Dragonball Z
Gohan: Protector of Earth
Chapter 19:
"How could you? How could you?"
Those were the only words Videl could mutter as she looked at Gohan. The man she thought she loved was now the one whom she hated most. His head was turned away from hers though. He seemed like a robot, completely emotionless as he continued to hold onto her. Videl stopped struggling against Gohan; there was no need at this point. Her father was dead. There was nothing she could do.
In the middle of ring, over the body of the once mighty champion, stood the sadistic duo. They did not win the tournament, although the looks on their face would make the wisest observer believe otherwise. They had defeated the world champion; his dead body lying in the center of the ring was their proof. Liev reached down and grabbed the head of Hercule, hoisting his body in the air for the whole world to see. Blood continued to drip down the champ's head as his body hung limply from the assassin's hand.
"Do you see!" screamed Liev for the whole world to hear. "Do you see what has become of your champion, of your pathetic hero? Is this truly the best your planet can offer? Soon you will all succumb to the same illness that afflicted your champion. It is the disease that all humans posses. It is called weakness."
The z-fighters were boiling with rage at this point. Despite being outmatched, Krillen and Yamcha wanted nothing more than to charge into the ring and wage a full on assault. Piccolo was trying to keep his cool and in the process calm down the others. The fans just looked on in shock. The Supreme Kai no longer needed to keep people from flooding the ring, because nobody dared to move. That feeling of helplessness engorged the hearts of the people; just like when Cell had terrorized Earth, and just like when the saiyan's first landed on the planet. The people of Earth had the ability to display extraordinary bravery in the darkest of situations, but they needed inspiration. The people of Earth needed a champion. With the death of Hercule came the death of the will of the people. Their inspiration, their bravery, lay broken alongside the body of Hercule.
After finishing his proclamation, Liev threw Hercule's body to the ground. In unison, he and Tasids flew off into the sky and away from sight.
"Now is the time," said Shin.
"Time for what?" asked Piccolo.
"It is time to follow them." Shin turned towards the z-fighter and addressed them as one. "For those of you that wish to save this planet, please follow me. For those who are cowards, you may remain here."
Shin and Kibito launched from the ground and started flying after Liev and Tasids, followed from behind by Krillen, Vegeta, Goten, Trunks, 18, and Yamcha. Piccolo flew over to Gohan's position and motioned to gain his attention. Gohan had his attention focused elsewhere however. Videl was no longer in front of him, the second Liev and Tasids had flown off, Videl had rushed over to her father. She sat there on the canvas, staring down at his lifeless corpse. It then hit her. Before she knew it, Videl was crying hysterically, hugging her father and wishing him back to life.
"Gohan, dammit focus! Gohan turned to see Piccolo screaming only a few feet away from him. Piccolo walked up and shook Gohan's shoulders, looking the young saiyan dead in the eyes. "I know it was hard for you to watch that, but you can't loose focus now. If you do then Hercule will have died in vain."
Piccolo then turned around and scanned for the direction Shin had flown in.
"If you want to help, then follow my kai signal," said Piccolo whose eyes were focused on the sky.
With that Piccolo flew off in the direction of Shin. Gohan turned towards Videl once more, watching her cradle her father's dead body. Gohan had no motivation to follow after Piccolo; he just continued to stare at Videl with regret and sorrow.
200 miles away, on the outskirts of a small forest, landed the duo of Liev and Tasids. Liev walked over towards a large tree in the corner and started to make random hand gestures that looked as if he were waving towards someone in the distance. A few seconds later, a large spacecraft appeared from nothingness and took the place of the fake trees that once stood there. Liev continued to push buttons until a large monitor rose from the outside of the ship. A shrouded figure appeared on the screen. His face was blocked by a large brown hood that extended far over his eyes. The screen cut off at the top of his neck preventing one from seeing his true appearance.
Liev and Tasids both lowered down to their left knee and moved their left hand over their heart while they looked to the ground.
"Lord, we have completed our mission," said Liev in a serious tone.
"Was it difficult?"
"Not at all," responded Tasids. "The champion posed no difficulty in killing."
"Did you make your declaration?"
"Yes my lord. The inhabitants of this planet know of their eventual doom."
The shrouded figure started to stroke his chin, pleased by the news. "Excellent. Your mission now is to exterminate the planet. We will arrive in six months. That should give you more than enough time." The mysterious figure took a second to clear his throat before continuing. "Make sure nothing is left alive."
"Yes my lord, we shall not fail you."
