Chapter 6
Chi-Chi groaned as she sat up. Blackness surrounded her and she struggled to even understand exactly where she was. She felt a sense of great space around her, as if she was inside some vast building. She tried to shake her dizziness off and soon heard a recognizable whimper near her.
"Bulma?" she called out into the darkness, her voice echoing. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah..." her friend answered although Chi-Chi could not see her. "I'm fine. What happened? Where are we?"
Chi-Chi stood up, still feeling dizzy. She tried to remember the moments before ending up in this strange location. They were just at the mall on a shopping trip and about to enter a new store. The last thing she could recall was the floor in the last store they visited turning a bizarre shade of glowing green.
Abruptly, the entire building became illuminated. The two women winced as their eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness. As their vision adjusted, they found that they were inside of what appeared to be an empty stadium, not too different from the stadium where the world tournament took place. Much like the world tournament arena there was a ring in the middle and the women were standing next to it. Unlike the familiar world tournament ring this one had metal tiles making up the base of the ring and four stone pillars stood at each corner.
As the women looked around at their new surroundings, the silence was broken by a shrill voice.
"Ah ladies! I have been looking forward to meeting you both!"
The women turned to see a scrawny humanoid standing at the entrance leading into the arena. The employee inside the Ampheta store they had just seen was standing by the thin man.
"I don't even care who you are!" Bulma snapped as she stood up. "Why did you bring us here?"
"You are just as spirited as my dear Uma described, sweet Bulma." the man answered. Bulma and Chi-Chi looked over at the woman standing next to Snow, the same strange woman they had encountered in the store before ending up in the stadium. She was now clad in a black jumpsuit with white pants.
"How do you know my name?" Bulma turned her attention back to the man. She was genuinely confused. She recognized the store worker, she had just seen her seemingly minutes ago, but she had never met this strange man in her life and somehow, he knew who she was.
"My name is Mr. Snow, the owner of the Ampheta Group. Let's just say I've been studying both of your husbands" Snow began to explain. "I am a fighting promoter first and foremost and I considered myself a fan of both of your husbands for their legendary status as fighters... but they were both very arrogant... and mean to me. They thought they were too good to fight for my organization after I personally invited them. So that's where you two beautiful girls come in..."
"And you think that gives you an excuse to abduct us?" Bulma yelled back. "You're making a huge mistake doing this, our husbands are going to kick your ass once they find us."
"Ha! I doubt that." Snow snickered.
Now Chi-Chi began to grow angry. "You really have some nerve, mister. It's one thing to kidnap us but you interrupted back to school shopping. If you screw up my son's school attendance next, then you better pray I don't get my hands on you, because I'll take care of you before the men get here!"
Snow grinned. "You're a feisty one too, Chi-Chi. I like that. Don't worry though, our kids won't have to worry about schooling. We have a great education program here."
"What the hell do you mean OUR kids?" Bulma spat back.
"Don't worry, you'll find out soon." Snow answered, still cocky. "By the way, Goten and Trunks are here too, and they are safe. But that can change if you two do not comply with my orders. So, for the kids' sakes... our kids' sakes, both of you ladies better remain silent and obey me."
Chi-Chi and Bulma both sensed underlings of Snow coming behind them and Uma soon stood with them.
"As of this moment, the two of you belong to me now. You're my property and the both of you will dress the part as my possessions."
Gohan gripped the wooden end of the rake tighter as he brushed the last group of leaves into a pile. Ever since his father-in-law Mr. Satan had purchased this luxurious home for Gohan and his new wife Videl, he still insisted on doing outside chores like raking leaves instead of leaving these tasks to groundskeepers. Gohan may have married into wealth, but he did not want to forget where he came from. And getting out of the house gave him temporary reprieve from the stress of work or other anxieties.
