A while ago, a couple of reviewers brought up a couple of suggestions for this story. These suggestions caught my interest and I've been waiting for the right moment to use them. In case you haven't guessed, that moment is now. This chapter goes out to King of Konoha and jcogginsa; for your inspirations.
Erasa was what one would call a meek woman. She wasn't someone who demanded answers like Videl, or told people what she thought of them like Goten, or even made a controversial comment like Tien was apt to do on occasion. However, something had been bugging her for the longest time and at the current moment, there wasn't much of anything going on that it would be considered impolite.
"Hey Trunks?" the blonde asked, "Why do you look the way you do?"
The saiyan in questioned just looked at the girl like she had grown a second head. "Umm, my mommy and daddy met one day and had sex. That usually how babies are made," he said sarcastically.
Erasa shook her head, not allowing his words get to her. "I meant why you had purple hair. Every other saiyan I know has black, spiky hair; but you don't. Why is that?"
"You know, I'd like to know that too," Tien piped up. At the current moment, the bald human, Trunks, and Erasa were sitting in the control room sans Goten and Videl. Both fighters had taken to their rooms and hadn't left them ever since. The other three assumed they were just dealing with their more personal grief over their fallen comrade.
Trunks blew air out of his mouth as he leaned back into his chair, causing him to look up at the roof. "So that's what you meant," he started. "Well, I suppose you can call me an anomaly."
"Anomaly meaning?" Tien pressed.
"Let's see how to put this. It's like a certain gene in my sequence is different from the typical saiyan. From what I understand, it would be like the gene that creates what you humans call albinos."
Tien frowned. "Albinos? But you don't look like one at all."
Trunks rolled his eyes. "Well, I am saiyan after all. Your definition of one is completely different from ours. The concepts are the same though: unusually color of eyes, different hair colors, skin complexions, and so on."
This time it was Erasa's turn to frown. "I think I can understand the eyes and hair thing but your skin doesn't look paler than Goten's."
"Well, if you humans hadn't knocked down our old society, I would've been. People like myself are very rare and tend to be locked away from the general public. However, since I was in line to become king, I could've changed that. But in the end, I still was allowed to roam around since no one really cared about a saiyan with different coloring."
"I guess I can understand," Erasa relied.
"That's for sure. When ever I had to go into that one human village, no one recognized me as a saiyan. It had its uses, I suppose," the oddly colored saiyan mused.
The blonde girl lit up at that. "That's right! I saw you at East Fort. You disappeared before I could talk to you."
Trunks looked at the girl. "You were there? Huh, so it was a small world after all."
Erasa giggled. "Silly, of course I was there. That's where Gohan and Videl first met."
"Is that so?" Tien said. "And I guess something happened between the two that pissed Videl off enough to chase him halfway across the universe with you and I in tow. What did Gohan do to make her that mad anyways?"
That caused the blonde to huff as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "He just left her! Can you believe that? After everything they had gone through and he just up and left."
"And what had they gone through?" Tien asked.
"Well, from what Videl told me, they had infiltrated the mayor's mansion and were caught. Gohan saved them from getting killed and instead of helping Videl sort things out, he just left her all by herself."
"Umm, you do realize that he had more important things to do, right?" Trunks responded.
"And what could be more important than a girl's feelings?"
"Umm…saving the future of his own race?"
"Right, a likely story."
Trunks stared at the girl for a few seconds before shaking his head. Apparently Erasa had a different set of priorities than the rest of the people around.
Videl stared out into the vastness of space. Currently the girl was sitting in the pilot's seat, making sure their ship kept its current course.
It had been awhile since she had left her room, but after dealing with her grief, she found no reason to stay locked up. Everyone else, including Erasa, was handling the mission better than her and she would be damned if it stayed that way much longer. So once she arrived in the control room, she had announced she would be taking over the ship's travel. Neither Tien or Trunks rose an objection and allowed the Satan girl to do as she wished.
Unfortunately, the two warriors along with her blonde friend had left the room some time after her announcement and had retreated to their own rooms for rest, leaving the girl to her thoughts that continued to hover over Gohan. So many different scenarios were running through her head; things she could've done differently that would've allowed the saiyan to still be alive.
And it was because of this that Videl never took noticed of the five relic keys that had been placed at the back of the room. Gradually, a soft, golden glow began to emanate from them.
Goten couldn't help but blink his eyes. One moment he had fallen dead asleep on his bed; the next he was in a city that was teeming with activity.
What in the world was going on?
