Chapter V: The Quest Continues

            Vegeta scanned the horizon until the cave’s entrance became apparent.  “Finally,” he grumbled.  “Sure took long enough.  That dragon’s information was too cryptic for my tastes.  Glad that Gohan could figure it out.”

            “Land ho!” he cried from atop the crow’s nest.  “Bring her down, Gohan!”

            Gohan looked up and nodded, acknowledging the comment.  “Aye, sir.” He gently tilted the wheel downward and they began a slow descent towards a flat piece of ground that seemed to be suspended in midair as a cliff before the cave’s vast entrance.

            Videl and Bulma ascended the flight of stairs from the cabin of the Immortals in Death.  “Have we made it?” Videl asked.

            “As far as I can see,” Gohan explained.  “I followed Shenron’s advice as closely as possible.”

            Vegeta flew down from the crow’s nest and landed in front of the two women.  “I don’t think we really could have come anyplace else.  This is the only cave out here as far as I know.  Come on, let’s get moving.”

            Impatient as usual, he grabbed Bulma under one arm and Videl under the other and flew clear out of the airship and onto the platform, despite the fact that it would have taken no longer than thirty seconds for Gohan to effectively land the ship with all of its passengers. 

            Vegeta landed on the cold stone and dropped the women rather unceremoniously.  “Let’s see what’s in this cave,” he said, pushing on ahead of them.

            “Kind husband you’ve got yourself,” Videl complained as she and Bulma stood.

            “Yeah, I know,” she muttered.  “Ain’t he something?”

Gohan gently brought the airship down gently and then quickly leapt right over Videl and Bulma to join Vegeta.  Videl opened her mouth to say something, but then just sighed.  “Boys will be boys.”

            Vegeta and Gohan stood at the mouth of the cave and stared in.  “I can’t see a thing!” Gohan exclaimed.  “How are we supposed to see in there?”

            “Watch and learn!” Vegeta boasted.  “Gallic Gun… Fire!” Vegeta threw a powerful energy blast into the cave, but it barely illuminated anything, and it seemed to be absorbed in the darkness.

            “Hmm,” Gohan noted.  “It seems that Shenron called it ‘darkness unending’ for a reason.”

            All of a sudden, Vegeta’s blast impacted something and there was a bright burst of light that lit the cave for a brief while.  Gohan noted all details as quickly as he could; the cave did not narrow, rather, it stayed as wide as the grand cave mouth.  He looked as far down the cave as he could see, but could see no visible end, but instead…what?

            There was some kind of outline of a huge…thing.  It was probably some kind of rock formation, but it couldn’t be…it groaned after it was hit by the blast. 

            “Vegeta,” he turned to his companion, “I think you just hit something that’s very much alive.”

“I’m not blind!” he yelled and kept his eyes focused in the darkness.  “We’re going to have to fight it.”

            “I sense it too,” Gohan agreed.  “Its intentions are hostile.”

            “I’ll help!” Videl offered, running up beside Gohan.  “Just tell me what to do and…”

            “Take Bulma and get onto the airship.  Take off and watch the battle from a distance.” Gohan didn’t even turn around to face his wife.  He just continued to stare into the darkness sensing the impending threat.

            “But Gohan…” she protested.

            “You could no more face this being than you could have faced Cell!” he shouted defensively.  “Go now!”

            She considered protesting more until she heard the creature roar once more and realized that Gohan was probably right.  “Fine,” she consented.  “You win.”

            Flying towards Bulma, she made a swoop and grabbed Vegeta’s wife, landing both of them safely into the airship.

            “It’s like people think I can’t walk or something!” Bulma cried indignantly as she manned the wheel of the airship and took off, then hovering at a comfortable altitude over the platform.  The two women watched as the creature finally emerged.

            Gohan and Vegeta backed up to allow it room to exit the cave.  By Earth or Vegeta’s standards, the creature was alien in every way.  However, Gohan, studious as he was, recognized it immediately.

            The lion’s head was quite well balanced on the goat’s body it was situated on.  A snake’s head protruded form its backside.

            “Chimera,” Gohan whispered.  A creature of ancient Greek mythology, it somehow made sense that Earth’s afterlife had one.  After all, no one took ancient mythology seriously anyway.

            “What did you call it?” Vegeta demanded as he continued to back away, allowing the enormous creature to absorb an inordinate amount of space.

            “It’s called a chimera!” Gohan shouted back, his voice rising from the surge of adrenaline he was feeling.  “It’s a mythological creature from ancient times.”

            “Not quite so mythological now, is it!” Vegeta spat at him.

            The chimera at last showed its full enormous body.  It overshadowed Gohan and Vegeta immensely; it was the size of a good-sized house.  The lion’s head stuck out and sniffed the air.  It growled cautiously and the serpent’s head came forth to speak.