And on this day, he was certainly dealing with anxiety. His nerves had been running high all day, and he sensed something was not right although he was not sure exactly what was wrong. He had sensed the ki of his mother and brother fading out. He was not sure what to make of it. His father and other powerful ki signatures he could still sense, but why not his mom and brother? Even though they were on the other side of the continent and less powerful than his father, he could still always sense them but not anymore. Perhaps they had gone somewhere? They had to have gone somewhere out of the ordinary if their ki was completely gone. Videl was worried about her husband and could sense his tension, but Gohan did not feel like explaining all of this to her and getting her worried as well. She was still relatively new to the concept of ki and how to sense it.
Gohan tried to distract himself bagging up more leaves. Before he could finish this task, he sensed a large, familiar amount of ki materialize behind him. He turned to see his father standing in the courtyard, clad in his signature orange gi. This meant Goku was not here for just a visit, he was ready to fight.
"Dad?" Gohan asked, eyes wide as he dropped the rake. "What are you doing here?"
Goku looked relived to see his son was unharmed, for now at least. "It's not good, Gohan. Get inside, I'll explain everything."
The Saiyan and his hybrid son headed inside to Videl's surprise at Goku's unannounced visit. Goku explained to the couple what had all transpired on this fateful afternoon at the shopping mall. From Chi-Chi, Bulma, Goten and Trunks' sudden disappearance to who Goku suspected the culprit behind their abduction was.
"And you think these people will try and go for us next?" Videl asked, a concerned look on her face.
Goku nodded. "I wouldn't put it past them. For now, you two need to stick together, at least until we figure out what our next move is."
"We probably shouldn't stay here then." Gohan thought out loud. "This Snow guy probably knows where we live too."
"That's what I was going to say next." Goku replied. "Snow left us a machine and we think it will be the key to finding where everyone went. Vegeta's got the thing back at Capsule Corporation right now and will open in one hour. I think we should lay low there and see what it says."
Gohan and Videl nodded. They knew the drill now. They both put their hands on Goku's shoulders as he pressed his fingers against his forehead, trying to find Vegeta's ki signature. He found his energy quickly at Capsule Corporation as expected. Soon the three of them materialized behind the Saiyan prince who was standing still in his wife's lab. He was unphased by the group's sudden appearance.
"About time you got here, Kakarot." Vegeta grumbled, not even acknowledging the two extra guests that came with Goku. No longer in his weekend outing attire, Vegeta threw on a blue tank top, matching pants and his signature white gloves, the exact outfit he wore back at the world tournament earlier in the year. It was telling that he did not bother with his typical armor, he wanted to get right into fighting as well.
Vegeta placed the Ampheta machine on a counter, the countdown reading less than a minute. "This thing will open shortly. Prepare yourselves."
The group sat in silence as the seconds got to single digits and soon hit zero. The screen on the device soon went black before the smug face of Mr. Snow appeared.
"Why did it have to come to this you guys?" the message asked. "If you had just agreed to fight for Ampheta I wouldn't be making this message. And who knows, maybe your families would all be safe at home?"
Goku tightened his fist. It seemed as if Snow was taunting them in this message.
"If your families are keeping you on Earth then they are to blame for why you won't fight for me. So, I took away your reason! Your families are mine now. And you have no choice but to fight for me in my Elite league, don't ya? That is, if you want to see the fate of your wives and sons."
Vegeta gritted his teeth, just the sight of Snow angered him but this self-approving attitude he was displaying made him all the more unbearable.
"The Snow family made trillions throughout the galaxy harnessing the powers of black holes, the Ampheta Group is beloved across the universe and many fighters would die for a chance to fight in my Elite league. But you two Saiyans were too arrogant, you thought you were too good for me and now your families will pay the price. Don't worry, they're all still alive, for now. As soon as this message concludes, one of our signature Ampheta portals will open for three minutes for only two people jump in. I expect both of you, Goku and Vegeta to enter."
Snow grinned in his message during an awkward silence before abruptly ending it. "Well, I'll explain more when you both arrive. I can't WAIT to see my ELITE fighters beat the two of you arrogant Saiyans. See ya soon! Bye-bye" And with that, the screen went to black, and the device projected a teal light onto the floor, creating a manhole sized circle. Black and teal swirled in the middle. Lights flickered in the lab as the hole seemingly pulled all light and energy inside of it.