Chapter 5: Monster unleashed
(The day of the Cell games)
'Jason hasn't been in here to torture me yesterday. The Cell games should be today according to that calendar on the wall. I wonder why that's there anyway. He probably wanted me to count down the days until my death. I guess that's why there's a clock too.' Gohan thought. Just then he heard a door open. He turned his head to see Jason walking in dragging an older unconscious man and a younger girl.
"Ah Gohan I'm glad you're awake. It took me a while, but I am back. I will get my scream today." Jason said.
Gohan growled. "What are you planning?"
"Oh since you won't scream for me I found two people who will. I remember from your file that you are a goody two shoes. You have high morals. You can't stand to see the innocent get hurt."
Gohans eyes widened. "No..."
Jason laughed. "Oh it seems you figured it out. I'm going to torture the both of them in front of you. You not being able to help will drive you insane. I'll get the scream of anguish that I want from you...and them!"
"Stop this! Its me you want to torture. Don't bring them into this!"
"Too late boy! This is your fault. You pushed me to the extreme and now you're going to suffer for it. Their lives are on your head!
(Earlier)
Jason was in North City wondering around. 'There has to be someone around here. The best way to hit his heart is to have someone get hurt on his watch. He'll go crazy if I torture someone in front of him. That's if I can find someone! Cell scared everyone off!'
Jason kept walking around the city hoping to find at least one survivor. He sat down on a nearby bench to rest. "I guess there is no one around. I wasted a whole day looking, and found nobody."
Jason closed his eyes and rested for a bit. His eyes shot open when he heard voices to his right. He turned to see an old man and a young girl that looked to be his granddaughter.
Jason grinned like a madman before fixing his face to look innocent. 'Now how do I trick them to going to my lab? I gotta think this through.'
The old man dropped to his knees while having a coughing fit while the young girl tended to him.
Jason smiled. 'There's the ticket.' He got up and walked over. "Is everything alright? He asked in the most innocent and caring tone he could.
The young girl looked up to him with tears welling in her eyes. "My grandpa is very sick. He needs some medicine or a doctor."
Jason nodded. "Well there is no one around here. We moved a lot of our medicine and food to the shelter. There is also some doctors there."
"Shelter?" The little girl repeated.
Jason smiled. "Yes we made a shelter out in the northern mountains. Its an underground bunker. We thought it would be a good defense against that monster Cell. We can try to treat your grandfather there."
The little girl looked at her grandfather who finally stopped coughing. He stood up and got himself together. "I'm not to fond of shelters or bunkers. We had to leave our town, because of one. The man who built it tried to use our fear to his advantage and take our money and food. Unfortunately he succeeded."
Jason gave a friendly smile. "Well we're not trying to take from you. I'm just worried about your well being. We're not going to charge you for anything. Its the end of the world anyway. Today we die, so we just want to spend our last day today in peace."
The old man sighed. "I'm sorry if I seemed rude. Its been a long week for us."
"Don't mention it." Jason said as he offered his hand. "My name is Jason."
"I'm Lao and this is my grand daughter Lime. Its nice to meet you."
"Like wise. I came out to see if there were any stragglers walking around, and I guess I was right. You don't have to stay with us, but at least come to get seen by our doctors." Jason offered.
Lao sighed. "Thank you for your kind offer. I will accept."
Jason smiled. "That's good to hear. Come on follow me. Its about a twenty minute walk from here."
Lao and Lime followed Jason to the mountains. They made small talk on the way trying to get to know each other. Lime ended up being too tired to walk, so Jason gave her a piggy back ride until they reached the hatch.
(With Piccolo)
Piccolo was still flying above the Northern mountains when he sensed something.
'Its just a couple of humans, but what are they doing all the way out here.' He felt their ki signatures disappear. 'Something weird is going on. Why did the ki signatures go away? Maybe it has something to do with Gohan. Maybe they know something.'
Piccolo flew off towards the last place he sensed he sensed the humans.
(Back with Jason)
Jason made sure to move the rock above the hatch before he closed it. After that was done he climbed down to Lao. He pulled a gun out of his coat and grinned.
