Chapter 5
Goten dropped the action figure he was looking at in the toy aisle.
"Did you feel that?" he asked Trunks. Both boys sensed the ki of their mothers was gone out of nowhere. Something was wrong.
"Yeah..." Trunks answered quickly, his concern growing. "We better see what happened." Fun and games looking at toys and video games was over. The two sped out of the department store, carelessly passing other shoppers who were perplexed by the two boys sprinting at inhuman speed past them. The two jumped down from the department store on the third level of the mall and jumped down to the first level, shocking more shoppers. Uma looked over from her post at the faux fashion store and saw the two speeding towards her location.
"Perfect... my work is almost done." she said to herself with a devious smile, a rare display of emotion. She stood in front of the entrance and put on her customer service persona as she saw the two hybrids run up to her.
"May I help you boys?" she asked.
"Have you seen our Moms?" Trunks asked with his own question. "We sensed they were here last."
Uma pressed her index finger against the side of her cheek, feigning confusion and ignoring how unusual it was to 'sense' other people. She knew better. "Hmm... we haven't had any customers in a while. What do your Mothers look like?"
Goten anxiously began to describe his mother. "Mine's tall and has black hair like me. And his Mom is also tall but has blue hair."
"Are you sure you haven't seen them?" Trunks asked again, nervously.
"Well, why don't you boys come inside?" Uma suggested. "We can't have you two running around the mall unattended to. We'll reunite you with your Moms soon, I just know it so don't you two worry."
Goten looked up at Uma as they approached the store. "Have I seen you before?" He asked. Uma only responded with a smile and shook her head. Goten was too worried about his mother to think about it any further.
Trunks and Goten apprehensively walked through the entrance and pushed open the black doors. Neither of them noticed the empty shopping cart full of bags outside the entrance. Uma quickly shut them behind them and turned a dial on the wall before gripping a handle next to it. The previously green floor turned the color red and began sucking all matter into its' maw, including Trunks and Goten before they even realized what was happening. Uma gripped onto the handle and winced, trying not to fly in with them, at least not yet. Once she noticed the two Saiyan hybrids were sucked inside, she turned the dial, and the red glow disappeared. Uma pulled out her phone again.
"The extraction here is complete." she said into the phone. "The kids are headed to medical storage for energy extraction and will be sedated upon arrival. And of course, the women headed to you, Mr. Snow. I'll be joining you shortly."
"Don't forget to leave the final invitation." A strident voice said on the other end of the phone.
"Of course, Mr. Snow." Uma said, smirking as she pulled a tablet out of her vest before setting it on the ground.
"A shame it had to come to this, those damned stubborn Saiyans..." the voice on the phone said as Uma changed the settings on the wall dial. "Oh well, I am gaining a lot more than I would have if they had agreed to just fight for me in the first place..." The floor became green briefly as she jumped into the portal before it closed permanently.
High above the ocean waves, Goku and Vegeta were in the midst of an unscheduled sparring session. Being out in the middle of the ocean gave the two fighters plenty of room to test long range strikes. As soon as Goku's forearm crashed into Vegeta's who was working on his blocking, immediately a sense of dread swept over the two Saiyans. At the same time both men sensed the ki of their wives was absent.
"They're gone..." Goku muttered as he retracted his forearm, stunned while he floated. "Vegeta, they're both gone."
Instead of answering, Vegeta shot back in the direction of the mall in a frantic state. As soon as he had sensed the faint ki of Bulma disappearing he instinctively felt the urge get back to her. He felt that he was Bulma's protector and the thought of failing to protect her sickened him. Gusts of wind blasting against his face, he tried not to fixate on the grim prospects of what could have happened to her.
"What's going on there?" he thought to himself. "Why would they both just disappear like that?"
Goku was not far behind him. It had been a very long time since Chi-Chi was in any sort of peril. He tried to control his breathing as he tried to catch up to Vegeta and remain calm, but it was very difficult. Goku seldom had any nightmares but when he did, they were usually about something terrible happening to Chi-Chi or his sons. It seemed that one of those nightmares might now become a reality.
Vegeta landed outside the mall parking lot and Goku was right behind him. Both men paused again, their hearts sinking. They felt the ki of their sons fading now.
"What the hell is going on?" Vegeta thought to himself, now his son had seemed to have disappeared.
"Vegeta! Goku yelled as he tried to catch up. "The boys are gone now-"
"I know that!" Vegeta snapped back as he ran inside the mall, his anger growing at the developing situation. "Would you stop making useless observations!?"
Tracing their wives and sons by their ki signatures was useless now but luckily for the two Saiyans, they had one trick left: tracing them by their scents with their strong Saiyan sense of smell. Soon the two men were standing in front of the mysterious black store. Immediately, a familiar object caught Vegeta's eye outside. His wife's favorite pair of sunglasses lying on the floor, neon green trim color and all.
"Damn it!" Vegeta yelled out, standing up with the sunglasses in hand. His voice echoed throughout the corridor while he surveyed the store not seeing a soul around. The Saiyan prince fumed outside, trying to collect himself while Goku looked inside the store, it was dimly lit and completely vacant. No products for sale, no customers and no employees to be found. Goku did make a disturbing discovery on his way back to Vegeta; shopping carts filled with clothing items and a high-end leather purse sitting inside the cart. He looked next to it and saw a familiar purse, the unmistakable knitted one Chi Chi owned. One he saw every day at his home. Goku picked it up, his breathing growing more labored.
"This really isn't good..." he thought. Vegeta soon walked into the store and made observations of his own. He noticed a device on the ground. A sleek, black digital tablet that looked familiar.
"I'm just as much of a fool as you are." Vegeta muttered to Goku, his voice stinging with bitterness before turning around to face the entrance. "Training while on a family outing. I should know better than to do such a stupid thing..."
Unphased and knowing Vegeta was only saying these things out of frustration, Goku looked back down at the knitted purse in his hand. "It's my fault too..."
"I should've just used instant transmission to get back here... I couldn't trace the girls... and I didn't think whoever did this would go after our sons too..." He looked back at Vegeta. "But it's pointless to beat ourselves up now, we have to find out what happened to our families, we have to save them."
Vegeta picked up the black tablet and looked on the other side. He began to piece together who was the culprit behind abducting his and Goku's families. The "A" insignia on the wall was also on the device.
"Well, I know who's responsible for all of this." Vegeta said as he held the device up to Goku. "That weakling who visited us, Snow. This is his organization."
"But what would he with our families?" Goku asked. "And where could he take them?"
"This machine should provide the answer." Vegeta answered, studying the device which displayed a countdown. "It won't open for three hours. He planted this on purpose, he's using our families as bait."
"He's gone too far!" The gravity of the situation hit Goku hard as he began to clench his fists. "Do what you want to us but leave our families alone!"
"He's a coward. And make no mistake, he will pay dearly for this." Vegeta said.
"And all because he wants us to fight for him! He wants a fight; he's going to get one!"
Vegeta nodded. "We have no choice now; our families depend on it."
"Right..." Goku murmured, all he could muster.
"I'm heading home to prepare; you meet me there in three hours. We will find this bastard Snow and destroy him."
Before Goku could agree, Vegeta sprinted out of the mall. Goku could sense he was already flying back to West City the moment he was outdoors.
"I would have never guessed Snow would go after our families." Goku thought. "I didn't think he'd stoop that low... And he knows that we can't be around them 24/7... wait... Gohan... Videl... I can still sense them..."
Goku pressed his index and middle finger to his forehead. This time he would make use of instant transmission. There was still a chance to make sure that Gohan and Videl did not meet the same fate as Chi-Chi and Goten.