The Chosen One

by Hurricane Chris

Gohan comes across a special sword and a prediction of an alien attack on the universe. The only way to stop them is to send Gohan out into space with Vegeta, Piccolo, the androids, Krillin, and Bulma.

46. Chapter 46

The Chosen One

Chapter Forty-Six

"Open your eyes . . ."

Gohan heard a whisper. His eyelid muscles tensed, then relaxed again.

"Open your eyes . . ."

Gohan tried to sit up, but he could not move his arms or legs. He sat up with his torso.

"Open your eyes . . ."

Slowly, but surely, Gohan opened his eyes. He then looked around him. Everything was black around him, with stars light-years away. Below his feet, he could see a red planet.

What in the world? Gohan was in a state of disbelief. "I'm in space! Wait a second, I can talk and breathe? What's going on here?"

"Simple, really," the whisper from before answered. "I've brought you here. You're in space, able to breathe."

"Who are you?" Gohan shouted. "What do you want?"

"Patience," the whisper said. "You'll find out soon enough."

Suddenly, Gohan began moving, but it was not of his own free will. The stars became blurs of light, and he began moving so fast that he could see the individual light particles as he flew by them. Then, Gohan came to a stop. In front of him was a familiar planet. "Earth!"

"Yes. Your home planet. Pity it will get destroyed soon."

Gohan bristled. "What? Who are you? TELL ME!"

"Very well," the whisper replied. "I am more energy than matter, now, but I can still manifest a material form." Slowly, a figure appeared. Gohan knew the figure all too well.

"What?" Gohan exclaimed. "It's not possible! I killed you!"

"Yes, you did," Rekhas replied. "But you did not destroy one thing. I happened to drop Ifrit when the blast hit me. You see, Asok was careful not to let the same thing happen twice. As long as Ifrit is intact, I cannot die!"

"So you want to die twice?" Gohan shouted. "Well, fine by me!" He reached for his hip to draw Testament. "What? It's not here!"

Rekhas laughed. "Yes. I made sure that when I pulled you from your spaceship not to include that infernal sword. I, however, still have Ifrit, and I now have power beyond your wildest dreams!"

"We'll see about that!" Gohan yelled as he powered up to his maximum.

Rekhas laughed again. "You Saiyans just never learn." Suddenly Gohan was knocked forward, then downward, then back up. Gohan got his balance and stabilized himself.

"Wh-what happened?" Gohan said.

"I told you I'm mostly energy now, remember?" Rekhas responded. "As such, I can strike you from anywhere. And since we are in space, you will not stop until you regain control or I hit you!" Then, Gohan reappeared right behind Rekhas, but his punch passed right through the Roxian. "Oh, another thing. You have to be fast to hurt me! Otherwise your attacks will pass through me!"

Rekhas then turned toward the planet Earth. "Such an eyesore." He lifted his hand, and a sphere of energy began to form.

Gohan's eyes widened. He knew what Rekhas was planning to do. He dashed at Rekhas, but was suddenly brought to a stop. "What? I can't move!"

"Meddling rat," Rekhas muttered. "You destroyed my planet. Why should your planet be spared?" He then threw the sphere of energy at the planet. The sphere struck the surface, and sunk into the Earth's core. The planet began developing massive fissures that crisscrossed the surface, expanded, and exploded.

Gohan looked on in horror. "NOOOOOOOOOO!"

Rekhas laughed. "Now you have no home! No Earth, no planet Vegeta! You're an orphan!"

Gohan then sensed another person's presence far away. It's them! Mom, Goten, Trunks, you made it off the planet in time!

Rekhas looked into the distance. "Hmmph. Seems an anthill escaped my poison. No matter." He fired an energy blast. Far off, in the distance, there was an explosion.

Gohan's eyes widened in shock. No! Mom! Goten! This isn't . . . this can't be happening! Anger started to build up within Gohan. "Rekhas . . . you . . . monster . . .!" Then, Gohan's anger exploded. "GRAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

His hair, which was already standing straight up, tripled in length and hung back from his head, and his eyebrows disappeared. He let loose a burst of energy, and was free to move. "That does it. Rekhas, you will die. Painfully."

Rekhas laughed. "Me, die? Oh, no, you're quite mistaken. I can tell that your power's gone up, but there's no way you can match my strength!"

"Oh, really?" Gohan asked. He then disappeared.

Rekhas looked around. "What the . . .? Where did he go? He's got to be around here somewh-OOOF!"

Gohan had reappeared and sunk his fist into Rekhas's stomach. He then propelled himself up and hit Rekhas in the side of the head with a kick. The Roxian was sent flying to Gohan's left, but regained control.

"You see, strength isn't the only thing that increased," Gohan said.

