apart. It didn't matter that he nearly killed his daughter and son. It didn't matter that he'd nearly ended his life, or worse, ended his ability to fight. It didn't matter that it was Kakarot who had to be the one to stop him either. All that mattered was that his body was healed, and he didn't need any rest, and it was frustrating and annoying that his wife would try to play such a ploy on him, just to get him back into bed.
"But you've been so tense since the fight, maybe-"
"I'm going to train," Vegeta announced, turning away from his wife and walking towards the door. "Do not disturb me."
Training. Training was what he needed to get this sense of... failure out of his system. Even as he walked outside and felt the cool night air, Vegeta just shrugged it off, before the door of the spaceship came sliding down. Walking up the slanted steps, Vegeta closed the door behind him, revealing the main training room of the vessel. For a moment, he felt his body relax.
The environment was familiar to him. This was where he spent most of his days, and many of his nights. This was where he trained himself to achieve newer levels of power.
"Levels which don't even matter, Vegeta. Even after all this time on your own, you're still nothing but a miserable failure, aren't you?"
That voice was enough to make him twist to look behind him, and then all around. The air around him sizzled angrily as he snarled, narrowing his eyes. That was all just in his head, and he wasn't crazy.
Walking over to the console, he began programming the droids within for his exercises, before setting the gravity.
"Vegeta, don't think you can ignore you're superiors. After all, all you do is obsess over them. Tell me, how does it feel to struggle so intensely to just be nothing but number two? Or is that number three now?"
Frieza's voice echoed all around him as he snarled. Turning his head sharply this time, he could almost swear he saw the image of Frieza, looking straight back at him, smiling back at him with his red eyes. But as soon as he blinked again, he was gone. But there was no energy there? He couldn't be going mad, that was impossible? Reaching up, he held his head with one hand, breathing in. There was no way this was all in his head. That would be ridiculous. He was Prince Vegeta and-
"Yes, all that training really did help you, Vegeta, didn't it?" another voice cut in, this one cut almost as deep as Frieza. "You know, you only ever were as good as a warmup. It is such a shame to know all of these advanced facilities, and all those hours of training, created little more than a flash in the pan. My only shame is knowing that you helped that wretch Goku along with the others."
Cell.
Growling furiously, Vegeta hit the panel behind him as the gravity adjusted, changing to almost 200 times Earth's gravity in seconds. The light in the room shifted red as the droids began hovering in the air.
Pointing his hand up to fire at the first droid, he saw a snarling brute in its place, making him freeze in the air, staring directly into the eyes of Broly. Broly, the monster who had killed him along with Kakarot. Another beast he couldn't stop himself. Another failure and-
"You know, you really were pathetic," Garlic's voice cut in. Almost immediately his muscles felt on fire, from where Garlic tore them. "The entire time we were locked in combat, all I could think about was the fact you weren't nearly as challenging as Son Goku, or Gohan. If anything, that's all you'll be remembered for, isn't it? It's quite amusing if you ask me..."
All around him, the world started to darken as he felt himself grasp for his Super Saiyan power. He'd show them all! He'd demonstrate that it was his power that-
Freezing in the air, his life seemed to travel before his eyes as he felt himself fail to transform. Even as he pulled up his energy from within, it was almost empty. He felt paralysed in the air, unable to move, unable to do anything except gasp for air. The world froze, and he was stuck. It wasn't that the world had frozen however, he had. Everything was just-... There was something in his mind. It seemed to block everything off. All of his fears wrapped around him and began to smother him as he floated in the air.
"I. I." he gasped, trying to speak, trying to move, trying to do anything.
Trying to do his best to hold himself up, it felt impossible, before he slammed into the ground, denting the floor itself. Gagging painfully, he reached out for the control panel again, before his arm locked up again.
"Well, this is a truly common sight. The mighty Prince Vegeta, helpless and broken. You always were little better than a lackey, you know that? Only now you're a lackey to that buffoon, Goku."
It was Frieza's voice again, and looking to his left, he could see his former master's feet, standing next to his arm. But there was something wrong with it, it was smoking darkly, before almost blurring in and out of his view. What was all of this? Where was he?
Was he even really here?
Barely, he managed to look up further, seeing Frieza's smooth features staring back down at him with his same cruel smile. But it was different. It was unlike the Frieza he knew. Kneeling down further, the figure just stared back at him, looking him in the eyes. The red eyes which had once been Frieza's, turned blue, becoming something else.
