Secret Heart

Chapter 27

Goten was confused. He could sense his and Trunks' fathers fighting right now. The power they were giving off was incredible; he'd never sensed anything like this before. But why did he sense such anger and hatred emanating from Vegeta's Ki? His energy wasn't even like usual, for that matter… It was so evil that the little boy shuddered in fear.

"It's been a while since Goku and Gohan left… I wonder where they went." Chichi spoke to herself out loud.

Goten stayed silent, being careful not to tell his mother what he knew. He didn't like hiding the truth from her, but if she knew what was going on right now, she would never let him go out…

"Can I go play outside?" He asked, grimacing slightly at his lie.

His mother nodded distracted, and the little boy quickly exited the house, flying off as fast as he could towards his brother's Ki. He preferred to avoid going near the fight between his father and Vegeta. Gohan wasn't with them now. Goten wondered how they did to go from one place to another in a second, for that matter.

He then noticed that Trunks' Ki was going towards the same destination, and he felt more reassured. At least he wouldn't be alone.

oOoOoOo

Bulma had asked her if she wanted to wash up, and Videl had nodded shyly. After having spent a good while under the rubbles of a building on fire and tried unsuccessfully to save Gohan from Babidi's henchmen, the girl was very grateful to Bulma for letting her use the bathroom.

In the shower, Videl was thinking back at what Shin and Kibito had told them about Majin Buu, and she couldn't help feeling worried for Gohan and the others, who were probably fighting right this moment. What if Majin Buu's revival was unavoidable? What if the monster was too strong for them, like Shin seemed to think? If no one was able to defeat Majin Buu, what use would the Dragonballs be, if they were to get killed again?

Her mind was full of doubts and worries. Videl exited the shower and took a towel to dry herself with. She then looked at the clothes had Bulma left for her, since hers were in a poor state. It was a simple blue shirt and white cropped trousers. Videl was relieved that the rich heiress didn't give her clothes that were too "girly"; she wouldn't have felt comfortable otherwise.

Clothed and hair-done, the girl exited the bathroom. A robot was waiting at the door; it told her to follow and began to move away. Videl didn't need to be told twice, not wanting to get lost in those endless corridors.

The robot brought her to the main living room and then it left. Bulma was still in there, only now she had her eyes riveted on the TV, a worried expression on her face. Intrigued, Videl approached and watched the screen in turn. She noted that the Capsule Corp President was captivated by the news station.

"The four unknown men disappeared just as they had appeared, leaving a part of North City in rubbles." The reporter was saying. "We are still unable to determine the number of the victims, nor the identity of the man responsible of this carnage. Zoom in pictures taken by travelers as well as numerous accounts from survivors allowed the police to establish an identikit of the main suspect and of his accomplices; if you were to recognize him, please contact the emergency number which is displayed at the bottom of your screen…"

Instead of images of the destroyed city, a picture of the suspect in question was shown, and Videl widened her eyes.

"But… that's…"

No, there weren't any possible doubts; it was indeed Vegeta on the screen, his hair golden, a sadistic smirk on his lips while he fired Ki-blasts all over the city, and the same tattoo on his forehead that Babidi's henchmen had.

What on Earth had happened?

"Vegeta… why?" Bulma whispered. Videl turned to see her and noted that her eyes were shining with tears.

oOoOoOo

They all had sensed it, from every side of the world. This incredible, evil power that had just appeared on their planet. And then, it suddenly increased, reaching an unthinkable, matchless level. They had never felt anything like this before.

Since the sudden drop of Gohan's Ki, a few hours ago now, they had had a bad feeling about it. Next, they had all, no matter where they were, perceived Vegeta's evil aura, and those who had their TV on were able to see the damages the Prince had done.

And now that they sensed this powerful and evil power on the loose, they all had the same thought: make sure their loved ones were in a safe place.

