The Firebird had the Goken trapped. The stupid brat had finally figured out his true intentions, as if they hadn't been clear from the start. Whatever, it was too late for him now anyway. The Firebird clenched his fist tightly and stared down intently at it. This is my fist… not Goken's, mine…
Stories he'd heard about the Devotee's power weren't exaggerated in any way. As the Firebird continued absorbing more of Goken's power, he could feel the energy levels within himself rising, filling him with more power than he'd ever imagined - and there was more to absorb!
It suddenly hit the Firebird. For all the power he was absorbing, he didn't have the mental capacity to control it as Goken did. After all, the powers were naturally his. It dawned on him that in order to survive the absorption process to the end, the Firebird had to absorb Goken's mind as well, which held the mental strength to control his power. The kid will give up, once I convince him resistance is hopeless, the he thought silently.
The Firebird gazed down at the tiled floor of the hospital, covered with concrete rubble. Just below the floor, he could feel the life pulse of the survivors below. His mouth began to salivate. His palms began glowing, heating the air surrounding them. An energy ball began condensing in each palm and the Firebird brought his hands together, releasing a hot, burning beam of energy that pierced the floor. He could hear screams and bit of tile, insulation and concrete rained upon the innocents down below.
The Firebird didn't care much about the regular patients. Taking their lives was just an extra goodie that came out of his efforts, his efforts to hunt down Gohan. If the Saiyan boy managed to escape his grasp, and he was sure he did, they would most likely bring him down here with the rest of the patients.
* * *
"AH!!" Gohan's scream pierced the air loudly. His eyes were tightly shut, as all the muscles in his body tensed up to lessen the pain. It hadn't worked. The doctor and a few nurses continued to help keep his flailing legs down while they rubbed an antiseptic on to his wounds.
"Keep still!" Doctor Takada ordered.
"I... CAN'T… AHH!!!!" Gohan held onto the metal railing of his bed with a death grip. Doctor Takada rubbed the ointment on one more would and that was all he could take. Under the power of Gohan's grip, the area of the railing he held onto shattered under the pressure of his grip. Metal flakes were sent flying through the air the instant the railing collapsed.
Doctor Takada was taken by surprise and backed away from Gohan, eyes wide with fear. Gohan sat up in his bed panting and wincing from the pain. "Sorry Doctor," he said between breaths. "It just hurts."
As if triggered by the breaking of the metal railing of Gohan's bed, the a huge chunk was blown away from the ceiling, covering everything in a fresh layer of dust and debris. A energy beam crashed through the ceiling from above while it's heat singed the air of the basement, roasting any unfortunate patient that happened to be in it's path.
Gohan brought his hands up to protect his face from the flying heated particles. "Muahaha," came an evil laugh from in the midst of the smog. Oh god, that voice! He thought. "Thought you could escape from me, didn't you?"
Gohan couldn't see the figure, but he had a good idea who it was and that it was talking to him. "What do you want, Firebird?" he asked. "You've got my brother and shattered our family. Isnt' that enough for you?"
"My objective wasn't to destroy your family," the Firebird replied coldly. "That was just a little something extra that came with the package. What I want is power. And your brother has it."
"Goken is half Saiyan and half human!" Gohan said. "Why did you choose him? Why not me?"
"Because Goken isn't half Saiyan and half human, you fool," Firebird said. The words didn't sink in right away. Goken's biological parents were Goku and Chichi. Why wouldn't he half their genes…? "He is the Devotee of the Firebird race, of which I belong as well." This can't be. Goken is my brother, not some kind of freak space alien.
"Oh, he is one of us," Firebird said smirking, replying to Gohan's thoughts. The smoke began to clear gradually and the fearsome aura of the Firebird radiated from Goken's shell. "Mind reading is one of his potential abilities I have unlocked and accessed."
"How can Goken be one of you?!" Gohan almost screamed. What this demon was suggesting was ridiculous. He'd been there when Goken was born and he'd came out of Chichi.
"Legend has it that the Devotee is one of us Firebird creatures born with a mortal body," the Firebird began.
