Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Warui No Ou ❯ Differences ( Chapter 19 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

"Where hello there, Gohan," greeted Dr. Briefs as Gohan stepped into the foyer of the Capsule Corporation mansion. Gohan had allowed his senses to guide him here, to the mansion. It wasn't surprising that Gokou was here instead of at home, with his lawful wife. It seemed, when there were few peaceful moments, though rare they were, that Vejita and Gokou had always wanted to spend those moments together. If things had been different, Gohan wouldn't have been shocked if Vejita and Gokou announced they were mates. Of course, things were much different… at least in his world.

He didn't respond to Dr. Briefs' welcome, but instead moved passed him, heading up the staircase. Gokou was up there, training with Vejita… or fucking him. Gohan honestly didn't give a damn what they were doing. Gokou was up there, and that was his prey.

Dr. Briefs watched with a frown on his face as Gohan moved by, heading up the stairs with a determined expression. A hundred thoughts could have run through Dr. Briefs' mind. Was there some greater evil haunting Chikyuu, preparing to strike them all dead? Was that not truly Gohan, but some imposter? Had something horrible happened to someone he knew? They could have rushed through his thoughts in a panicked state, but Dr. Briefs was not a person to think such depressing thoughts. "Must be having a bad day, huh, kitty?"

The black kitten on his shoulder mewed in agreement.

~*~

Vejita grinned madly as he watched the sweat pour off of Gokou's body. It was beautiful, a beautiful sight to behold, a beautiful day, a beautiful situation. Ah, just everything was bloody beautiful. If someone came up to him now, asking how he was feeling, he'd laugh aloud and just blurt it out, he was that damn happy. Gokou was sweating, and he'd barely warmed up. Beautiful… just damn beautiful…

"Come on, Kakarrotto! Keep up!" he exclaimed as he jumped into the air, looking down upon the lower class Saiyajin. He wanted to sing! There should be a radio in the gravity chamber, he mused, making a note to request that of Bulma. Even the horrid music that Bura and Trunks listened to would be satisfactory at this moment. Gokou grinned back up, sensing Vejita's happiness. He didn't care that he was losing this battle… well… maybe a little, but he wouldn't get to angry about it.

They weren't using their full powers. Both of them knew it, and were fairly content. Gokou was so far above Vejita's true power that a true victory wouldn't have been possible, and would have just slowed down the battle. Instead of going all out, only to have Vejita inevitably lose and put the haughty prince in a bad mood for the next couple of weeks, they had agreed to challenge each other. Neither was ascending past the first level of Super Saiyajin status. It was something that both agreed upon. They could push themselves to their limits and provide a challenge without insulting each other or destroying anything expensive and causing Bulma to be in a bad mood for the next month.

Of course, let's not forget the beautiful fact that Vejita was winning this battle!

That was the reason when Gohan stepped through the doorway his mood dropped from the heavens, plummeted on earth, and proceeded in destroying everything in its path. When the door slammed against the wall, Vejita fell to the ground and swung a punch at Gohan.

To his great surprise, Gohan dodged the blow. Blankly, Vejita stared at the young demi-Saiyajin, who stared back with what could only be identified as a mixture of anger and boredom. Vejita was very familiar with that look, because it had been his look all throughout his youth. It was anger… anger with the world, universe, gods. Boredom… boredom with life, with the challenges, with the suffering. He stepped back, eyes wide.

This was not Gohan.

"Gohan! Hi, son! Whatcha doing here? I thought we weren't eating until afternoon? Is it afternoon? Man, time flies, huh?"

"Kakarrotto…" he whispered, stilling. Vejita clenched his fists at his sides, waiting for the inevitable attack, the pain filled scream, the death. He was so very tired of the death, and the battles. It was something he could never accept or admit, but it was the truth, somewhere deep in his soul. Why couldn't there be peace? Why couldn't be permitted just a century or two of happiness, with the only goal in his life to finally defeat Gokou? He could bear the shame of having just one foe stronger than him, but not even more kept appearing every few years, mocking him, driving him further over the edge of sanity…

Gokou, however, was as ignorant as always. "Sorry, Vejita! Guess we'll continue later, huh?" He moved towards the doorway, as if to follow Gohan out, but when the demi-Saiyajin didn't move, Gokou paused, finally realizing something was a little off. "Gohan? Son, what is it? Is something wrong?"

Gohan dared a glance to Vejita, but in that small glance there were a million words exchanged, and one of them was blame. Vejita returned that stare, his eyes filled with confusion. Why was Gohan blaming him? For what was he being blamed?

"Yeah, Kakarrotto, there's a lot wrong," Gohan hissed, causing silence to fill the room. Gohan had called Gokou Kakarrotto. Ah, that said a million and one words in itself. Gokou stepped backwards, looking to Vejita. "Who are you?" Gokou finally demanded.

"Don't even know your own son. I'm so ashamed," Gohan muttered almost carelessly, as if he honestly didn't give a damn about Gokou's thoughts, and he truly didn't. "You know, there are so many things that I've never gotten to ask you about," Gohan said, leaning back against the wall, next to the open doorway, blocking their escape. Vejita didn't doubt that if they tried, Gohan would prevent them from leaving. Gohan looked around absently, judging the battlefield like a true warrior would do, and this sent shivers down Vejita's spine. What was this demon?

"I think it's about time you answered those questions. Let's start with my favorite. Why did you put the fate of Chikyuu in the hands of a child?"

For a long moment, Gokou stared at Gohan in silence. As that moment passed, his head lowered as he stared at the floor in shame. Vejita couldn't help glancing curiously at the Saiyajin also. He wondered why Gokou had passed the task of savior onto Trunks and Goten, but hadn't had time to ask the question during the battle. "Gomen," Gokou whispered, his heart heavy. "Piccolo asked me the same thing before they begin the fusion training. I honestly thought they could do it, Gohan. I did. Trunks and Goten were so powerful, and the fusion doubled their strength. I just… I didn't want the world to depend on me. I was dead. I couldn't be their hero anymore."