"How does it feel to be defeated?" she whispered, her voice unlike any of the others. He'd known the others before, but this was something new.
Suddenly, she was shrouded in darkness, just as Frieza's form began to melt away.
"You're just as cowardly and weak as every other Vegeta I've met. All of you fall short," her voice whispered. "Because you're all so afraid. It's pathetic. To think I was ever afraid of you."
Who... is this?
Only for a brief moment did the darkness break, and Vegeta's eyes widened only for a second, just as the figure disappeared. What he saw confused him more than anything prior to all this. It didn't make any sense. This was all some kind of hallucination? Brought on by stress? It was-?
A Saiyan?
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Goten:
Nothing was going to be the same anymore. Everything was so blurred from fighting the demon, and when the transformation happened, but he could still remember seeing Gohan. He still remembered how he let him know he saved everybody. It wasn't true, he'd certainly saved their friends and family from the demon there, but it was Gohan and his dad, who really saved everyone. He'd found out after coming to later, everything that'd happened, or at least what Tien and Krillin could tell him when they brought Vegeta back to Capsule Corporation.
Gohan had been killed fighting Garlic, and it just didn't seem real. Even if they didn't get along, even if he always felt like his parents cared more about Gohan than they did for him, he never wanted his brother to get killed. Maybe for him to go away, but even that was beginning to fade. The last time he saw Gohan, he saw not some aggressive stranger who took advantage of his family's hospitality or kindness, and he didn't see a monster. What Goten saw, even if it was awkward, was a brother. Perhaps a brother who'd been distant for so long that sometimes they forgot, but a brother all the same.
But it wasn't just that it was hard for him to take it, if anything he'd probably taken it better than their mom. She looked worried and sad so much now, he almost wandered if she knew what it was to be anything other than that. Even if they'd been home for less then a week, things were already noticeable. Breaking used to be a big thing in the house. His mom would make a mountain of food for he and his father to eat. Well, she still made a mountain of food, sure... but it was different somehow. Every time they ate they ate before, she always looked at them proudly and expecting to see their gratitude. The gratitude was still there, but instead of standing tall and proud, she was often just sitting in a chair, looking... dreary.
Even right now, as he sat at the table with empty dishes all around him, he slowly started to collect the bowls that had once contained food, starting to help by putting them in the sink. Looking over to his mother, who just hovered over them washing out each bowl, he half smiled.
"Breakfast was great, mom," he complimented, trying to bring up her spirits as much as he could.
The response was a tired smile, before she nodded back at him. "Thank you, Goten."
Before, he'd have told her to forget Gohan, as strangely as that sounded. But right now he didn't know if that was the right thing to say anymore. What could he say? Part of him wished that the proper connection of words in a sentence would just fix it all, but he knew that wasn't the case. Words weren't going to fix her grief. And of course, she shouldn't just forget Gohan, for all of his faults.
"... So... uhm..." awkwardly, Goten even tried to think of how to start a conversation as he stared back at his mom. "..."
The tired expression on his mother's face, only grew more tired as she stared back at him. Closing her eyes a moment later, she just sighed and stopped washing the dishes a second later, hanging over the sink before looking at him.
"What is it, Goten?" she asked, already knowing the answer he could tell.
"I just want you to... I dunno. Mom, I think-"
"Hey kiddo," sudden his father's voice interjected as he quickly turned his head, seeing his father walking over, wearing his usual training garb. A grin immediately plastered itself across his face as he walked by.
"I'm going training, and you're coming with."
For a second, he thought to protest, until he immediately clued in to what his father was doing. He wanted the conversation to end, and was intervening to see that result. With a nod in response, Goten set the last set of plates down next to the sink before smiling back at her.
"Sorry to eat and not clean up, but dad says we're going training, am I right?"
A look of relief crossed her features, before she gave the first genuine smile he'd seen in a long time.
"Goku, just make sure you take it easy on him," Chi-Chi remarked. "I'm sure he's still tired and sore from the fight at Capsule Corporation."
What? No way. I'm great. Well, except for all the bruises and the the plaguing sense of doubt and regret. But yea, no, other then that, just doing awesome.
"Yea, don't worry Chi, I've got it," Goku half chuckled before pushing the door open, giving Goten one more look, implying for him to follow suit. It was an easy decision to make.
