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Another Life a Second Chance: Chapter 4
Gohan shifted uncomfortably, under his mother's firm grip. Both her hands were locked on each of his shoulders as she coaxed him to step forward and show off his new ‘look'. The others were actually finding it quite humorous and Kurilyn laughed out loud, while jokingly agreed with Chichi that Gohan looked ‘very handsome.' Gohan flushed and stared at his feet, the sand beneath it, and anything else to get his mind off the humiliation of it all. Arale moved up and, in an attempt of consolation, whispered in his ear, "You don't look that stupid Gohan." For the trip to Namek, all the passengers would be cutting their hair at reasonably short lengths. Kurilyn was left bored having no hair to cut, while elsewhere, Bulma had gotten her long hair cropped to the tip of her chin. It was times like this that Gohan wished he was old enough to make his own decisions. Chichi had insisted his hair be cut neatly into a bowl-style similar to hers. The result had been a mini, male version of herself. Delighted with the results, Chichi went on even further to give the boy a proper outfit to match his new look. Gohan sighed as his mother immediately set out on giving the others instructions for his required "study periods" on the journey ahead. With nothing else to do, he pulled out a comic book he had brought with him and flipped through it. Curious, Arale peeked over his shoulder. "Whatcha read'en?" "Comic," he mumbled, lost in the world of detailed drawings and comical gags. He pointed at the cover which displayed a robot-like creature with a baseball cap labeled "TORI" "This guy makes GREAT comics," he continued. "He's gonna be real famous one of these days." He closed the book carefully and paused before holding it out to Arale. "Here," he said. "While I'm gone you can read this to keep yourself busy." "Thanks!" Arale took the book from him and held it up. "You know... I think I've seen this guy somewhere before..." She looked at the robot-creature with one more time, and then inserted the book into the front pocket of her overalls. "Thanks a lot!" "No problem," Gohan smiled. But then, his expression panicked slightly as he looked from his mother to Arale. "But Arale-chan... Please, PLEASE try and get along with Okaasan!" "Eh, Chichi?" Arale looked at Chichi carefully. The woman was berating Kurilyn for not having brought any special study tapes for Gohan to listen to while Bulma cowered behind the monk. "I'm sure she and I will get on just fine!" Arale's grin was not reassuring. "Geh..." Gohan sweated. "Okay Arale, I'm counting on you!" "Have a nice trip!" Arale waved, the grin still planted on her face. Gohan waved back and silently wondered to himself wether she understood the seriousness of the adventure to come. Slowly he made his way towards the others. ****** The silence between them felt awkward as the airborne vehicle carried the two girls home. Chichi coughed to break it, unsure of what to say to the girl beside her. "So Arale...." She said finally. "When will we be picking up Gachan?" "Oh we don't need to pick her up!" Arale said a little too innocently. "Oh no?" "No! We can call her over right now!" Arale winded her window down and stuck out her head. "Now what are you--" "GAAAAAAAACHAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The air-vehicle wavered and was nearly thrown off course by the thunderous bellow which escaped the little girl's mouth. Chichi struggled to regain control of the machine and breathed a sigh of relief as she managed to set it on path again. Furious, she turned to Arale. "I thought you said you were going to be good!!" She cried out, fearing that the girl was already going back on her word. But just then, the soft chirping of the little winged child from the hospital could be heard. She came into view soon after and flying in through the open window, settled herself merrily on the top of Arale's head. But the girl was staring at Chichi with wide eyes, unsure of why the other was yelling at her. "Demo Chichi..." Chichi shot her a look of daggers. "–san." Arale finished. "All I did was call Gachan. What did I do wrong?" Chichi gave a deep sigh and rested her forehead on the steering wheel. "Arale... It is very UN-ladylike to scream at the top of your lungs like that. You must learn to be quiet, polite and genteel from now on like all the other young girls, wakari?" "Haaiii!" Arale grinned stupidly, rubbing the back of her head as she did so. Chichi shook her head at the ridiculous sight before her, and felt a headache creeping up at the back of her head. Looking at Arale continue to smile, she swore she wouldn't have believed it if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes. A female duplicate of Gokou-san. The more she stared, the faster the headache seemed to come on, so she turned her attentions back to the direction of Mount Paozu, wondering just what other little ‘surprises' the day would bring. ****** "Home at last..." she thought to herself, as fatigue seemed to overwhelm her. After holding the door open for the two smaller people to pass through, Chichi turned to lock the door. She had only taken a few seconds to complete the small task before turning around to see Arale wasting no time in giddily jumping up and down on the living room couch. Feathers were bursting from rips in the pillows created by the weight of the android's body, while not too far away, Gachan sat on the floor happily, nibbling on the leg of