* * *
"The Eight Star Dragon Ball, creator of the Firebird race, will implant the chosen host with a crystal," Kamisama explained. "During the time of conception, the crystal acts as sort of a mind that dictates the genetics of the fetus. After the sperm cell and the egg have joined, the crystal will extract any distinct characteristics both parent cells, and replace them with it's own - the Firebird genetics. During this transaction, the fetus is said to illuminate."
"I don't understand," Kuririn said holding his head between his palms. "So you're saying Goken isn't really a Saiyan and human cross, but is of the same species of the Firebird instead?"
"Yes," Kamisama replied. "He is still the son of Goku and Chichi by blood, but he just doesn't have either of their traits."
Sitting a little farther from the rest of the group, the Namek warrior Piccolo heard and absorbed all the information. He'd kept an eye on Goken, watching his training process. All of the training of becoming a Saiyan warrior for Goken, all of the pain and suffering was for nothing. He isn't a Saiyan warrior after all. A deep regret etched itself into Piccolo's mind for Gohan, and for Goken, who's intense training had been in vain. The boy must have harbored intense feelings of hatred for being born into a Saiyan family and expected to follow in his father's footsteps. No wonder he hadn't resisted the Firebird when it entered his body. He was out to destroy anyone who would try to get in his way and Gohan would be the first try and stop him. Knowing that Gohan would be killed, Goken must've allowed the Firebird to do proceed with his plans…
"Something bothering you Piccolo?" Kuririn asked, noticing the look of discontent on Piccolo's face.
"This is all starting to make sense," the Namek warrior began. "I've seen Gohan train the boy before. It was intense, not as harsh as what I put Gohan through when he was younger, but intense nonetheless. When I trained Gohan, it was the inherited abilities from his father that got him through the training. But with Goken…"
"So when Goken didn't start showing any development as a Saiyan," Kuririn continued, "it was only natural to feel a horrible hatred towards Gohan who was pushing him so hard."
"So to sum it up, Gohan kept driving at his brother because he couldn't find any Saiyan abilities," Juuhachi Gou said, "but there were none to begin with. In the end, Goken turned out this way."
"But we mustn't believe Goken is behind everything that's going on," Kamisama reminded. "Keep in mind, that his hatred towards everything Saiyan may have let the Firebird into his body. But everything being done now is the Firebird's actions, not Goken's.
"If Goken didn't agree with the Firebird's actions, he'd do something about it!" Vegeta exclaimed with frustration. "You said so yourself. He has the power to fight the demon in his body. Why doesn't he?"
"Because it's too late," Kamisama replied. His voice was quiet and grim with realization. "The absorption process is nearing completion. The Firebird almost has absorbed so much of Goken's power, so even if the boy tried resisting, he would be too weak to do anything."
"But we have a chance," Kaiosama continued. "Goken may not be able to do anything against the Firebird, but we can." Seeing the looks of interest in everyone's face, the North God new he had their attentions. "Goken is the Devotee, a creature of the same species as the Firebird, which are made completely of energy, except he's got a human body, created by Goku and Chichi. By combining a mortal body with a Firebird energy, the boy has the power to transcend both energetic and physical planes. That it is the power our Firebird demon is after."
"But if the demon has already absorbed most of Goken's power," Yamcha asked, "how can we hope to stop him? The power he has at this point would be immeasurable."
"Not necessarily true," Kamisama replied. "The Firebird may be able to possess Goken because they're both made up of energy. But Goken has a lot more power than the Firebird, more than the Firebird can hope to control. So even if the Firebird absorbs all the power, it'll kill him if he doesn't absorb Goken's mind."
"What so special about the boys mind?" Vegeta asked.
"Because it has the ability to control the powers he was naturally born with. The Firebird, on the other hand, wasn't meant to have such power. So the only way the demon can hope to survive the absorption process is to get Goken's mind as well."
"So what I'm saying," Kaiosama continued, "is if Goken can hold on long enough before he's too weak to resist the absorption on his mind, we have that chance to destroy the Firebird!!"