Ascension 18: Call To Destruction

  “Gohan,” his father said. “Do not approach me.”

  Gohan had this same dream just about every night. He was standing inside a strange chamber that seemed to stretch onward forever. The surface of the chamber was a dark gem like onyx where shadows of different people flowed along it. It had an almost liquid-like quality that fluctuated with every second, as if the matter couldn’t decide if it wanted to be solid crystal or dark water. Gohan could see his own reflection in it.

  Pillars of white light flowed from the floor to the ceiling in which Gohan found the faces of old foes he’d faced. Captain Ginyu as well as members of his squad raced along the surface. Saiyans like Raditz and Nappa could be seen as well, glaring at him. However, while their appearance brought back horrid memories, what scared him was the appearance of his father.

  It was the strangest thing Gohan had ever laid eyes on. It was a white silhouette in the perfect shape of his father, like his shadow had been bleached a blinding white. But that was not even what was drawing Gohan forward.

  And moving along the surface of his body were the horrified expressions of those in agony. Their eyes swimming across the white silhouette were widened in terror and their mouths agape in pain. Gohan recognized these expressions as those of people who had been stricken with great pain. Those who had not only been unjustly murdered but those who witnessed the lives of those they loved be destroyed by evil. He had seen in it his friends die against the Saiyans and the Namekians killed by Freeza and his soldiers. And yet their cries of vengeance were a magnet to him.

  “Finish this world,” one woman whose face swam across his father’s chest cried. “Finish this galaxy so no one will suffer like we have.”

  “End the tyranny,” a man whose face covered his father’s blank one screamed. “Stop the oppression. They are…all guilty.”

  “No more evil!” a child whose face traveled along his father’s arm said. “Evil needs to be eliminated! No matter what it takes!”

  “Destroy the remainder of the galaxy Buu prevented us from touching!” another said. “Do it so we may be rid of evil forever.”

  Gohan had to step back to head his father’s warning, as he felt his body was fighting against him. The boy longed to touch the faces screaming toward, wishing to gain the power they offered. And as much as Gohan shook his head, their offer was like honey to a starving man.

  “Do not do this, Gohan,” his father’s voice called out from the silhouette. “The Trampled Innocence wishes for you to be their new host. If you do…there will be no force powerful enough to stop the slaughter they would carry out using your body. This power is not something you want.”

  But it was. It really was. Gohan grinded his teeth, wincing in pain, trying to not look at the faces as his eyes were strangely drawn to that of the victims’. He had secretly wished for power enough to shake the universe many times.

  The first was when Raditz kidnapped him. He was trapped in the Saiyan’s space pod as he watched and heard his father beaten mercilessly. Gohan could only sit in the machine and panic at the peril happening. Then he became so furious, he attacked Raditz and wounded him enough that his father was able to hold down his evil brother for a mortally wounding attack.

  The next was when Nappa killed Piccolo. After the Namekian told Gohan how much he cherished him and how the boy changed the once evil man, he gained a love for him he could not even share with his mother. And Gohan attacked Nappa with an attack that hurt his arm.

  The next instance that he could remember was when he kicked Dodoria to save Dende, ignoring Krillin’s advice to hide. After that Gohan could barely control himself, fighting enemies with supreme rage, wishing with all his might to erase them from existence. He was terrified but in a different way than before.

  He was terrified not that he would die but that he would never take revenge on the monsters responsible for turning into a living nightmare. His internal sense of peace and sensibility was so warped that Gohan cared little for his own life and wished to sacrifice his life to kill his tormentors. This came to a head when pounded Freeza in his second form in a fit of rage and stunned him in his third.

  And now that Freeza’s actions had caused Goku to ascend and leave him with no father he was unable to control his emotions. He would often have fits of rage and break things and yell obscenities before his mother scolded him and he’d quickly apologize. Then he would break down and cry for no reason, wetting the sleeves of his clothes with his tears and snot. This was even worse as Chi-Chi would get mad at him for sniveling more than being angry.

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  Gohan blamed everyone including himself for his father’s absence. If Krillin had been stronger, if Piccolo had been stronger, if Yamcha had been stronger, if Tien had been stronger, if Vegeta had been stronger, if he had been stronger, his father would never have had to attain the level of Super Saiyan to save himself and they’d be reunited. In that realization, Gohan yearned for strength.

  He craved power. He fantasized about having power that put Vegeta, the Ginyus and Freeza to shame and crushed them like a giant would crush insects. Gohan joyously imagined tearing Freeza’s head off his neck like ripping a blade of grass in half. He thought of tearing Vegeta and Nappa’s limbs and tail off and shoving them down their throats while still living and laughing at the sight. In the middle of language comprehension lessons his mother gave him, Gohan would often find himself writing “I want to kill”, “I hate”, “Father please come home” or “Father live”.