When Gokou's eyes rose back to Gohan, he saw complete blankness.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"What…"

"Damn it, Tousan! I want to know why you me, your only son, in front of Cell! I want to know why you let yourself die… I want to know why you abandoned your family… your wife…" Gohan trailed off, staring at his father. "Fusion? Doubled their power?"

Gohan glanced down to his hand and forced his ki upwards so that he would ascend, but nothing changed about his appearance, no golden aura circled his body. This strange power he had… was it connected to whatever gibberish Gokou was talking about?

No, he thought quietly. It didn't matter. No information was worth allowing his father to continue breathing. He could ask Goten and Trunks about the fusion later, and figure out what was going on then. His eyes drifted over to the staring Vejita, knowing that the Saiyajin no Ouji knew, or at least had hints of what was occurring now. In a way, all of this could probably be blamed on him. Vejita had started all this, training Gohan… forcing him to embrace that flame of darkness and rage that had burned in Gohan, causing it to engulf him entirely.

This world though… it was so peaceful… and Gohan was beginning to suspect that something had happened differently here, and that little change at alerted the entire world. Very interesting… Gohan wondered if it could be changed back. He chuckled faintly, shaking his head.

"You just going to stand there all day?" came a question from behind Gokou. Gohan glanced in that direction, seeing Frieza standing there, white tail swaying back and forth. Frieza stared at him for a brief moment before moving towards Vejita, circling the angered and nervous Saiyajin senshi. Against his shoulder Frieza leaned, head resting on Vejita's arm, tail protectively circling the prince's waist. "Ah, how I miss him."

"He's yours for all I care," Gohan replied with a sneer, wanting nothing more to do with the haughty warrior that had sent his life to the bowels of hell.

"What?" Vejita demanded enraged. Gohan ignored his outburst, knowing that his insanity was not shared. "None of it matters," he muttered, eyes turning to Gokou. "Say goodbye, Tousan, Kakarrotto, whoever you truly are. I don't care who you are. Say goodbye."

With that, Gohan unleashed the depths of these uncharted powers, causing the room to tremble, the door to break of the hinges and slam against the far wall, and cause Vejita and Gokou to slide back. He grinned, engulfed by the energy. This was going to be fun…

Somewhere deep inside Gohan's soul, a little nervous voice gazed out of his eyes. Against Vejita and Gokou, the two allied together, there was little chance for success. He knew that, though he denied these thoughts, and in silence he hoped for that very thing. Perhaps they would finally end it all.

~*~

Videl stepped through the doorway into Capsule Corporations, allowing her daughter to drop from her arms. In the foyer she paused as a figure moved to her right. Turning, she offered the woman a smile. "Mrs. Briefs! Good afternoon."

"Well, hello Videl, dear. How are you?"

"Just find, Mrs. Briefs. Do you know if Gohan is here?"

"Why, I believe he is. My honey was just talking about Gohan running in here like something was just terribly amiss. Nothing is wrong, is it, I hope?"

"I don't think so. Nothing apocalyptic, anyway."

Mrs. Briefs laughed, hand against her chest. "Well, that's just wonderful. Would you care for some cookies, dear? I just made a batch for Trunks. He and Goten will probably be by soon. Pan, honey, you want to play with your Uncle Goten?"

"Hai!" chirped the young Saiyajin with a giggle. Videl knelt down and took her daughter's hand. "Sure, you can play, but let's go find Tousan first, okay?"

"Okay!" Pan nodded, following Videl's led. The two moved passed Mrs. Briefs, heading towards the most likely place that Gohan, or any Saiyajin really, would be in Capsule Corporations…

The gravity chamber.

~*~

Finally, she was awake. Dende moved across the bedchamber to stand before Baba. He watched in silence as the small witch sat up, little eyes looking around the room, wrinkle face moist from sweat. "Please, tell me what's going on," Dende begged, sitting on the edge.

"Calm down," Baba whispered, looking over the edge of the bed. Her crystal ball hovered up from the floor, floating above her feet. It glowed for a brief moment before with its shiny surface Dende could see Gohan, his face enraged, his body glowing with blackness.

"Is this supposed to happen?" he questioned nervously. In the hours that Baba had slumbered, a great many emotions had swarmed through him, and Dende had finally decided that it was hopeless. There was no reason to panic, to be overwhelmed by terror or hope. Whatever happened was out of his hands. He could only watch from afar, through a small silver crystal.

"Pay attention," she demanded, lying back in the sheets. Dende watched her quietly before looking back to the crystal. It shimmered as it showed what occurred in some other place, some other time. Gohan's power grew, yet he didn't transform. Still, despise this fact Gokou and Vejita still seemed terrified.

~*~

He could feel them now, sense their ki, but for some reason they were so different… more powerful, and darker. It frightened Gohan as he sat in silence in the dark room, waiting. What happened? He remembered now what had last happened. He'd been half-asleep in his bedroom with Videl, and then suddenly hovering before his father in the sky, and Gokou had looked very angry, yet sad. Then, a strange feeling had claimed him, and he'd fallen unconscious. Now… here he was… in this place that he could swear was Satan-san's mansion.

Goten was approaching, and quickly. All the Dragon Balls had been collected, but for what purpose?

Gohan sighed, praying that Videl and Pan were okay. He paced in silence, back and forth in the room. He'd tried once to escape, but had found himself confronted with Piccolo, and though he had tried, he couldn't fight Piccolo.

Not to mention, there was something different about his powers…

~*~

TBC