Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Hope ❯ Painful Memories ( Chapter 1 )

Hope

Chapter 1: Painful Memories

"Gohan! Get out of here!"

"No! Piccolo! I won't leave you!"

"Just do what I tell you for once!"

~~~~~~~~~~

Gohan awoke from his dream, drenched in sweat. Only it hadn't been a dream. The memory was so fresh that it felt like he was still there, the energy pulsing from the battle making the hairs on his arms stand on end.

Suddenly cold and shaking, he reached for the lamp beside his bed. The light expelled the shadows, but not the nightmare. They were dead. All dead. And the only reason he was still alive was because he ran away from the fight like a coward. But if he hadn't followed Piccolo's order, could he really have made a difference? The adult warriors had been defeated so easily, what could he, just a kid, have done?

Unable to sleep any more, Gohan crept outside through his window, careful not to wake his mother. He didn't want her to find out about the dream. Since his father had died, Gohan had become the man of the house. And men didn't have nightmares that frightened them awake.

Gohan walked across the yard to his father's shrine. After bowing respectfully, he sat, cross-legged, in front of Goku's picture. His father's kind face smiled back at him.

"I miss you, Dad," he said quietly, ignoring the tears that streamed down his cheeks. "Why can't everything be like it was just a few years ago? Like when you came back from Namek."

Gohan smiled as he thought back to that day. They had all been so afraid when Frieza and King Cold, had come to Earth. Frieza was out for revenge and determined to kill everyone that Goku cared for.

Then, suddenly, there he was! After being gone for a year and a half, Goku appeared out of thin air and stood between Frieza and the Earth's special forces. They could all see the fear in Frieza's eyes as Goku's energy soared and he ascended to a Super Saiyan. But Frieza wouldn't back down. Goku was forced to use his new skills to destroy him once and for all.

After the last bits of his son were blasted away, King Cold and his men retreated to his ship. Goku stood back and let them flee back into space, much to Vegeta's exasperation.

"You should have killed them all when you had the chance!" Vegeta shouted at him. "You spared Frieza's life, and look what happened! He came back even stronger to destroy your entire planet!"

"But King Cold hasn't done anything to any of us," Goku argued. "I had no reason to kill him. Besides, he isn't half as strong as Frieza was."

"You will never be considered an elite warrior!" Vegeta huffed.

"Maybe not," Goku shrugged. Then he smiled down at Gohan. "I'm just looking forward to spending time with my family."

Gohan sighed and touched his father's picture.

"That was the best two and a half years of my life, Dad. Remember how much mom used to make me study before we could even go for a swim? Then there was that time we went camping with Piccolo and she searched for us for two days because we 'accidentally' forgot to take my homework along. Remember how mad she was when she finally found us?"

Gohan's laughter sounded forced even to his own ears. The happy memories still couldn't drive out the helpless feeling of the nightmare. He stopped laughing and looked down at his hands.

"I had another nightmare," he admitted to Goku's picture. "The same one I've been having for the past 6 months. I wish you had been there. I just know that if you hadn't died, you could have saved them all from those Androids. I know you could have done what I couldn't!"

Grief overcame Gohan and he had to stand with his back to Goku's shrine. He couldn't even face his father's picture with the shame he felt.

"I shouldn't have run!" he said angrily. "I should have ignored Piccolo and Krillen and stayed to fight! Losing to those monsters would have been better than what I felt when I went back there afterwards!"

A feeling of sadness and anger swept over Gohan. By the time the last of the energy blasts of the battle died away, Gohan had not been able to sense any of his friends' life forces. He flew back as fast as he could, but there was nothing he could do. Even if he had been able to use his father's instant transmission technique to get to Master Korin's and back, the Sensu beans wouldn't have worked on the lifeless bodies that lay amidst the rubble. Pain pierced his heart as he knelt beside each person, checking for any signs of life.

~~~~~~~~~~

They had all felt the power of the explosion that had come from the direction of South City and had gone to investigate. The news reports had been sketchy, but had said that there were two people behind the destruction. Piccolo, Vegeta, Tien, Chaotzu, Yamcha, and Krillen flew off to see who could have possessed such a power level. Even though it had only been six months since his father had died, Gohan ignored his mother's protesting and joined them.

"I'll bet it's that King Cold guy!" Yamcha said.

"It's not King Cold," Vegeta argued. "I would be able to sense him."

"I don't sense anyone," Tien added.

"That's what I'm worried about," Piccolo growled.

They landed in the middle of the blasted out city. None of them knew the city had even existed on this tiny island. By the amount of rubble and body parts, they could tell it must have been heavily populated.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Krillen said, visibly shaking with fear. "Whoever did this has to be incredibly strong!"

"But why would they kill all these innocent people!" Yamcha wondered, baffled and angry.

"Because they could," Vegeta answered and smiled at the thought of meeting a worthy adversary.

Gohan stared around in disbelief. He couldn't understand how anyone could value life so little.

"Well look who we have here."

The cold voice took them all by surprise. They spun around and came face to face with two people. A boy with black hair wearing a bandana around his neck and a blond-haired girl.

"It looks like our little fireworks display attracted some attention, Number 17," the girl answered with a smile.

"You were right Number 18. They all came running. Like lambs to the slaughter," the boy chuckled.

"What are you!" Piccolo demanded, already in fighting stance. "Why can't I sense your life force?"

"Maybe because we're not really alive," Number 18 said.

"We're Androids made by Dr. Gero," Number 17 clarified.

"From the old Red Ribbon Army?" Krillen asked. "The one Goku destroyed?"