Immediately, he took off after his dad, rushing through the small home and outside.
"So, where are we headed out for training?" he asked, brightening up. It'd be enough just to get his mind off things.
Before he got his answer, his father reached out and grabbed his shoulder. The world around him was changed in a heartbeat. They'd simply manifested themselves on another location on the surface of the Earth. It was cold, and they were high in the air. The mountains around them seemed endless, and snow capped on top of each of the peaks. Blinking several times, Goten turned to stare around at them, before looking at his father, breathing out as cold vapour seeped into the air already, reacting to the warmth of his breath.
"Couldn't have picked somewhere warmer?" he asked, resisting the urge to shiver.
"Think of it as a distraction from the training you'll have to deal with," Goku remarked, slowly hovering back. "Besides, I don't think you'll feel all that cold once you transform."
Smiling, Goten nodded, ramping up his power immediately. The familiar golden field overcame his body and he just floated there, across from his dad, preparing himself to start training. However, his dad didn't transform in turn. Not that his father wouldn't be able to stop him without a transformation.
Smiling, Goku shook his head.
"You know," he said, seemingly changing subject. "I think bringing up Gohan around your mom may not be the best of ideas."
It made Goten pause, the golden aura around him still flowing up from his feet. Of course this was going to come up, it was probably half the reason he intervened. It was hard not to try and talk to her about it, because it was so obvious she was in pain. It was so obvious that she was keeping everything tightly bottled up, and he wanted her to just be back to normal, so that everything could get back to normal.
But even for a boy not yet a teenager, Goten did notice something in turn.
"What really did happen to Gohan?"
So far, his father had been quiet in regards to Gohan's fate, only saying he'd have him looked after, or that he was fine. They were answers which Goten knew weren't true, and he suspected that his mother felt the same way. The number of times he'd seen Chi-Chi ask Goku this question were uncomfortable to him even. But the avoided answer was answer enough. It told him that Gohan wasn't as well off as Goku wanted them to accept.
A small, half smile crossed his father's face, and it looked almost remorseful for a moment.
"I'll tell you, but first, I wanna see what everyone else was saying," Goku commented. "You're an Ascended Super Saiyan? Is it true? Man, when I was you're age I was still trying to keep up with Tien."
It was something he'd not expected his father to ask him. It was something he wasn't sure he'd have to answer either, given that he'd had no time to explore what actually happened in West City, fighting the Red Demon Salt. It wasn't as if he could just transform at will, as he'd transformed, or whatever had happened before, came because everything was so hard to cope with. He'd been backed into a corner and something came alive.
Breathing in and out, he concentrated, trying to push his power further ahead, only to find his aura grew, and little else. The familiar hum of the Super Saiyan aura just pulsed around him as he closed his eyes tightly, trying to bring back whatever it was that made him change in the first place. Flashes of his friends and family did little for him, and neither did memories of most of his enemies. Instinctively, he sought out the same desperation he felt before, but it felt hollow. Until he remembered Broly's fingers around his neck. His heart raced immediately, and his eyes flashed open. Reminders of the last seconds before dying brought something out from within him. It was like a dragon's eyes opened and stirred, awakening.
Before he realized it, his world opened up again. The field around his body became more violent, and lightning ran through it. His hair spiked, and he felt his chest and muscles almost swell. Golden light then emerged from his very core, blinding even him as the energy came forward, illuminating the sky with a golden glow.
Breathing out several times, looking down at his hands before looking up at his father, Goten just held himself firm.
Two wide, black eyes frame a face that stared back at him, clearly in disbelief and with something else he didn't expect, pride. Slowly, his father's mouth dropped slightly and a grin pushed at the edges of his mouth once more, though it trembled several times as he looked back at him. It was so weird to see his father looking back at him like this. There were times he dreamed of being as strong, or stronger than his father of course, but he could see that he'd made a huge leap towards him.
"Go-Goten, that's crazy!" his father announced. "I didn't even think that was possible, you're so strong right now! Oh man! I'm just shocked you got this much power. I mean. Gosh!"
The grin his father had was contagious, as Goten smiled back at him, now almost cockily.
"Yea, well, I guess I am pretty great," Goten said, rubbing the back of his head nervously.
"Yea, and don't let it get to you're head," Goku said, looking at him seriously. "It's no excuse to be lazy, or underestimate anyone else. We're going to train, and we're going to see just how much we can hone your skills, Goten."
