Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Where do I belong? ❯ Chapter 16 ( Chapter 16 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball/Z/GT, it characters, or anything in it; nor do I own any other licensed product/item that may appear throughout this fan fiction piece.

WARNING: RAPE, VIOLENCE/ABUSE, CRUDE SPEECH, AND DEATH!!! You have been warned. Please follow accordingly.

AN: Sorry this took so long. Finals for college and then the holidays were rather time consuming. Then my internet explorer had to go and self destruct and my house computer had a meltdown. After that, my personal pc decided to crash as well. So, two computers down and no story work up. Anyways, here is the next chapter. As I have previously said, the warnings apply and a summary of this and its previous chapter will be given at the start of Chapter 17.

~*~

Chapter 16

Her tears had long since dried; her voice nonexistent, silenced by the stress of her cries to the deaf Gods above and the closed hearts of those within the cabin. Her prone form lay upon the cold hard table, her glassy eyes blankly staring, unblinking, at the wall before her. Her body was numb with pain, her mind numb with torment. Her very innocence was torn from her without a second thought and fed upon as a man with hate filled green eyes moved within her restrained form. His pleasure was taken from her pain, his satisfaction stripping her of her dignity, her innocence, her pride and her self worth.

In the shadows of the room, a pair of obsidian eyes held fast to the actions upon his sister. His eyes were slightly glazed as his gaze remained upon her, searching to lock with her eyes, searching for the familiar connection with the person who had been there for him no matter what. With horrified fascination he watched the defilement of his sister. Despite all the times she had comforted him after his haunting dreams, supported his motivations, made him laugh and made him smile, he was completely unable to help her. All of the power that came with his nightmares, his unknown past, and his double sided mind was stripped from him in moments, all due to a single slender appendage held in the hands of a heartless monster.

As nails mercilessly dug into the soft golden brown fur of his tail, his body was wracked with a paralyzing pain, his eyes glazing over. It was by pure will and devotion that he remained conscious. As much as he hated to see what was happening to his sister, he was forcing himself to watch the events, punishing himself for what he could not prevent.

Cassandra was unable to look at him, only dwell in the pain of her own predicament. A wave of disgust flooded her body as she felt him reach his satisfaction within her. However, relief soothed her body as he withdrew, hope leaking back into her world that the torment and violation was over. As he moved away from the table, straightening his clothes after his violent act, she looked towards her brother. The tearful pairs of eyes locked across the room, a soft comfort waving through her consciousness, tinged with pain at knowing that comfort came at the price of him watching her corruption, helpless to save her. However, the words of their arguing captors cut through the silence falling upon the children's ears. The three remaining members of their group fighting over who should gain a turn for satisfaction in the girls destroyed innocence and the boy's crumbling life.

Gohan's eyes widened with shock as their words fell upon his sensitive hearing. Their affirmations of accomplishments used as chips in their persuasion for the next turn. The argument merely fed to the boy's underlying rage. Stiffly, he made another attempt to escape his captors grasp. The only reward to his cries was another tug upon his weak appendage. Only this time, it came with a final penalty.

White hot pain surged through his blood as a deafening `snap' echoed in the room. Unconsciousness, more demanding then ever, swarmed upon him, attempting to take away his current world. Waves of pain and nausea swarmed his body, all originating from his broken tail. Fiercely, through sheer will and unmatched determination, he forced himself to stay awake. As pleasant as darkness, numbness to the pain and blindness to his sister's corruption, seemed, he would not give in. Instead he forced himself to his feet. Around him, the children's captors watched as the tormented boy rose to his feet. The overwhelming pain was obvious as he was knocked to his feet with a hard blow to his lower back by one of the men who had gained possession of his tail.

Drained of energy, wracked with pain, fighting off darkness, Gohan was unable to make it to his feet. His body ached for his throbbing limb's release. However, with strain, he was able to raise his head to meet his sister's pained and worried eyes. Pushing past his pain, he cracked a smile at her, attempting to reassure her. He knew that there was much more pain to come; if only he could get free, then they would have a chance.