Lao started another coughing fit. Jason turned and shot the gun at a coughing Lao. A dart came flying towards Lao. It stuck him in the chest causing him to fall backwards.
"Sorry Lao. I kinda lied to you. This is no bunker for survival. This is a bunker for science!"
"No! Grandpa!" Lime yelled out.
Jason chuckled. "Don't worry there's one for you too!" He shot a dart and hit her in the shoulder.
Lime and Lao were both unconscious. Jason picked Lime up and draped her over his shoulder. He drug Lao by the back of the collar and started walking.
"Time to get my scream!"
(Back to the Present)
"I'll give you an ultimatum Gohan. I'll torture only one of them. I'll give a quick and painless death to the other, but you have to choose. You choose who dies quick and who suffers through the torture. You have twenty seconds. To choose. If you can't then I will just torture both of them."
"You bastard!" Gohan yelled.
Jason grinned. "Your time begins now!"
'I can't let them die. It doesn't matter what I say they'll die either way. He probably plans on torturing them both anyway. They're both here because of me. I can't let them die, but there is nothing I can do.' Gohan thought.
"You idiot! You can save them if you give into the hate! Accept it and bring out your inner power." The voice said.
'I can't!' Gohan responded.
"Then they will die!"
Gohan looked at Jason. "Please don't do this."
"Ten seconds left Gohan."
"Please Jason! I'll scream however you want me to. Just leave them out of it." Gohan pleaded.
"Five seconds!"
Gohan started sweating.
"Four!"
"Three!
"Two!"
"One!"
"Don't torture the Girl!" Gohan yelled out.
Jason smirked. "Okay Gohan. I won't torture her." He threw Lime to the ground and tied her to the table. He started chaining Lao to a chair. After he was done Lao started to stir.
"Whats going on?" Lao asked.
Gohan looked down. "I'm sorry."
Lao looked at Gohan and then at Jason."What are you going to do with us?"
Jason grabbed a tool and walked over to Lao. "I'm going to torture you like I've been torturing that boy there for the last nine days. I gave him an ultimatum to torture you or your granddaughter. He chose you, so now your granddaughter will get a painless death."
Lao looked over at Gohan. "Thank you. I know she's still going to die, but I would rather go through the torture than her." He starred into Gohans eyes. "You have the power inside you young one. I can sense it. Just set it free. Let it go. I beg of you to escape this and save my grand daughter. Please I beg of you to save her."
Gohan was speechless. Jason having seen enough of this walked over. He yanked off one of his finger nails causing Lao to scream until he started having another coughing fit.
Gohan struggled against his chains. "No stop! Please stop this!"
Jason only laughed. "That's what I want to hear. Lets keep up this good time!"
He pulled off the rest of his fingernails and toe nails leaving Lao dry heaving. He started breaking and cutting off the fingers one by one. He gave adrenaline shots to him to keep him awake. He moved on to the toes and started removing them as well.
"You'll die of blood loss before I get to really have my fun." Jason said with a pout.
Lao looked at Gohan. "I beg of you to use your power to escape and save my grand daughter. You can do it! You have too!"
Gohan looked down. "I can't."
"You can't or you won't."
"I don't want to turn into a monster." Gohan answered.
"Who said you had to stay a monster. If you need to be a monster to escape then do it, but you don't have to stay a monster. Become one only when you need to be." Lao answered.
Gohan had no response. He was absorbing every word.
Jason put his hand to his mouth and faked a yawn. "I'm tired of you now. You can't scream, because you keep coughing."
"Grandpa?" Lime said as she started to stir. She blinked her eyes a couple of times to get them to focus. She saw her Grandfather tied up and bleeding with cut off fingers and toes.
"Grandpa!" She yelled while starting to cry.
"Lime don't look!" Lao yelled. "Shut your eyes!"
Lime obeyed and closed her eyes tight.
Jason approached with a knife and placed it to Lao's throat. "Any last words?"
Lao looked towards his grand daughter. "I love you Lime. Always remember that!"
Jason slit the throat of Lao causing blood to leak.
"Grandpa!" Lime yelled as she saw the blood flow from his neck.