a wooden chair. Chichi rubbed her forehead with her hand as she felt another headache coming. Taking in a deep breath she screamed for the two children to stop destroying her house at once. Arale stopped herself in mid-jump and landed roughly on a pillow. Feathers flew everywhere. "Chichi-san. What's wrong?" Groaning Chichi leaned against a wall, cursing her insensitive husband out loud. Surprised by the curse directed at Gokou, Arale climbed down from the couch and approached the woman who had huddled herself into a ball, hiding her face in her hands. "Chichi-san?" She touched the older woman's shoulder lightly and was surprised when she looked up at the android with tears in her eyes. She wasn't aware Chichi COULD cry. Gokou's wife had always seemed so strong and brave, like the rest of her family. Quietly, Arale sat beside her, patting her back in a gesture of comfort. "Please don't cry Chichi-san. We'll try harder to be good. I promise." Rubbing an eye full of tears away with her arm, Chichi looked at the small girl who was trying so hard to comfort her. Maybe she had been judging her a bit too harshly when they first met. She and Gokou were alike in many ways but never, had her husband once tried to comfort her before she thought scornfully. But after a few moments of thought, another thing came to mind. Maybe because... Chichi thought. He hasn't had a chance to? And it was true. The first five years since their marriage had been wonderful. The two of them and Gohan had all lived together peacefully, until that one fateful day that Gokou took Gohan to go meet some of his friends for a reunion at the old turtle hermit's place. She never saw Gohan again until a year later. Blaming Gokou for carelessness with their child, she decided to ignore him when they went to gather the survivors after the battle. Perhaps it was cruel, considering the condition he had been in, but through her eyes her actions were well justified. And then later on, when things looked as though they would return to normal, the whole planet Namek incident had to come up. And now her only dear child had already left to go risk his life again for the sake of the mission, and soon her husband would as well. Suddenly, Chichi realized that, THAT was the reason why she was upset. Not because Gokou had volunteered her to take care of two people she barely knew, but because her husband and child would be gone. Putting their lives on the line again, and there was nothing she could do about it. She dried the last of her tears away with her sleeve and gave Arale, for the first time, a kind look. "Oh Arale, it's not you..." she started, but then added. "Although I wish you and Gachan wouldn't go destroying my furniture. But you must try to understand that I haven't been with my family for over a year now. And after less than a month of being reunited with them, they're already being taken away from me." "Oh," was all the little girl could think to say. And after a moment, "is there anything we can do to help?" Chichi looked up at the ceiling a moment and took in a deep breath. After letting it out she replied. "Just be a good girl." ****** Several weeks had passed since Gohan and the others had left for Namek and Arale and Gachan had gone to stay with Chichi. The three had seemed to be on much better terms since the time they met at the hospital. Chichi actually found herself beginning to enjoy their company and between watching over them and her frequent visits to see Gokou at the hospital. She didn't find herself quite as miserable as she thought she'd be. While in the meantime, despite the fact that he'd been hospitalized for over a month, Gokou's condition had been taking its time in showing signs improvement. Until finally, Yajirobee arrived with Senzu... "Wah! This feels great!!" Gokou laughed at his friend after taking the seed, despite the doctor's disapproval. After trading the hospital gown he wore, for his more comfortable fighting gi, he stretched out his arms, followed by the rest of his body and began performing various katas. Testing out his strength and speed before turning back toward the other man. "Yajirobee! Pass me the rest of the Senzu! I think they'll be needed during the trip to Namek." "What? You're going there?" Kamesennin asked as Gokou took the bag from his friend. "Briefs has been making repairs and adjustments to my old space pod when I was a baby. I asked him to do so last time I saw him. Hopefully it should be ready by now." "You're really taking this well." Yajirobee grumbled in disbelief. "That other guy Bulma told Roshi about is supposed to be much MUCH stronger than Vegita. Do you really think you're up to this?" Gokou simply chuckled in reply and turned to go. He was worried for his friends' safety and the new threat they were facing, but he was also happy. Happy that the hospital's endless treatments and bandages were done with. Happy that he was going on a new adventure. Happy that he wouldn't have to eat any more of the terrible hospital food. And most of all, he was happy that he wouldn't have to take any more SHOTS! He was so caught up in his glee that he didn't realize Arale was there until he nearly tripped over her. "Hoy Arale!" He grinned kneeling down to face the girl, and she met his greeting with an equal amount of bubbly cheerfulness. But then, eyeing the bag in his hand she asked him what they were. "Senzu beans. They have the power to heal and nourish a person in no time." "Ah, that's why you got well so soon!" She smiled, but then frowned