It had been a week since the group had left Namek. Though Trunks, Goten, and Piccolo had gone to look for Tien after their meeting with Slug, they soon found out that he had made his way back to the ship after sensing the lack of an evil presence around. That impression had soon changed upon seeing Piccolo again.
"What's he doing here?" the bald human demanded, his eyes locking in on the green man. He still hadn't forgotten what the Namekian had done to him; taking the life of his closest friend. Previous circumstances had prevented him from taking his vengeance upon him; mainly the fact that they had just finished fighting off a large number of demons and no one was in the mood for a fight.
This time, however, fatigue was not going to get in the way of seeking justice. He'd avenge Chiaotzu and finally be able to put that chapter of his life behind him.
Unfortunately, Goten got in the way. "He's coming with us. We could use his help when we get to the Time Milieu."
"You want the help of this murderer?!" Tien protested.
"Shut up, Tien," Trunks said. "War is full of casualties and we can't always have our way when it comes to who lives and who dies. You didn't have a problem killing saiyans during your occupation."
"But—" the bodyguard tried to argue, only to be interrupted by the other saiyan.
"There are more important things to worry about," Goten snapped. "You two can fight out your differences later; right now I just want to sit back and get this last mission over with. If anyone has a problem without, I'll toss them out of an airlock."
And that had settled the matter, much to Tien's chagrin. A week of having to be in the same space as that Namekian murderer didn't sit well with him at all. But on the bright side, it only took that week to finally reach the resting place of the Time Milieu.
That was where the group was at the moment. They had left their ship on a level plateau since the world they were on was mostly comprised of rocky mountains; not the ideal place to crash a spaceship. It hadn't taken long to find what they were looking for either.
On the side of a mountain, the group of saiyans, humans, and one Namek stared at a large stone door that was built into a wall of stone. Staring at it carefully, the group of six noticed obvious indentions in the door; each one looking similar to one of the keys they possessed.
"Think we should put the relics in each hole?" Tien asked.
"It's worth a shot," Trunks replied. "Hopefully nothing goes wrong with it."
"How could anything go wrong?" Videl asked.
"Well, we could lose the keys if we're wrong."
That comment made the group hesitant, but eventually they moved closer to the door. One by one, they inserted each relic key into their corresponding niche. With that task done, they slowly stepped back to see if anything happened.
One by one, each key began to glow; softly at first but eventually brightly to the point no one could distinguish what each key looked liked.
Suddenly, a vertical line appeared in the middle of the stone door, growing wider as the door slide apart. The sound of rock and stone sliding against each other could be heard throughout the mountain range.
Finally, the doorway was revealed to the group, each person looking into its dark depths. "Time to finish this," Goten said before passing through the entrance, the rest of his companions following soon after.
The next thing anyone knew, they were in a large chamber with another door on the opposite side of them. The door sat right in between the legs of a giant, dull yellow, stone statue; one that looked like a cross between an insect and a demon. Other than that, there was nothing else noticeable.
"Turn back."
Immediately, all the fighters dropped into defensive stances, looking for the voice. Erasa was the lone exception to this as she put all of her energy into cowering behind Goten.
However, the owner of the voice they were looking for was right in the middle of the room; the place the group ended their searching eyes on. Gasps flew from the lips of the humans; quick suctions of breath by the saiyans and Piccolo.
There, standing before them, was Gohan; looking at the group in the strange costume he had worn in Goten, Trunks, and Tien's dream sans helmet.
"Gohan…" Videl breathed as unshed tears began to well up around her eyes. Unconsciously, the Satan girl took a step towards him.
"Turn back, all of you," the Son boy reiterated, a stoic look on his face.
"That's not Gohan," Piccolo declared as he began to glare at the man. This caused Videl to look at the Namek, slightly startled.
"What do you mean that isn't him? That's Gohan!" the girl protested as tears finally began to fall down her cheeks.
Without a word, the Namekian warrior raised one of his hands and charged his ki. A moment later, a ki blast fired from his hand at the oddly dressed saiyan. Much to the surprise of the whole group, the beam went right through him, the beam exploding on the wall behind him.
"Is…is that an image?" Tien said, shocked.
"So it appears," Piccolo replied.
"Turn back," the image warned once more. "Take another step further into this sacred realm and face the wrath of the guardian Hirudegarn. None have ever faced him and lived to tell about it."
"Right," Trunks snorted. "No one has ever gotten into the room, much less fought this Hirudegarn."
"You have been warned," the image said before fading away, leaving the group alone to their thoughts.
"Well, we have to continue on despite this guardian," Goten said. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the depressed looked on Videl. The last thing she had needed to see was the sight of her lover standing against them despite the fact that he had only been an image.
"But why Gohan?" Tien asked. "Why was there an image of him here?"
"Perhaps those visions we've had during this quest are responsible," Trunks suggested. "Perhaps the relics got to know us and used our greatest fears against us. That'd be my guess."
"Well, nothing's gonna stop me from using this thing," Goten proclaimed. To prove his statement, the saiyan took a step towards the doorway across the room from them.
Suddenly, the gigantic statue standing over the door began to change. Colors of yellow, purple, brown, and red covered it as the statue came to life. Taking a step away from the doorway that shook the room, the former statue let out a loud roar.
Looking at the revealed beast, yellow covered the majority of its body. There were random patches of purple at various points of its arms and legs, along with its entire tail. A bright red patch was on its head and brown covered its midsection.
The first look at the beast was definitely correct; a cross of an insect and a demon. Insect wings grew from its back as the rest of the body reflected an exoskeleton. Its face was the facet that looked like a demon.
This was the guardian Hirudegarn.
"Perhaps I spoke too soon," Goten mumbled softly.