"Hmph. Very well," Rekhas replied. The Roxian then used his energy to try to strike Gohan. However, the young warrior was too quick and every invisible blow missed.

Gohan came to a stop. "Sorry. Try again."

"You ask, I DELIVER!" Rekhas yelled and launched an energy blow. However, this time, Gohan didn't move; instead, he blocked the attack.

"How . . ." Rekhas muttered in shock. "How can he do this?"

"It's called power, Rekhas," Gohan replied as he appeared right behind Rekhas. "Ever heard of it!" He then delivered a crushing kick to the emperor's face.

Rekhas barely managed to stabilize himself. Then, he started laughing. "I can't believe I forgot! You can't block this!" He placed all four of his hands together, palms facing Gohan. "Take THIS!"

A gigantic beam of powerful energy erupted from Rekhas's hands. It flew at Gohan. The young Saiyan, however, was prepared. "Ka . . . me . . . ha . . . me . . . HA!"

Gohan's attack intercepted Rekhas's attack and pierced it. Rekhas's attack turned inward on itself and imploded.

Rekhas continued to laugh. "Just as I expected from you! But this time, you won't escape!" He then pulled his lower arms back. "Kaaaaa . . . meeeee . . ."

"What!" Gohan shouted in astonishment. "It can't be! Impossible!"

Rekhas grinned. "Haaaaa . . . meeeee . . ."

Gohan shook off his shock. "Kaaaaa . . . meeeee . . . haaaaa . . . meeeee . . ."

"HAAAAA!"

"HAAAAA!"

The two attacks collided in midair, and a power struggle began. Dominance went back and forth between the two fighters, until Gohan pumped more energy into the blast. At this point, his attack overwhelmed Rekhas's attack. Rekhas got out of the way just in time.

Rekhas's eyes widened in shock. He could not comprehend how a sixteen-year-old, half-blood Saiyan could possibly outperform him. He had just attained the ultimate power, and here was a youth overpowering him. Could he possibly be more powerful than I am? No! It can't be! But wait. How is it then that he's outdone me at every turn since he changed?

Gohan saw the fear in his opponent's eyes. "Give up," he said. "You can't win. If you give up, I'll let you live."

Rekhas snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Gohan. What a fool! He's more like his father than I thought!

"It's become obvious that I have you outclassed," Gohan said. "Give up, and I'll let you live on the condition that you never attempt to take over the universe again."

Rekhas laughed. "Wishful thinking, boy! You might as well be your father trying to convince Frieza to do the same thing!"

"Are you in that much of a hurry to die?" Gohan responded. "If you insist on continuing this fight, I will kill you." However, then, something happened. His hair receded back to its normal length, and turned black. His eyebrows reappeared, and his eyes turned back to their natural color. This time it was Gohan's turn to be shocked. "What happened? I didn't choose to revert!"

Rekhas grinned. "It seems like you can only maintain your new form for a limited period of time! Now, what was it that you were saying about killing me?" With that, Rekhas went on the attack.

-46-

"Oh NO!" King Kai exclaimed. "This can't be happening!"

Goku ran up to his former instructor. "What's going on?"

"Gohan had just reached a new level of power that even someone like Rekhas couldn't match," King Kai answered. "The Roxian didn't stand a chance. But what neither of them realized is that Gohan can only stay in that state for roughly fifteen minutes! Now Gohan's back to normal and he's a sitting duck!"

"He can still win," Goku said.

King Kai turned to Goku. "How?"

-46-

Gohan was in bad shape. In a few brief minutes, Rekhas had beaten him within an inch of his life. Every attack he tried was in vain. He had run out of ideas and had no choice but to let death embrace him.

"Gohan . . . you still have one option left."

Gohan's eyes snapped wide open. "Who - who is that?"

"It's King Kai, Gohan."

"K - King Kai?"

"Listen, Gohan. You still have one chance left."

Gohan was confused. "What can I do? I have no strength left in me."

"I know," King Kai said, "but that's why you need to use the strength of others."

Gohan could not understand what King Kai was saying. "What do you mean?"

"The Spirit Bomb."

This grabbed Gohan's complete attention. "The Spirit Bomb? But I can only use that when I'm on a planet."

"That's not incorrect, but it's not entirely correct, either," King Kai responded. "Look around you. Rekhas has given you the tools you need to use the Spirit Bomb. Rekhas is moving you through space. Look around, and you can see that you're moving by all sorts of stars and planets."

Gohan looked around and saw a planet down below him. Suddenly, everything shifted, and he was on the outside of an asteroid belt. After a moment, everything shifted again, and Gohan saw the planet Jupiter not far away.

"With what Rekhas is doing, you'll be able to gather life energy from every planet you come to," King Kai explained. "In essence, you're forming a Spirit Bomb using the life energy of every living creature in the entire galaxy!"

