Disclaimer: Chapter 2. Shut up.
I guess that it wouldn't do any harm to tell you that Jin has technically already been introduced in the story...Piccolo checked into one of the more affordable inns in the town and sat down his belongings beside the low bed. The clerk/manager didn't give him so much as a wary look throughout the transaction. He still hadn't gotten used to the idea of people not running whenever they saw him (and with the reputation he got on that planet, the trend still didn't really die out).
No matter what, a lot of things became more convenient for him. All he had to do now is wait for Neil and Kami-sama to go to sleep.
But they seemed to be holding it off. He could hear slight bits of their planning to stay awake to ensure that he didn't do anything wrong. We don't need the sleep for biological purposes, so it's not that necessary... he heard one say.
Regardless, we need it for psychological purposes, and that's more important at this moment... Piccolo could now identify the former voice as Neil and the latter as Kami-sama. I'm getting tired... and he's waiting for us to rest. I object along with you and maintain that our death is better than killing others to ensure that we don't die, but now it's double or nothing. The tension's getting worse, and we might perish soon.
Piccolo only heard silence until Kami-sama continued, I'm very tired, and I've seen a lot of things... Let him have his night and let us have our sleep.
It may very well be the last night to enjoy for all of us.
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Even though the Earthlings panicked and rummaged through the baggage for the Senzu, the doctors and soldiers remained calm and quickly began to take care of Goku. He might have been an alien to them, but they still knew the basics of what to do. They injected a chemical that would slow down the blood's running and a sheet-like substance on the gaping hole in his neck after they cleaned him and made sure that he wouldn't have any ill effects to any of the medicine.
They had an emergency operation in the middle of nowhere, and it was a complete success. They had quickly grafted more skin onto his throat and repaired all damage. They cleaned out any blood that got into the opened tubes, and everything was sewn together and in working order in less than two hours, which was how long it took the Earthlings to realize that they had capsulated the bag of Senzu and that capsule was in her pocket.
Goku sat up weakly in the vehicle seat and managed a smile when he declined the bean Gohan offered to him. "It's alright," he said with a hoarse voice, "They said that all I need is to rest and allow my body to fix everything else. It shouldn't take long. Save it for later." His smile faded a bit. "I have a feeling that we're going to need it later."
Gohan looked puzzled, but he wasn't able to ask why before his mother ran in and started screaming at her husband for being a reckless idiot. "What were you thinking?! That thing almost killed you!"
There was a nervous laugh. "I was just trying to help. It seemed really unhappy being locked in there like that..."
"So?! It's dead, Goku! A dead demon, and it tried to kill you!" Then she started to bring out the tears and hid her eyes with the backs of her hands. "Don't you dare make me a widow again, baka!"
He looked at her sadly. "Chi-chi..."
"Don't you 'Chi-chi' me!" She dropped her hands and commenced yelling at him again. "What am I going to do if you get yourself killed? Be alone? That's exactly why I came here with you. I don't want to be alone while you're off fighting and getting killed again and again!" She wiped her eyes furiously and sat down on the seat beside him.
He looked at her curiously. "Hmm?"
She glared at him through the side of her eyes. "I'm going to be keeping an eye on you. The doctors said that you needed rest, right? Well, I'm going to make sure that you get it. You're not to fight, train, or anything like that until you're completely healed, got it?"
Goku smiled wryly, and Gohan sighed. Oh well, he thought, at least I get to sit with Videl now that Okaa-san will be sitting here.
They were on the move soon after. Apparently, the thing went to sleep soon after it slashed Goku's throat open, so they were fine for going back on the road as long as the drivers were careful. Pretty soon, everyone seemed to have forgotten what happened: the soldiers and scientists began to converse about things in their own language; Bulma and Arufuredo were already chatting away; Videl and Gohan were rather content with each other's company; Chi-chi babied and lectured Goku in turns; only Vegita and Kuririn seemed bored, since one obviously had nothing to say to the other.
During one of the few gaps between Arufuredo's and Bulma's discussion, she looked over to Gohan and Videl, and giggled at how the two seemed to have fallen asleep, with his arm around her. She now felt that she should tease him about it whenever they woke up. Of course, it wasn't an obligation... that would be when Trunks gets a girlfriend of his own.
It was a few hours past midday when the creature started making a racket again. At first, they were considering stopping, especially since they were coming up to a wide hill that was full of cavernous cracks, each around a meter thick, from all sides and such a bumpy ride would only agitate it more, but it calmed down quickly, and they decided it was best to just get that part of the drive over with and stop afterwards if any problems occur.
Goku was cautioned to prepare himself just before they started going up. A few minutes after the ascent started, the cracks rustled about the passengers in each vehicle, waking up and upsetting some of them. The creature became restless again, banging around the cage along with the bumps. They tried to keep their cool long enough, until it finally stopped when they came near the center of the hill. They sighed relief, but it wasn't five seconds later that it slammed hard against the left wall and toppled it over. It crashed onto its side and the men scrambled to get out of the cab. The other vehicles stopped immediately, and almost everyone poured out to see the problem.
