Shoot… it's been a long time. Well, I'm back. This chapter's rather interesting.
…
Bardock tapped his scouter screen and growled in frustration when it started lagging. They needed to get out of this planet AND save all the citizens very soon. In his mind, a clock appeared, ticking away from fifteen minutes.
Fifteen minutes were all they had.
"C'mon, c'mon…" he muttered. "Aha!" The green scouter beeped, instantly making all the connections he wanted.
"I need all of you to listen up right now! Run away from whatever fight you're in, I don't care if that hurts your pride or it'll cause damage because something's going to happen that all those won't matter!" he barked.
Immediately, all the Z fighters were alarmed. They weren't engaged in any battles, all except one. Replies quickly came.
"Alright, the planet's going to blow in less than fifteen minutes." Gasps, squeaks, noises of disbelief, and other surprised noises were heard, but Bardock wasn't in the mood to listen.
"Just shut up, all of you! I need you to gather up the citizens AS FAST AS YOU CAN and meet up by the saiyan spaceship," he said. The people of Planet Zorrei had to fit in there. He didn't want to sound like some coldblooded bastard, but the population had completely decimated into miniscule numbers from the attack.
As soon as they all got out of this mess, they have to find the dragon balls quick and restore all the damage that had occurred ever since those two idiot saiyans came and destroyed East City (sadly, it's still under construction). They also HAD to revive Videl. Bardock feared his grandson might go become mad soon, at this rate.
He suddenly fell on his knees, feeling slightly woozy. The saiyan warrior felt drained, like he had just trained nonstop for many days and had not taken any breaks.
And… what happened to Gohan? He had never responded to his urgent message. All he heard was the crackle of static in Gohan's direction and his energy was spiking greatly. He must be fighting Cell, then…
Shit… The one person he depended on and needed the most was the one who would be missing. The earth rocked suddenly, nearly throwing him off balance. And that minor earthquake came from the direction of his grandson's ki.
Tick, tock. Thirteen minutes.
~DBZ~
"HAAAAAAAA!" Gohan screamed out, his hands outstretched in the standard Kamehameha pose. The bright blue beam clashed with the opposing beam from Cell.
Just like in the battle with Frieza, an event that happened several years ago replayed.
Yet… it was a stalemate. And this time, there was no Goku to help him.
No, I can't lose, he thought desperately as he felt himself become weakened. No…
Strange images flashed in his mind. He saw Videl, perfect and alive, standing before him with a cheeky smile.
"Oooh, Gohan, aren't you in a pinch?" she said while grinning widely. "If you kill Cell, then you could get the dragon balls and bring me back to life again!"
Another flashed through his mind, this time of his family. They were standing together. Goku had his arms wrapped around Chi-Chi, while Goten was hugging his father. They were all smiling, like Videl.
"C'mon, son, I know you could do it!" Goku encouraged, just like he would when he was alive.
"You're the best, big brother! You'll beat that Cell!" Goten cheered. Gohan saw that his mother had said nothing but just smiled at him.
The last image came in his head and made him most confused. Why wasn't he with his family? It was his grandfather, Bardock. He had his arms crossed with the same stoic expression he always wore. "Look, kid, if you fail this one, you might as well give up on fighting. It's just Cell! You've beat him once, do it again!"
That did it. He screamed again, pouring much more power in the wave. It pushed Cell's wave back until it fully engulfed him, and in one agonizing shriek he was completely obliterated.
Gohan dropped to his knees, his hands supporting him. He let out a sigh, then heard a voice coming through his scouter. "Gohan, Gohan! GOHAN!"
It was the voice of Bardock. There was a slightly desperate edge to it. The young demi-saiyan took a deep breath and answered, "Yes?"
"I need you to go around the entire planet to round up last survivors. The planet's going to blow in… less than ten minutes. Please don't ask any questions because we don't have time for this!"
Gohan froze. "What?"
"Please just do it, don't ask questions," Bardock begged again. "There is no time!"
"… Right… I'm on it."
~DBZ~
Learning how to do instant transmission really could help out on tight spots sometimes, like the current situation. Gohan was at the only location where there were Neko people around, save the spaceship where the rest had gathered. He saw many of the Neko clan people cowering in the dark corners of demolished buildings. Children were crying out for their parents, the adults were shaking dead bodies desperately.
It was truly a sight of despair. He was reminded of that strange girl blowing the ocarina all of a sudden. Yes, he definitely had to save them.
The pitiful people shrank back when they saw his arrival. Some even cried out to him to kill them. Others begged for mercy. His heart clenched.
Gohan quickly shed the battle armor. Underneath was the orange and blue gi his father sported daily. He took off the scouter and crushed it into pieces. The demi-saiyan was quite sure that he won't need it anymore. At least, he hoped so.
"Hey, it's alright, everyone. I mean no harm," he said softly. "I'm bringing you to a place of safety."
A small Neko girl stepped forward. Her hair was very unkempt and the white dress she wore was black with soot, along with several rips. She reached out hesitantly to him. Gohan took her hand and patted her on the head. "It'll all be fine," he said to her.