Gohan eyes were wide as well as his mouth. He thought over the words Lao said to him.
(With Piccolo)
Piccolo landed to where he last felt the energy of the humans. "What is going on here? I know I sensed them here last." Piccolo started shaking with rage. "Damn it!" Piccolo yelled as he released a small shock-wave with his power. The shock-wave destroyed all the rocks around leaving the hatch out in the open.
"That wasn't here before. Gohan must be down there. My instincts were correct after all." Piccolo opened the hatch. "Don't worry Gohan I'm coming!"
(With Gohan)
"Well that was fun. Now to torture the girl!" Jason said with a clap of his hands.
Gohan turned towards him. "You said you wouldn't torture her!
"Oops! I had my fingers crossed."
Gohan growled and struggled to get free as Jason got closer to Lime.
Gohan lowered his head. He retreated to his mind."What do I do? I need to save her!"
"Then break free!" The illusion Gohan was standing in front of him.
Gohan didn't respond.
"You heard what Lao said. You don't need to stay a monster. You only need to become one in times of peril. Don't do it for yourself. Do it for Lao. Honor his last wish. Save his granddaughter. "
"Who said you had to stay a monster. If you need to be a monster to escape then do it, but you don't have to stay a monster. Become one only when you need to be." The words of Lao kept running through Gohans head.
'I'm tired of torture! I'm tired of death.' I'm tired being weak. I'm tired of not being able to do anything. I'm tired of Jason!' Gohan thought to himself. He looked up and saw the image of himself he created when he first started getting tortured.
"I'm tired." Gohan stated.
"So you're giving up again?"
Gohan shook his head. "No. I'm tired of fighting back the monster within. If I have to become a monster to beat a monster then so be it."
Gohan thought of all the time he was spent being tortured. 'No more pain.'
He thought of how no one came for him. 'No more relying on others.'
He thought of Lao's words and his death. 'No more deaths of good people.'
He thought of Jason torturing others. 'No more torture. No more Jason!'
He was no longer in his mind. He looked up at Jason with a fierce look. "No more."
Jason was in front of Lime ready to cut her, but turned around when he heard the voice of Gohan. "What was that Gohan."
Gohan snarled. "No more! I won't let you harm anyone else. AGHHHHHHH!"
Gohan started screaming and trying to power up.
Jason only laughed. "Its futile Gohan. Those chains absorb your ki. The more you struggle, the stronger they get. "
Gohan kept screaming and struggling while raising his power.
"Didn't you try this already Gohan? Its going to fail like before."
"I WILL KILL YOU! Even if I have to become a monster to do it!" Gohan screamed while powering up even more.
Jason's face fell. His eyes widened. "This shouldn't be possible. How is he generating all of this power? The chains should've drained him dry by now."
Gohans hair started turning gold while his eyes were flashing turquoise.
Jason backed up in fear. He started sweating profusely. "This can't chains constantly drain energy and become stronger. They should even be able to hold Cell down after it drained Gohan of energy for the past week! Plus the four ki absorbers placed on Gohans wrists and ankles should be stopping him from doing this as well! What the hell is he?"
Gohans hair spiked all the way up with one lock hanging over his face. His final push for power shattered the chains and ki absorbers that held him and the chair he sat on. He had electricity flowing around his golden aura. Gohan fixed his glare on Jason.
"You die now Jason." Gohan said in a low deeper voice. He moved faster than light getting in front of Jason. He grabbed his arm and snapped it in half. Jason gave a blood curling scream.
Gohans eyes hardened. "Doesn't feel to good does it? You probably never felt the pain that you gave others. You just laughed and enjoyed their pain. Lets see if you can enjoy your own pain."
Gohan pulled Jasons broken arm towards himself, making Jason howl in pain. He grabbed Jasons fingers and broke them one by one.
"You son of a bitch!" Jason yelled.
Gohan punched him in the nose causing it to bend at a crooked angle. Gohan smiled down at Jason. "That's the sound I wanted to hear. The sound of you in pain is something I've wanted to hear the whole time you kept me in this damn place! I hope your voice doesn't go hoarse, because I'm just getting started."
