Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ The Chosen One ❯ Chapter Nine ( Chapter 9 )

Chapter Nine

"Okay, guys, strap yourselves in," Bulma said, hard at work at the controls. "We don't know what's down there, so we could be in for one heck of a landing."

"All I hope is that the landing is smoother than the two you made on our way to Namek," Krillin said.

"Maybe if you shut up, I'll do a better job!" Bulma snapped irritably. "Hey, wait a second . . . this planet has no surface!"

"Smooth move!" Vegeta exclaimed. "You go in for a landing on a gas giant!"

Suddenly, something on the spaceship's sensors caught Bulma's attention. "Hey, look at this! This planet is inhabited!"

"That's absurd!" Vegeta shouted. "No gas giant - unless - call up a star chart!" However, at Vegeta's words, a star chart hologram had been projected from the side of the bridge. Vegeta zoomed in on their location. "Aha! That explains everything!" Vegeta turned toward everyone else. "We're about to make a landing on the planet Quarr. Quarr is a gas giant with a liquid krypton outer core and a solid graphite core. This is the only known gas giant in the galaxy to support life. The Quarrans are an avian race able to withstand extreme atmospheric pressure, and they are courteous to aliens. One thousand years ago, they began constructing cities that could float in the sky at standard atmospheric pressure."

While Vegeta had been talking, Gohan had pulled out his periodic table and found krypton. "Hey, wait! What is the average temperature of Quarr?"

Bulma checked one of the scanners on the control panel. "It looks to me like it is about room temperature, why?"

"According to the periodic table," Gohan said, "krypton is a gas at room temperature. Why is the krypton on Quarr liquid?"

"It's because of all the pressure," Bulma said. "You know how the oxygen in cigarette lighters is liquid? It's because it's under heavy pressure. The molecules are pressed so tightly that they act like a liquid rather than a gas." She checked her radar. "Okay, we have clearance to land! Buckle your seat belts!"

As the space travelers descended from the spaceship, a group of Quarrans came onto the platform to greet them. They had broad, muscular bodies and looked humanoid except that they had leathery wings protruding from their shoulders and their feet were webbed. They were dressed in white robes. "Greetings, friends," the lead Quarran said. "I am Lapan, and I will be your guide to the Quarran city of Quiln. May I ask what brings you to our planet?"

"We have been searching for something," Piccolo responded.

"And what would that be, Mr. Namek?" Lapan asked.

"We're looking for a-" Piccolo began, but his statement was cut short by a piercing scream that came from outside the hangar. The Quarran welcoming committee ran out of the hangar, followed by the space travelers. Outside the hangar, a small group of Quarrans were surrounded by a gang that wore black jumpsuits and masks.

"Oh, no!" Lapan exclaimed. "It's the Wraiths!"

"I beg your pardon?" Krillin asked.

"The Wraiths are a gang on Quiln," Lapan said. "They are wanted on charges of general mayhem."

Gohan clenched his teeth. "Scoundrels!" he exclaimed. Without warning, he threw himself at the gang. "Hold it!"

"Yeah, what do you want?" one of the Wraiths demanded.

"I want you to leave those people alone, or else!" Gohan exclaimed.

The Wraiths broke into a chorus of laughter. "Yeah, who's going to stop us, kid?" one of them shot back. "You?"

"You'd better believe it!" Gohan shouted. In an instant, five Wraiths fell to the ground, unconscious. Gohan had knocked them all out, but he moved so fast that it was impossible to tell that he had moved. A couple of seconds later, only two Wraiths remained standing.

"All right, now you've done it, kid!" one Wraith shouted. "BOSS!"

From behind a building, a large, black Quarran with eyes that glowed red appeared. "Hey boss, this punk thinks he can take us down!" on Wraith said. "He knocked out everyone else!"

"Is that so?" the boss said. "Well, he'll have a hard time against me!"

"That's what you think!" Gohan exclaimed. "My power level is billions of times stronger than yours!"

