Dragonball Z
Gohan: Protector of Earth
Chapter 20:
Earth is a small, lush planet in a tiny solar system located in the corner of the Milky Way Galaxy. Its inhabitants, although not always peaceful, could at least be considered harmless. For although their planet was rife with hunger and violence, these acts of manmade aggression did not extend to other planets. The people of Earth lacked the technology and the strength to extend harm towards others. They were shut off from the rest of the universe, living in blissful ignorance. Their problems were their own and did not affect the lives of others. This, unfortunately, did not hold true for other planets, and other species.
The changelings, a conqueror race that struck fear into the hearts of all who witnessed their horrific acts. They had the technology and the power to inflict pain on all whom they came across. Their hearts, void of sympathy and compassion, yearned for one thing: domination. It was a race of kings, each with the strength and brutality to control its own empire. The insignificant Changeling Frieza, the one that had caused sorrow to an entire galaxy, the one that caused irreparable damage to the psyche of a young half saiyan, was but one of thousands, as common as a lowly peasant. Frieza was nothing compared to his fellow changelings, as Gohan would soon learn.
Millions of miles away, in a galaxy unfamiliar to Gohan, stood a desolate planet. Void of life, this planet characterized perfectly the emotions of its inhabitants. Gohan, invisible to the eye, was standing on the lifeless planet about to witness a story never known but epic in its own right. Not even the Supreme Kai, the king of the gods, knew what Gohan was about to witness.
Command headquarters, a three story tall rusty oval structure, stood in the middle of nothing. For miles upon miles, it was the only building that stood in the sea of sand and rocks. Inside this decrepit building stood one changeling surrounded by various weaker alien species. The aliens were each sitting at their own computer, typing frantically as the changeling paced back and forth to and fro intently, watching their monitors.
"What is the word on Project Falcon?"
"No progress to mention sir," replied one of the aliens nervously stammering to get out his words. "We have located the source but we do not know how to create the rapture."
"Well that is not good enough! The general is expecting an update by tonight and if I tell him we have not figured it out yet then he might just kill us all and find creatures that can do the job. If you value your lives you will figure it out!"
"Yes sir!" screamed the aliens in unison as they started to type even faster than before.
"It's been years since we have started this project, is this even possible. Is all the work we've put in for naught," thought the changeling.
His thought was interrupted by a loud beeping noise coming from the monitor. The beeping increased in volume and repetition until a flash came across the screen. On a large monitor above one of the work stations appeared another changeling. This one was far bigger than the one that stood in the room. This new changeling stood nearly eight feet tall but his most interesting feature were spikes that stuck out from his shoulder. It looked as if he had merged bodies with a hedgehog.
"General, what a surprise sir. I thought you would be dropping by personally to check on the project.
"I will be, but not today. Something… has come up. I will be there tomorrow to check on the project."
"Yes sir, we are anxious to show you all of the progress we have made. You will not be disappointed sir."
"So everything is going according to schedule then?"
"Yes sir, better than even we had hoped."
"Excellent, I look forward to seeing all that you have accomplished. Do not disappoint," said the general before the monitor turned off.
The alien below the monitor turned towards the changeling looking confused.
"Sir, we have not made any progress. Why did you lie to the general?"
The changeling looked over in disgust towards the alien. A split second later the changelings hand was gripped tightly around the alien's neck, holding him up against the wall.
"I know that we have not made any progress. So do you intend on telling the general I have lied."
"No, no sir," squeaked out the alien.
"Good," said the changeling before dropping the alien to the floor. "This goes for everyone, if you plan on living another day I suggest you MAKE SOME PROGRESS!"
"Yes Sir!"
Elsewhere, the general turned around from his monitor and stood up. Walking towards the door he was quickly joined by another changeling who seemed to be a servant.
"Sir, pardon my asking but why would you entrust such an important job to such a lowly changeling."