For a brief second, Goten nodded excitedly, feeling the validation he'd wanted to feel for years, before he paused in place, still holding his current form. His grin disappeared and he felt himself trace his gaze back to his father.
"Yea, but before we do, what happened to Gohan?"
The happy smile disappeared from his father's face, before he just seemed to get quiet for a second, before breathing in once.
"You've got to promise not to tell you're mom," Goku said seriously, more seriously than Goten had seen in a long time.
Slowly, he nodded back again, awaiting the news. Before Goku even said it, Goten could feel the answer in his own throat. For his mother's sake, he was afraid to say it. He was afraid to hear it even. It wasn't just for his own sake, as despite the small improvements to their relationship, they were hardly the kind of brothers he knew his parents wanted them to be, it was because he hoped for his mother's sake it wasn't what he feared.
"Gohan was sent to Hell."
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Gohan:
It was getting harder to track time. He was always good with numbers, logistics, and understanding how to build up a plan. Hell, during the last few years of operations he ran with Turles, he was the one that plotted out their course of entry towards a planet, and designed out what they'd need for the op. It was the first steps he took towards the leadership positions he started to see after Turles 'departed' from his service with him.
But there was no night, there was no day, there was only this bleak, ever present light. It was like being on a world which circled a start, but didn't rotate, locked in the orbit of the star too closely. That meant counting how long he'd been here was getting ever harder. Keeping track of the minutes was almost the extent of what he could do. So far he'd lost count a dozen times, and each time he did it was hard to keep track, he felt like it was resetting an eternal clock.
Still, looking out across the wastes, he could see a storm of darkness swirling in one place, unmoving. Black walls of energy seemed to rise and fall, and all Gohan did was cross his arms as he peered out towards it, perched where he was up high on a cliff's edge. As the wind slowly blew past him, he looked to the next ledge over, seeing Turles stand there, his eyes locked to the same place.
"Why are we out here, exactly, Turles?"
"Why not?" Turles responded simply. "Where else should we be before we're cooked or frozen again? It doesn't really matter."
It was true, of course. They'd not spoken much as they'd travelled, seemingly just like old times. It was only when they were resting after battle, or he'd gotten out of surgery or the healing chamber, that they ever really talked. Now they were stuck down here for an eternity, and Gohan couldn't find anything to speak about. Worst of all, in his own way he didn't want to, not after what had... transpired, to send Turles here. In was a blessing and a curse. He was here with the man who'd raised him, his father... yet he was here with a man he'd betrayed and killed.
Nothing could be clean.
"So what is it?"
"The barrier to the next level of Hell. I like to come here and watch it. Even if only for a little while. It reminds me that I'm still here. It reminds me that I still rule something."
Rule would be a very, very loose term.
Looking over to the storm, Gohan just felt a small sense of relief wash over him. If this was the better part of Hell, he hated to think of what the next layer would look like.
"You know, you don't know what you have until it's ripped away from you. I remember the taste of food, you know," Turles commented, his eyes not moving from the great storm. "I remember what it was like to have a woman. I remember the thrill of battle, my heart racing, and the smell of fire. But I think I miss food the most."
Despite the nagging of his own stomach, Gohan was slowly beginning to understand the sensation. Everything in these bodies seemed half turned on, half turned off. He couldn't really eat. He couldn't really drink. Hell, the other 'day' in private he thought he could find a private relief for another itch, and nothing worked. He still felt all the things he felt while he was alive, but even if he wanted to exercise it, from eating and drinking, to masturbating, there was no ability to sate his urges. It would go on like this forever, wouldn't it? Fuck, his heart wasn't even beating, and it was hard to remember that sometimes.
Even now, as Gohan looked at Turles, he could tell it would. It would last for an eternity. An unending torment added to his existence, as if burning to death and freezing to ice wasn't bad enough.
"Yea, I've noticed," Gohan responded. "Nothing we can do about it-"
"But there is something you can do about it. Or, something will be done about it for you," Turles remarked, his tone sounding almost bitter for a second. "You're going to come back to life, when my brother Kakarot collects those Dragon Balls and wishes for you to be returned to the real world, alive and well. You're going to have decades away from here."
The jealousy in his mentor's voice was clear, and it immediately made Gohan feel uncomfortable.
"But hey, at least you're glad to see me for a while, right?" Gohan shot back, trying to put on a joking smile.
