Back at the house, Gohan and Chi-Chi were just making the final preparations for breakfast. With the oldest son helping his mother to cook the vegetables, the pair worked in tandem to lay out the table and move all of the dishes over to it. Looking at it from afar, the whole thing was turning out to be quite the impressive spread. After all, the Son mother wouldn't accept anything less in her household but the best for her family.
Even the most meager of tasks was handled with the utmost precision and care.
But just as they were finishing up with moving the covered dishes over to the large table in the center of the room, the half-Saiyan warrior adorned in the orange and blue gi suddenly stopped and looked up with a start. His actions resulting in a glass being knocked to the ground, the young adult's eyes snapped in the direction of the forests, drawing an immediately concerned glance from Chi-Chi.
"G-Gohan? What's the matter?" the startled parent asked.
The half-Saiyan's expression scrunched up into one of unease, "Something's wrong." Without another word, Gohan quickly dropped whatever it was he was carrying onto the table and made a dash towards the front door. His mother falling behind him, the teenager threw open the entrance and started to rush out onto the grass.
He only got about five feet when he stumbled to a stop, his gaze falling upon the most unexpected of sights.
"What the-?" his partially asked question left his lips when he saw a female, humanoid Ibizan Hound in a skirt and halter top smiling back at him a few yards away.
Baffled by the sight of the person, Gohan then sensed his mother come up from behind and quickly held his arm out, halting her in her tracks.
"What's going on?" the Son woman asked, her attention quickly fixing on the intruder as well. The sight of the figure had her gaze narrow dangerously. Being the tough, confident fighter that she was in her own right, her response was almost instinctual, "Who is that?"
"I don't know," the intently glaring Gohan responded as he felt Piccolo rush over to stand alongside him. Backed up by the caped fighter, the demi-Saiyan wasted no time in addressing his instructor in regards to the person in front of them. "Where the heck did she come from? Do you know?"
"I'm not sure, kid," the Namekian responded, looking just as put-off and battle ready as the Saiyan next to him. "She just dropped in out of nowhere. I didn't even sense her until she was standing just a few feet away from the house." Whenever something like that happened, the man knew automatically that something bad was going to happen.
Whoever this person was looked like they meant serious business judging from their smug expression and cowl.
A bead of sweat trickling down the side of Gohan's head, the young adult gritted his teeth when he noticed something off about their visitor. "Why can't I sense her energy? Is she suppressing it?"
"Doesn't look like it from where I'm standing," the Namekian answered, clenching his fists tightly as he maintained a defensive position. "If she was, then we would still be able to sense it. But I'm getting nothing."
As the group stood out there on the front lawn wondering where this newcomer had come from, they suddenly saw the female dog hybrid bring her arms out from behind her and, after balling her fists, suddenly summoned two black short sticks from her gauntlets. The instant the weapons shot out of her sleeves, the batons became enveloped in blue fire, alerting the trio to danger.
Sensing hostilities growing fast, Gohan gently pushed Chi-Chi behind him. "Mum. Get inside. Piccolo and I will take care of this." However, just before any of them could take action against the threat, the three fighters suddenly heard footsteps echoing out from the house and glanced over their shoulders.
When they did, they saw a second hybrid dog, an Akita carrying a golden spear, stroll out from the shadows of the hall to block the entrance. Carrying an empty plate of what used to be eggs, beans and bacon from the table, the anthropomorphic intruder picked up the last three strips sitting on it and ate them, before then chucking the plate across the lawn.
While chewing on the food, the dog warrior leered threateningly. "That was a terrific feast. Most exquisite." He then burped into his hand, "Got anything else?"
After staring at the dog for several moments and taking note of what he'd just said, Chi-Chi's eyes narrowed dangerously, "Son of a bitch just ate our breakfast." With that thought in mind, the woman spun around to face the female warrior standing on their front lawn. "Okay, you moochers. I'm only going to say this once; get the hell off of my property."