"Every living creature in the galaxy . . . That would be enough to kill Rekhas," Gohan concluded. "All right. I'll do it."

Gohan held his arms out above him. "Creatures of the land, sea, and sky, I ask of you to heed my cry. This is our most desperate hour. Please, I beg of you, lend me your power."

-46-

King Kai started snickering.

Goku stared at King Kai. "What could possibly be so funny at a time like this?"

"Gohan's a poet . . . AND DOESN'T KNOW IT!" King Kai then burst into a fit of laughter.

Goku looked bewildered. "Really? I ought to tell him when I talk to him next." King Kai abruptly stopped laughing and scowled.

-46-

The Namekians sensed something. Ignoring their farmwork for the time being, they looked up at the sky. "Elder Moori, what is that?" one of them asked.

"That is Gohan," Moori replied. "He needs our help." Moori and the other Namekians all joined their hands and closed their eyes.

-46-

King Michael of Gabria was sitting on his throne, thinking, when he felt an odd presence. He opened his eyes. "For a moment there, I thought I could feel Gohan right in front of me. He seems like he's in trouble." Once again, he closed his eyes.

-46-

"Legume," Sage Noah said. "Come here."

"What is it?" Legume asked.

"It's Gohan," Noah answered. "He needs our help. Take my hand."

-46-

Slowly, but surely, the life energy from the various lifeforms in the galaxy began to seep through Gohan's body and permeate his aura. Gohan knew that, by doing this, he was taking a major risk; after all, there was nothing that would stop Rekhas from attacking him if he decided to.

Speaking of which, the Roxian emperor was watching Gohan with curiosity. Just what is he doing? Is he inviting me to finish him off? Actually, now that I think about it, that's a good idea. He rushed forward to attack Gohan. However, something emerged in his way. A ghostly figure, with its back turned, appeared in front of Rekhas, and the Roxian found himself unable to move ahead. The figure wore an orange martial arts gi and had a head full of black, spiky hair.

Gohan was speechless. All he could say was one word. "Dad?"

"Hey, kiddo," Goku said, his voice echoing a bit. "You have no idea how proud I am of you right now. Even when the odds are stacked against you, you keep on fighting. You never give up. And that's how you should be."

"What's going on?" Gohan asked. "How can you be here like this?"

Goku did not answer. Instead, to his left, someone else appeared. This person was taller than Goku, and wore a white mantle and a turban.

Piccolo smiled. "Unbelievable. If you had told me eleven years ago that the little kid who had been pampered all his life would save the universe, I never would have believed it."

"You can say that again," Krillin commented as he appeared.

"And I should have known better, as well," Raditz remarked. "This boy is my relative, after all."

"It wouldn't have surprised me," Trunks added. "After all, he was my mentor."

One by one, in similar fashion, spectral beings resembling all of his friends and loved ones appeared and formed a circle around Gohan. Rekhas could not break through, and Gohan continued gathering energy. Then, all of his friends held each other's hands, and Gohan could feel a surge of power. Are they giving me their energy? But how? They're dead!

"Well, Gohan, we have to go now," Goku said. "You can do it. We all know you can." Gohan nodded, and his friends disappeared.

Rekhas shook his head, attempting to rid himself of the confusion. What was that just now? I don't get it. Now, though, there was a path to Gohan. However, at that moment, Gohan finished collecting energy for his Spirit Bomb. He focused, and a small sphere of energy no larger than Gohan's head floated above his hand.

Rekhas fired an energy attack. "DIE!" At that moment, Gohan threw the Spirit Bomb. As the two blasts neared each other, tension built. The attacks then collided, but Rekhas's attack was absorbed into the Spirit Bomb.

Rekhas's eyes widened. "What? No way! Impossible!" Rekhas tried to move out of the way, but the Spirit Bomb was too quick. It hit him head on. The Spirit Bomb, true to its name, exploded on contact, engulfing Rekhas within it. Gohan could hear Rekhas's shouts. However, they quickly turned to laughter. "You idiot! You didn't realize that I was allowing you to survive in space! Now you'll die too!" A moment later, the blast died and Rekhas was gone. Suddenly, Gohan couldn't inhale. He realized that Rekhas had been telling the truth. Gohan knew that the human brain could survive without oxygen for approximately five minutes. He needed somewhere to go, anywhere. However, he could not muster up the strength to teleport to a familiar planet. Then, he saw his salvation: Bulma's ship. It was still flying. Gohan focused all his energy to the inside of the ship, and in the blink of an eye, he was there. Gohan took a deep breath of air, ignoring the pain in his lungs every time he breathed. He collapsed on the floor of the bridge and went to sleep.