As the argument drew to a close, the man who had held so tightly on the boy's tail won out, being given the `honor' of his free rein with the broken girl. Handing off the golden appendage to his comrade, the brown haired man took his place by Cassandra. Leaning down, he quietly spoke to her, each of his words causing the child to fall farther into her own pit of despair. These words fell solely upon her ears, for her brother's sensitive hearing was deafened with the roar of pain and the threat of unconsciousness. Yet, she gave him no pleasure in a reaction, her glassy eyes continuing to look off into unknown space, not acknowledging the man or his words.

Cassandra barely reacted to the harsh slap that resounded through the room as her newest assaulter glared down at her prone form. Harsh words spewed out of his mouth, attacking her in any way he knew how. To him, she had been broken, incapable to fight him as she had with her previous attacker, Sen. Rather, she allowed herself to block out his words and the abuse he reined upon her as she lost herself in her own thoughts, becoming ignorant to that which occurred around her.

Gohan's onyx eyes dropped to the floor, unable to watch the man as he vented anger and frustration on his sister. Instead, he gave in. He gave in to the overwhelming guilt that he found himself drowning in. He gave in to the pain the wracked his young body. But most importantly, and least notably at that point in time, he gave in to the dark part of his mind, the monster buried beneath the tattered layers of his soul. And thus, he surrendered to that darkness, knowing that one way or another, it would free them on the hell they were currently in.

~*~

The quiet sound of sobs echoed through the room, resounding out into the hallway, disappearing from his advanced hearing as he quietly shut the door, leaving his mate to her grief. Vegeta, the Prince that would never be King, noiselessly exited his residence, taking off into the early morning air. His mind was clouded with thoughts and emotions that remained unseen beneath his cold and hardened façade. It had been a long night, full of enlightenment and tears.

The stories of Gohan had haunted him, the death of a possible true Saiyan warrior stayed at the edge of his mind, eating away at his concentration. Unable to sleep, he had asked for the story of the small warrior from Bulma, immediately resulting in tears. Now, hours later, he few out into the dawn with the full story weighing on his mind. It had shocked him, astounded him, of the truth. On his home planet, the death of a half breed would be nothing, nor would the death of a child, even if it was due to a blood relative. Yet, he had been on Earth so long, he had seen how family was acted out here, he knew of the power the child held.

The child had fought for earth, just as his father had, and used that awesome power to destroy Garlic Jr., power that had been beyond comprehension at that time. Now, with the knowledge of Super Saiyan and the power that lay at his own fingertips, the power was not quite as shocking. Yet, at that time, the three year old boy had actually over powered Kakarott, the worlds first Super Saiyan and, as much as he hated to admit, the strongest being on Earth and possibly the universe. Only a few sparse moments of his life had he been ahead of the Earth raised Saiyan and Vegeta was five years older as well as far more experienced in both battle and training. A mere untrained three year old half-breed had out powered Kakarott without knowing it.

A sigh was lost into the wind as he mindlessly flew into the raising sun. Radditz had been sent to Earth to gather his brother and join up with his fellow Saiyans, possibly teaming up to overcome Freiza. That simple mission had gone terribly wrong. Instead Kakarott had no knowledge of his origin and the conclusion to the task was devastating. That day the child that he had heard so much of had died, lost in something so simple, a mere explosion. It wasn't even a death worthy of his tainted Saiyan blood. And now, all because of the twisted intentions of one of his own race, a son, a warrior, one of his own people had been destroyed, lost so that nothing could ever bring the child back.

~*~

Time slowed, the mere seconds that it took to ruin such an abominable act of defilement put to an end seemed to slow down to minutes. In reality, the End was much faster than the beginning, but it was only the end of the event, not of the suffering or the mental anguish it had resulted in. No, the scars would live on much longer, taking far longer to heal, but the End came rather suddenly. All because of one tiny mistake, a mere slip, and the End came . . . at last. . .