"Lair, all he has to do is watch over the scientists and make sure they work. A monkey could do his job, or even a saiyan I suppose. Now, it is time to deal with more important things, the woman. I want her brought to me now."
"Yes Sir, right away," said Lair. The general stood still as Lair ran off. Ten minutes passed as the general waited until Lair and two guards arrived. Behind them walked a prisoner who was hidden behind the guards' massive bodies.
A young saiyan woman, not even thirty years of age was bound to the shackles. Tightly in her arms she held her child, who was not even one year of age. As if the room were freezing, the woman held her child close to her, and away from sight. Her clothes were torn and dirty, reminiscent of a common vagrant. The saiyan woman rocked back and forth while staring intently at her child, not daring to divert her gaze for even a second.
"Your mate does not seem to care for you nor your child. Apparently he would rather see you two die rather than sacrifice his own life."
The female saiyan looked down to the floor, ignoring the glance of the changeling. Irritated by her lack of respect, the changeling approached the saiyan and knelt before her, grabbing her chin and forcing her vision to align with his.
"Listen to me carefully. The only thing keeping you alive is me. I could kill you at any moment and not event think twice about it. If you want to save your life or that of your sons, you better convince that monkey of yours to turn himself in."
The saiyan woman finally looked up at the changeling and looked straight into his narrowed eyes, before breaking the tension by spitting on the changeling's face. He jumped to his feet quickly to wipe the spit off but not before backhanding the female across the side of the face. She fell violently to the floor but was still able to maintain control of her child, who started to cry hysterically.
"Get her out of here and take her to the chamber."
"Sir, is that not a bit extreme," said Lair. "If she dies then we…"
"I said take her to the chamber!"
"Yes Sir General." The guards grabbed the woman and her child and led them out of the room.
The general turned to walk back to his office, followed closely behind by Lair.
"Every second that passes with him still alive is a personal insult to me. If it takes the chamber to make that monkey talk, then so be it."
"Yes sir, my apologies for questioning your authority."
"If she dies, then so be it. I will destroy each and every planet I see if need be. He will die, you can be sure of that."
At the same instant in time on the other side of the galaxy, a different scene was taking place. On a dusty planet similar to that of the changelings stood thousands upon thousands of warriors, standing in military rows facing the same direction. In front of this massive gathering were two saiyans who stood on small stage barely high enough to give a view of the gathering. The saiyans were adorned in traditional saiyan battle armor, blue sleeves and pants with padded armor covering their ribs. The crowd included men, women, and children ranging in age from toddlers to those who could barely stand. It was an eclectic mix that seemed to signal the importance of the meeting that was about to occur.
As the crowd talked loudly amongst themselves, the two saiyans in front stood in contemplative silence. Finally, one of the saiyans took a couple steps forward to address the crowd. He took a couple of steps forward and then grabbed a small audio speaker and placed it near his mouth. The saiyan looked typical as far as the crowd was concerned, average in height and appearance.
The saiyan coughed twice to clear his voice and then addressed the crowd.
"Everyone, this is important, quiet down and listen."
The muttering from the crowd ceased as the attention of the planet turned to the lone saiyan up front.
"You all know why I am here, why we are all here. There is a war going on, the same war that has waged for centuries. The changelings have pushed us back and forced us to hide on this desolate waste of a planet. But I say no more. We have to continue to fight, we cannot let the changelings win.
The crowd stood in silence before a couple older saiyans started to shout.
"What do you expect from us, our champion is gone. We have nobody to lead us."
"One man does not make a difference in a war. We cannot let this deter us from our goal."
"But he was more than one man," yelled another from the crowd. "He is our champion, without him we cannot possibly win."
"Yea, the changelings are too powerful. There is nothing we can do. Fighting them now would mean suicide for our race."
As the crowd continued to jeer loudly, the second saiyan on stage looked saddened, waiting for his friend to take control of the hostile crowd. He was about to walk up and take the microphone but then the other saiyan finally replied. With a much terser voice than before, the saiyan screamed into the microphone, trying to quiet down and inspire the crowd.