The transmission faded away, and Liev and Tasids turned around to start work on their newest mission. Unbeknownst to them, Shin and the others were waiting in ambush. Liev and Tasids were soon encircled by the z-fighters, preventing any escape while demonstrating a sense of dominance.
"Well isn't this nice, you have made it easy for us. Now we can kill the strongest fighters all in one place without the hassle of having to track you down individually."
"I heard everything you told your master," said Shin with a wide smirk. "You did exactly as I thought you would. You have made my plan come to fruition."
"What are you talking about?" yelled an irritated Tasids.
"You told your master you killed the champion, but you did not mention anything else. You did not mention that the champion was the weakest of the competitors in the tournament. You did not mention that there are saiyans on this planet, saiyans who are stronger than you. And most important of all, you did not tell your master that you were about to be killed by the Supreme Kai."
"Supreme Kai? What are you talking about? There is no such being as a supreme kai! The Grand Kai is the king of the kai's and he would never venture to a pathetic planet such as this."
"I guess I will have to make a demonstration to prove it to you then. Kibito, my sword."
"Yes master." Kibito proceeded to make a series of hand motions, similar to those of Liev, until a large metallic sword appeared out of thin air. Engraved on the handle in gold print were the initials SK. Kibito handed the sword over to Shin who grasped it easily in his left hand.
"Now pay close attention, Liev and Tasids, because you will only get to see this once."
Shin lowered his sword to his knees, then brought it above his head and circled it around his body. He continued this circular motion for another few seconds until he quickly brought his sword back like a baseball bat. A split second later, Shin was standing a hundred yards away, nearly on top of the once invisible space ship. His movements were so quick, not even Vegeta could keep track of them. Shin lowered his sword and sheathed it to his side as he walked back to the others. Liev and Tasids were frozen in position for another second until it happened. The head of both warriors separated from the neck and fell straight down. Both of their bodies then slumped over and fell to the ground landing awkwardly next to the decapitated heads. The z-fighters looked on in horror at the event that had just transpired.
"He… he beheaded them," said Krillen in horror.
Shin walked slowly back to the group in a casual manner, causing Krillen to step back a few paces. "Now that those two have been dealt with, I suppose it is time I explain exactly what is going on."
"Wait, what is that?" said Trunks pointing to the decapitated bodies. What Trunks was referring to was the fact that the two bodies were not bleeding. Instead, a series of intricately patterned wires were jutting out of the neck.
"First thing I suppose I should say is that they were not humans nor of an alien species. They were biologically created androids, similar in some ways to you 18."
"So that's why we couldn't sense their power levels," said Piccolo coming to a sudden realization.
"I knew there was something strange about those two. To think that there were androids that powerful, and that they were not made by Gero," said 18.
"Dr Gero was a technical genius by Earth standards, but compared to the rest of the universe he was nothing special," said Kibito.
"Get on with the explanation! What the hell is going on here? Why the hell are you here?" yelled Vegeta.
"Fine, you want to know." Shin then took a couple seconds breather, most likely to savor the reaction he expected from Vegeta. "Does the name Frieza mean anything to you Vegeta?"
Everyone's face went blank, as if a weight had been dropped from the sky and had fallen on to their hearts.
"He's dead! I saw him die with my own two eyes!"
"You're right Vegeta, he is dead. I just asked you if you remembered the name."
"What are you getting at?" asked Piccolo.
"Do any of you know what species Frieza was, or what planet he came from?"
Everyone looked around blankly, not knowing how to answer.
The supreme kai gave a small chuckle before continuing. "So none of you ever thought it was strange that Frieza and his father were the only members of a certain species of which you were not familiar with. Well Frieza was a member of a powerful warrior species, called the Changelings. Like the saiyans, their goal in life was to battle and conquer. Worse than the saiyans though was the way in which they took aim of this goal. The saiyans loved to battle but not necessarily to kill their opponent; their love was for the thrill of battle. The Changelings however, loved to kill, whether it was an opponent of equal stature or a helpless creature no stronger than a human.
"So you're saying there are more Frieza's out there, and Liev and Tasids were androids who served the Changelings."
"Exactly right Krillen. The thing I don't think you understand yet is that these Changelings are all far more powerful than Frieza was."
"Impossible!"
"Here is an analogy for you Vegeta. Frieza was like a fourth class saiyan child while the rest of the changelings are on the level of the saiyan elites, and a few of those are at the super saiyan level."
The look on Vegeta's face was indescribable at the moment. The look of shock on everyone's face summed up the situation well.
"So what? We can take them all on," said Trunks cavalierly.