The woman with the two flaming weapons chuckled, "What makes you think we're going to take orders from a measly human?"
"Oh-ho. So it's going to be like that, is it?" Chi-Chi asked before taking a fighting stance. "Fine then! If you're not going to leave quietly, then I'm just going to have to tie a leash around your collars and drag your furry behinds out of here myself!" Despite the fact that she was standing beside two of the most powerful warriors on the face of the planet, she was still willing to pitch in even if she was a little bit out of their league.
The female Ibizan hybrid chuckled, "Heh. You're a funny human." She then nodded towards her in a conceited manner, "But our business is not with you, raven haired shrew." She then directed her mischievous gaze towards the spiky haired warrior in the middle. "We're here for him." It was an announcement that had Gohan look up in momentary confusion.
Realizing what their intentions were, Chi-Chi reacted furiously. "Like hell you are! If you think you can come to our home, eat our food and threaten my family, then you've got another thing-"
Merely glancing in the angry woman's direction, Tana gave her one last look before, without warning, she inhaled, pursed her lips, and breathed out sharply. Before either of the three could react, a powerful gust of wind was fired from the humanoid dog's lips like a cannon and slammed into Chi-Chi at blinding speed, sending her flying off her feet. She landed back first against the wall right next to her home's entrance, bounced off of it, and hit the ground a split second later.
Gohan and Piccolo looked back in alarm. When they saw the mother had been knocked out cold, they then spun around to glare across at the one who shot at her.
"There. That's better," Tana exclaimed, shooting the pair a menacing grin, "Now I don't have to listen to that harpy's incessant screeching anymore."
"You… You'll pay for that!" Gohan snarled, his knuckles popping as his fists clenched.
However, just before the demi-Saiyan was about to launch himself into action and start beating the snot out of their uninvited guests, he suddenly saw a second female dog teleport into view alongside the one in front of them. Her appearance catching them off guard, both Gohan and Piccolo saw the newcomer, a scar-faced collie humanoid, march forward and give the pair a once over.
"It seems you two have started the festivities without me, Tana… Kasim," Shiera spoke, throwing the Z-warriors a look before then glancing to the girl on her right.
The Ibizan hybrid gave a playful smirk. "Sorry, chief. You were taking your time up in the hills, so I decided to jump in and kick start the introductions. Kasim on the other hand went and helped himself to the buffet inside." After seeing her colleague by the door shrug and look away nonchalantly, she then turned her attention back to the opposing fighters on the green. "Hmph. This is a surprise if I ever saw one; three different races sharing the same territory: a human, a Namekian, and a half-breed. This planet really has changed over the last twenty thousand years."
Shiera chuckled in agreement, "If you count the Hera-seijin we killed on the way over here that bumps the number up to four."
It was this announcement that had Gohan's eyes widen in horror and his arms drop, "Z-Zangya?" Even his teacher appeared bewildered at the remark.
"Oh… so you knew that orange haired pixie?" Tana asked, continuing to keep her weapons out as she leered at the Saiyan and his Namekian comrade. "Don't worry. I'm sure she's in a better place now. Seeing how filthy and disgusting this planet is, I think we did that colorful wench a favor."
Fists balling tighter and tighter with every word the woman spoke prompted Gohan's energy levels to start climbing at an alarming rate. Sensing the boy's anger and watching as bolts of electricity started to shoot off of him, Piccolo gave his student a weary glance whereas the dog hybrids surrounding the group merely perked up in interest. The sight of the boy's growing anger brought a glimmer of mischief to the leader's eyes, as she quickly deduced what was causing the warrior's energy to spike.
This was exactly what she wanted to see.
"It seems that we are in good fortunes today, Tana," Shiera proceeded, getting her first good look at the one that they were hunting. Taking in his outlandish appearance, spiky hair, and state of dress, the collie cracked a foul smile and cocked her head. "Your all seeing eye technique wasn't lying after all. This boy has an enormous amount of potential energy inside of him… more than in any mortal I've ever felt before."
