The welcoming sound of the engines humming filled the ship. Slowly, the spacecraft lifted off the ground, drifting up through the saiyan-made hole in the roof. The moment open sky met the ship, the engines went into overdrive, launching the craft up into the stratosphere; escaping the planet's gravitational field moments later.
As the planet disappeared behind them, the group of saiyans and humans let out a collective sigh of relief. Fleeing a planet with a homicidal maniac was very nerve wrecking, even if he didn't know they had been within a short distance of him.
However, there were a few questions lingering on one of the humans' minds, unsurprisingly it being Videl. Rotating in her chair to look at Gohan, the Satan girl asked "Okay, how in the hell did you get so strong? I know you were stronger than me back on Vegeta, but I've been fighting just as long as you have since and you completely outclass me."
Gohan cocked an eyebrow. "And you want to know why there's an even bigger gap between our powers?"
"That's right."
Leaning back in his chair, the saiyan put his hands behind his head as his elbows pointed outwards. "Well, I am a saiyan. My race was built for battle, so it's only natural that we get stronger with every fight we get into."
"Explain that," Videl said.
Tien, however, was the one to answer that. "Saiyans are a warrior race, that much you know. Because of that, their bodies are accustomed to fighting and thus they get stronger much more easily than you or I."
"There was even a saying amongst the old Earth forces," Sixteen added. "'If a saiyan doesn't kill you the first time, he'll definitely kill you the second time.' That was usually a good enough incentive to finish the job the first time."
"So you're saying that they get stronger with each fight they're in?" Videl questioned.
"Pretty much," Tien said.
All the while, Goten and Trunks copied the older saiyan's relaxed state, smirking as they heard the praise from their human counterparts. Even Gohan had one. When your one-time enemy could rattle off information on you, it was a very satisfying feeling.
"And no matter what I do, I'll never get stronger than them?" Videl said, sounding put out.
"Well if you train for a few centuries, you could overpower them," Tien commented. "There was once a time where I could fight Gohan evenly, but that's long gone. With every battle he comes out of, the more powerful he becomes. It's almost not fair."
"Why almost?" Erasa asked.
"Cause I'm not the one having to fight him."
The saiyans on board began to roar with laughter. "I never thought I'd hear a human say that," Goten said through laughs.
Though the girls looked on the three fighters oddly, Tien and Sixteen couldn't help the small smiles that crawled onto their faces.
"So we're all going in?" Tien asked as he turned off the ship's engines.
"That's right," Gohan answered as he moved towards the control room's door.
It had been nearly a week since their encounter with the Big Gete Star and they were now back on track with their search for the Time Milieu keys. Currently, their ship was resting right in front of a mountain, a cave at the base of it. It was within this cave that the next key was suppose to be.
"And why is everyone going again?" Trunks asked as he took his time getting to his feet.
"Well, we haven't had any dangerous encounters with some unsavory people, so it should be okay to leave the ship unguarded," the oldest saiyan answered. "Besides, I'm curious about those weird visions we've all had. I'd like to see what'll happen if we all go in."
"I like the sound of that," Videl piped up. It really didn't matter the reasoning behind her saiyan lover's idea, she wasn't gonna be left behind to be bored and impatient. That was a good thing in her book.
Gohan couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips. He knew his dark headed firecracker would be thrilled to be out and about. Well, hopefully his generosity would be rewarded later.
As he exited the ship and headed towards the cave entrance, he looked back to see if everyone was behind him; a bit startled that Erasa was amongst their group. She was usually the one that wanted to stay on the ship when something big was going on. Perhaps she was getting some courage from his little brother or something.
Entering the cave, the Son boy was surprised to see the stone ground smoothed out. There were even markings of old stone tile, still resting where they had been placed. What ever race had used this cave had been very skilled in masonry, especially if a tile floor could last several millennia.
Looking up towards the roof, the predictable shapes of stalagmites could be made out. Taking in the walls, there wasn't anything peculiar about them. The absence of stalactites caught his eye after awhile.
Soon the group reached what looked like the back of the cave. However, there was an open stone doorway there; its insides pitched black.
"At least we know we're in the right place," Trunks muttered from the back.
Not stopping, Gohan led the procession into the dark depths. Surprisingly though, the hallway within the stone entrances wasn't very long. It was a short journey until the passageway glowed a dull blue color. Soon the corridor opened out onto a ledge and the seasoned warrior couldn't stop the gasp that came from his mouth.
The small ledge that the Son boy stood on jutted out of the wall of a large cavern. On the floor of the cavern, a seemingly endless labyrinth sat, an intimidating feeling welling up within the saiyan. About the only thing that wasn't part of the stone collection of walls was the staircase off the side of the ledge that led to the beginning of the maze.
"We're definitely in the right place," Trunks commented after awhile.
When no one saw fit to reply to the oddly colored saiyan, Gohan decided to keep their group moving, moving towards the staircase and descending it. The other followed soon after.
As the troupe moved, an unsettling vibe grew within their guts. It was almost as if they were waiting for something to happen. Yet none of them spoke of this, not that they needed to. They only needed to read each other's body language and they'd know what was on all of their minds.
Soon they reached the ground floor, which was an open area that led to the entrance of the maze. Steadily, they moved towards the entrance.
It was then that their collective gut feelings became reality. From the center of the floor, glowing symbols spread out, covering the open area within a small amount of time. Slowly, their glows began to intensify.
"Not again," Gohan muttered to himself as his world soon became blinding white.
However, the expected vision the saiyan was waiting for never materialized. Instead, he found himself standing in a long corridor that looked similar to the labyrinth he was trying to enter.