And what safer place than Dende's Lookout?

oOoOoOo

Buu was too powerful. The monster got rid of him ridiculously easily and effortless. Lying somewhere in the woods, Gohan could feel himself go, but he fought with all his might not to fall into unconsciousness.

He had to hold on. He could not die – not like this, not now. He still had so many things to do, so many thing to experience… taking care of his brother, helping his mother, going to school…

Seeing Videl again.

The young warrior felt a pang in his heart as he thought back at the way they had parted. Even though she had tried to hide it, Gohan had seen well that she left in tears.

Videl had cried. Because of him.

He felt so pathetic. He said he loved her, yet all he seemed to be able to do was hurting her. At the rate things were going, he was going to make her cry again…

No, he could not think like that. He was not going to die; now was not the time. He was going to live; someone was bound to find him.

He could only pray that it wouldn't be too late…

oOoOoOo

Yamcha landed in front of the enormous Capsule Corporation manor and rushed right inside, without even ringing the bell; something much too serious was going on right now, so there was no time to waste with formalities. Guided by his senses, he burst into one of the many living rooms in the Capsule Corp building, drawing the attention of the two women who were in there.

"Yamcha?" The Briefs heiress said surprised. She had had the time to get over her initial shock, with Videl's help, although she still felt confused and hurt by what Vegeta had done. But the girl had noticed the tattoo that the warrior wore on his forehead – the very same "M" that Babidi's henchmen wore on theirs. The Supreme Kai told them that it was the sign that Babidi had possessed them, which means that the wizard must have found a way to possess Vegeta. And that could explain what had happened.

"We have to hurry." Yamcha said. "The Earth is in danger, and we have to get you to a safe place as quickly as possible."

Fear and worry suddenly rose in Videl. Could it be that Majin Buu managed to get out of his cocoon?

"How… How can you know of the danger?" She then asked, dreading the answer.

His face serious, Yamcha replied: "I sense a huge and evil power; I've never felt anything like this before."

The two women looked at each other in worry, knowing what that meant. Majin Buu was really on the loose.

"You're taking us to Dende, then?" Bulma guessed, aware that it was the safest place in the world.

"Yes, and we have no time to waste." The former bandit declared.

"I'm going to go and get Trunks and my parents; I'll be right back." The rich heiress said as she hurriedly exited the living room. She got back a few minutes later, panicked. "Trunks is nowhere to be found!"

"Are you sure?" Yamcha asked, trying to calm her down. "This house is big, he could be anywhere."

"No, I'm sure of it!" Bulma nearly yelled, more and more panicked. "I created a detector of presence some time ago, and I can't find Trunks anywhere in the house!"

"Calm down, Bulma." Videl then said, trying to reassure the female President in turn. "Yamcha can sense Ki's, right? He should be able to look for Trunks, shouldn't he?"

"Yes, don't worry Bulma, I'm going to find Trunks in no time." Yamcha assured while he already concentrated to find his friend's son. It wasn't very easy, especially with this huge power that towered all over the others. And it wasn't alone now, he noticed; another power which was familiar to him was fighting it. Yamcha frowned as he recognized Vegeta's energy. Then he noticed a few Ki's not far from the battle. He could sense one that he did not recognize, together with Piccolo, Goten and Trunks.

What on Earth were they all doing so close to the danger?

"What, what's it, Yamcha? Is something going on?" Bulma asked worriedly seeing the serious expression on her ex-boyfriend's face. Yamcha hesitated telling her where Trunks was right now, knowing very well that it would only worry her more.

But he couldn't hide from her that he knew where her son was, either.

"Yamcha, tell me what's going on!" Bulma demanded, more and more worried.

He sighed, resigning himself in telling her what he knew.

"Trunks is with Goten and Piccolo, as well as someone I don't recognize, and they are…" He trailed off as he still hesitated.

"Where are they, Yamcha?" Bulma asked, her brows furrowed. She had a very bad feeling about it.