"Quiet! Enough of this talk. We are saiyans dammit. We are the god damn warrior race. The mere mention of our name strikes fear into the hearts of countless planets. We are not supposed to be afraid of anything. So what if he is gone. We have to fight, not just for ourselves but for who we are. I don't know about you but I would rather die than let future generations hear of a saiyan warrior cowering in fear. If I die, I want it to be in a blaze of glory, the way every true saiyan hopes to go. If you are not a true saiyan then leave now, live in the caves a life of solitude and despair. Let the changelings win, be their slaves if you want. Be their puppets. But if you want more, if you want to make them suffer, if you want to restore dignity to the saiyan name then prepare yourselves! The final battle is on hand!"
The saiyan capped his speech off by throwing his microphone into the atmosphere and aiming a ki blast at the object. The explosion echoed over the crowd, creating a show of lights overhead. The crowd erupted in cheers as the saiyan walked off stage and through the crowd, all the while being congratulated and followed by the newly inspired.
"If he will not lead us, then I will make them forget he even existed," he thought as every saiyan from the child to the elderly followed their last hope.
Down a dark corridor, the saiyan woman trekked followed closely behind by the two changeling guards. She did not know where she was going, but based on the tone of the changeling and the décor of the palace, she knew it would not be pleasant. After what seemed like an eternity, the guards finally stopped in front of a large door with a skull and crossbones handle. The guard on the right took out a small key from his pocket and used it to open the door. The inside of the room was completely dark. The saiyan woman, forced from behind by the guards, walked into the darkness until she bumped into a hard metal object. The guard pushed her down on what turned out to be a large wooden chair. He then powered up his aura, bringing light to the room and revealing what exactly was the "chamber." The room, dark and dingy, had nothing it in but a single table in the center with two long metal cords suspending from the ceiling.
"Do what you must but you will not get anything out of me. Torture will not change anything."
"Oh, we are not going to torture you, that would be useless," replied the guard who then diverted his gaze from the woman and looked down at her son, who was currently sleeping.
The saiyan's face turned white as it just hit her what they planned to do. She pulled her child closer to her chest but the baby was ripped out of her hold instantly by one of the guards. The child awoke from his slumber and started to sob violently as it was held upside down by its leg. The guard walked over to the table, baby in hand, and threw it down onto the table. He then reached up to grab one metal cord from the ceiling and wrapped it around the baby's chest in a knot. The other guard grabbed the second chord and wrapped it around the baby's waist. All the while, the saiyan woman looked on in horror, helpless and defeated.
One of the guards turned towards the woman and started to chuckle. "This is what happens when you saiyans try to fight against us changelings. You can't win. When you fight us you die."
The guard then grabbed the other end of the chord that was wrapped around the child's waist and in a sudden motion, pulled down on it.
Her scream echoed through the galaxy. Her cry of pain could be felt by anything and everything. These screams were mirrored by another. Millions of miles away, on a planet similar to the one the changelings stationed, stood a singular being. On the desolate planet, on the inside of a massive cave surrounded by miles of darkness he stood. His thrashed clothing reflected his beaten and bloodied body, bruised from a lifetime of battle. Everything about him looked defeated, except for his spirit. As she continued to cry millions of miles away, he could feel her pain. He could feel her plight and the horror she had suffered at their hands. With every scream of her agony, his power increased. Every shrill cry pulsated through his body as if it were an electrical charge powering up an engine. The darkness started to disappear and was slowly replaced by a glistening light, until in unison they screamed, a scream loud enough to wake generations past. The aura created around him shattered the rocks from the walls and destroyed the cave that surrounded him. All four walls of the cave crumbled to pieces breaking his prison. His golden hair stood on end and his tail flung wildly in the air as he looked longingly towards the sky. The galaxy took notice as their savior returned from his exodus.