Raising its clawed hands above its head, Hirudegarn clasped them together before swinging them down. Reacting, all the fighters, with Goten grabbing Erasa, leapt out of the way as the jackhammer slammed into the ground.
A moment later, the guardian's tail lashed out, whipping through the air until it slammed into Piccolo, catching him off guard as he suddenly appeared out of nowhere. With the force behind the appendage, the Namekian was carried into the wall of the room, becoming imbedded in it.
Turning its head to a side, the monster gathered its ki into its mouth and fired a large ki blast. Continuing to move its head, the beam caused flames to erupt all along the path it created; tremors shaking the room all over.
Appearing towards the far corner of the room, Goten eased Erasa to the floor. "Watch yourself," was all he said before he took off, flying head on at Hirudegarn. Seeing the charging saiyan, the demon stopped his ki blast and completely turned its body to face its incoming opponent.
With a balled up fist, the guardian threw it at Goten, who tried to stop his flight, holding up his arms to catch the incoming punch. Though his momentum kept him moving forward; it completely stopped as Hirudegarn's fist slammed into the saiyan's outstretched arms, forcing him back. Moving one of his legs, Goten pushed it against the huge hand as he tried to stop the punch in its tracks.
Slowly, the saiyan and the fist came to a stop, much to the fury of Hirudegarn. But the demon was not something that would give up an attack so easily. Whipping its tail behind him, the appendage swung to its left, flying towards the occupied fighter.
And just as the guardian had planned, the tail caught the saiyan off guard, sending him flying away. Turning its large body to continue its attack, it was suddenly attacked as a large amount of ki rammed into it.
Floating high in the air, Tien held his hands out in front of him; the hands forming a triangle. Quickly gathering his ki again, the bald human watched as Hirudegarn turned its attention to him and snarled.
"Ha!" the bodyguard shouted as he fired another Tribeam at it, the attack once again ramming into the giant guardian. The ground underneath the monster broke and caved around its feet; protruding jagged rocks pointing into the air.
Snarling once more, Hirudegarn didn't give its new attacker another chance to attack it. Gathering its ki, the energy slowly warped inside the beast's throat. Upon being released from its mouth, a stream of fire flew straight towards Tien.
Reacting, Tien moved out of the way of the incoming flames, feeling the heat of it as it flew on by. Geez, had he let that inferno actually hit him, the bald human was sure there wouldn't have been anything left of him.
Not one to give up on a miss, Hirudegarn once again gathered its ki and altered it in its throat. It would make sure it hit its target this time as it prepared to fire the attack.
"Mokosen Ha!"
Out of nowhere, a ki blast nailed the guardian in the back, an explosion detonating upon contact. Letting out a roar of pain, the demon felt the searing of flames on its body. Slowing turning its head, Hirudegarn saw Piccolo floating near the wall he had been slammed into minutes earlier.
Bellowing in rage, Hirudegarn turned its body to face the Namekian, its tail once more lashing around and ready to be used.
Appearing low to the ground, Trunks held out one of his hands as he gathered his ki. Shaping it as it appeared hovering over his palm, a disk of ki came into existence. With a grunt, the oddly colored saiyan threw the disk a little ways ahead of Hirudegarn.
With a swing of its fifth appendage, the guardian sent its tail out to seek retribution on the offending fighter that had stopped its attempt to kill one of its opponents. Before the tail got any closer to the Namek though, a disk of energy sliced right through it, separating the appendage cleanly.
Howling in pain once more, Hirudegarn took a step back as the rest of its tail flew back behind it; the severed part landing on the ground squirming. The wriggling lasted a few seconds before the tail went still.
Overcoming its pain, a roar of rage once more left its mouth. Hirudegarn was pissed and it was done messing around with these pests. Sliding its legs out, the guardian leaned forward until its hands pressed against the ground. Slowly, Hirudegarn's entire body began to glow a bright golden light before it unleashed a roar and with it, an expulsion of ki.
An explosion caught all of the fighters off guard, sending them flying from what ever position they were in. The next thing anyone knew, a blinding white light covered the whole area.
And as sudden as it appeared, the explosion died down. The floor was relatively intact, though there were occasional gullies here and there. Surprisingly, the walls were still standing with holes at random intervals. It seemed as if the same force field from the labyrinth where Cell stole the relic key was here as well.
Sprawled out at various points on the floor was the group of saiyans, humans, and the Namek. Everyone, including Erasa, bore burned marks on their bodies. Luckily for Erasa, Videl had appeared in front of her and used as much ki as she could to shield them from the explosion, baring the brunt of the blast until the very end. Videl had run out of ki to sustain the shield and both girls faced the dying attack. Had the Satan girl not done the amount she had, the blonde would've been extra crispy at the moment.
Slowly, the group started to recover, some of them managing to get into kneeling position; any thought of starting the battle again was put on hold. Towering above them, Hirudegarn looked down on them. From what the ki-sensing member could tell, the guardian was preparing another devastating attack. This time though, none of them would be able to avoid it.
With a cry, Hirudegarn opened his mouth as orange flames began to leap out of it. However, the attack would never be performed.
Before anyone could move, a decent sized, green ki ball came flying in. It stayed low to the ground before arcing up into the air, slamming into the giant demon's midsection. In an instant, green flames encompassed the guardian in a giant explosion. In reaction, everyone held either one arm or both in front of their faces, shielding themselves from the torrent of wind that blew at them. Erasa was the only exception as she clung onto Videl's body.
Once the explosion died, everyone turned their attention to look behind them. At the entrance of the room stood Broly, a maniacal grin on his face.
One more chapter, one more step closer to the end. Fight wasn't my best, I know, but for now, it will suffice. I'm head deep in GohanVidel Week 2.0 with another four days left. Catch all the entries in the fic Redemption Week.