The silence in response was met by the Saiyan turning his head, and giving a small smile of his own.
"Yea, of course. Especially considering just how much stronger you are now. Everyone who could sense power, felt your entrance into this realm. That was quite a display you showed," Turles commented, before his smile continued to widen. "And once you return to life, I'm sure no one will be able to touch that kind of energy. You know... you could collect the Dragon Balls yourself, and make a wish on behalf of someone else."
Just as soon as the conversation had turned about, it turned immediately back to the thing Turles desired most. He desired life. This empty existence without the ability to satiate desire, and only a bleak life of pain and uncertainty, was something the Saiyan desperately wanted to escape. But Gohan knew what his father was. His father cared about himself, first and foremost, and following that he cared about him. Anything else alive seemed to be little more than fodder. He even ceased caring about the other Saiyans, their race. What kind of monster would he invite back into the world?
In Turles's eyes, he could see the reflection of burning cities, and in his mind he could hear the shrieks and screams of helpless people as they died at his hands. Only now, it would be a monster with the unstoppable force of an Ascended Saiyan behind it. There was something almost seductive about it, drawing his own mind back into his past. It was terror and it was exhilaration all wrapped together, both his fear and the fear of his victims, but with the excitement of his youth. But it was hardly something to sway him.
Despite how much he cared, Turles couldn't leave this place to return to life, because all he would do would bring suffering to the universe. Hell, it was what landed him here for an eternity.
But he'd already betrayed Turles once. He'd failed him once. Now, could he betray him again?
"We'll have to see if they let me anywhere near the Dragon Balls, Turles-"
"You owe me, Gohan," Turles snapped back, striding towards him as a bitter wind blew past them on the cliffs. "You could walk through everyone on that planet, and take them if you wanted. You'd leave me down here to burn and suffer."
Hardening his heart, Gohan stared back coolly.
"And what would you do when you get back, Turles? How many people would I let you kill for your own gain? I have a fucking kid to look after now, get it? I've got a daughter and you think I'm just going to let you off the leash? I-"
Immediately, two hands grabbed his shirt, pulling him up against Turles as the other Saiyan glared at him.
"And what makes you think I'm just going to go on a killing rampage?" he snarled. "Do you really think I want to end up back here?" he sneered. "I'm not coming back here, boy."
Releasing him, Turles then strode past him, turning about and looking back towards the swirling mass of blackened energies in the distance, his entire frame seemingly brimming with rage.
"I can't do it, Turles," Gohan's voice broke through it all. "If you want to get out of here, Turles, you'll have to figure that one out on you're own. If you get over it. You can come find me."
I'm not a free ride out of here, father.
With that, a purple aura burst around his frame before his body catapulted through the air, blasting away from his mentor and the storm in the middle of this Hell.
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Pan:
It was so dark.
Two blue eyes scanned the trees around her as she sat shivering up against the side of the rocks. Light flashed across the blackened night sky as the rain pounded down all around her. The cliff above provided her only with half the cover she needed. Her t-shirt was ripped and stained, and her jeans were torn, with a big hole over the knee. She'd managed to find an apple tree the other day, and took what she could from it, but even now her stomach rumbled.
Even now, she tired just stared forward, trying to think of anything but what could be lurking in the trees. Tigers, bears, wolves, and any number of other monsters lurking in them. The other day she'd found a dead rabbit, eating away, as well as a dead stag. It'd been petrifying to see, their bones showing through and their bodies torn apart. The entire time she felt bad for the furred creatures, knowing their last moments must have been horrible.
The boom from the Thunder caused by lightning, rolled over the entire forest as Pan just breathed in and out again, trying to keep calm.
"I wanna go home," she mumbled, her trembling arms moving up to cover herself better.
She couldn't stop shivering, and she was so cold. She couldn't build a fire, and she didn't have a jacket. All her mind could imagine was being home, in her warm bed. It could only imagine it for so long. The relentless pounding of cold rain quickly broke any kind of escape for her. Without the moon's light, she felt totally alone in all of it.
If her dad or mom were here, they'd know what to do. Even if they didn't take her away from all of this, they'd at least have an answer. She didn't know how to survive in the forest, she didn't know how to hunt or scavenge. All she'd done for days was try desperately to find food, and had only found scraps. She wanted to live, but even she as a child understood the situation she was in. She was going to die out here, and soon. The big green man, Piccolo, had left her out here all alone to die. When lightning flashed, this time much closer, she saw reflections in the light in the distance. Eyes glowed in the darkness and the shadow's of animals made themselves known.