The sharp pains and dire need of unconsciousness had subsided, though the throbbing of his damaged appendage made it's self known with painful persistence. His ears had cleared of the deafening roar of his pain. Now it was the roar of his anger, the hot and dark anger that flowed through his blood, that was spurned on by each blow the sadistic man made to his sister. Each of those painful hits was punctuated with his thrust into her pain weary body. Gohan's nausea at the man's desire for her screams and the fight of the rape had subsided with the coming of anger.

Gohan had seen his sister fall into a pit of silence and despair, unable to fight her way out. The blows were taken without acknowledgement, nothing of her moving by her own will. Her dark blue eyes were barely visible, the pupils were dilated, almost blacking out the blue of her iris, as those glassy orbs stared at the blank wall of the room. The fire that had always sparked within her was gone, snuffed out on that fateful morning. And in all this, Gohan had seen. His young eyes had watched as she was raped and battered, taken in her anguish, felt her ki slowly disappearing. She was dying from the inside out.

And in one moment, it all changed.

A slew of curses directed towards Cassandra flew from the current rapist's mouth, his actions spurned on by the supportive cries of his comrades. His leader merely leaned against the wall, watching with a stony countenance. Yet, this did not hinder the man's actions. With each thrust and blow to the girl, he received loud jeers from his audience. Excitement was flowing through the room as he took his satisfaction.

The two men that cheered on his actions continued their own abuse towards the girl, their own anticipation growing at the scene before them. The two became lost in their own excitement, lost in a haze of energy that flowed around them. Their cheers grew louder and their exhilaration at the horrifying actions growing with every vile act. Their minds were enveloped with their own demented thoughts, carried away by the actions performed in front of their eyes. Their own darkness consumed them, leaving them vulnerable to the world outside of their personal darkness, unaware.

For Gohan, the sensation was rather odd. For the majority of the morning, a tightening pressure had dug into his golden tail, causing the appendage to slowly go numb. Then after it had been broken, the pain had been a constant throbbing, not allowing any other feeling to truly permeate his senses. Yet, one feeling did manage its way through. A feeling he hadn't believed he would feel anytime soon.

Slowly, the pressure on his extra appendage lightened until it was no more. Energy surged through his blood as his body regained its efficient standard once again. Shocked, Gohan felt as his body returned to a normal state, slightly sore from the abuse he had suffered and his tail still feeling as if on fire. But all of this was dulled by the return of his energy.

As the shock wore off, Gohan looked around the room, seeing that no attention was being paid to him. A twisted grin appeared on his youthful face, displaying the hardened warrior that his heart had transformed into. His attention immediately gravitated to his sister and her current abuser. With a deep growl, he launched himself into the air, tearing the man away from his sister. Immediately, Gohan took up combat stance in front of the abused girl, his tail painfully wrapping itself around his waist for its own safety. A smirk played upon his lips as he took in the shocked faces of those around him. His dark eyes met with his sister's, locking, displaying his determination to save them and prevent any harm from coming to her again.

With a deafening roar, Gohan summoned his strength, his dark battle-ready side calling forth the golden abilities that would make sure that all of the torment would end. Golden light surrounded his childish form, his obsidian eyes transforming into a swirling jade. All around him, the men that were advancing on him were blown back by the energy that radiated from him. Fury roared in his veins, drowning out any pleas of humanity that his lighter half cried for. With that, he launched himself at the men who had tormented him and committed unspeakable crimes toward his sister, intent on ending it.

With his blinding speed, Gohan made his way to the largest man in the room, the one that had helped hold his sister down on the table. Disappearing from their human eyes, he again reappeared in their vision, his right leg poised in mid air. On the floor, the now headless body lay twitching as blood fell from the large wound, painting the ground red. Slowly and calmly, Gohan's leg returned to the ground as he fell into his normal stance once more. As he looked up, his single bang fell from his face, revealing his hardened deadly eyes to his next victim.

Once again he blurred from their vision. The dark skinned man looked about the room, his body shaking with fear of what he had seen. In mere seconds, everyone in the room watched as he fell to the ground, coughing up blood. Gohan stood behind the man, his fist protruding through the man's midsection. Slowly, he retracted his fist, allowing the man to lie upon the ground, a river of red flowing through his open wound and mouth.