Noises of scratching and ripping metal, accompanied by fierce growls, came from it while the whole vehicle shook with the walking fiend's attempts to escape. Gohan was about to pull it upright when they stopped. He blinked at the abruptness, reluctant that it might be trying to fool him, and motioned for someone to be close by, on guard in case it does try something.
He shoved upright, and showed a huge hole torn out from the slits in its side. Everyone stared at it, and some of the soldiers approached it cautiously and looked inside. "It's not there."
"It escaped?!" Arufuredo looked down where the vehicle fell.
There was a large crack, big enough for a person, right where the hole would have been while the cage was toppled over. Gohan jumped in first. Videl yelled after him and followed.
"Wait!" Kuririn shouted, then he sighed, made a comment about his luck, and jumped in as well.
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The queen seemed to be waiting for something, and having to wait didn't exactly put her in the most pleasant of moods. Despite this, she had already ordered and presented a proper burial for General Rabiori's "ashes" and kept up with all military business. Things have slowed down, mostly because the enemy didn't have General Atsarute to hold their hands, anymore. And now, that re-animated corpse of a dead general was being brought to her... after all the studies have been done, of course.
She slumped a bit in her throne. It will be a joy to take General Atsarute's moisture, then make them as my own. Then, I will be able to rule an effective empire, with Atsarute's powers and military intelligence. And perhaps... just perhaps... I'll have a Namekku-sei-jin husband. She grinned. He still doesn't know anything yet. I'll explain it to him when he gets here... it should be soon...
Her hand pulled at a ribbon around her neck, and she held it taut before her. The streams say that he is close to me in time... but... what's this? This is a complicated situation. A huff came from her, making the guards move around in uncertainty. He might not live long enough to explain these things to him. And what was the unsettling feeling I had earlier? She pulled it a different way and peered into it. More complications. Damnit, what more will come from this?
She sat in thought for a while, and as she pondered how these events came to be, she realized something: Rabiori couldn't have possibly thought up that plan, even though he initiated it and took the credit. It must have been Dr. Arufuredo's doing. So far, everything he's done had been flawless. Why was it that this time, his plan failed? Did he simply underestimate General Atsarute? ...Impossible. He's much too thorough; he'll bring a Gars-6X5 to go velir hunting(a/n). It could have been one of the other officers or scientists in the group but it's doubtful... She dismissed her guards to change shifts. I'll have to observe the streams flowing towards him more often, just in case he might be losing his touch...
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The three, along with some soldiers, looked around all they could throughout the cracked hill. Most of the areas were dark, mainly because many of the cracks were bent in ways that light couldn't flood in. Goku was forbidden by Chi-chi to help (despite the fact that they were both concerned about their son) and Vegita refused to go, on the grounds that it wasn't his problem and that he didn't give a damn one way or the other (but he wasn't fooling Bulma that it was because he was scared of it).
Gohan and Videl would yell to each other, relaying any information, but Kuririn was too frightened to shout like they were. He stared down at the ground, practically kicking the dirt as he walked, mumbling, "I'm not finding anything anyway, so I don't have to--" He stopped and saw a pair of feet before him, and slowly looked up to see a tall figure, standing on its hind legs, almost completely draped in shadow except for a rogue beam of light on a small fraction of its lower face. It looked like a fanged skull with some living meat on it, and the blood coursing through all of it.
Kuririn's face turned pale, he shook, and-- "...eeeeuuuuUUUUUAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!"
Gohan's face shot around, looking for the direction where the scream came from. "Kuririn-san!"
Before Kuririn even knew it, he was running as fast as he could from the creature. Since he was smaller, he could dodge through the cracks and twists easily, but it was faster, and it always seemed to be growling at his heels, ready to rip off his feet from his ankles. He tried going into increasingly smaller and more difficult areas, but if it couldn't squeeze its way through, it was easily able to destroy any obstacle with brute force. He tried higher and lower grounds, and he strained to think of a way to keep from getting torn into ribbons while he sprinted through the passageways.
He glanced back at it, and saw it was running against the darker side of the passage. I've got an idea...
Gohan jumped out and on top of the hill, trying to figure out where his friend was. "Kuririn-san! Where are you?!"
Instead of trying to get higher or into more complex caverns, he ran until he found a passage that had a light at the end. He now managed to run even faster (which is pretty damn fast for a Human) and jumped through the entrance and twisted his body back towards caverns. The walking fiend was just coming out as well.
"Tayo-ken!" He raised his hands to his face and created a furious flash of light.
The aura of brightness alerted the others of where he was, and everyone ran towards it.
It made an ungodly screech and retreated back into the hill, still roaring and shouting.
(a/n)An equivalent that Humans would understand is "he'll bring an AK-47 to go rabbit hunting", which has to be a hyperbole. If he was that cautious, he would never have gone into the Queen's chamber.
Lots of thinking this chapter. BTW, "Tayo-ken" is the Japanese name for "Solar Flare" (unless it's spelled "Taiyo-ken". Oh, I hate that crazy Romanji ;-) ). And in an unrelated (and confusing to the populace) note... ((pouts)) I miss Hedgerow Hall!!! ;-;...TT...((mourn))