And as I've promised some of you, here is my longest chapter ever. Damn this took awhile to write. I got a whole new respect for all those people who can constantly write long ass chapters. How they do it on a constant basis is beyond me.
And before I forget, Happy Thanksgiving everyone. And now I feel better about myself.
You'd think that with the way humans altered their environment, they would've cleared out a lot of the underbrush surrounding their settlements. At least, that's what Gohan thought as he crawled on his stomach, moving through bushes and the like just to get a visual of his target: New Central.
Before the young saiyan, a large settlement created by the humans was laid out. It was like any other settlement due to the "creativity" of human ingenuity. Houses and other buildings sat in neat, single filed rows along streets that criss-crossed across the whole place. However, there was one big difference between all of the other villages and this one. In the center of the city, a very large, very tall temple-like structure sat in all of its glory. Columns of marble held up each floor as the temple stood above all other structures; its red painted walls with a green and gold strips running along the edge of the building. A case of stairs led all the way up to the top of the temple where a small outhouse like structure sat, a door blocking all who wished to enter. It didn't' take a genius to figure out where the governor was or how to get to him. And these humans thought they were impenetrable to infiltration.
The sound of two bodies crawling towards Gohan from behind alerted the saiyan to their presence. Without flinching, Raditz and Piccolo slide up beside Gohan, one on either side of him, both looking out into the city.
"So what's the plan nephew?" Raditz asked.
"Simple. The three of us are going to get inside that temple and get what we came for," Gohan responded.
Raditz gave him a quizzical look. "If it's just the three of us going, then why did we bring the others?"
"They're our escape plan. Once we get the prize, we send out a signal. When they see the signal, the others start attacking the city as we make our escape. The sudden attack will throw the humans into chaos, so the soldiers won't be able to react without the civilians running into them, just to get away."
"Okay then, what's the signal?"
"A very simple one. We'll just blow a hole in one of the outer walls of the temple and use that to get out of the building. Since the temple is the tallest building here, the rest of our group will be able to see it and start the assault."
Raditz just stared at him. "You've really put some thought into this."
Gohan smirked. "The one thing you guys haven't learned is that humans are predictable. They always react the same way every time."
Interrupting the conversation, Piccolo put in his two cents. "So how are we going to get in that temple?"
Gohan continued to smirk. "Got that covered. I still have those human clothes Goten stole. You and I are going to get dressed in them, though we're gonna have to make you a little less green. We'll act as if we've just caught Raditz and we're gonna take him to the 'Governor' to see what we should do with him."
Piccolo scowled. "There is no way I'm wearing anything that those Earthlings made," he retorted.
Gohan shook his head. "All we're putting on you is a cloak with a hood to cover your head. Your gi pants and shirt that happen to appear will do just fine. Just make sure the rest of you don't show. We could bandage you up and say you were burned badly. That okay?"
Although not pleased, Piccolo remained silent. That was all Gohan needed to know that he would do it. Raditz on the other hand, was a little wary of being 'arrested.'
"Are you sure that tying me up would be okay? What if you need me to help you guys fight off the humans?" he asked, hoping he had a point.
Gohan chuckled. "You should be able to break the ropes easy enough. If it makes you feel better, we won't tie you up so tight. But we are gonna have to beat you up a little. Just so you fit into character."
Raditz gulped. For some reason, he had a bad feeling about this.
Raditz was stumbling behind Gohan and Piccolo; the bonds securing his hands together were attached to the end of a rope with Gohan pulling it. In order to "get into character," Gohan, Piccolo, and the rest of the saiyans had beaten the living hell out of him. As of now, he had a few broken ribs, a black eye, the left side of his face bleeding with the eye swollen shut, bruises and cuts covered any and all exposed flesh. If it wasn't for the reassurance of some miracle cure of Gohan's, he would've never agreed to this. 'This had better be worth it,' he though as Gohan gave a tug on the rope, causing Raditz to stumble some more.
They were a quarter of the way into the city, the humans stopping what ever activity they had been doing just to see the spectacle of a couple of "humans" dragging a wounded saiyan down the street. Perhaps Gohan was right, maybe these humans were predictable after all.