"This is not a matter of power levels," Boss Wraith said. "You will not be able to touch me. Observe." He walked over to one of the Quarrans and put his hand in the Quarran's face. The Quarren screamed and melted into a puddle of liquid. "You see, any life form that touches me is liquefied."

Gohan was burning with rage. "How dare you take someone's life in such a manner!" he screamed. "You have made a mistake! I don't need to touch you to get rid of you!" Gohan powered up and began firing energy blasts from his hands. The energy made a dome around Boss Wraith. Gohan pulled back, forming a ball of energy in his right hand. "Masenko . . . HA!" The ball of energy hit the dome and caused it to erupt in a pillar of energy. Suddenly, the energy began collapsing on itself and imploded. Boss Wraith was still standing there.

"Why, thank you," Boss Wraith said. "I was quite hungry, but your attacks satisfied my appetite. Now, do you have any last wishes before you become a puddle of goo?"

Gohan reached back to grab his sword, but a hand was placed firmly on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Android 16. The android walked right up to Boss Wraith.

"No, 16!" Gohan shouted. "What are you doing?"

Boss Wraith laughed and put his hand in Android 16's face, but 16 grabbed Boss Wraith's arm and twisted it so that it was pulled right off of his body.

Boss Wraith gasped. "How . . . ? Why were you not liquefied?"

"Though I may look like it, I am not an organism," Android 16 said. "I am an android." Then, Android 16 punched right through Boss Wraith's chest. Boss Wraith collapsed to the floor, dead. Android 16 looked up at the last two Wraiths. The Wraiths looked at each other, then got down on their knees in surrender.

The space travelers, escorted by Lapan, arrived in the governor's office. Lapan bowed and said to the governor, "Sir, these people are immensely powerful. The youth and the tall one with red hair singlehandedly captured the Wraiths and killed their leader."

Governor Supan's eyes widened in surprise. "You killed one of the most dangerous beings on the planet?" Android 16 nodded. "How can you people be so powerful? I can understand the Nameks being strong, but aren't the rest of you humans?"

Gohan shook his head. "No, only these three-" he pointed at Krillin, Tien, and Yamcha- "are humans. These three are androids, and Siber is of the same species as Frieza. These two - Raditz and Vegeta - are Saiyans."

The governor was amazed that an inhabitant of Earth knew so much about alien species. "Well, what about you, son?"

"Well, I'm a half-human, half-Saiyan," Gohan said. "Right now I'm one of the most powerful people in the galaxy, or so I'm told."

"A Saiyan and a human . . .? Amazing!" Supan looked at Raditz and Vegeta. "I assume one of these is your father? Or is it Nappa?"

"No," Gohan answered. "My father was a Saiyan that had escaped Frieza's knowledge. He was sent to destroy Earth, but he forgot when he lost his memory. In fact, my father was the Saiyan who defeated Frieza."

"Well, then, may I ask of you a favor?" Supan asked. "We've been having trouble with a certain group of aliens. They have constructed a floating factory that hovers about half a kilometer above the krypton outer core of this planet. They are polluting the atmosphere and they occasionally come up to this level to cause trouble. We have tried to stop them, but they are just far too strong for us to handle. Perhaps you can help us."

"These aliens," Piccolo began, "what do they call themselves?"

"Uh . . . I believe they're called oxen?" Krillin stifled a laugh.

"Do these aliens have four arms, mushroom-like heads, and a species-wide fixation with evil?" Siber asked.

"Um, I don't know about the entire species being evil, but yes."

"The Roxians!" Gohan exclaimed.

"What would they want here?" Siber wondered.

"Well, they want to take over the entire universe, don't they?" Gohan answered. "They're probably on every planet now . . . . Oh, no! Earth!"

"Relax, Gohan!" Piccolo interrupted. "If they were on Earth when we left, we would have felt them!"

Gohan did not respond. Instead, he looked at the governor. "We accept your offer, but we will not be able to survive the atmospheric pressure at that level."

Supan opened a closet, and inside were four white suits. "I have some pressure suits for alien visitors, but I only have four."

"We understand," Gohan said. "Well, I have to go, considering I'm the strongest and the one with Testament, but my three companions . . . hmmm . . ."