Wolves.
Wolves which were looking towards her in the distance.
Instinct immediately kicked in.
Two small legs rose to her feet, even if she felt tired, cold, and weak, she broke into a run. Her body collided with the raindrops immediately. Her already wet frame quickly became soaked. Worn runners slapped into the mud with every motion, and her legs moved even more frantically as she heard the howl behind her. Moving past branches and trees, shoving through the brush, she felt heart thumping against her ribs as she desperately ran. Her senses sharpened as she felt the world almost slow down, and for a second she almost felt like she heard ever raindrop. Inside of that, she could hear animals panting as they gave chase, and she could hear paws tearing through the muddy forest floor themselves. She dare not look back, even if she could see properly in the darkness.
Struggling noises escaped her lips as she felt rain pouring down her face and hair. Frantically, she jumped over a log she spotted at the last moment, with the help of a flash of lightning across the sky. The rustle of bushes and the sound of the paws on the ground were gaining on her, as well as the grunting snarls from behind. Unable to hold herself back, Pan screamed, her high pitch voice being downed out by the sound of thunder clapping across the sky.
This time, her foot caught on a fallen tree log, and she fell forward. Mud splashed as her chest splattered into the mud, her body travelling several inches through it. It covered her already soaked body, and smeared against her face and hair. Turning around, she crawled back on her hands and pushed back with her legs as four of the huge creatures bore down on her, stopping their approach only at the last second as they began trying to get close. She reached behind her for the blade Piccolo had left her, but found it missing from where she'd normally kept it on her back. Seeing the glint of its hilt behind the wolves, she realized it'd fallen free from her.
"S-stay back!" she screamed, panic overwhelming her. One of the wolves dove towards her, biting towards her leg.
Its jaws caught into her leg and jeans, ripping both. A shriek escaped her as two other beasts approached.
The snarling maws sent her already panicked body and mind into overdrive. Her leg screamed in pain in her mind, and her terrified heart beat wildly. Fear overwhelmed her, and she felt lost in it. Suddenly, throughout it all, light emerged in the darkness all around her. The trees blew back violently, all of them all around her, away from her. The wolves themselves, moving in for the kill, suddenly had their fur blast back, before their huge paws dug into the ground, being blasted back as well, skidding in the mud. Confused yelps escaped the canines, and the rain itself was held back, blasting back into the air, scattering away.
The wolf with its teeth in her clothes and leg was blown back, its body spinning through the air before it collided with a tree, its entire frame snapping to one side before it collapsed to the ground in a heap. Without even realizing it, Pan felt her lungs howling into the air, and the wolves themselves, even as they were being thrown back without mercy, scattered back to the trees, some being blown away back into them.
As soon as the light began to fade, Pan then felt the real extent of the pain in her leg. It hurt to move the limb, and her lower leg was leaking red through her torn denim. Instinctively, she reached down, a white glow still coming from her skin. She tore the fabric of her jeans away, before looking at the teeth marks in her leg. It was enough to make her wince, looking away. What had just happened, what was still happening, left her in shock. Instinctively, she began wrapping the denim around her leg, wincing as she did. As soon as she squeezed it with the tied jean shreds, she stopped from the pain. Blood pushed up as she yelped. It was too much, even as the rain began bombarding her again from above.
She needed to do something, even if it hurt.
I have to do this.
She wasn't going to die like this. With trembling arms, she grabbed the two ends of the shredded piece of fabric, and wrapped it around the wound as best she could. Her lungs sucked in air harshly as she applied pressure, watching as the red stained through. She couldn't walk, and slowly pushed herself against a tree. The white energy around her provided a kind of strange, warm sensation. Too hurt to move much further, she just listened for any sounds beyond the rain itself, before exhaustion took her.
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Author's Notes:
Unfortunately, I'm actually posting this ahead of my writing schedule, given I've not finished Chapter 50 yet. I hurt my wrist last week while moving stuff in my house, and was only able to start writing again the other day. But, I do want to give you guys content if I can, so I'm posting this early. I can start writing again, which is nice, but my time is being eaten up in a lot of ways. Chapter 50 is going to be big. Lots of stuff coming out of the woodwork in that chapter. It also begins the setup for the next series of villains, but I do want to stress, do not expect a huge pile of action for a long while yet. Development is the main thing I'm working on right now.