As they passed a couple of soldiers, Raditz saw them give Gohan a thumbs up. Apparently, anyone who caught a saiyan was supposed to delivery it themselves. Either the soldiers were lazy or it was a sign that it would be easier to just kill the saiyan on the spot. If only they had known about this policy, Broly and the others could've exploited this a long time ago.
After passing multitudes of gawking humans and congratulating soldiers, the trio found themselves at the bottom steps of the overly humongous temple. Looking up at the monstrosity, Gohan finally said "We're almost there."
Raditz coughed up some blood. "If you don't mind, I'd like that cure of yours right now before I die of this beating," he said spitefully.
Gohan shook his head. "Not until we reach the top. We'll heal you there and then began the infiltration." Without another word, Gohan and Piccolo preceded up the stairs, dragging a very unhappy Raditz behind them.
After what seemed like an eternity of climbing those steps, they finally reached the top of the Kami forsaken building. Why the humans had this urge to build everything as tall as they could was a mystery to the three.
After entering the temple, Gohan stopped the group and began taking off his disguise, Piccolo following his example happily. If he had to wear that garment for a minute longer, he would've blown up half the city to get it off. Turning to Raditz, Gohan flicked to him a small bean which Raditz caught and looked at it dubiously. "Your miracle cure is a bean?" the saiyan asked incredulously.
Gohan grinned. "That's a senzu bean you got there. Now hurry up and take it. We've got some planning to do."
After much consideration, Raditz finally took the bean. Almost immediately, he felt his whole body almost burst. His ribs had healed themselves, all of his cuts and bruises disappeared, every single injury he had previously vanished without a trace. Then the rush of power filled Raditz to the brim. Thank Kami for those saiyan genes of his.
"Glad you decided to join the fight uncle," Gohan said mockingly. In return he got a dirty look. Shaking his amusement away, he then held out his hand, revealing two more of the magic beans. "We'll each carry one senzu. If you find yourself in a bit of trouble, use it. But remember, these are the only ones you get. Use them responsibly."
As Raditz and Piccolo took their bean, Gohan continued. "Here's the plan, I want Piccolo to search the floor below us while Raditz and I will get the one below it. When you're done with your floor Piccolo, search the one we were on to make sure we don't miss anything. Understand?"
Piccolo gave a slight grin, nodded, and disappeared down a set of stairs, leaving Raditz and Gohan to take another staircase to go to the floor below the one Piccolo would be searching.
For what seemed like hours, they searched their floor, always noticing the lavish setting that the temple bestowed. The brightly decorated rugs and tapestries spoke volumes about the wealth accumulated for this monstrosity of a building. The only place that held such richly decorated rooms perviously to the invasion was the imperial palace at the capital. There was no doubt in Gohan's mind that some of the saiyan patterns of some of the décor here was in fact from the palace.
As the two saiyans entered a room of marble with marble columns holding the roof in place, they heard the murmurings of a conversation coming their way. Quickly hiding behind separate columns, they soon saw the people they had been looking for.
At the front of the group, an old man with sunglasses and an odd looking mustache dressed in lavish robes of silk talked very loudly. He was saying something about the crop yields for the year, so it wasn't too important to listen to. After watching the old man talk for a little while, Gohan turned his attention to what appeared to be his body guards.
Of the three he could see, one of them was a tall man, bald and with a strange eye in the middle of his forehead. His muscular build was dressed in a simple white muscle shirt with green gi pants, wristbands, and yellow boots. The man next to the tri eyed man was a man with long shaggy hair, a scar running down his right eye and a cross shaped scar on his left cheek. Although not as big as three eyes, he too wore a white muscle shirt with orange gi pants and blue moccasins along with blue wristbands. On the other side of three eyes was a small mime like boy, dressed similarly to three eyes, a black cap on his head completing the picture.
Suddenly, the old man stopped his ramblings and started talking about more serious issues; one in which dealt with the saiyans. Both saiyans focused all of their attention on this bit.
"Tien, have you seen the latest reports of saiyan activity lately?" the old man asked, his strained voice echoing throughout the room.
Three eyes answered. "Yes Governor. They say there's a small band of saiyans heading this way."
Raditz clenched his teeth. So the humans were getting info on their activities. This wasn't good at all.
The governor nodded his head before turning his attention to the mime. "Chiaotzu, I need you to go retrieve out 'guest.' We mustn't keep him waiting."