His dark jade eyes ran across the length of his blood covered arm, examining every inch of his stained flesh. The two men left merely stared at the boy, horror covering their faces. They had just seen their two comrades destroyed, the stench of their blood coating the room heavily. Gaining his desire of self preservation, the brown haired man moved to attack Gohan. Dodging the man's every attempt, a deep smirk set upon Gohan's face. With controlled strength, Gohan attacked him, each blow damaging the man beyond comprehension for the human mind.

Stepping back from his newest assault, Gohan's head cocked to the side, taking in the bruised and battered form before him. The rapist was nearly beyond recognition, his hair darkened by the blood that leaked from his destroyed face. Ribs jutted out of their broken confinement, his arm twisted behind him, the limb at an impossible angle. One of his legs lay crushed, flattened by Gohan's extensive strength. A twisted grin appeared on his youthful face as he leaned over the man. "You will never hurt anyone ever again . . ." His voice was deadly quiet, the whispered words carrying more weight than any yell could have. The man, barely alive on the cold floor, nodded, hoping to save his life with this agreement. "And I know this, because you will not live to see the light of another day . . ." With those words, Gohan held the palm of his hand out, a golden ball of energy forming slowly. Disregarding the man's feeble attempts to stand or get away, Gohan released the blast which exploded immediately upon contact.

Finally, Gohan turned his attention to the emerald eyed leader, Sen. The two pairs of green eyes locked in a battle for dominance. Sen had watched the downfall of his comrades with a rather passive face, only his eyes betraying the turmoil that raged within him. He had just witnessed his partners-in-crime fall before a child, one who encompassed shocking abilities and amazing strength. He could not comprehend the child's power. He had spent years studying the martial arts, his wealth and power buying whatever he could desire. If those means would not deliver his wants, then he merely took them, like the boy's sister. Now he knew, you could not mess with this boy, but there was no turning back now.

Gohan stared at the man who had led the attack on his sister, the man who had stolen Cassandra's innocence, the man who was the cause of the pain and suffering that he and his sister were going through now. Unsatisfied blood lust pounded in his veins, his blood running hot. His desire to avenge his sister overrode anything that could have interfered with his course of action now. The monster behind his power had taken over, Gohan was no more.

Stealthily, Gohan strode up to the ebony haired man. Cocking his head to the side, he spoke, his words cutting like a razor as he asked the one question that could have very easily driven him insane. "Why?"

Sen merely stared at the boy. He had figured on a torturous death, not questions. Taking this as a chance to survive, he decided to play the boy's game. "Why what?"

Gohan's voice deepened, the force behind his words causing it to come out semi-hysterical. "What do you mean why what? Don't you see what you have done? Why? You ask me what I mean??? I am asking you why! Why would you do this? Why did you have to do this?" His arms widely waving towards his sister, still bound to the table, her dark eyes clear, watching them intently. "And why her? Why my sister???"

Sen knew then that there was nothing he could do. The boy in front of him was a child, but he knew that he would be dead, no matter his answer. The youth's questions raced through his head. Asking himself those questions, he realized the truth. There was no answer. "There is no reason, no answer to your questions boy. It is not a matter of why I did what I did, but a question of how. I did it roughly and forcefully, tearing her insides as I pushed myself into that girl you call your sister. Look at her, can you deny that she is one hell of a piece of ass. Don't you want her?" Sen knew of his fate, but he would push the child's buttons. "Go ahead, take her and ravish her. It doesn't matter much anymore; she is nothing but trash now. Mere scraps left for the taking. If you want, finish it. I won't tell."

Gohan had known anger, he had known rage, but even then, the fury that swept through him was indescribable. Not only had the man defiled Cassandra, but he was proud of it, soliciting her to him. Blind with hate, Gohan wrapped his hand around Sen's throat before levitating into the air. Forcefully, Gohan threw the green eyed man to the ground. The flooring collapsed beneath the force of the throw. Gohan gazed at the form that tried to stand, caught in the rubble of the stone foundation and wooden floor. Slowly landing on the ground once more, Gohan approached him, the soft click of his fighting boots echoing through the still room.