"That's right," Number 18 said. "Our initial programming was to search out and kill this Goku."

"But since he's already dead," Number 17 continued, "Gero thought he would use us to control the world instead. That is, until we had a bit of a falling out."

"Number 17 killed him," Number 18 explained.

"So now we are free to do what we like," Number 17 finished.

"But why destroy this town and all its people?" Tien asked.

"Because Number 18 is a bit impatient," Number 17 pouted. "I would have liked to make a game out of finding you."

"And I thought that was childish," Number 18 added, glaring at the other Android. "This is much quicker. Now we can take care of you all at once."

"But it's not as much fun."

Piccolo and Vegeta growled at the casual way the machines talked about destroying the strongest warriors on Earth. Anger flashed in their eyes and their muscles flexed in anticipation of the impending fight.

The other warriors nervously shifted from one foot to the other. They felt uneasy about not being able to sense the Androids' power levels. They had no idea just how strong they were. . .or could get. But if the explosion they caused earlier was any indication, they were in for quite a battle.

Piccolo was the first to attack. He flew in to hit Number 17, but his powerful fist never found its mark. The Android deftly stepped to one side and Piccolo ended up soaring passed. His anger grew as he tried over and over again to hit Number 17.

"Too slow again," the Android laughed, clearly enjoying the game. Number 18 rolled her eyes and watched with her arms crossed.

When the fight escalated to ki blasts, it was made painfully clear who the victor would be. Piccolo's attacks couldn't even scratch the machine's skin, while each shot from Number 17 weakened Piccolo further and further.

Gohan couldn't stand watching the Namek being beaten so easily. Piccolo was not only his teacher and a good friend, but also a father-figure for him. He wanted to rush in to help, but Krillen held him back. Piccolo sensed Gohan's struggle to get to him and called out to him.

"Gohan! Get out of here!" he ordered.

"No, Piccolo! I won't leave you!" Gohan cried out.

"Just do what I tell you for once!" Piccolo shouted as he tried to dodge another attack.

"Piccolo's right!" Krillen told Gohan, holding the boy back with all his strength. "They're too strong! We'd never be able to face Goku in the other dimension if anything happened to you!"

When Gohan still struggled to get free, Krillen tried another tactic.

"Think of your mother, Gohan!" he shouted to get the boy's attention. "Chi Chi just lost her husband! Don't risk leaving her without a son, too!"

Gohan stopped fighting against Krillen. Loyalty towards his comrades fought against the love for his mother. Helplessly, he watched as Piccolo crashed to the ground. Slowly and painfully, he got to his feet, holding onto his twisted, broken arm. He spared one look back at Gohan before Number 17 flew in for another attack.

"GO!!"

His decision made for him, Gohan turned and flew off as fast as he could. He looked back over his shoulder in time to see Vegeta stop the girl from following him. As he flew away from the battle, he hoped and prayed that he was doing the right thing.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Those Androids killed them all!" Gohan shouted at the starry sky. "Piccolo, Vegeta, Yamcha, Tien, Chaotzu and Krillen. . .they were all dead! I felt each of their life forces slip away and I still flew away! And there's no one left to stop their reign of terror!"

Gohan paused to wipe the tears of shame and anger from his eyes. His hands shook with grief.

"I shouldn't have left," he continued, almost in a whisper. "I should never have listened to Piccolo. I should have stayed."

"There was nothing you could do."

Gohan's heart skipped at the unexpected sound of his father's voice. He whirled around, searching the shadows.

"Dad? Where are you?" he called.

"I'm here with King Kai," Goku said lightly, speaking telepathically from Other World. "We all are. By the way, Piccolo says, 'Don't be such a baby.'"

Gohan smiled in spite of himself. That sounded exactly like what Piccolo would have told him. Quickly, he wiped his face with his arm.

"You sound great, Dad. What have you been doing?"

"Oh, we've just been hanging out on King Kai's planet," Goku said. "Doing a little training."

"Doing a little destroying, you mean," King Kai added huffily. "You'd better get down to business, Goku. This is a long distance call, you know."

"OK, King Kai. Listen very carefully, Gohan," Goku began. "You are the Earth's last hope for stopping the Androids."

"But Piccolo and Vegeta couldn't even defeat them!" Gohan protested. "What could I do against monsters like that?"

"Become a Super Saiyan," Goku told him.

Gohan's mouth dropped open. Become a Super Saiyan like his father? Was it possible?

"But...but..." Gohan stuttered. "I don't know how!"

"Remember the way you felt that day," Goku said, suddenly very serious. "Remember the pain deep inside. Turn that pain into rage. Harness the rage until you can't hold it anymore, then let it go. Think of it like a dam breaking and letting out all that rage as pure power. You'll know it when you feel it. But it's going to take a lot of work and training to be able to ascend whenever you want to."

"But I'm only eleven years old! You didn't turn Super Saiyan until just a few years ago!"

"You've got tremendous power, Gohan," Piccolo's voice interrupted. "You can do it if you just put your mind to it. We all know you can!"

Piccolo's voice brought back a flood of memories. The Namek's training had been extremely hard, but satisfying at the same time. Suddenly, he was looking forward to this challenge. If he could train himself to become a Super Saiyan, he would have a good chance of stopping the Androids that had robbed him of his friends.

"I'll do my best," Gohan promised. "I'll start training right away."

"That's my boy," Goku said with pride. "Give your mother my love. Good luck, Gohan."

Gohan felt his father's presence leave and the empty night return.