Chiaotzu bowed before the governor before leaving the room via hovering. Meanwhile, the remaining three stopped their walking underneath a balcony like platform. It was then that Tien spoke once more. "I don't understand why you have such scum at your disposal. Why don't you kill him off already?"
The governor shook his head. "Because how are we supposed to kill any saiyans when we don't know where to find them? Out of everyone we've used, he's given us the location of several bands of saiyans we would've never found had he not turn them in. That's why."
Tien continued his protest. "But Crane, if he's a traitor to them, he could betray us too."
Governor Crane just smirked. "I wouldn't worry about that. Once he's outlived his usefulness, we'll execute him. Does that solve your problem?"
Tien was about to continue when he heard the soft sound of a sheet shifting. Moving his third eye around, he noticed a dark silhouette in the darkness of the room behind the balcony. Apparently, his scarred friend heard it too as he turned his head to look at Tien. With a quick shift of his eyes to indicate that he go check it out, the scarred man nodded lightly before excusing himself and leaving the room.
Upon seeing the scarred man leaving, Gohan began to wonder if the humans knew they were there when the mime returned with the 'guest.' After taking one look at the guest, Gohan nearly bit his tongue off in order to remain quiet. Raditz seemed to be having the same problem as anger built up within him.
Before the two saiyans stood Turles, his battle armor in relatively good condition and a smug expression on his face. The saiyan smirked as he drew near Crane and Tien. "I hope you have my payment for the last six months. I've been pretty busy rounding up those saiyans you so desperately want to find."
Crane nodded. "If you follow me, we'll see to it that you get your prize." Turning away, he led Turles and his two body guards into a hallway, disappearing into its depths.
Once they left, Raditz quiet unclenched his hand, blood dripping from the gashes his fingernails left. So that was the man responsible for the death of his brother. The death of the Prince. Anger once again coursed through his body. Well, if Raditz had it his way, he was going to put an end to that. Turning his gaze from the hallway the group left in, he saw Gohan sitting on the ground, still looking in that direction, a mixture of betrayal, anger, and contempt written on his face. Slowly, he began to speak. "I can't believe I didn't see it earlier. All of the signs were there and I didn't try to make the connection."
"No one did," Raditz said. "But that shouldn't concern you. You need to get what we came for. I'll deal with that traitor myself."
Gohan looked at him confused. Raditz growled. "Well what are you waiting for? Get moving before the humans realize we're here!"
Snapping out of his stupor, Gohan quickly got up and left the room, following the path of the scarred man. Raditz turned his attention back to where he saw Turles go. It was time for some payback.
Once the small audience left the room, Piccolo turned to leave from his hiding spot on top of the balcony. He was going to have some fun with those humans once he found them.
Going into the room he had used to get to the balcony, he noticed something different. Standing in the middle of the room was a man with scars covering his face, an arrogant smirk residing where his mouth was. "So you're our little spy. Not so sneaky are we?"
Piccolo didn't reply as he stared at the man, that arrogant smirk never leaving his face. It looked like Piccolo was going to have to fix that.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am of the elite body guard unit of the Crane Hermit. I go by the name Yamcha...and I will be the last person you will ever see."
Suddenly, Yamcha charged the Namekian, his fists raised as he flew through the air, a war cry coming from his mouth. As he threw a right jab, Piccolo simply blocked it, grabbing the human by the shirt. Twisting his body to a side, the Namek threw his opponent into the air. While he flew, Yamcha corrected himself, flipping midair and landing on his feet facing Piccolo and crouching low. "It looks like I have to take you seriously," he stated. Spreading his hands out before him and stiffening them into talons, Yamcha once again charge, shouting out his signature move.
"Wolf Fang Fist!" he cried out.
As he rushed at his green opponent, the last thing he expected to happen happened. The green man before him stretched his arm out, his hand grabbing onto Yamcha's face, stopping him in his tracks. Before he could react, Piccolo swung the pitiful Earthling into a wall, breaking it, and retracting his arm. After a few moments, Yamcha stumble away from the wall, shaken. Shrugging off that last attack, he crouched low, his legs spread out and his hands cupped to his right. Yamcha then yelled out "Try and counter this!"
Slowly he chanted the words to his attack. "Kaa…Mee…Haa…Mee…"
As Piccolo watched, he felt the Earthling gathering energy. To prove his point further, a blue ball of energy appeared in his cupped hands the further he chanted.