Goten was not so optimistic. He looked at Shin, eagerly waiting for him to continue his explanation.
"I wish it were that easy young Trunks. But you nor your father nor Gohan are strong enough. Not yet at least."
"So what are we up against exactly?" asked Piccolo.
"An army, an army of incredibly powerful warriors bent on conquering and destroying every life form on their way to accomplishing their goal. Their numbers are in the thousands, the weakest of which are as powerful as Frieza. On top of that, their army has expanded and absorbed warriors from all over the universe. They number in the millions."
"How can we possibly fight against a force like that," said Piccolo.
"Don't worry, I have a plan. We have six months before they arrive, that is just enough time to prepare for the invasion."
"Um, no offense Mr. Supreme Kai but how can we fight against that many warriors. There are not even ten of us."
"I never said it would be easy. This will be the most difficult battle you have ever fought. But as long as we fight, there is always a chance."
Vegeta stared down at the ground in shock before regaining his composure and looking around at everyone. "I don't care how many there are. I will tear the hearts out of every single one of them, one by one, as they land on this planet."
The supreme kai smiled. "Well then let phase one begin. Everyone, I think we should all proceed to the lookout where we can get started." All at once the Supreme Kai and the Z-fighters flew off towards the lookout, minus the presence of one important person.
The Arena had been emptied. The police had arrived and cordoned the area off, forcing the exit of the fans. Videl was talking with some of the police officers, explaining what had happened while trying to regain her composure. Gohan was waiting outside for her, hoping she would allow him the opportunity to explain himself.
Chichi and the others located Gohan outside the arena. They rushed over to him.
"Gohan, what just happened?" asked Chichi frantically.
"Hercule's dead," said Gohan emotionless.
"We know that," said Bulma. "What we don't know is why you did not help him. You were just standing there."
"It is complicated. I do not feel like explaining it now."
"Well I demand to know. Why did you let Hercule beat you and why did you let him die?" said Chichi.
"I said I will explain it later!"
Chichi was about to smack Gohan across the face with her purse before Master Roshi grabbed her by the arm.
"Now is not the time Chichi. Gohan is obviously very troubled. We should wait for him to calm down."
"Fine, but he better have a dam good reason for doing what he did."
They left Gohan to his peace as he continued to wait there, nervous over his imminent encounter with Videl. Ten minutes later, Videl had finished speaking with the officer and was proceeding to leave the arena. Gohan rushed over to her before she could reach the exit and blocked her exit route.
"Out of my way," said Videl coldly.
"Please, just let me explain."
"There is nothing to explain."
"Please Videl, you do not know what is going on."
"I do not know what is going on!" said Videl arms trembling as she pointed to the spot her father had died, his blood stains still visible on the silver ring floor. "I watched my father die. I watched those monsters kill him and I could not do anything about it because you would no let me." Videl paused for a moment, trying to catch her breath. "If I thought I could, I would hurt you as much as you hurt me." Videl took a deep breath trying to calm her nerves. "Just leave me alone, I never want to see you again."
With that Videl brushed past Gohan, leaving the broken hearted saiyan standing by himself, alone in the world.
"It should not be this way," thought Gohan. "Dammit, it should not be this way!"
Gohan fell to his knees, heart aching and head pounding. Sweat was dripping from every pore as he tried to calm himself down.
"Hey kid, are you okay?" asked a paramedic who noticed Gohan fall to the ground.
"I am fine!" yelled Gohan before jumping to his feet and flying away. He did not look for the Supreme Kai's signal however. He needed to go somewhere else first. After only a minute, Gohan arrived at his destination. He descended slowly to the ground, staring out at the pristine waters of the lake. Gohan landed only a foot away from the water and proceeded to lie down, head up towards the clouds. He closed his eyes and for the first time in his life, he was hoping to see him. After only a moment, the lake disappeared, and Gohan awoke in a sea of white.
"Welcome back," said the saiyan sarcastically.
"Enough of your dam games! Tell me what is going on!"
The saiyan started to chuckle. "I am happy to see you have stopped bottling up your emotions, such a human trait. Do you truly want to know what is happening? Are you truly ready to see what you are up against?"
"I have been ready. I have always been ready!"
"Good. Then prepare for a little trip back in time. This story starts a little over a thousand years ago in a land far far away."
The saiyan snapped his fingers, and the expanse of white disappeared in an instant.
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I am sorry if this chapter feels a bit rushed, it is a transition between the two arcs. I hope to make the next chapter really great though. And, although this will probably not be the last time I say this, I am sorry I do not have the free time anymore to write as much as I want.
