Chapter 18: Seeing Red

Royal Nature Park

His father's words were like white noise to him. The anger, the rage, the intense fury that built up inside him was now pouring out like a turned on faucet with a broken handle. To him, the man that stood before him was no longer his father. He was no longer Goku he was simply Red. He was but a stranger. A stranger that took away his father and was now intent and taking away everything else he held dear. There was no talking sense into him. No turning back. The only option now was to take him down permanently.

"Hellooooo Gohan, What's the matter cat got your t..."

Gohan let out a loud anger filled roar which caused a shock wave from its mere volume as he lunged at Goku with an intent to kill. Goku met him head on but surprisingly found himself on the defensive as Gohan's strength and speed increased tremendously.

"Damn I'm really going to have to try aren't I?" Goku practically said to himself as his words rang hollow to the enraged Gohan.

Goku's speed began to steadily to increase before it matched Gohan's going as far as to slightly surpass it.

"Come on, Gohan is that all you g..."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

Gohan's power increased once again in strength and speed causing Gohan to shatter Goku's guard delivering an onslaught of strikes culminating in a double ax-handle that sent Goku several feet into the ground. Gohan flew straight into the hole created by his father's impact and tossed him out delivering several snap kicks to Goku's gut in mid-air followed by several punches to the face before hitting him back down into the hole. Gohan without any sense of hesitation put his hands together across his forehead with his palms facing the hole. A bright orange ki quickly formed in Gohan's palms before firing it at the hole

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

However, Gohan's Masenko was blasted back up through the hole causing it to narrowly miss Gohan's face. Goku's Super Saiyan Blackout aura soon began pouring up and out of the hole, before Goku burst forth, his strength and speed once again increased to equal Gohan's. Goku and Gohan collided once more as the ground around them began to shake from the sheer force of their blows connecting with one another. The furious shaking grew greater and wider with each and every blow with it eventually spreading throughout the entire island and it's surrounding waters. The intensity of the shakes caused the severely injured Android 17 to wake up.

"Ugh...if this keeps up...the entire island's going to fall apart..."

The stability of the island was the furthest thing from Gohan's mind as he continued to constantly rise in strength and speed only for Goku to match him each and every time, however as their altercation progressed, the rate of Goku's power increase began to surpass Gohan's and before long Goku had Gohan on the ropes. Despite his drive to take down the man he once called his father, Gohan's defenses were broken through by Goku who delivered a massive headbutt causing Gohan's face forehead to split open slightly as well Goku's own head to a lesser extent. A slight trail of blood trickled down Goku's forehead while several streaks of blood flowed down the now stunned Gohan's face.

"You gotta a hard head, son." Goku chuckled. "Mine's harder."

Goku grabbed Gohan the throat and slammed him several hundred feet into the ground.

Vaka's Temple

Vaka stood in the center of the room waving his arms in parallel circular motions while Piccolo and Chronoa sat and conversed.

"I should have asked this sooner but what is the white ether going to do?" Piccolo inquired to Chronoa as the waited for white ether to be gathered.

"The white ether is the ether's physical manifestation. It can only be harnessed by the Alpha Kai. It's capable of many things including restoring those affected by the dark ether."

"So in other words..."

"Yes, with the white ether we should be able to restore Goku and all of the Sankakukankei back to their former selves."

"I actually have another question. What did you mean when you said not again?"

"You heard that?"

"My ears aren't just for show."

"It's...a long story."

"It looks like we have some time."

"There's a reason why I'm so set on saving your universe. A reason besides my want to protect life. A reason that's caused me to defy orders from the higher-ups."

"Defy orders?"

"Yes. I'm supposed to be doing this. I was given strict orders to stay away from the Sankakukankei. Hell, there were some who didn't even think they existed. But I didn't stay away. I couldn't...The reason why is..."

Before Chronoa could finish explaining the entire room began to shake violently. After a few brief moments, the shaking stopped only to quickly start up again.

"Oh no...That was two." Chronoa declared.

"That means there's only one left right?"

"Vaka, you need to hurry."

"...This is going to hurt." Vaka sighed as the movement of his arms increased in speed to a point where they were barely visible.

Royal Nature Park

"Look now I can kill you and destroy the focal point at the same time." Goku quipped as he began forming a Blackout Kamehameha in his hands. "That's not working hard that's working smart."

Goku attempted to fire the blast but before he could he was hit in the back by small ki blast.

"Ah, that stung dick!" Goku exclaimed as he turned around and aimed his Kamehameha at 17, who fell back into unconsciousness but briefly turned his attention back to the hole. "Hey Gohan, kill ya in a second kiddo. Gotta take care of something real quick."

Goku attempted to fire the Blackout Kamehameha at 17 but before he could Gohan burst forth from the ground directly in front of Goku bring a fist down on his hands causing the blast to dissipate however before Gohan could attempt a follow up attack Gohan's pupil's reappeared as the power of the rage form started to fade.

"Oops looks like you just ran outta juice." Goku stated with a twisted grin as he punched Gohan hard in the gut causing him to revert to his base form and drop to his knees.

"Well son, it's been fun but I think it's time to end this." Goku stated as he formed another Blackout Kamehameha "Got people waiting and everything. So any last words?"

"Fuck...you."

"Watch your language young man." Goku quipped as he aimed the Blackout Kamehameha point blank at Gohan's face. Goku's hands shook slightly but quickly steadied as he shouted "Blackout Kamehame..."

But before Goku could finish, the entire island, as well as the entire planet, began shaking violently causing Goku to lose his balance while also causing major damage to the island as several cracks began to form on its surface.

"Would you look at that. Guess they destroyed one of the focal points." Goku stated as he regained his balance only to be brought down again be a second massive quake. "And that must be number three. Took em long enough. I was beginning to think I'd have time to go and destroy them myself. Guess what Gohan. That makes this the last one. So if you're going to pull off any sort of last-minute power surge you may wanna do it now."

Gohan simply replied

"Why..."

"What was that?"

"Why do you care about them?"

"They're my people. I'm as loyal to them as they are to me."

"Loyal!? I saw you break one of their necks without a second thought!"

"Oh you mean, Phil? Oh no that whole thing was just for show. See."

Goku held out his hand and projected an image of a Sankakukankei soldier who proceeded to wave.

"That's Phil. What a weird name. Alright, this whole thing's dragged on long enough. Bye, bye son."

Gohan's will to continue seemed to fade as Goku once again started to charge his Blackout Kamehameha but as he did a spiraling orange and purple beam of ki pierced his right shoulder.

"I'm never going to pull off that attack, am I?!" Goku sighed as he turned around and looked to see Piccolo and Chronoa floating in the sky above with Chronoa holding a clear jar filled with a strange floating white gas-like substance.

Narrator

With the white ether finally gathered Piccolo with the aid of Chronoa faces down his former ally. Will they be able to restore Goku back to his former self? The fate of the universe hangs in the balance next time on Strained Bond: A Hero's Fall to Darkness!

A/N

Well it won't actually be next time because the next chapter of Strained Bond is actually going to be a prequel chapter dedicated to the origins of the Sankakukankei. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this latest chapter of Strained Bond. Please let me know your thoughts and as always have a great day ~TheUltimateMystic

P.S: If you're into threeway romance stories I recommend 2 Saiyans 1 Human by a friend of mine DBZfan2456. It's also got plenty of action too. So check feel free to check it out.