"And a pure spirit to boot. What are the odds?" Tana added, looking on smugly as the pair in the center glared right back at them.
Rolling her shoulders to limber herself up for the main event, the curly haired warrior exhaled deeply and slowly moved away from her partner. "I suppose this means our little search has finally come to an end. Let's bag this monkey and take him back to the pyramid for the ceremony. I'm certain our master is growing quite impatient waiting for us to unlock the door." Once she'd stepped far enough away so that there was enough space between her and her teammate, the scar-faced collie then brought out the bundle she was carrying behind her and held it up for all to see. The sight of the item she was holding knocked Gohan off his rail and Piccolo balk in shock. "By the way, I think this one belongs to you."
Easily recognizing the child she was holding, the demi-Saiyan reacted in alarm. "Goten!" the he shouted, seeing his young sibling hanging by his belt from the woman's grip.
"Don't worry. He's not dead," Shiera informed, before then shaking the child a little and eliciting a low moan from him. It was then she threw the unconscious kid an intrigued smile, "I'm actually thinking of keeping him as a pet. What do you say?" When she saw their quarry's expression become infuriated once again, the canine raised an eyebrow, "No?"
"Let go of him!" Gohan barked.
Dangling the young hybrid from her hand tauntingly for a couple seconds longer, the hybrid collie threw the teen a sickening grin, "You want him back? Fine." She then wordlessly tossed the child into the air and towards the two fighters.
Reacting instantly, Gohan stepped forward and held his arms out to catch his unconscious brother. But just as the child was beginning his descent towards the ground, the dog that threw him suddenly thrust her hand forward and unleashed a powerful Kiai at her target. The invisible blast smashed the older sibling in the chest with a deafening thunderclap and sent him blasting through every single wall of the house behind him.
Exploding out the other side, the teenage warrior wound up bouncing across a couple of hills before crashing at the base of a ditch, where his body disappeared under a cloud of rubble and smoke.
The Namekian, catching Goten in place of his brother, spun around and looked through the hole in the building in shock, "Gohan!" As soon as he realized his student had been given the mother of all sucker punches, Piccolo wasted no time and threw himself into action.
Setting Goten to the ground, the green warrior charged straight towards the two women across the way. He attacked the leader first, only for her to be swiftly replaced by the dog with the flaming batons. Piccolo's fist swung out at Tana as soon as he was in range, only to miss when she rocketed up into the sky in a blur of movement. Reacting instantly, the Z-fighter gave chase. But as soon as he did, the Akita hybrid leaning against the door in the background went straight after the Namekian, drawing his spear and leaping into the sky.
Shiera meanwhile, still standing comfortably on the grass patch with her arm lowered back to her side, smirked as she watched the battle with the former guardian of earth unfold overhead.
When Piccolo eventually caught up with Tana, he began trading blows with her. Punches and kicks cut through the air in a blur of motion, illustrating the speed both fighters were moving. Though the warrior from Namek did manage to land a few hits, all of them were either blocked or parried by his foe, and thanks to the flaming batons she had on her, Piccolo had to concentrate even harder to avoid them. Ducking and swaying her strikes, the Z-fighter was so focused on evading her attacks he completely missed Kasim coming up from below at bullet speed to knee him in the stomach. The blow landed with an almighty crack, causing Piccolo to hunch over the dog's knee in shock before receiving a kick across the face from the female hybrid he was also battling.
Working in tandem, both Tana and Kasim worked the Namekian over from two sides, smacking him left and right, and slashing into him with their weapons. Caught in the middle, Piccolo attempted to counter their attacks as best as he could, only to get blindsided when Tana came in from his left with a swing of her baton to his neck. Though he managed to dodge it, the green fighter couldn't avoid the blow that came from behind when the Akita, diving down from up high, nailed him in the back with a powerful swing of his spear. The metal staff slammed into the Namekian's spine, connecting with a loud' clang' and drawing a cry of agony from the green defender as he was sent plummeting towards the ground. Piccolo ended up crashing into the forest just outside of the Son household, punching a massive crater into the landscape and burying him under a ton of rubble and wood.