Gohan snapped Jasons leg in half. He stomped on his ankle completely crushing it. Gohan walked over to the table and picked up the drill. "Lets see how you like a power drill in your ear drum." Gohan shoved the drill in his ear and pressed the button. Jason screamed like a mad man. Gohan pulled the drill out and gave Jason a knee to the face.
"You probably wont live too much longer." Gohan stated. "I want you to suffer, but every minute of you being alive is driving me crazy." He stretched his arm in front of Jason preparing a blast. "Any last words?"
Jason opened his eye that wasn't swollen and looked at Gohan. "You judged me and called me a monster and now you're a monster. You became you're worst fear!"
Gohan chopped off his arm. "I don't care as long as I can kill you. It takes a monster to kill a monster. "
Jason snickered. "You think you won boy? The damage is already done. I will die, but you will live the rest of your life remembering what I've done for you. I can see it now. You waking up from the nightmares in the middle of the night. Never trusting another person until the day you die. You'll never know peace again. I've broken you."
"Before you die just answer me this? Why? Why did you do all of this? Whats the point?"
"Well honestly I just enjoyed it, but if answers are what you want then reach into my coat pocket. There is a thumb drive that should answer some questions surrounding Dr. Gero and his motives that led to the creation of the androids and Cell
"What? Didn't he build them to kill my father?" Gohan asked while reaching in to his pocket and taking the thumb drive away.
"Its a lot deeper than that." Jason said."Check the drive for the answers kid. As for my reasoning. I just wanted to have fun." Jason chuckled a bit before coughing up blood.
"See you in Hell Gohan!"
"And I'll kill you all over again." Gohan held his palm out and blasted Jason away until there was nothing left. He looked over at Lime who was cowering in fear.
Gohan dropped his super saiyan 2 form. He walked over and broke her chains setting her free. "Don't worry I'm not going to hurt you. We need to get out of here so get up and follow me."
Gohan started walking, but Lime wasn't following. He turned to her and growled in annoyance. "We need to leave now unless you want to be in here when I blow this place up."
Lime yelped and started following behind Gohan, but she made sure to keep her distance. While they were walking Gohan turned and saw how shaken up she was. He sighed heavily. "Look I know you just went through something traumatic, but you need to try and calm down."
"But my grandfather. He's...He's..."
"He's dead and its all my fault. You guys never should've been dragged here." Gohan finished.
"And...and you were...brutal. You...you ki...killed him in such a brutal way."
"He deserved it." Gohan said in a monotone voice. "He was going to kill you if I didn't do anything."
"Why were you here anyway? Were you..." Lime started.
"Being tortured? Yeah. For a little over a week actually. Worst week of my life. I thought life was tough before, but this took the cake."
"Why didn't you escape like you just did when you first got here." Lime asked.
"I couldn't. In order to tap into my power I had to accept the pain. I had to embrace it and I did. I felt incredible, but the victory was hollow. Something bad always has to happen before I can tap into my powers. I gave into the rage and that's how I broke out. "
"I don't understand." Lime said.
"I didn't expect you to. Whats your name anyway?"
"I'm Lime Lao." Lime answered getting a little more comfortable around Gohan. "Whats yours?"
"I'm Gohan."
"How old are you? If you don't mind me asking."
'I am 9, but physically I'm 10 because of the hyperbolic time chamber. So should I say i'm 9 or 10?' Gohan thought to himself. "I'm 9 years old."
Lime stopped walking. "You're 9? You look so much older."
'Perks of being half saiyan.' He thought. "I get that a lot."
Gohan walked into a room and saw a computer. "Hold on Lime I want to check something out first." Gohan turned the computer on and plugged in the drive. He many folders, but the one he was looking for was labeled 'For Gohan.' Gohan clicked on it and watched as the video started with Jason sitting at a computer screen staring at the camera.
"Gohan if you're watching this then you killed me. Congratulations kid you actually grew a pair." Jason said with a chuckle.