Suddenly, Yamcha shouted the last of the chant, thrusting his hands towards Piccolo and unleashing a large blue blast. "Haaaaaaaa!"
Without much effort, Piccolo leapt above the blast, the destructive force passing underneath him. The Namek balled his fist, gathering energy. Once he was done, he thrust his arm in front of him, his fist opening wide as he unleashed his own attack. "Destructive Wave!"
The large yellow blast approached Yamcha with amazing speed. Fortunately for him, Yamcha had just ended his Kamehameha wave and managed to dodge the blast as it vaporized the surrounding area. Examining the destruction from his new location, Yamcha laughed. "Missed me!"
Piccolo slowly landed on the ground, impassive as ever. "That's nothing to gloat about. Even a novice could've dodged that."
Anger welled up in Yamcha, causing him to lunge at the green man.
Almost immediately, Piccolo straightened his hand, his fingers straighter than a dagger, his thumb curled into his palm. Quickly, he jabbed his hand out, puncturing the Earthling's stomach. Gripping onto Piccolo's arm, Yamcha managed to look into his adversary's face. The last thing he saw was the green man's eyes glowing and two small beams shooting out of them, boring holes right above his eyebrows.
Piccolo dropped the limp body, a look of disgust gracing his face. Such pitiful fighting skills. He wasn't even worth the time to spit on. Without a second thought, Piccolo left the fallen body guard's body to rot. Maybe he would find a better challenge elsewhere.
It didn't take long for Gohan to find the information that he sought. Once again relying on human predictability, he found the room with every single shred of news, projections, and current affairs happening on Vegeta. Skimming through all kinds of different files, he finally found a listing of different launch sites all across the planet. He got what he came for. All he had to do was get it to Broly and he would take it from there.
Leaving the room, Gohan felt the building shake. His eyes widen. It was way too soon for the signal to go off. He had to find Piccolo and Raditz fast before they got out. Everything could still go wrong if he didn't.
He took off down the hall, heading towards the nearest power level. He wasn't sure if that was the right way or not but all he knew was that one of the others were still fighting, and the best place to find one of them was to head to a group.
Hopefully he would make it in time to help.
Turles was walking through the halls of the governor's house, his payment in his hand and a big smile on his face. Ever since they had made that deal to turn over his fellow comrades for a price, he had been living very well. If he had it his way, he wouldn't stop this scheme and would never have to. True, once all the other saiyans were exterminated, he's usefulness would be over, but he could think of one or two things he could do to continue being useful.
As he turned a corner, a vicious left hook nailed him right in the face, sending him flying into a wall, creating a nice sized crack in it. Quickly getting back to his feet, he saw a saiyan with very long hair and a murderous look in his eyes, his breath coming out raggedly due to his anger, standing in front of him. Now how had a saiyan gotten in here?
"Turles, you son of a bitch, I'm gonna rip your head off!" the enrage saiyan screamed, launching himself at the stunned saiyan. Reacting quickly, Turles dodged the first punch, returning one of his own straight at his attacker's face, only to have it parried and a flurry of punches coming at him.
Turles tried to dodge or block all of them, but inevitably one got past his defenses, a second one not to long after that, and eventually several found their way into his body and face. Staggering away from the onslaught, Turles fired a ki blast at his attacker, only to have it knocked away. Spitting blood, Turles finally got the balls to ask "Who the hell are you?"
The response he got was not what he expected. "You piece of shit. You killed my brother. The one you resemble so much." Turles' eyes widen. He had heard Kakarot had a brother but never had he thought he survived the invasion. He'd have to be careful now. One wrong move and it would be over and Turles would be damned if he was going to die today.
"Is that all? Well let me arrange a meeting between the two of you. Say in the afterlife?" Turles said, his voice becoming a yell towards the end. Immediately, he began firing several ki blasts at the newly identified Raditz. Crossing his arms in front of him, Raditz absorbed the brunt of the attack before retaliating with one of his own ki blasts.
Dodging the initial attack, Turles never saw Raditz move until he felt his knee imbedding itself in his stomach. Bending over Raditz's leg, Turles let out a gasp of air just before Raditz jackhammered him in the back of his neck. Dropping to the ground, pain spreading all across his body, a swift kick sent him flying down the corridor, skidding on the stone flooring. Turning his bruised body onto its side, Turles looked at Raditz, showing him his scorn. Raditz only smirked. "I'd thought you'd be tougher than this Turles."