After grinning triumphantly at downing yet another adversary, the two hybrid dogs then went on to back up their superior in her battle with the half-Saiyan.
By the time Gohan managed to pull himself out of the hole he'd made in the hillside, the teen found he was now facing off against four opponents. Not only was the scar-faced collie joined by a much larger Pharaoh hound hybrid with a dark complexion and massive build, he was also facing off against the other two warriors.
From what he sensed, not only had his mother and brother been knocked out, but so had Piccolo.
Right then, the demi-Saiyan knew that he was in trouble.
"Who the heck are these guys?" Gohan thought, his body battered and blood trickling out of the corner of his mouth. When he looked from one smug face to the next, sweat started to break out on his forehead as he got a full scope of what he was up against. "They're definitely not human… and they don't seem like they're artificial either." Exactly where in the world had they come from?
Deciding to find these answers out for himself, the teen gritted his teeth and snarled at his four adversaries. "What the heck are you… and why the hell can't I sense your energy?"
The leader of the group, Shiera, smirked at the baffled youngster and tipped her head back ever so slightly. "You can't sense us because we are superior beings; deities bestowed with otherworldly powers by our benevolent master; Set." The woman angled her gaze she leered across at the concerned looking Saiyan. "Unlike you mortals, the four of us possess the coveted energy source known by many in the universe as celestial energy, or God ki if you will. It is far more potent than most ki used by other races and, as such, cannot be sensed by other living organisms." She then gestured to him confidently. "In other words… against the four of us, you don't stand a chance."
Gohan's eyes narrowed seriously, "Oh yeah? Well, we'll just see about that!" Straightening up, the young fighter balled his fists and started to gather energy as quickly as possible.
The four warriors formed up in front of the Saiyan steeled when they sensed their opponent's ki begin to rise, instantly putting them on edge.
The ground shook and trembled for several seconds, causing several dozen stones surrounding the young fighter to steadily rise up off of the ground. Then, just as the display started to reach a breaking point, Gohan took a deep breath and hollered out at the top of his lungs. In an instant, a golden aura exploded off of him along with currents of blue electricity, which ran up his body to his hair, and sharpened, spiked up and turned his gravity defying locks blonde. His sudden transformation to the second level of Super Saiyan was marked by a large shockwave that punched a crater in the ground beneath him and disintegrated a lot of the earth that managed to blast into the air.
It was a spectacular sight.
However, the awe-inspiring magnitude of his leap to Super Saiyan 2 was cut short when, without warning, two of the warriors in front of Gohan vanished in a blur of movement and dashed at him at blinding speed. The demi-Saiyan, while in the middle of powering up, could only gasp in surprise before two fists buried into his stomach, causing him to reel forward in shock as the air was literally knocked out of his lungs.
A split second later, Shiera kicked the teen's feet out from under him, sending the golden warrior into a horizontal barrel roll before Daryu grabbed him by the waist, cocked his body back and chucked Gohan towards a distant hill like he was throwing a football. The winded Saiyan was sent bouncing along the uneven landscape until he managed to regain his bearings, rolling back onto his feet and spinning around, hands held up defensively.
The second he was up, Gohan coughed up blood and glared ahead of him in alarm. "Damn it. They attacked me while I was in the middle of transforming."
No one had ever done that before. Ever.
Recovering as quickly as he could from the underhanded blow, the Super Saiyan 2 then saw the other dog warriors charging at him side-by-side. Leaping to his feet, the boy quickly took a defensive stance and prepared for battle, only to suddenly get elbowed in the back by Shiera teleporting behind him, driving the blow in with a sickening crack. Crying out in pain, Gohan then received a powerful knee to the stomach from Daryu appearing in front of him before the hound followed up with a hook across his face. The second he was hit, the teenager suddenly had his arm grabbed by Kasim and promptly dragged through the air.