after a minute. "You're leaving aren't you?" "Ya," he replied, knowing what she was thinking, even without her telling him. "Chichi will be lonely you know." "That's why I'm counting on you to be with her Arale-chan," the man explained. "I would stay with her if I could. You know that." "Hai..." she replied, her head drooping. "Gomen nasai, it's just, Chichi can be a very scary woman at times." "Heh heh, don't worry about it." Gokou smiled reassuringly. "Just do what she tells you, and try to be on her good side for the time being and you two should get on just fine." "Uhm!" Arale nodded, returning to her cheery demeanor. "And you too Gokou, ganbatte ne!" He chuckled and ruffled the girls hair, before getting up and exiting through the window to the awaiting golden cloud. His destination-- the Capsule Corporation building. ****** Chichi was not pleased to say the least, when she saw her husband's departure from the roof of the hospital. But knowing there was nothing else to do but accept things as they were, she took Arale home and got things ready for dinner. She was actually surprised at herself for taking it all so well, but she recalled that this time she had been informed earlier about what was going on and knew what to expect in the following days. And she wasn't nearly as lonely as she had been the year before. Not with the two kids staying with her now. As the rice finished boiling Chichi wondered just where Arale and Gachan were. The faint sound of giggling coming from outside answered her question and after wiping her hands clean on her apron, she headed out the door to call the two inside. "Arale! Gachan! Gohan yo!" She stepped out of the house and looked around. A short distance away near a tree, she saw the two kids huddled together and hunched over, staring at something while giggling hysterically. "Arale? Gachan?" Chichi called to them. "Nanda kore–UAAH!" She screamed and toppled over backwards as Arale spun around to face the other woman holding something in her gloved hands. Upon seeing what it was, Chichi gave a cry of fright and began backing away from the girl while still on her rear. "Chichi-san, doushita?" Arale approached while still clutching the small pile of dung in her cupped palms. "Unchi is really is lots of fun to play with." She flashed another one of her clueless smiles. "Pakapiki!" Gachan chimed in agreement, as her feathery little wings clapped together. "Would you like to play too?" Too horrified to say anything, Chichi remained speechless until the little girl took another step toward her. "IIE!!! Masaka!! Don't bring that thing anywhere near me!!!" She scampered on to her feet and dashed into the safety of the house. She peeked out one of the windows at the baffled girl, looking at the turd as though it were some kind of monster. Not understanding what the problem was, Arale tossed it aside and ran up to the window, Gachan following close behind in the air. "Chichi-san?" She wasn't quite sure what to say. "Umm... Can I come in?" Chichi looked the girl over once and then screamed from inside, "TAKE OFF YOUR GLOVES!!" Not daring to question her, the girl did so. "Now throw them on the ground and get back in the house! Make sure not to touch anything else while you do so either!!" Without hesitation the two obeyed and as soon as they had reached the front door of the house, Chichi burst out, carrying a pair of metal tongs and plucked up the dirty gloves off of the lawn. "Now quick, one of you start a fire while the other gather lots of dry wood, we have to burn these as soon as possible before they ruin our hygienic atmosphere!" Arale and Gachan could only stare at Chichi in disbelief. ****** "So Senbe-san, how do you think the kids are doing at the Son house?" Midori said as she gazed out a hospital window. "I'm sure they're doing just fine," her husband replied. "Why, I'll bet by now Chichi and Arale are the best of friends!" "I hope so. That woman's temper is quite fearsome." "You should talk," Senbe yawned. ****** Chichi rubbed her nose, after sneezing all of a sudden. Where did that come from? She wondered. "Chichi-san... do I really have to study all this math?" Arale whined. It had been a day since Gokou had left for Namek and already the lady had put the two children in Gohan's room and in the void which marked his absence. She made them study all day and treating them as though they were her own kids. "Paka..." Gachan agreed, and nibbled lazily on the corners of her text book. But she quickly stopped when Chichi's wooden switch suddenly slapped the table in front of her like a lion tamer's whip. "Studying hard trains you mentally, and challenges the mind to think faster and harder. It gives you strength and knowledge," Chichi lectured in her usual nagging tone. " This knowledge will help prepare you for many things to come when you're older, like high school and college, and then of course well-payed and highly respected occupations!" "Then I'll study when I'm older!" the girl decided and pushed back her chair to stand up. "Arale..." Chichi's voice was low and threatening. "Eh," she froze in her place and then after a minute pushed her chair back in place, not daring to arouse the older woman's anger. Now Arale was beginning to understand why the Son men were so frightened of her. "Demo akiaki desu," she pushed herself to say. "You'll thank me when you're a famous scholar along with my Gohan-chan." Chichi nodded closing her eyes and crossing her arms. "Or maybe..." she continued to daydream. "You will be a