Spiting out the blood that had accumulated in his mouth, Turles replied. "Go to hell." That remark only made Raditz's smirk to grow more evil. Raising his left arm up into the air and to his side, palm facing his fallen adversary, Raditz said "Now remember little man, keep your eye on the birdie."
A look of hate crossed Turles' face as he shouted "Bastard!"
Without anymore hesitation, a ball of ki appeared in Raditz's hand in which Raditz threw with precision. The attack engulfed Turles as he screamed in pain, destroying the neighboring walls and floor, shaking the building convulsively. When the shaking stopped and the dust cleared, Raditz could see the city through the large hole he created.
"Whoops. Didn't mean to do that. Must've gotten a little carried away," Raditz said with a grin. Slowly, the grin disappeared, a look of seriousness replacing it. He didn't have much time until the soldiers came to investigate, not to mention the other saiyans waiting for that hole to appear. He'd have to go find the governor fast in order to complete the mission. Turning around, Raditz ran down the remains of the hallway, heading towards the last location he knew Crane was at last.
Sighing as he ran, he knew Gohan was going to kill him when he found out about this.
'Almost there,' was Gohan's thought as he barreled down the hallway. At the moment, he was nearing the closest group of power levels, sure that he was going to run into his comrades. He had barely taken notice of one power level disappearing soon after he felt the tremor. Spying a door at the end of the hallway, Gohan ran full speed at it, bursting right through it into the room.
Before him stood the last people he thought he would run into. There in the middle of the room stood Governor Crane and the two body guards Tien and Chiaotzu, all three of them staring at him. Gohan would've berated himself for not recognizing the kis he was running towards. In his rush, it never crossed his mind he'd run into the enemy. A mistake only an amateur would make and a costly one at that. But then again, he had wanted to have a run in with the governor and now was his chance.
"I've been looking for guys. Glad you decided to stick around," Gohan said, his voice full of confidence.
Taking one look at the intruder, Crane didn't even flinch. True he had a saiyan standing before him but he had two of his best students protecting him. What did he have to lose? And even if they failed, as long as he could escape, his ties to the Earth's government would send him new ones. Why else would they put someone like him in a position of power if they didn't favor him in some kind of way?
"Tien, Chiaotzu, I'll leave this to you," Crane said as calmly as possible before heading for the nearest exit. The two Crane students continued staring at the saiyan before crouching into a bizarre fighting stance Gohan had never seen before. It didn't matter. He would dispatch these lowly body guards and take care of Crane in time. Crouching into a defensive stance, Gohan waited for the attack.
With a loud cry, Tien launched himself at Gohan, a flurry of punches flying at his opponent. Gohan was surprised by the style of attack his opponent was using against him. Usually, a human would fight to hurt, not to kill, but this Tien fellow was throwing every punch, every strike at his vitals and pressure points. This three eyed guy meant business.
As Tien attacked the saiyan, Chiaotzu began working on his own attack. Slowly, he lifted some rubble, which had fallen during the tremor, using his telekinetic powers and launched it at the intruder when the two fighters broke apart. Catching the surprise attack last second, Gohan managed to dodge it but didn't dodge the roundhouse kick thrown at him by Tien.
Recovering, Gohan went on the attack, throwing everything he had at Tien. Instead of just blocking that attack, Tien began parrying the punches and counterattacking with his own, each fighter landing earth shattering blows on one another but ignoring the pain so they could inflict the same damage, if not more, on the other. This continued for some time before Tien broke off, Chiaotzu replacing him in the fight. Although not as skilled at Tien, Chiaotzu held his own due to Gohan's early bout with Tien. The mime managed to gain the upper hand in the fight, though, when he began firing ki blasts at the saiyan. Diving out of the way, Gohan began running along side the wall, ki blasts exploding behind him until he reached the corner of the room.
As Gohan was running, Tien lifted his arm in front of him, his index finger pointing straight out, following the saiyan. Slowly gathering energy, he continued following Gohan with his finger until he reached the corner.