His black boot, covered in the blood that had spilled on the floor that day, gently pressed upon the man's throat. Lightly, Gohan applied an increasing amount of pressure as Sen writhed beneath him, attempting to get free of the slow crushing force of the child's boot. The two males locked eyes, one panicking green set pleading with cold and inhuman jade orbs.

Cassandra had watched her brother bloody the room, ruthlessly killing the group of men that had caused such chaos in their lives. Though she should have felt anticipation with Gohan's every sadistic move, Cassandra merely felt sick, each death burning its way deep into her heart. She would never forget this day, not because she was raped, not because of the violence against her, but because it was the day that so many things had died. It was not just her innocence killed, but her brother's. For this time, Gohan was destroying, uncaring for anything, only for the vengeance.

Coming around from her shock, she watched as the man who had caused it all lay upon his back in a pile of rubble that had once been the floor. Her brother stood over him, a malicious smile looked incredibly wrong on his young face. Instead of the friendly obsidian orbs that had always shone with laughter and love, hard green eyes stared, transfixed on the slow death of her initial rapist. Unable to take it anymore, she forced herself to speak, her voice rough from the abuse to her vocal cords. "Stop!" Unable to yell, her voice cropped to a pathetic whisper, her tears making themselves known on her cheeks as well as in her voice. "Please, Gohan, Stop . . ."

Gohan looked up, shock plainly written upon his face. His jade eyes lightened as he looked upon her struggling form. Looking down, he stepped back in shock. All around the room he saw nothing but red, the red of the blood he had spilled. His nostrils were heavy with the overpowering sent of blood. Stumbling, Gohan made his way to his sister. Picking up the blood covered knife, he sliced through her bonds, freeing her of her restraints.

Gently, Gohan reached out to his sister, his skin brushing against her. To his dismay, she immediately pulled away from him, her face filling with fear, her eyes haunted with the day's occurrences. Seeing her frightened reaction, Gohan immediately pulled away, backing up against the wall, his wide eyes never moving from her quivering form. She, who should have trusted him most, pulled away, flinched from his touch. Large tears filled his eyes as the stone jade leaked to deep obsidian, his gold hair bleeding black. Slowly, he approached her once more, speaking in a soft and soothing tone.

"Cass . . . it'll be okay. I'm gonna get you out of here now . . . please?" At this last word, such desperation poured from his voice. "Let's get out of here," he said as he moved to pick her up from the cursed table. At first she flinched, but before he could move away, Cassandra grabbed a hold of his arm, her distressed midnight orbs calling for him to stay, to help her get away from the hell they were in.

Gently, Gohan lifted his sister into his arm, cradling her battered form to his chest protectively. "I'm sorry Cass . . . I'm going to fly us out of here, so if I hurt you, I'm sorry, but we need to get out of here now." A serious look crossed his face as he surveyed the room once more. Two of the men were dead, one was on his way, and the final one, the leader, glared at them as he picked himself up from the debris he had been laying in.

Calmly, Gohan walked out of the door, into the morning sun. Slowly increasing his energy, he formed a safe barrier around them so that the wind would not bother his sister as they flew. Moving into the air, Gohan paused, looking back at the cabin. Sen's face immediacy appeared at one of the windows, glaring at their forms in the sky. With his advanced sight, Gohan was able to see Sen's mouth move as he spoke, the voice left in the morning winds.

"I will be back . . . one day . . . for you and for her . . ."

Anger once again surged through his body. Silently, Gohan concentrated on forming a ball of energy. Not quite sure of what he was doing without allowing his blood thirsty side to take over, Gohan launched the energy at the cabin. However, instead of just a ball of energy, he unleashed a steady beam of silvery blue energy. At amazing speed, the light streaked across the sky towards the cabin, detonating upon impact. Several explosions rocked the land, debris shooting out into the wind. The energy barrier around the two young teenagers disintegrated any that headed their way.

Without looking at his sister, Gohan rose higher into the sky. Clouds of smoke were now billowing from the destroyed building. Staring at the demolished land, Gohan whispered a few words which echoed into the silent morning. "Now . . . it is over . . . for now . . ."