doctor instead! Since you obviously have no problems touching or rather, playing with disgusting things. Yes, that's it. You'll be a great surgeon, and make a good living by operating on the most important people in the world..." She continued to ramble on as she left the room, not noticing that no one was around to listen to her. When they were sure Chichi was well out of earshot Arale whispered to Gachan. "I don't think I can live like this much longer!" "Piku kakkapi pa!" "Yeah I almost miss Hakase too." "Kippi pa?" "I guess we'll just have to be like this a bit longer okay Gachan?" "Pippa..." "Are you two studying?" Chichi called from downstairs. "Haaaaiiii!" The robot and winged child went back to work and for the next few minutes were silent. After awhile, Arale spoke again. "Why couldn't we have gone to Namek too? Asides from giving Chichi something to do, we aren't of much help by studying this pointless..." despite her glasses, Arale squinted to read the cover of the book. "Cal-cu-lus? What's the point of that?" It wasn't that she had trouble with the math. On the contrary, she could memorize every single textbook Chichi had set out for her within the next hour, without any problem. It was just that she really didn't take any interest in it. To her it was all pointless knowledge simply stored in her complex mechanical mind simply for the sake of being stored there. And even if she did go on and memorize everything, Chichi would just find another volume of books for her to learn, so she'd might as well take her time with these. Remembering the comic Gohan had given to her, Arale took it out and began reading. "Why does this guy look like a robot anyway?" Gachan was about to reply when she suddenly noticed that Arale's whole body had suddenly started shaking. "Kikippa?" She floated out of her seat to get closer to Arale. Suddenly the girl jerked backwards and, to try and stop her chair from tilting over, grabbed onto the stack of heavy textbooks in front of her. But all she succeeded in doing was taking them with her on her rough trip to the floor. Chichi heard the noise from downstairs and came running upstairs. "Arale! Gachan!" She gasped when she saw Arale on the floor, holding her head while Gachan tried in vain to help her. "What on earth happened?" Shakily, Arale got up, one hand still clutching her head. Chichi moved up to her. "What happened?" "Kikyoku... Nameksei..." the girl whipsered, then shook herself out of her trance. "I mean..." "WHAT?! Danger? My little Gohan is in danger? While on a planet thousands of miles away from his mother? Well, that's it! I'm not just going to sit around anymore!" Chichi fumed and began storming her way down the stairs. Arale scampered up after her. "No no! What I meant was that... um..." She tried to think ou the best possible way of phrasing what she felt, without Chichi getting frenzied about it, although she doubted it was possible. "What I meant was... Something bad is going to happen soon in the fights with Gohan and the others." "So my little boy is off, playing fighting games with his delinquent father on some strange planet, when he should be here safe at home, studying under his mother's watchful eye. Well, I'm do something about this!" And she continued her way out of the house. Arale simply stood still scratching her head, trying to figure out what had just happened. ****** "Demo Chichi-san, it'll take me at least another month to complete the new spaceship," Dr. Briefs tried his hardest to reason with Gokou's enraged spouse. "Three weeks at the least!" "You have one week to have it finished, or ELSE!" Chichi's tone did not deceive her temper and Briefs knew better than to try and deny her demands. "Ha... Hai. One week," he said fearfully as sweat trickled down his forehead. "Hmph! Better!" Chichi crossed her arms and looked down at the old man who was absolutely terrified of her. "Well?" she asked after awhile. "What are you waiting for? GET STARTED!" "H-HAI!" The man turned and bolted for his lab to get started on the plans. The ship would be holding three people on the third expedition to Namek. This time the crew would be consisted of Chichi, Yajirobee and the Muten Roshi. Briefs wondered wether such a team could actually succeed in providing help for their much stronger allies on Namek, but then pushed the thoughts aside. He didn't want to think about it. ****** The next few days passed by at an unbelievably slow pace. Chichi spent most of her time nagging at Briefs to move nagging at Briefs to move faster while nearby, the kids managed to find ways of occupying themselves. "I've never seen anything like it," the old turtle hermit muttered as he watched Arale and Gachan poke at pieces of animal feces with a stick. From where he was sitting next to the old man, Yajirobee nodded. "Tell me about it, I don't think I've ever seen a little girl get so excited about unchi in my life." "But still," Kamesennin added. "There's something different about her. Something strange..." Yajirobee was about to say something when suddenly, Arale stood up. The movement was so sudden that it startled the two men and they remained silent as the girl scurried across the grass from where she was, followed by Gachan, up to them Upon reaching Kamesennin Arale began to hop up and down frantically while staring at her clenched fists. Her eyebrows were pressed together giving the impression that she was trying hard to think or concentrate on something. "Daijoubu da Arale-chan?" The old man asked. "Gokou! Gokou!" She