Looking around, the saiyan couldn't help but notice the people roaming about him were humans. Each one moved with some sort of purpose that they hardly gave him much attention aside from a curious glance every once in awhile.
"Goten?"
The Son boy jerked his head to aside, seeing Trunks staring at him with disbelieving eyes.
"Trunks? What are you doing here?" Goten asked. "I thought I was just in some weird dream."
The oddly colored saiyan approached his comrade, nodding his head in agreement. "So did I. Apparently we're sharing the same dream somehow."
Turning his head to look in front of him, Goten was surprised to see another person in his shared dream; seeing a startled Tien across the street from them, looking at the scene before him with wide eyes.
"Hey Tien!" Goten called out, waving his hand over his head, attracting the attention of the former bodyguard.
"What are you guys doing here!" Tien shouted back.
"That's what we wanted to know!" was the saiyan's response.
Before they could continue they're conversation, there was a loud cry of excitement from the passing humans. Looking at them, the saiyans and Tien immediately noticed the humans looking up into the sky. Turning their attention in the same direction, the three warriors saw a figure descending to the ground, landing in the middle of the street.
For what ever reason that escaped the fighters, this mysterious man had chosen to dress himself in the most ridiculous garb ever. Black spandex covered his body with a green gi top cover his torso and white gloves and boots on his hands and feet. A red cape flapped around behind the man along with an orange helmet with two antennas sticking out of it.
If Goten, Trunks, and Tien thought the way he was dressed was weird, what he did next completely made them rethink their concepts of weirdness. Dropping to a knelled position, his arms pointing to the ground, the man shouted "When evil is afoot, justice is close by to stop it…" at this he stood up from the grand, balancing on one foot. Sticking one of his hands up, he balled it into a fist as he held it proudly over his head. "For I am the Great…" at this point he fell into a crouched position with his arms curling towards his head, his hands pointing right at his helmet. "Saiyaman!" he finished.
Sweatdrops fell down the warriors' heads.
"Is…is this guy suppose to be serious?" Trunks asked out loud.
"You got me," Goten responded.
However, the Saiyaman character overheard the oddly colored saiyan's comment and addressed him. "Of course I'm serious," he said in a deepened voice. "I am, after all, a hero."
"A hero?" the saiyan prince questioned as he glanced to his black haired comrade. "Do you think that helmet of his is a size too small for his head? It could be cutting the blood flow to his brain."
"There is no need for insults, sir," the man replied.
Goten turned his attention to the self-proclaimed "hero." "Hey buddy, he wasn't talking to you."
"Please lower the volume on your voice, sir. There are people around."
The young Son boy didn't know what it was about this guy, but he was starting to piss him off. Marching towards the man, the saiyan said "I don't know who you are or who you think you are, but you are really getting on my bad side, bub. And when I someone tics me off, I tend to beat the crap out of them."
"Please refrain from any violence, sir—"
"Refrain this!" Goten shouted as he threw a punch at the hero. However, he was shocked when the man easily rose a hand up and caught his blow, seemingly unfazed by it. "I'll repeat myself," Saiyaman said, his deep voice vanishing within a more serious tone, "refrain from any violence."
Growling, Goten jerked his captured fist away; Saiyaman releasing his grip as the saiyan moved. "I've had all that I can stand of you!" the Son boy shouted as he leapt into the air and swung a kick at the hero's head.
Once again, Saiyaman surprised the warrior by blocking the blow easily with a high block. "I warned you, sir," the man said coolly. "Now I have no choice but to defend myself." And with that said, the hero raised his other hand and held it right in front of the saiyan. The next thing Goten knew, a shockwave of ki blew him away, sending him careening through the air.
"Goten!" Trunks shouted as he rushed to the saiyan's flight path. With open arms, the warrior caught his stunned comrade.
Before the two of them could do anything else though, they both saw Tien sneaking up on the Saiyaman character. At the last second, the former bodyguard lunged at the masked man, throwing a punch at the back of his head.
Reacting, Saiyaman leaned to a side, dodging the blow. Moving his arms then, he grabbed Tien's wrist with one of his hands, gripping the bald human's bicep with the other. Then using the fighter's own momentum, he pulled Tien over his shoulder and threw him at the two saiyans.
With wide eyes, Trunks and Goten were thrown off their feet as Tien crashed into them. It was almost comical the way the three of them laid on the ground as a ball of tangled arms and legs.
"So there were three of you," Saiyaman said, his deep voice returning. "My advice to you three would be to leave town before you cause anymore pain to yourselves."