Great, the thing had thrown him randomly into the maze. That was just perfect.
Looking around, Gohan soon found he wasn't alone in the maze. Standing a few feet behind him was Videl, who was just coming out of her blinded daze. Unfortunately, everyone else was missing in action.
Well, at least he wasn't alone this time.
Approaching the girl, he put his hand on her shoulder and said "You okay Videl?"
At the moment, the Satan girl was finishing rubbing the spots from her eyes, though she wasn't too thrilled to be having to. "I'm just peachy Gohan," she said, "I just love having my eyeballs burned into crisps. It's my favorite pastime."
"Well, quit enjoying yourself. We have to get moving," the boy said before walking down the corridor; Videl following soon after.
"So where are we going?" Videl asked as they came to the end of the hallway and turned right.
"Well, we have to get that key," Gohan answered. "That's what everyone else is probably gonna do. First though, I want to get an idea of where we are. If I can see where the ledge is, then we'll have some sort of bearing."
"Sounds like a plan," the dark headed girl said. "Lead away."
Gohan would've chuckled at that had he not decided to turn into an adjoining passageway. Because of that turn, he saw from the corner of his eye a shadow moving on the floor at the end of the hall. There was something here.
Jerking his hand out, he fired a ki blast towards the shadow, much to the surprise of Videl.
However, the result of that move shocked Gohan as well. The moment the beam hit the wall at the corridor's end, instead of exploding, it ricocheted off the stone and flew back down the hall.
Immediately, Gohan grabbed Videl by the top of her arm and pulled her into the adjoining passageway just as the ki blast flew by them. It didn't take knowing rocket science for the Son boy to know that the beam would be flying back and forth in that hall until something made it explode.
"Well, that's a good thing to know," the saiyan muttered.
"And what was that for?!" Videl shouted. "You almost got me fried!"
"Sorry," Gohan said as he looked at the girl sheepishly. "I thought I saw something at the end of the hall. Didn't think these walls would be magically protected."
"Well next time you think you see something, try not to get me killed trying to scare it away," Videl snapped. "Unlike some people, I want to grow old before I die, thank you very much."
After a few hits to the head by a very irritable Videl, and a few useless apologies from Gohan, the couple had wander around the labyrinth, trying to find the exit so to speak. Though it took awhile, the two managed to reach their destination.
What they found there wasn't what they had been expecting.
Sprawled all over the floor was the rest of their group. Erasa was the only one not unconscious as she huddled by the entrance way, fear in her eyes as she looked straight ahead.
"Erasa! What happened?!" Videl exclaimed as she kneeled next to her blonde friend.
What ever trance the girl had been in she quickly snapped out of, lunging at Videl and grabbing on to her. "Videl, I'm so scared," Erasa whispered, obviously still petrified.
"Erasa, you need to tell me what happened here," Videl stated as calmly and firmly as she could. With the blonde in this state, it would take quite awhile to get the needed information out of her; not the ideal situation when you needed to act on the fly.
Unfortunately, before the Satan girl could get the blonde girl to speak, Gohan fell to the floor unconscious, just like the others. Whipping around as best she could with a terrified body pressed to her, Videl shouted "Gohan!" as she tried to make her way to him.
That was when things went from bad to worse. Before Videl could get to the fallen saiyan, a white hand appeared right in front of her face; a ball of energy burning dangerously in it. Erasa shrieked and leapt away from her dark headed friend, going right back into her fit of terror.
"And what do we have here?" an arrogant voice said. "I'm just having all kinds of luck here."
Though she had her eyes firmly on the ball of energy in her face, Videl managed to look past the orb of death and look at the gloating man. Well, to say he was a man would've been stretching the word. An insect-like green man with black spots stood there, a narcissistic look on his humanoid face. "I must say, taking out three saiyans and a couple humans was a feat in itself but now I've got a couple of defenseless girls to mess with. I just knew this was my day."
"What…what do you want?" Videl managed to say after awhile.
"Oh, nothing in particular; just that key for the Time Milieu is all. I don't think you or the blonde would object to that."
Although her survival instincts were screaming to give this…person its way, the irrational side of the Satan girl loudly protested it. "But we need that!" she objected.
"Well then, we're at an impasse," the bug-man said. "Though if the piece is just as important to you as it is to me, you'll surely come after me to retrieve it; am I right?"
Not trusting herself to actually speak, Videl merely nodded her affirmation.
"Very good! Well then, I have a deal for you. Since I will be taking the Time Milieu key here, you'll just have to follow me to add it to your own collection. I'll save you the time it would take to search for me, but you must agree to bring the keys you have with you. That way, if you somehow defeat me, you can have my key; but if I beat you, I can have yours. A splendid deal, no?"
"That sounds good," Videl replied as she nodded her head vigorously.
"Perfect," the bug almost purred. "Just head to Earth's Moon for our standoff. I'll be waiting girl."
That was when the ball of ki died in the man's hand, right before his body disappeared from sight and reappeared by the altar holding the key. Picking it up, he gave a small salute and smirk before he disappeared once more, this time for good.
It was then that Videl feel to her knees, panting heavily. She hadn't realized she'd been holding her breath during that whole encounter but now she could at least breathe normally. That whole meeting had been nerve-wrecking to the girl.
Hopefully the guys would understand her side of things.
Well, I was pleased with the response last chapter had. That make me a very happy ShadowMajin. Please, keep the ShadowMajin happy.
To Sigfried Wild: I've been told that my fight scenes are good. Can't tell you how much that pleases me to hear that. Glad you like them.