The Akita threw him straight into Shiera, who greeted the dazed boy with a powerful body shot that caught him in the air. As soon as their target was set up, Tana appeared next and kicked Gohan in the face, sending him spinning into the sky. The teen eventually hit the ground a full kilometer away, where he bounced once and landed on his feet.
The four dog warriors yelled out as they flew after him along the ground in jet formation. Spotting their approach, Gohan stood up and dashed towards them with a battle cry, sprinting across the fields faster than the Flash himself.
Seeing the teenager coming to meet them half way, Shiera smirked and vanished in a blur, allowing Daryu to take the lead.
The second he was in reach, Gohan hit the brakes. Sliding on his feet along the grass, the boy ducked under a clothes-line attempt from Daryu and, cocking his fist back at the same time, drove a punch straight across Kasim's face, sending the dog into the ground. After kicking Tana in the stomach and knocking her tumbling across the field, the Super Saiyan 2 vanished in a golden flash, avoiding Daryu swinging at him from behind with his axe.
Missing, the Pharaoh hound looked up in alarm and spun around, where he saw his foe reappear directly behind him. Yelling out, the warrior stabbed at him with a thrusting motion, only to see Gohan sway to the side, avoiding his flaming battle axe and, cocking a glowing arm up, sliced down and chopped the dog's hand off.
Upon effectively disarming the massive canine of his weapon, which dropped uselessly to the floor, the half-Saiyan then brought his still glowing arm around and, swinging it across, carved through his opponent a second time; damn near cutting the demon in half in a similar manner he'd done to the Cell Juniors all those years ago.
The massive dog screamed out in agony, his body sliced open and beginning to crumple to the ground in defeat. However, just when it looked like it was all over, the grievous wounds the hulking dog suffered suddenly began spewing out black fire that, a split second later, healed over and regenerated his missing limb. As soon as his hand grew back and his wound healed, Daryu reached down, grabbed up his axe, and threw a retaliatory swing up at Gohan.
Stunned at how ridiculously fast the hound regenerated, the demi-Saiyan ducked just in time to avoid the decapitating blow, only to get kicked in the face and sent rolling across the grass. When he eventually skidded to a stop on all fours, the teen now had a black eye and blood trickling out of his nose.
"What the?"
Sensing an attack coming from behind, Gohan spun around and fired a full powered energy blast on instinct. Exploding from his hand in a blinding flash, his attack shot towards an approaching Kasim like a missile. Catching the dog off guard, the energy beam slammed into the warrior's side and took a massive chunk out of his torso as it ripped past him several times faster than light. The sight of the glorious hit had the demi-Saiyan grin in success.
However, just when it seemed like the Akita would fall, the once surprised hybrid grinned as black fire filled the open wound and his body regenerated. As soon as the gap was filled, the dog stabbed out at Gohan with his spear, shocking the boy and forcing him to leap into the sky and avoid the weapon that impacted the ground.
"What in the world are they… immortal?" the demi-Saiyan asked, unable to believe what was happening.
As he continued retreating backwards towards the clouds as fast as he could, the teen was unable to see Shiera teleporting directly into his path. Her fingers locked and held overhead, the woman then swung down and slammed a killer blow into Gohan's back, an impact that generated a loud shockwave and drew a cry of pain from the target. The force of the attack sent the boy hurtling towards the ground, which he hit with the force of a meteorite. His impact shook the countryside and filled the air with dust and debris.
Before the cloud could even completely settle, the Minions of Set wasted no time in leaping into the crater and, upon surrounding the young warrior lying sprawled out in the center of it, dropped down and began beating the crap out of him. Punches were driven into the Saiyan at ridiculous speed, pummeling the boy's upper body mercilessly. They were actually attacking the stunned Gohan so quickly that it almost looked like the young warrior was having a seizure, his body twisting, jerking and contorting this way and that over and over again as a string of grunts and shouts left his lips.