began to wave her arms up and down. "Something's wrong with GOKOU!!" "Nan da?" "Gokou! Gokou!" She stopped jumping and held her head in her small hands. "SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH HIM!!!" She cried out suddenly and what looked like a spark of electricity, coursed through her entire body from head to foot. The shock of it all nearly sent Roshi and Yajirobee tumbling out of their seats. "What the hell was THAT?" Yajirobee wondered, standing up. Following suit, Kamesennin moved to help Arale, while Gachan hovered over the both of them, hoping her friend was all right. "You okay?" the turtle hermit repeated. Shakily, Arale nodded before looking up at him. She stared in his eyes, past the sunglasses he nearly always wore. The look she gave was full of sadness, as though she had just lost her best friend. "Gokou's gone." "What?" Kamesennin stared back at her, disbelieving the possibility. "Gokou's dead?" Arale shook her head. "Iie. Not dead, but, but..." She looked up at the shining blue sky. His namesake. "He's gone." ****** On a faraway planet, somewhere within the northern galaxy, two of the most powerful beings in the planet were faced against one another. The first, a white lizard-like creature who's tale had evidently been lopped off was scowling, his eyes piercing the other's with a gaze of sheer malice. The second was a golden-haired warrior who's pure heart had finally been awakened by the rage in his soul. The final battle had reached its climax. The battle to determine who truly was the strongest in the galaxy. "Freeza." The golden-haired warrior's voice was calm, despite his anger. "This is the end. I am going to make it," he balled his fist at the thought of his dear friend Kurilyn before continuing, "so that you never kill another innocent person again!" For the first time in his existence. Lord Freeza felt fear. Fear at the sheer power that he could feel emanating from the golden-haired warrior standing before him. Power emanating from the ‘Monkey'. "You..." he breathed. "How is it you've become so powerful?" The Saiyajin did not reply. Freeza eyes widened at the man called Son Gokou, and realized that Son Gokou was no longer there. There was only a warrior. The legendary warrior which he had ridiculed since the day he'd first heard of it. "Masaka..." His voice was quiet. "Masaka, kisama!" ****** Briefs sighed as his hands busied themselves in entwining and inspecting a coil of wires which were just one of the many links in the space craft's massive engine. The entire ship had been tipped over on its side before and he had to work on repairs immediately. His cat was hung over his shoulder contentedly as he worked. "Haven't you fixed it yet!?" Chichi's shrew voice called out from the base of the ship. "By now Gohan must've gotten into all kinds of trouble! He needs his mother to be with him!" Briefs just scratched his head apologetically and mumbled something before turning back to his work. Meanwhile now sitting by himself at the table nearby, Kamesennin was left to think about things. Arale had said Gokou was gone, yet not dead. Perhaps, perhaps he'd finally pushed himself beyond his limits power-wise. The old turtle hermit was sure his number one pupil's fighting potential had finally reached its peak when the time had come to fight the Saiyajin. It was only a little over a month ago, but it still felt like ages since they had been considered a threat to Earth and all of humanity. And NOW they were finding out that even STRONGER beings out there were jeopardizing not just the lives of themselves, but the entire galaxy as well. Yajirobee suddenly returned to join the old man and took his old seat, while pulling out a canned beer from one of his back pockets. "What's wrong Jiichan?" he asked while sitting down. "You've never looked so serious before." And he was right. For once Roshi wasn't even letting the thought of ‘pretty girls' enter his mind. Serious indeed. From across the lawn, Chichi's voice rung like a high-pitched gong. "Hurry up! Gohan's in serious danger!!" Yajirobee just ignored the woman's constant whining, pulled the lid off his drink and took a chug. "I have a bad feeling..." Kamesennin said after awhile. "About what?" He took a glance at Arale, who had curled up for a nap along with Gachan underneath one of the many trees which decorated the Brief's mammoth garden. Kamesennin then looked back at Yajirobee and replied, "about Gokou." and then continued. "He just keeps pushing himself to become stronger and stronger. This time, I think he's become extremely powerful." "So?" was all Yajirobee could say. "Isn't that a good thing?" But Roshi's face remained grim. "As powerful as he is, Gokou is capable of causing a lot of damage to his enemies... However," he added after a brief pause, "that also means that Gokou himself might receive just as much damage to himself." "Huh? I don't understand?" Yajirobee said bluntly and took another swig of his beer. "You see, Gokou keeps fighting strong opponents, which his how he's gotten so strong himself. But, if Freeza is truly the most powerful being ever, and Gokou tries to best him, then..." He did not finish his sentence. "You really think?" "Ah, maybe I'm thinking too much..." Kamesennin sighed and slowly shifted his gaze back to the little girl nestled soundly underneath the tree. If Gokou did try and increase his strength to Freeza's level, then... there's always a possibility that he'd be consumed by his own power. Shaking his head at the thought the