With that, Gohan streaked through the morning sky, intent on gathering their things at the campsite and immediately moving to another location, one far away from the horrors of that day.

~*~

Behind Vegeta, the sun had risen, painting the sky in pinkish hues of the dawn. Sailing through the skies, the Saiyan Prince lost himself in his thoughts of what could have been. It was rather pointless to think of things that could never be changed, but for one of the few times in his life, he felt guilty. It was one of his own that had destroyed the child and the amazing power that he possessed. It was by his own order that Radditz had come to Earth, intent on finding his brother and bringing him back. Blame also went to Radditz who had pulled incredibly stupid stunts. Muttering underneath his breath, Vegeta cursed the softness he was showing, blaming it on `the onna and the brat.'

Vegeta's attention was immediately pulled from his thoughts to the feeling that had been bothering him for most of the morning. Stretching out his senses, he searched for what could be bothering him. Finding nothing that interested him, he pushed them farther. Picking up the meager human kis, he found one weakening and then felt two disappear. Right as the two disappeared, a rush of wind slammed into him, knocking him to the ground.

Cursing his lack of concentration in staying in flight, Vegeta once again took to the air, intent on discovering what had happened. It wasn't so much that the pathetic earthlings had died, but something was out of place about it. Something was slowly eating away at the edge of Vegeta's mind, slowly driving him mad. There was something amiss about it and he was determined to discover just what it was. [1]

~*~

Gohan's feet lightly touched down onto the fertile ground far away from the decimated cabin. After gathering their things at their campsite, Gohan immediately used all of his power to relocate quickly. A nagging feeling on his senses had him scanning the area, searching for what was bugging him. Finding a rather large ki full of turmoil and anger, Gohan's heart raced. He was in no condition to fight, barely fighting of unconsciousness in order to get him and his sister to safety. Looking at her, he knew that she was much worse off and guilt ate at him. He couldn't protect her . . .

Lowering her tired form to the ground, Gohan immediately set up camp, fighting the blackness the threatened to consume him with every step. Fixing a tent for his sister, he laid his own sleeping back outside of it, intent on making sure nothing got to her again. A small blast of his energy sparked the fire. It may have been morning and summer, but a deep chill had settled on the two. Even the fire, which raged with steady warmth, could not chase the cold away from them.

Once their camp was set, Gohan grabbed the first aid kit and hesitantly stepped towards his sister who was wrapped tightly in a blanket. She had not moved from her spot, her glassy eyes gazing out upon the crystal clear lake that lay close. "Cass . . ." he quietly called. As she turned to him, her eyes immediately fell upon the medical equipment. Scooting away, she quickly crossed her legs, fear coating her face. "That cut . . . it needs to stop bleeding and we have to make sure it doesn't get infected. Please Cass . . . let me help."

Slowly approaching her, he took his seat beside her quivering form, opening the kit. Pulling out what he needed, he wet a rag with the water he had already heated in the fire. Locking eyes with his sister, he poured his reassurance to her, hoping to calm her. "Cass . . . this is going to hurt. But we need to clean it and close it."

Pulling back the blanket from her chest, he let no shock or horror cross his face. Instead, he brought the wet material to the cut, slowly cleaning the blood from the skin. Each time it touched the wound, Cassandra winced, tears of shame and pain sliding down her face. Once the skin was washed of the blood, Gohan's eyes took in the cut. Grimacing, he noticed just how deep it had been. In some places he could almost see the bone, in other spots torn flesh hung from the jagged incision. Her blood, disturbed by his actions, once again leaked from the wound.

One of his hands immediately reached to steady her quivering form as he brought out the spray of antiseptic. Once seeing the spray that had been used so many times for their scratches from spars, her eyes tightly closed, bracing herself for the pain that she knew was to come. As the spray hit her wound, Cassandra forced herself not to scream, instead, she found herself biting her lip as her brother took care of the knife wound.