"Dodon Ray!" Tien shouted as a thin ki blast fired from his finger, racing towards the saiyan. Seeing the attack, Gohan ducked it, the beam going over his head. The resulting explosion from the beam hitting the wall caught him off guard, flinging Gohan across the room and slamming him into the wall on the opposite side of the room. Gohan landed on the floor, a grunt of pain escaping his lips, blood running down the side of his face. Slowly, he lifted his body and faced his opponents, ready for round two.
Meanwhile, an unnoticed figure had been watching the whole fight. Standing in the darkness of the next room, Piccolo watched as Gohan fought and was thrown across the room. It seemed that the kid would need some help after all. But he wouldn't reveal himself just yet. If he was going to "save the day," he would be taking one of the earthlings down first. Raising his arm up, his index and middle fingers sticking straight up, hovering a couple of inches from his face; Piccolo focused his ki, chanting out "Special…Beam…Cannon." It would take a couple of minutes but the result would be well worth it.
Tien began the attack again, giving out his war cry as he charged. This time, Gohan didn't give Tien the chance to set up his attack, firing ki blasts at the charging human, forcing him to dodge. Pointing his other arm at Chiaotzu, he began firing at the mime to keep him on his toes. As the two humans dodged the attacks; Gohan rushed at Tien, landing a solid punch to his jaw and sending him flying across the room. Without hesitating, Gohan picked up a fallen piece of rubble from the earlier Dodon Ray attack and threw it at Chiaotzu, once again keeping the mime on his toes.
Recovering from the punch, Tien leapt back into attack, aiming a high kick at Gohan's head, which the saiyan block, grabbed and swung the body guard around in a circle before letting him go to fly through the air. Recovering in midair, Tien landed on his feet, bending down till his hands met the floor, his knees buckled out. Chiaotzu suddenly appeared to his right breathing heavily. It seemed the saiyan wouldn't allow them to use the same tactic twice.
Suddenly a loud, gruff voice shouted "Special Beam Fire!"
Turning his attention to his left, Tien saw a bright yellow beam with a purple one swirling around it flying towards him. Reacting quickly, Tien pushed off the ground, jumping backwards to avoid the attack. Chiaotzu wasn't as lucky.
The beam blindsided the mime, piercing the top left portion of his chest and exiting out the right side of his back. Chiaotzu's eyes widen as the sudden pain ripped through his body, falling limp as he died.
"Chiaotzu!" Tien cried out as his friend fell before his eyes. As sorrow and anguish filled his body, angry slowly worked itself into the mix. Turning his attention to the recently revealed green man, Tien formed a triangle with his hands, his thumbs and fingers touching, and gathered his ki. Without out holding anything back, Tien fired.
"Tribeam Cannon!"
It was almost faster then either Gohan or Piccolo could see. They could barely pick out where the attack was until it slammed right into Piccolo's chest, throwing him back into the room he just exited. Anger and sorrow still evident on his face, Tien readied another Tribeam but was stopped short. Attacking from behind, Gohan jackhammered Tien in the back of his neck, causing the bald man to fall to the floor.
As Tien began to pick himself up, Gohan stomped his foot into the back of his head, Tien's face slamming into the floor, knocking him out.
Breathing heavily, Gohan turned to look in Piccolo direction, the Namek gripping onto his chest with his hands. "You okay Piccolo?"
The Namekian grunted. "I've had better days. At least this one actually hit me."
Gohan grinned. "I take it you took care of that scarred guy."
A simple nod was all he received. Suddenly, Raditz burst into the room, ready for combat. Crouching low into a defensive stance, Raditz prepared for a fight that would never come. He had felt the intense fight occurring and rushed as fast as he could to lend his help. Upon seeing Gohan and Piccolo, both of them starring at him, he dropped his stance and looked around confused. The scars of battle were scattered around the room, the bodies of two humans lying on the ground. Overcoming his confusion, Raditz managed to say "Is the fighting over?"
Gohan and Piccolo couldn't help but form sweatdrops on that one. Shaking away his astonishment at his uncle's eerily familiar display of obliviousness, Gohan replied "Uh, yeah. You just missed it. But we can't worry about that, we have to get out of here. The squad should be attacking any moment now."
Without looking for confirmation, Gohan took off down a hallway followed by Piccolo and Raditz. With their mission complete, all they had to do was make it in one piece back to Broly's sanctuary.
Or die trying.