Muten Roshi leaned back in his chair. I think too much, he sighed. ****** The portable Bunsen burner sparked a blue flame as Briefs carefully guided it into molding the metal components into desired shapes. His work was nearly finished a and all he needed to do know was add the finishing touches to the controls unit. But of course, this last task was the most important of all and required very careful deliberation and concentrat-- "AREN'T YOU DONE YET???" Briefs barely caught himself and groaned when he realized the psychotic woman had gone so far as to climb all the way up the four-story ladder, to the high level he was working at, just so she could personally monitor his every movement and scream down his back. "Now, now. Just calm down," he said softly and then gave a short yelp as the lid of the unit suddenly closed down on his fingers. "Aitaa! Ahhh... see what happens?" he chuckled nervously, holding back the tears in his eyes. Chichi growled, her patience was wearing thin. Her baby boy was in danger! And this old fool was telling her to calm down? She wondered briefly what had ever possessed her to let her Gohan-chan go on such a dangerous mission. If anything happened to him now, she'd never forgive herself... The beeping of a small alarm brought her back to her senses, and Briefs commented that someone was entering Gokou's ship. "Let's find out who..." he said as Chichi joined him in peering into an oval-shaped monitor which had unfolded itself from one of the ceiling tiles. The screen buzzed and blurred for a second before the reception began to improve. Two forms eventually began to take shape, and when they finally cleared up, Chichi's eyes widened at one of the familiar figures. "GOHAN-CHAN!!!" She shoved Briefs underneath her and pulled over so she could get closer to the screen. Was she dreaming? She was so happy to see him she didn't even take notice that Gohan was kneeling over a half-dead Piccolo. "GOHAN-CHAN!!!" The second calling of his name, finally got the boys attention and he looked up at his mother. "Okaasan?" "Gohan-chan!" she said for a third time, her eyes were tearing up and she buried her face in her hands. "You're alive! Thank god you're alive!" The boy was so surprised, all he could do was repeat his mother's name. Suddenly Kamesennin pushed Chichi aside to get a look at Gohan. He had heard the commotion and had rushed up to join the others as fast as possible. "Gohan how's Gokou?! Kurilyn ?!" he managed to get in as he battled Chichi for a front view. Gohan's face darkened slightly before he replied, "Otousan's still fighting Freeza... Demo Kurilyn-san... Kurilyn-san has been killed." "Na... Nani da to?" "I can't stay to explain it... I have to go get Bulma-san." And before anyone could say anything else, Gohan turned to exit the ship. Not wanting to lose sights of her child again, Chichi called out frantically to him. "Gohan-chan don't leave! Where are you going?!" "GOHAN!" Kamesennin was now the one shouting. "Matte! We told you to WAIT!!" But Gohan was already gone. ****** "Gohan-chan..." Chichi said softly even after her son had long left. "He said Kurilyn was killed... by Freeza?" Kamesennin wondered aloud. "And Gokou's fighting that monster now." "Gokou-san!" Chichi cried remembering the danger was real for both her son *and* husband. "Oh Gokou-san, please be careful!" As though to answer her, a rumbling noise was heard through the monitor, followed by a bright glow of light. It suddenly filled the entire screen, nearly blinding the people watching from the other planet. "It looks like hell has just broken loose!" Kamesennin commented. Gripped by a panic-attack all of a sudden, Chichi once again climbed over Briefs to get a closer look at the screen. "Gohan-chan! GOHAN-CHAN!" The scaffold which held the three people suddenly began swaying back and forth from the violent movements on top. Eventually it lost its balance completely, while sending its frenzied passengers toppling. ****** Yajirobee looked up from his drink towards the ship, where he'd heard the sudden shouting. "What the hell is going on there?" he mumbled. "N'cha!" The commotion had woken Arale up and had gone to investigate the noise. "What's going on?" she asked. "Hmm... trouble with the spaceship I think." "Sou ka... Well I'll go see if I can help!" And with that she was off, arms spread out on each side of her and running at a speed beyond any human level. Yajirobee watched as she left and then brought his attention back to his beer. He was about to take another sip before something else caught his attention. "Piki poka!" Gachan was smiling quite brightly at Yajirobee as she floated in front of his face. She then set herself on the table he was sitting at and took the can of beer from his hands. With one sip, the can was empty and after she had drained it of its contents, Gachan proceeded to pop the entire can in her mouth and devour it with a metallic "crunch." "Why do I always hang out with such weirdos?" Yajirobee sighed. ****** "Gohan-chan! What's happened to him!?" Chichi was completely freaking out as she hung from a loose rope which had come loose in the sudden commotion. She was staring into the oval screen which had completely lost its connection with the ship on Namek. But Chichi continued to stare into the fuzzy picture, hopeful that the reception would clear up soon. "There are two possibilities as to why they're not responding," Briefs said, his voice calm as he worked things through with the maintenance controls. "One is that