I think I mentioned it before, but expect to see the old primary villains have a perspective piece in Chapter 50, given that its chapter 50, and I think it deserves an extra large chapter for that, and I really wanna tread a bit where we've been, and where we're going.
Remember, the more reviews I get, the more I work.
*Holds up carboard sign*
"Will write for Reviews" lol
Reviewers:
Pyromania101: Expect to see Broly next chapter. As to a rematch? I dunno if people really want to see that, especially given I'm trying to avoid too much action right now. If you do see a rematch between Gohan and Broly, it'd likely only be the climax of the overall conflict. Also, expect more King Vegeta down the road.
Perfect Carnage: Cooler forcibly recruited Paragus, after blowing up the planet Broly was on, if only to extend his shame. He recruited Turles shortly after Frieza died, when the two crossed paths. Both cases were hardly a fully willing subject, but Turles and Paragus knew crossing Cooler would mean their deaths. As to Beerus? He gives a bit more leeway to Kais, if only a little more. He'll have a background role in the story going forward.
DBZ fan the first: Thanks!
MaxPain32: Yep, Bardock still sees the future, and still has telepathy.
Tomorrow4eva: Sure thing. Expect to see Goku doing the dad thing soonish.
Ninjafang1331: Thanks!
Dark Knight Shiva: Gohan's scenes are going to be a bit more sparse this Saga, as he's in Hell and its really the others who have to deal with more shit. But expect things from Gohan! He's got development to go through as well, just its going to be a bit more spread out. Goten, Pan, and Vegeta need a bit more time to shine, and that's not including Goku, who I've neglected. :\
Courtney: Gohan's time in Hell is going to get a lot shittier, soon.
SlimShadyGirl17872: Yea, I know who Gine is. I dunno if she fits in the story, and to be honest I don't think she was as evil as Bardock. She was likely reincarnated, which means Bardock gets to suffer without her, which is more fitting.
Guest1: You're welcome.
Readallday: That's complicated. But overall I'd say no.
Delais Starlight: I think that Piccolo is doing what he thinks is in everyone's best interests.
Brelic: But for all of their good acts, how much potential is there for evil? And it'll get explained in depth of course, as the story moves forward. He has a lot of reasons to despise the Saiyans.
Morisako83: I expect you'll see Beerus and Whis from time to time as the story goes on.
Dead Survivor: The Kais can't just be a batch of incompetent morons. They keep the universe running safely. Even if there are incompetent Kais, they need to be the minority.
Random Reader: I'm really not so sure Videl can rationally approach people related to Gohan. Her life is still a mess, and honestly most of her personal problems find their roots in Gohan's mistakes. Sure, her personality makes them worse. But why is Pan abducted? Because she's related to Gohan. Why is she now abducted again? The same reason. I get the feeling she'd probably be pretty resentful towards Chi-Chi, and her perceived complicity in all of this. Why is that? Well Chi-Chi never stopped him. Chi-Chi never raised him, sure, but how does Pan know that?
Chilami Lynn: I wouldn't expect Keiko to play a huge role in the story, but she does have some importance, and is more than a plot device. I won't say much more :P
KaosMoshpit: I'm holding judgement on the new series. I wanna see what they have to offer before I blindly support or deride it.
Aqua Roxas: Kais are born from some weird tree. He was born, along with several others, but things went... wrong. Anything else would be a spoiler. Abaddon will be explained.
Djberneman: Gohan, if he were alive, would be ever ever so slightly stronger than Goku, though to be honest in a straight, honest fight, I'd put my money on Goku. He's the superior warrior between the two. Even though he's improved immensely, Gohan's still kinda rigid, and he doesn't learn as fast as Goku in terms of fighting. Given he can't get stronger in Hell as well, I suspect if he gets back, he won't be strongest.
Guest2: I can't wait to write the next chapter.
Guest3: I think you're looking for something in Dragon Ball you're not going to find in it. Comparatively to everyone but Goku, Vegeta gets the most spotlight. So. Yea.
Guest4: I asked people what names they recommended. It came up so I went with it. :\
The Darkest Wizard: Here you go.
Fatefan: Thanks.
Jaymunoz90: Bardock's role increases in this story, he's definitely a supporting character for this Saga.
ElvenScribler: Thanks a bunch for the review! Broly will appear in Chapter 50.