  And so Gohan would watch the faces racing across the surface of the pearly silhouette and feel tempted to reach out and take the power only a Super Saiyan could have. He knew it was wrong, he knew he would destroy everything in sight and more but he wanted it. He wanted it so bad. Gohan wished to know the catharsis of releasing his anger in a way almost no other fighter had. He would punish evil, he would kill the wicked and, most of all, he would push the nightmares he had of his opponents at bay until they were too afraid to frighten in even his wildest dreams. And that was exactly what his father wished to stop.

  “Do not do this, son,” Goku said. “If you do…you will never know freedom again.”

  Gohan had to look away, the offer of the terrified faces too great a temptation for him.

  “This universe is not to be destroyed,” his father said. “It is to be preserved for the good of the innocent who live in it.”

  “But all are evil,” a woman of the Trampled Innocence cried. “All have darkness in their soul. No one is-”

  “Quiet,” Goku ordered.

  She stopped speaking as Gohan fully turned around.

  “I know these dreams bother you, Gohan,” Goku said. “But you must understand…I am doing my best to control the Trampled Innocence from tampering with you.”

  “B-But why father?” Gohan asked. “Why did they pick me?”

  “They want someone with a kind heart and a fury born solely out of the good being unfairly punished by the wicked to take up their cause and deplete the life of everyone,” he answered. “And you are a perfect candidate. Now even more so since the Trampled Innocence can make anyone a Super Saiyan, and not just pure blooded Saiyans.”

  Gohan closed his eyes, almost tearing up as his father spoke to him.

  “Dad…” he said. “It’s been so long.”

  “I know son,” he said. “It’s hard. But you are not the only one in pain. These countless souls are as well. And they’re so consumed with dread of the state of the universe that they gladly wish for everyone’s death. I’m trying to spare you and anyone else they deem as a successor as the next Super Saiyan as that. They may bring the temptation but I can convince others not to take it.”

  Gohan wiped his eyes, finding tears streaming down his face before nodding.

  “O-Okay father,” he said. “I-I guess I c-could…keep fighting this temptation. As long as you help me. I just don’t have to face any more monsters like the Saiyans or Freeza.”

  “Oh but you will,” many of the voices cried in unison. “For the Kais are gathering many past warriors for the grandest of all battles.”

  “What?” Gohan asked.

  “It’s something I didn’t want to tell you,” Goku said. “But from what I’ve perceived from this realm and what the Trampled Innocence at my command have explained to me…the Kais have something planned in the very near future that will shake the foundations of the universe.”

  “What is it?” Gohan asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Goku answered. “Honestly, I haven’t been paying that much attention. But from what I’ve gathered…both Buu and I will be directly confronted by the Kais in some battle they’ll organize. And I think you and all our friends on Earth will be involved.”

  “No,” Gohan said. “No…this can’t be. Not…Not another battle!”

  “I’m afraid so,” Goku said. “And I just want you to warn you…do not take the Trampled Innocence’s offer…ever. No matter how bad the next clash between good and evil gets.”

  And suddenly Gohan was no longer in the mysterious room, facing his father. He was in bed at his house. His eyes were open and he was screaming. He was screaming for his father as he sat bolt upright.

  “Father!” he shouted. “Father! Father, no! I don’t want to fight again! I can’t! I just…I just can’t!”

  And that’s when his mother burst into the room, wearing her nightdress with her hair draped down across the back of her neck.

  “Gohan, what are you doing?!” Chi-Chi shouted.

  Gohan turned to his mother, now almost as scared of her as of the nightmare.

  “Um-” he said. “Uh…I-”

  “It better not be another nightmare!” she shouted. “You’ve already been slacking off in your schoolwork because of sleep deprivation! You keep this up young man and I’m going to call Mr. Shu again to whip you into waking up during the day!”

  Gohan shook his head, panicking.

  “Um, no ma’am!” he said.

  “Well…” Chi-Chi said. “Good. I hope you’ll get over these childish and immature fears.”

  She walked away, closing the door as she left the room. Gohan breathed a sigh of relief before his mother stepped back in with a newly angered expression. She glared at her son with utmost rage.

  “And you are going to that dance for your new school tomorrow!” Chi-Chi said. “I don’t care how tired you are, Orange Star school is not cheap!”

  If his mother was even slightly more reasonable he would have asked to go to the birthday party Yamcha and Bulma were having for their daughter but suggesting something would be like inviting his mother’s irritation.

  “Yes ma’am,” Gohan replied.

  “Good!” Chi-Chi snapped.

  She shut the door behind her and walked away with angry footsteps trailing behind her. Gohan looked up at the dark ceiling, fresh tears watering his eyes. He hated what was about to happen.

  A new threat…He realized. And new nightmares to go along with it…

  This story is continued in the fanfic, Convergence, which you can find on my RoyalRoad or Fanfiction account. Have fun reading as I post every weekday!