something's happened to the ship. Or two, something's happened to the planet Namek, which was disastrous enough to mess up communications." Kamesennin hung nearby, his brow furrowing deep. "What does this mean?" Briefs hesitated a moment. The others weren't going to like his answer at all. ****** Namek is going to explode, thought the Kai-Ou, master of the Northern galaxy. All our hopes are now riding on this one last idea. He had contacted the Kami-sama of earth, letting him know his plan. Use the Dragon Balls to wish everyone Freeza had killed back to life. It was a long shot, but if it *did* work, then all the Nameks would be brought back to life, including the Saichorou which was what they were aiming for. With him alive the Namek Dragon Balls would then be operational, and if he was not mistaking, only two of the three wishes the dragon granted had been used up. The third wish, would be used to teleport all the Nameks and their friends, back to Earth before Namek exploded. Everyone but Freeza. It was a long shot, but they had to at least try. ****** "Eh? Namek's going to explode?" Arale wasn't quite sure she understood what was going on. Briefs had finally managed to get the spacecraft back in order, and when Arale had entered it for the first time, she found Chichi sitting in front of a fuzzy 'TV screen' while calling out her son's name over and over. Kamesennin nodded and then moved up to comfort Chichi. "Don't worry Chichi-san. Gokou can't die, he still has to defeat Freeza!" "Sou da yo, sou da yo," Briefs agreed. "But even if Gokou beats this guy," Yajirobee added upon joining the others, "there's no way he could survive the destruction of a planet." Briefs quickly clamped the man's mouth shut with his hand, fearing what kind of hell Chichi would give them due to the other's statement. "You shut the HELL UP!" Chichi directed at Yajirobee. Her voice was full of anger, as were her eyes. "My Gokou-san can't be dead! He'll be back you'll see!" Her face suddenly dimmed as she sat back in her seat, "he... he has to be..." Arale tapped Chichi's knee lightly. "Don't worry Chichi-san. Everything will turn out alright in the end!" She smiled encouragingly at the older woman despite herself. She still couldn't sense Gokou, but she was sure that whoever was up there fighting Freeza would win. The five of them were so preoccupied by their thoughts that they didn't even realize the sky darkening outside. The only one who did notice gave a resounding, "Kupipa?" ****** It worked! Kai-Ou couldn't believe it had actually worked. "Kaiou-sama?" Yamcha asked, "what happened?" Kai-Ou didn't bother to look back at his pupils, but his words were all that were needed. "Just like I planned." The deceased warriors, Yamcha, Tenshinhan and Chao-Zu began cheering, believing that the danger was finally over. But Kai-Ou quickly reminded them that Gokou was still fighting with Freeza. ****** "Where am I?" Bulma wondered as she inspected her surroundings. One minute she'd been in the commanding seat of Gokou's space craft, ready to depart the doomed planet with her sole-passenger an unconscious Piccolo. The next she was on her feet, standing on soft GREEN grass, in what looked to be a small forest clearing. There were Namekseijin all around her. Suddenly she heard her name being called, and looking up she saw Gohan peek out of one of the tree tops. "Gohan-kun!" she felt so relieved to see he was alright. He hopped down from his branch to meet her and Bulma suddenly remembered the difficult situation he's left her in. "Gohan-kun!" Her tone was now scolding, "how could you make me wait so long? I was about to take leave without you!" Taken back by her words all Gohan could say was, "gomen nasai.." Her anger quickly diminished, Bulma looked around and asked, "where are we? This can't be Nameksei?" Meanwhile nearby, the young Namek child called Dende set himself on healing the still unconscious Piccolo. When it was done, Piccolo's eyes finally openened and he enquired as to where he was exactly. "This is Earth..." came the timid reply. "Nani? Freeza yo?" Dende wasn't sure what to say. ****** Gohan had been surprised to hear his teacher's voice, and ecstatic he ran up while calling his name, but then halted in surprise when he saw Dende. But, hadn't the little Namek been killed by Freeza? Dende happily explained to Gohan that he must have been resurrected, but when the Saiyan asked wether Kurilyn had been as well, his face fell. "Sou da yo ne..." Gohan replied sadly, but then looked up suddenly when he heard the Saichor-Ou's name being called out. "Saichorou-sama!" Everyone gathered around the old Namek, as he brought to their attention that they were all now on the planet Earth. "I'm only going to explain this once, so listen closely," he said carefully, "for at any moment now, I may die." As he explained to the others what happened, another figure close-by was wondering just what had happened. "Where the hell are Kakarotto and Freeza?!" Vegita cursed to himself. ****** The great Namek explained to the others all that had happened. That the Earth Dragon Balls had been used to wish everyone but Freeza an Gokou here. That Gokou refused to leave until he had finally defeated Freeza, even though Namek was going to explode soon. Upon hearing this, the other Namek's became tearful at the thought of losing their beloved planet, and Piccolo scoffed at Gokou. Out of both ridicule for his stupidity, and envy of his power. Throughout all the time they had known each other, Gokou had always