That was the last straw for Goten. He couldn't take anymore of this overly-righteous hero. Forcing his way out of the dog pile, the saiyan leapt a short distance away from his comrades, his rage clearly evident on his face. "I've had all I can stand of you!" the Son boy shouted as a golden aura enveloped him. A second later, the blond hair and teal eyes of his Super Saiyan form settled on him.
The next moment, Goten had rushed in on Saiyaman, imbedding his fist in his opponent's stomach. As the hero lost his breath and bent down slightly, Goten unleashed a barrage of vicious blows into the costumed man's gut, finishing the onslaught with a powerful punch into Saiyaman's chest. In response, the hero flew backwards, but only for a short distance as he managed to get his feet back on the ground, skidding to a halt.
Holding his torso gingerly, the hero said "So violence is the only way to get through to you. So be it."
That was when a golden aura appeared around the fighter, much to the astonishment of Trunks and Tien. The only time they had ever seen a golden aura was around a Super Saiyan, yet this guy could make one of his own as well. What was going on?
To Goten, however, he didn't care what the hero had done. He only had a one-track mind at the moment; and it was saying to beat the living daylights out of the costumed buffoon. With a war cry, the golden saiyan launched himself at his glowing opponent who rushed at him as well.
Both fighters collided at the edge of the street, each fighter throwing lightning fast punches; dodging, blocking, or parrying the blows their opponent sent at them. Their movements were so fast, the two appeared to be nothing but golden blurs, even to the trained eyes of Trunks and Tien.
The stalemate didn't last too long though as Saiyaman overreached with an attack, allowing Goten to take advantage as he leapt into the air and swung a roundhouse kick; the blow causing the hero to snap his head back and sent his helmet flying off of his head. Instead of continuing his attack though, Goten landed back on the ground, waiting to gloat about seeing the man's face.
It was at that point that time seemed to have slowed down. Slowly, Saiyaman moved his head back to look at Goten, causing the saiyan's heart to skip a beat. Although he had blond hair and teal eyes, the face of Gohan looked at him emotionless.
A moment later, Gohan was in his brother's face, slamming his fist into it and sending the Son boy flying into a building.
Gohan/Saiyaman immediately straightened up his posture, looking as if he had been caught stealing the cookie from the cookie jar. Moving an arm up, he began scratching the back of his head, looking a bit embarrassed by his display of force. "Whoops, looks like I got carried away there for a second," he said lightheartedly, causing Trunks and Tien to look at the boy strangely. This guy may have looked like Gohan, but he sure didn't act like him. In fact, it was a bit creepy seeing him act carefree.
It wasn't long until Goten reappeared, his familiar black locks back in place as he stared wide eyed at his brother. "Gohan, is that really you?"
Gohan blinked his eyes, perplexed. "Umm, I'm sorry but do I know you?"
"Yeah, it's me, Goten."
"Goten? Hey, I have a little brother with that name," the Son boy exclaimed. "He's about this high," he indicated by lowering his hand to about his thigh. "He's gonna be surprised to find out someone else has his name."
"Goten!" Trunks shouted. "This isn't your brother! There's something completely wrong with this place; with him."
"What do you mean?" the saiyan responded, looking at his friend.
"He acts too differently from the Gohan we know," the oddly colored saiyan explained. "Just look at him. Your brother wouldn't be caught dead wearing that get-up."
"Hey!" the disguised saiyan protested. "This is a cool disguise!"
"Nobody asked you!" Trunks replied.
To Goten though, that explanation seemed to take the life out of the warrior as his shoulders sagged. Then…this whole thing wasn't real?
Turning his attention back to the confused saiyan, the man called Saiyaman said "I'm sorry you've confused me with someone else. But I think I know how I can help you out."
"You do?" Goten replied, looking at the hero.
"Yeah," he said. That was when his voice changed from the brother he knew to that of a girl's. "Just wake up."
Goten's eyes flew open as he flung his body up from his bed, sitting up as he panted.
What had happened back there? One moment he was in a strange place, then his brother disguised as a hero showed up and told him to wake up. The saiyan could say with confidence that he had weird dreams before, but this one really took the cake.
"Goten, I'm glad you're awake!" a female voice said, similar to the one he head heard leave his brother's mouth. Turning his head, he found Erasa sitting on the edge of the bed, a look of relief on her face.
"Erasa, why did you wake me up?" Goten asked, a bit confused by the interruption of his sleep.
"Videl found something you should see," the blonde answered, sounding urgent.
Goten cocked an eyebrow. "Is that it?"
"Goten, trust me. You need to see this."