"They are close to the one who is giving off this new evil power." The former baseball star ended up saying, before adding: "But they aren't fighting, don't worry."

Seeing the angry eyes of his ex-girlfriend directed at him, Yamcha figured he said something wrong, whatever it was.

"How can you tell me not to worry when my son is close to an overpowered monster?"

Oh, so that was it. Really, he wasn't very good in that kind of situations. One could have thought that with all the difficult times they had to go through, he wouldn't be so clumsy.

"Look, Bulma, we have to get in a safe place. I'm sure that Trunks is going to be alright; he's your son, after all, and he's smart enough not to strike at a monster that is obviously stronger than him. Moreover, Piccolo is with them, and we can count on him to look after the boys."

Although she was still very worried for her son, Bulma admitted that Yamcha was right. The Briefs heiress then went to get her parents, but they refused to accompany them to Dende's Lookout, saying that they didn't want to leave their animals and that, in any case, there were the Dragonballs if something should go wrong.

Reluctantly, Bulma agreed to leave without her parents. With the fastest Jet of her company, Yamcha, Videl and herself were on their way towards Dende's Lookout…

oOoOoOo

In all of his young life, Trunks had never seen a battle displaying such power. His training sessions with his father were really nothing compared to what he was witnessing.

Dad is really unbelievable, the little boy thought as he admiringly watched his father face this monster named Majin Buu.

As for Piccolo, he could see well that, despite appearances, this was a fight Vegeta could not win. Because, unlike Buu, the Prince did not have endless reserves of energy, and it wouldn't be long before he would be lacking it…

"There is no hope for the universe then…"

The two children turned to the pink-skinned man who just spoke. When they had first arrived here, Trunks and Goten had found stone statues of Piccolo and of this man – whom they later learned was named Kibito. Trunks had made the statue of Piccolo fall, for that matter, and it broke to pieces. Not paying much attention to this accident, the two boys then turned towards the action that was taking place not far from them. A fat, pink man was fighting with some kind of demon and had ended up turning the demon into a giant cookie before eating it. Right after, Kibito and Piccolo had taken their normal appearance, and thanks to Piccolo's regenerating abilities, Trunks' accident could be fixed.

Vegeta appeared soon after, and the battle had begun.

"What are you talking about, Mr. Kibito?" Goten asked confused by what the white-haired man had said. "Mr. Vegeta is going to beat this mean monster!"

"Yeah, that's right!" Trunks added. "My dad's going to tear this pink guy to pieces!"

Kibito stayed silent, not having the courage to break the hopes of these children. But they would realize the unavoidable outcome of this fight soon enough; Vegeta had no chance against Majin Buu.

He had to find the Supreme Kai.

oOoOoOo

Videl couldn't hold it any longer. She had to ask. She was too worried for Gohan; she had to know if he was alright. She preferred to stay silent at first, not sure she wanted to know. Now, the worry was just too great: she had to know.

"Yamcha?" She called as the scar-faced man piloted the Jet towards Dende's Lookout.

"Yes, Videl?" He replied without taking his eyes off of the sky in front of him.

She only hesitated for a second before asking: "Could you look for Gohan's Ki, please?"

If the situation was any different, Yamcha would have teased the girl, who was obviously in love with their little Gohan. But it really wasn't the time, so he just nodded and looked for the demi Saiya-jin's Ki.

Which he didn't find anywhere.

No, it couldn't be. Gohan was…?

Frowning, the former bandit concentrated with a renewed vigor, not wanting to believe that the boy he had seen grow up was gone.

But there was nothing he could do. He could search all he wanted, he just couldn't find his Ki anywhere.

Gohan was dead.

"…Yamcha?" Videl called again, not very reassured by the man's expression as well as his silence.

Not daring look at the girl, Yamcha swallowed hard before saying: "I… I'm sorry Videl… I… I can't find him."

Videl held her breath as he finished sadly:

"Gohan's dead."

To Be Continued…