managed to stay ahead of the Demon King, and every other one of his opponents for the matter. And despite all his power, he still never failed to think about others first. "He truly is the ultimate warrior," Piccolo commented and Bulma and Gohan had to agree. Vegita then chose this moment to break up their touching scene and make his presence acknowledged. "It's not a wonder that Kakarotto would do such a thing." he remarked in a mocking way. "He wants to fight the strongest the galaxy holds! As do all Saiyajin." He smiled at the thought. Seeing the corrupt Saiyan prince, Bulma wasted no time in hiding herself behind Gohan. "You? You're still alive?" she freaked. "I wish YOU were still dead!" Vegita simply ignored her harsh words against him and replied that it was too bad for her. Kakarotto had become the legendary Super Saiyajin. Nothing would stop him from tasting Freeza's blood at this point. "But even then..." he began to approach them. "Freeza may be killed by Kakarotto, but HE will die from the explosion on Namek! I will be the strongest in the universe by default! How fortunate things have been turning out for me!" He cackled aloud while the others around him gritted their teeth. ****** Saichor-Ou watched as the humans bantered amongst themselves and then question him on Son Gokou. He watched the small boy Gohan on the verge of tears when he replied that he did not know. I was then that something came to mind, and he called forth one of his children. "The child..." he asked quietly. " Have you found the child?" The younger namek replied that they had, but added that since it hadn't been killed on Nameksei, it was still unconscious. "I see..." ****** Two namek children giggled as they chased each other, enjoying the true peace and happiness they'd missed for a long time. Saichor-Ou smiled. "Well, it seems my life has finally come to an end," he said softly. The few who heard his words were startled, and the old namek decided it was time to call everyone together, one last time. He spoke of how happy he was to have lived his life to the fullest and now, he could pass on knowing his people were safe. I was then that a few namek children reported in, stating that the people of Tsu village were no where to be found. Hearing this, Vegitaeta smirked. He wasn't about to let a chance for him to gloat over his power slip up. "Oh that village must have been the one I destroyed back on Nameksei," he stated casually. "Your wish was only to resurrect the people killed by Freeza's men right? I work on my own schedule, someone's made a big mistake." All the nameks could do was glare at him, but then their resentment was put on hold upon the arrival of the Namek Balls which had followed their master all the way to the Earth from their home planet. Saichor-Ou announced that his time had come, and calling forth one of his most trusted and loyal children, he entrusted his special power onto him. The namek, Moori was now the elder. "Sa... Saichorou-sama..." He said quietly, trying to fight the tears which he felt surfacing in his eyes. "Demo..." the old Namek added. "Before I go... I still have, one last favor to ask. Of the Earthlings." he looked up at Bulma and the others. "Shortly after Freeza first began invading Nameksei... A child was discovered, injured. We didn't have time to heal or question it but we believe it's one of your own kind. A Chikyujin." "Chikyujin?" Gohan wondered. "Please, take care of it," he asked them. Bulma, Gohan and Piccolo said nothing, but nodded their reply, and slumping over the old namek let one last smile touch his face. "Peace forever for Namek..." And he faded away. ****** Everyone's eyes were filled with tears, by the time the old Saichor-Ou had faded out of existence. Only Vegita gave his usual ‘don't care' attitude and let himself relax on the grass, as the others mourned their friend's death. Gohan was then suddenly reminded of Kurilyn's death, and his heart fell even lower. "Kurilyn-san..." he whispered, "not even Kurilyn-san can be brought back since he's already been wished back before." Dende replied that this wasn't true. The Namek Balls could grant the same wish an infinite number of times. As long as the person didn't die from natural causes, they could be wished back as many times as possible. At this, Bulma and Gohan's spirits felt lifted with happiness. "Bulma-san! This means we can wish back Yamcha-san and the others back! Kurilyn-san and Chaozu-san too!" Bulma grinned in reply, but then remembered what they'd promised the old Namek before he'd died. "Ano... where is this kid Saichorou-sama was telling us about before?" The new namek leader replied by approaching her, carrying something in his arms. Upon closer inspection Bulma could see, the thing was a little human child clad in greenish blue clothing. A mop of short reddish-blonde hair hid his closed eyes and his face was dirty. "We've done the best we could to heal him," Moori explained. "But he still hasn't waken up." Taking the small thing in her arms, Bulma promised she'd do what she could. "For now," she added, "I guess we'd best return to Capsule Corporation until we can figure out something to do about you guys," she said directing her words at the nameks. "Okaasan and the others are going to be surprised to see us neh?" Gohan grinned. Bulma smiled at the boy and looked from the child in her arms, to the number of Namekseijin which surrounded her. "They'll be surprised alright." ***End of Chapter 4*** |
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