Gohan steadily applied the liquid spray, making sure that it had covered the entire wound, hoping that infection would not set in. Once thoroughly coated, Gohan put away the spray, gently washing away the blood that had escaped once more. Reaching into the pot of steaming water, Gohan withdrew a long needle. Cassandra's eyes widened but she remained braced. At that moment, Gohan was thanking his mother for all of the training they had received. After numerous lectures on their safety, she had finally showed them how to take care of almost any wound they could receive.

Halfway into the stitching, Cassandra could stand it no longer, finally falling into her own pit of darkness. Gohan immediately allowed her limp form to lie down as he finished his work. Once done, he applied a cream made to fight infection and help healing before placing the bandages. The cut, extending from her shoulder junction to almost the center of her throat, following her collarbone, could have killed her. Luckily, it hadn't.

His eyes drooping, Gohan carried his sister into her tent. After dressing her, he slipped her into her sleeping bag, exiting the tent and zipping her in. Unable to fight it any more, Gohan was able to carry himself to his sleeping bag before, gratefully, falling into the darkness that had threatened to consume him for the majority of their day.

~*~

Vegeta's sharp eyes ran over the scene. What had once been a mountain cabin was now nothing but scraps of wood and ash. Faintly, Vegeta could find the trace amounts of ki that had caused the explosion. The ki was unidentifiable to him and this was probably one of the more dangerous things about it. Stretching his senses to the max, Vegeta attempted to find the culprit, knowing that their energy level would have had to be far higher than the others. Instead, he found only the average kis of humans, excluding those of the Z-senshi and a few slightly higher ones. [2]

With a last glance back at the rubble, Vegeta shot into the air once more. The mystery was still unsolved, but he had this slight feeling that he would discover just what it had been that day. For better or worse, he would find just what had been hiding in the veiling shadows of the forest. He would, one day, discover that missing link. And something, deep within him, told him that when he did, it would change the course of their lives as they knew them.

~*~

[1] Some people might call this a sixth sense, or in a DBZ it could be a seventh sense seeing as they do have ki sensing abilities. Vegeta can sense that something is missing from the natural balance of things. However, due to the ki blocker that is on Gohan's dog tags (that he never takes off), his ki is missing . . . aka a missing link. The fact that his ki is much greater than that of any humans is setting something off in his head, acknowledging that something is missing. One wouldn't feel such a sensation with that of an ordinary human because humans average something like a 2 to a 5.

For those wondering why he's feeling this `missing link' when no one else has, here are my reasoning. Vegeta was raised differently from anyone else in the anime, growing more and more focused with his body and senses. Even though he depended on a scouter, he is a more concentrated fighter in the series. His style and abilities note this. Saiyans (who to my guess have ape like genetics) have advanced senses and (in this fic) more animalistic tendencies. Animals themselves have a great inclusion into the feel of nature, making them more in tune to the rights and wrongs of their land. Thus, the feeling Vegeta gains is derived from his attention being focused on the particular area searching for something he can not feel by his ki instincts, instead, it is another instinct that is bothering him with the `missing link.'

[2] Slightly higher ones are general martial artists. For those who are wondering why Cass's ki is not sticking out, here is your answer. Yes, her ki would be higher than the rest because she has been training with Gohan for all of her young life (or most). Now, with her ability to control her energy and fly, her ki would be much more noticeable to those searching for it like Vegeta was. But, at this time she is injured and/or unconscious (if not close to it). So, her ki is dampened from is usual heightened state.

~*~

SNEAK PEEK: The next chapter is pretty much written, but needs major editing. Here are unedited clips from what I've got. The next chapter will also have the summary for Chapters 15 and 16. Enjoy!

"And then, it happened. Gohan, as usual, had asked his sister if she was okay. Her response, as always, was a simple `I'm fine.' By this time, Gohan's patience had worn thin and this was the last shred he had. Instead of the calm conversation he wished to have with her, he exploded."

"Brother? No. That is what you are not. You are something my parents decided to take in, some freak that we can't get rid of."

"Only a few times before had he ever seen such a transformation, each time had ended at a relatively destructive end. It was now that he understood the feelings deep within him. He had always felt as if something was missing, and since the merge, he knew just what it had been. He had known the truth."