"But really though. I commend you on passing you first test, but this little game is just starting. You may think I'm dead, but if you didn't think I had a plan B then you are even dumber than I thought. Technically you killed me, but he was merely a clone. I am alive and well. I switched out with my clone around day 3 of your torture spree. I did most of the torture for research purposes. My clone however is different from me. I can't make perfect clones. There is always one defect and the clone you encountered just loves torture and pain. He loves hearing people scream."
Gohan banged his hand on the table cracking it while he watched the video.
"As for me I wear a ki blocker at all times so you'll never be able to sense me. You'll never find me. Anyway I'm sure you want some answers as to why I did this. Its nothing personal, but I was trying to make you stronger to beat Cell. I knew you had the power to do so. All I had to do was bring it out or die trying. You see I still have a lot I need to do and a lot I need to accomplish in this world. I'm not ready for it to end unless it ends by my hand. From studying you and your friends I learned a lot. I learned that you had immense power that was waiting to be released. I learned that the more a saiyan is injured the stronger he becomes after healing, so that's why I gave you regeneration ability. You should be thanking me really. I pretty much made you the strongest in the universe."
Gohan snorted while clenching his fists. "Thanking you! I should be killing you!"
"I'm pretty sure you're yelling at the computer right now, but I can't hear you. This is pre recorded genius. Now even though I made you strong I'm sure you still want revenge on me."
Gohan nodded. "You're damn right I do!"
I've taken a fascination with you Gohan. I know its weird for a grown man to be fascinated with a kid but you intrigue me. Taking a pure hearted person and breaking them beyond their limits just amazing to me. That feeling will never change, but you're different. Everyone else I broke didn't have a will to live. You lost your pure heart, but that fire inside you is burning hotter than ever. I want to continue pushing you as far as you can go. I want to push you past your breaking point and I will do whatever is necessary to complete my goal."
Gohan growled. "Its just a game to you! I will find you and kill you."
"Now you probably want to know why Gero created Cell and the other androids. I guess I owe you that much at least. Now Gero created them to kill Goku, but not because Goku took down the red ribbon army. He did what he did because Goku destroyed the red ribbon army base. A lot of people retreated from the building that day, but not all of them did. Goku thought he was just destroying the base but when the base came down the rubble crushed a few people. Unfortunately the red ribbon army was under attack and losing a lot of their power when you're father started crushing through it. Gero thought it was safer to have his wife and child at the base with him so no harm could come to them. When your father attacked the building came down and the rubble buried Gero, his wife and his child. My uncle was Geros science partner. He was the only family I had left and he decided to bring me to that base that day as well. My uncle and I found Gero and his family, but his family didn't make it. Gero was the only survivor. My uncle was only able to save him by turning him into the android you saw and fought minus the upgrades. So now you know Gero's story. It doesn't make what he did any better, but at least you know he has a valid reason to hold a grudge against your father."
Gohan stood there silent not knowing what to say.
"Now that the long winded story is over there is a few more things I wish to say. I know you'll kill Cell and the world will be at peace, but you'll only have 2 years of peace from me. That's all I'm going to give you before I continue my game with you. So prepare yourself for a lifetime of me. Oh and one more thing. This drive is toast. While you were watching this video the computer was destroying this drive. I had enough foresight to know you wouldn't wait to leave until you watched this drive. Remember I'm always 3 steps ahead of you." Jason said as the computer went black."
Gohan extracted the drive as quickly as he could. "Maybe Bulma can find a way to fix it or something."
Lime looked at Gohan. "That was crazy. I didn't really understand a lot of it, but I got some of it. Especially the part where he said he'll never leave you alone. Are you going to be okay? And are you really going to fight Cell."
Gohan sighed. "Thanks for the concern, but I'll be okay. As for Cell he dies today. Come on lets get out of here."
They continued walking in comfortable silence until Gohan suddenly stopped in his tracks. He placed his hand in front of Lime to stop her. "I see someones shadow. Stay here and don't move unless I call you."
Lime nodded and stayed still. Gohan snuck up to where he saw the shadow. He turned the corner and thrust his fist forward. He connected to someones stomach bending them over. Gohan lifted their head up and his eyes widened.
"Piccolo?"
Piccolo shook his head and held his stomach. He saw Gohans face and froze. "Gohan I finally found you."
A/N: End of Chapter.