Blood splattering across the crater as the damage piled on, Gohan soon became fed up of literally being beaten into the ground and, just when it looked like he was about to fold, the teenager's eyes lit up yellow and, with a howl of rage, he powered up and unleashed a shockwave outwards in the form of a dome shaped explosion of energy.
Reacting instantly, the team of warriors leapt away for safety as the ditch the warrior had formed combusted, sending rubble flying in all directions. As soon as they were out of range, the minions watched as the Saiyan, bathed in a golden aura and blue electricity, floated out of the hole and turned his glare on the leader. With a menacing snarl, he dove straight at her, causing the collie to grit her teeth and leap out of the way when his fist buried into the floor, punching a second hole into the valley five hundred yards wide.
Growling at the miss, with his golden energy and lightning spewing off of him like wild fire, and showing just how enraged he was, the boy flew after Shiera with the intent to rip her apart.
The female collie up in the sky smirked when the Saiyan pursued her and dove back to the ground when he took a swing. She then began backpedaling along the field, skipping left to right and avoiding multiple blows that were sent chasing after her. When a punch came flying her way in one of Gohan's wide swings, she blocked it and countered. But the teen parried it and kneed her in return. The blow sent the woman blasting back along the grass before the demi-Saiyan followed up with another blow.
However, just before his fist could land, the teen ended up getting blindsided by the others. In a blur of movement, the three other minions began assaulting Gohan with a vicious string of attacks. The young Ascended Saiyan was smacked around left and right, managing to block most of their hits until Shiera jumped in and began adding her own punches and kicks to the mix. She quickly caught Gohan while he was blocking simultaneous blows from Daryu and Tana, managing to bury a kick into his stomach and an uppercut to his chin.
While the boy was hurtling high into the sky, all four minions dropped to the ground and Shiera, taking aim with her fingers like a pistol, fired four simultaneous energy blasts at the boy. With superb accuracy, the bolts slammed into the teen's wrists and ankles, transforming into bands that wrapped around his limbs like cuffs and suspended him in midair. As soon as they were locked, Daryu, Tana and Kasim threw their hands up and launched golden energy chains after their quarry, catching them around the bands on his limbs and trapping him.
Gritting his teeth in alarm, Gohan then started fighting to try and break free. Snarling and shouting painfully, the Super Saiyan 2 powered up and attempted to get loose. However, the three dog warriors kept their target anchored, holding him down with the energy chains and preventing him from leaving.
As the half-Saiyan fought, struggling fruitlessly against the ropes that were now binding him, Shiera suddenly flew up to meet their prey and stopped directly in front of him. The teen stopped writhing long enough to allow the female collie to speak with him. "You put up a good fight. One on one, you'd definitely be able to beat us. But thanks to our superior numbers and the immortality granted to us by our master, you don't have a hope in hell of beating us."
Becoming more enraged, the boy powered up a second time and attempted to break their hold on him. After a few more seconds of futile struggling though, the leader of Set's minions cocked back her right hand and, taking aim with index and middle finger, drove it straight into the center of his chest. The impact of her digits caused a golden ripple to go over Gohan's body and in a matter of moments, the teen's eyes rolled in the back of his head and his entire body went limp.
However, while he did look like he'd been knocked unconscious, the young warrior was still in Super Saiyan 2 mode. While his aura faded, the transformation didn't.
Smiling at successfully hitting the chi point needed to keep him frozen Shiera then looked down and gestured for her three companions to follow. Flying up to join their leader, the three Minions of Set then dispelled the chains binding their target and allowed their leader to take command of the situation once again. Tapping the paralyzed Gohan in the head, the collie suspended the rigid statue of a Saiyan in the air horizontal to the ground. Then, as soon as the entire team was assembled, the hybrid dogs grabbed onto each other's hands and, focusing intently, vanished in a puff of black smoke.
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