And very soon, the rest of them all formed around him.
In a flash, they disappeared.
Bardock sighed in relief when he saw Gohan finally arrive along with everyone else. His little internal (not to mention, extremely irritating) clock was ticking down, showing him that there was only five minutes left. "We better hurry. There's only five minutes left."
He felt fatigue again and nearly couldn't stand. What the heck was wrong with him?
"You should all go to your own ship," Vegeta Jr. advised. "Leave the Neko people to us. There are many spare spaces they could take up."
"Alright… so that's… solved… then…" Bardock mumbled, then fell forward and crashed onto the ground, completely unconscious. Something was flickering above his head, and it became permanent. It was a golden halo.
And in Gohan's mind, that didn't make much sense. He was alive! It is not possible for one to use any method to kill someone…
Wind blew past, and the saiyan warrior's body dissipated into nothingness like sand.
"Grand…pa?" Gohan said, bewildered.
~DBZ~
Bardock felt himself fall forward and black out, then woke up to see fluffy golden clouds and little blobs of white smoky things float past him, chattering. There were many red and blue ogres walking around, directing the blobs (which turns out to be spirits) here and there, barking out orders and keeping the line organized.
Up all the way in front sat the biggest red demon there, King Yemma. He wore a strict expression on his face as he stamped Hell onto one of the soul's paper, and a hole opened under it. The spirit fell through.
So, he mused, I'm dead again. But how? A random blue ogre went up and began pushing him forward.
"Oy! Hey, what are you doing!" he yelled out. And very soon, he found himself face to face with King Yemma.
Bardock crossed his arms and frowned. "What do you want?"
The ogre scowled. "Treat me with respect! I have the power to condemn you to Hell like I did last time."
The warrior shrugged in a nonchalant fashion. "Fine by me. I've been there once; I'm not scared of going in again. Eternal damnation doesn't frighten me at all."
"So you think," King Yemma retorted. "I pardoned you and only let you stay at level two. I'd like to see how you'd be if I sent you all the way down to the farther levels."
Bardock raised an eyebrow. "And that is called injustice. I've become a much better person than before."
"But I have to power!"
"You should be replaced, then, by someone else. People in your position shouldn't abuse their power."
"Like you know anything about that! Bardock, you were always a low class saiyan in the background, a little more than dirt!" King Yemma took out a sheet of paper with the saiyan's records clearly written on there.
That comment did slightly sting. The words were true, though. Third class saiyans were nothing more than the lowest of the low, always looked down upon. Bardock glared at the ogre. "My memory is fine, thank you very much. But my question remains though. Why the heck am I dead again?"
"Ahh…" King Yemma stroked his beard. "Your time is up. Wretimus only grants you life for one year."
"King Kai should've said so. I would've had prepared myself for this."
"Oh. So you do like living, don't you? No wonder you never decided to tell any of us that you escaped from Hell."
"I DID NOT escape! It was purely an accident!"
"Well, that's as good as escaping in my book!"
"Then blame yourself for letting me out."
"That's it!" King Yemma slammed his fist onto his table, shaking all the contents on top and spilling the cup of coffee. Some of the scalding hot liquid dropped onto an unfortunate demon beside him. He scurried away while whimpering. "I'm going to send you into the sixth level, you insolent little good-for-nothing saiyan! Let's see how you fare there!"
Bardock's face remained impassive. "I don't give a crap."
King Yemma scowled and glared at him. "I'm really going to do it." He lifted up the stamp marked Hell.
Bardock shrugged again.
"Alright then, you asked for it!" His hand lowered and was just about to stamp onto the saiyan's records, but something, or rather someone, crashed into his table.
"Whoooooo, that was one dizzy crash!" the newcomer said, rubbing the back of his head. He laughed. "I'm glad I came here in time! Nearly forgot I had Instant Transmission!"
In the distance, King Kai was jumping up and down in anger as his most prized student had just completely disregarded him.
"Well," he said, looking back and forth at King Yemma and Bardock, "I guess I should say… hi?"
Bardock was in shock. Never had he dreamed of meeting him face to face. "Ka… karot?"
And the one known as Kakarot/Goku grinned nervously and did a little wave. "Hey dad. Glad I finally get to meet you."
…
Finish! That was nearly 2,000 words! ^0^ I have to add about the sixth level of hell. If you go back to the very first chapter in Not What it Seems, you'll see that in Asia, they say that Hell has a total of eighteen levels, each worse than the last. Another thing is that third class saiyans are indeed treated as the lowest of the low, as seen in Bardock: The Father of Goku. I'm talking about the original version, not the dub. There were many comments that heavily implied such.
And last thing… this time I'm actually asking for reviews. I want to know how many of you are actually reading this story and like it, so if you are, please review. I want to have an idea in my head of how many are still reading this so I could see about changing some things, maybe updating much slower than before, etc. Sorry, people who do not have accounts do not count.
~Son Goshen