            “I am the Chimera King,” it said bluntly.  “Why have you come here? State your reason or leave.”

            Vegeta, still captivated by the creature, was unable to respond.  Gohan, therefore, stepped forth.  “O great king of chimeras,” he addressed it, “My name is Gohan! Perhaps you have heard of my band of fighters, the Z Fighters?”

            The lion’s head sniffed the air again, but this time got quite close to Gohan to smell him and Vegeta close up.  “Yes…I see,” the Chimera King responded.  “You are indeed Gohan and Vegeta.  You seek the sacred water and Goku, do you not?”

            “I do,” Gohan replied.  “Might we find one or the other through this cave?”

            “You may,” it explained.  “I give no guarantee.  I myself have never been through the cave.  I merely guard the entrance.”

            “May we pass, then?” Gohan asked.

            “Yes,” the Chimera King said.  “Under one condition though.”

            “Hah, let me guess!” Vegeta finally spoke.  “You want us to best you in combat?”

            “Aye, you guess well,” it complemented Vegeta.  “We are all dead, so this may make things difficult.” It pointed to the halo above its own head with a hoof.  “So let’s make it quick and simple.  The first party to bleed will be declared the loser.”

            “Sounds fair, actually,” Gohan remarked.  “We have advantage of numbers, but we also have the disadvantage of numbers; if either one of us bleeds, you win, but there are two of us against one of you.”

            “I am not an unfair guardian,” the Chimera King explained.  “King Yemma appoints only the finest warriors as guardians.  Those of no honor have no place as guardians.”

            “Of that I have no doubt.” Gohan smiled.  “Already I consider you a worthy adversary.”

            “As I, you, Gohan,” it agreed.

            “Whatever!” Vegeta exclaimed, obviously eager to begin the battle.  “Let’s get this over with.”

            “As you wish,” the Chimera King relented.

            The serpent jerked towards the two Saiyans, but they leapt aside into two different directions.  Vegeta and Gohan quickly flew to each other directly above the Chimera King to quickly conspire.

            Vegeta seemed to have a plan, so Gohan let him go ahead with it.  “Listen, Gohan, here’s the plan: you keep him busy somehow and I will try out a new technique I’ve been working on.  It’s similar to Krillin’s Destructo Disk, but it will be able to move much more rapidly and pierce ever the Chimera King’s leathery hide.  There’s no guarantee it’ll work, so if it doesn’t, we meet here again.  Got it?”

            Gohan nodded and flew in front of the Chimera King’s lion face without a word.  Vegeta ascended to a higher altitude and began to power up.

            “Hey, over here, feline!” Gohan cried to the lion’s head, and it roared at him.  It struck at him quickly with a hoof, but the half-Saiyan back flipped in midair, avoiding the damage.  While a hoof may not seem all that intimidating, the chimera’s were razor sharp, and Gohan was aware of this.  He would not let his guard down.

            Sweat poured down Vegeta’s forehead as he concentrated all of his energy into almost solid objects.  He envisioned the disks slicing through the Chimera King easily, and made the edges as sharp as he possibly could.  Using up a great deal of his energy, the disks were almost ready.  He prepared to fire.

            Meanwhile, Gohan was not having good luck dodging the hooves.  All at once, the serpent would try to bite him, the goat would strike with his hooves, and the lion would thrash with his teeth.  Gohan’s clothes were getting ripped, but he couldn’t bleed.  He would not forsake a thousand years of searching for one drop of blood.

            “It’s done!” Vegeta cried, and Gohan wanted to look up to see, but he just sensed instead.  He couldn’t let his eye of the Chimera King for an instant.  “Let’s do this!” he heard Vegeta call again.  “Double-Edge Disk, engage!”

            Gohan sensed the disk coming towards the Chimera King and great speed and quickly zoomed above the head of the Chimera King to float beside Vegeta and witness the blades take effect. 

            The Chimera King quickly looked upwards and saw the disk coming right for it.  The serpent reached its neck out as far as it would go…and caught the disc in its mouth!

            “I knew it, I knew it!” Vegeta shouted with rage.  “I knew I made it too solid.  This isn’t a safe tactic.  I shouldn’t use it again until it’s perfected.”

            “Watch out!” Gohan shouted and pushed Vegeta out of the way and then ducked himself.  The Chimera King had hurled it back towards the two Saiyans, but it went flying endlessly into the air behind them instead thanks to Gohan’s quick thinking. 

            “Vegeta, I know this statement is not going to sound a lot like me,” Gohan started, “But we don’t have a choice.  This battle is too fast-paced for strategy.  We need to rely on pure speed.  Catch my drift?”

            Vegeta smirked.  “I think so.  Super Saiyan 2, then?”

            “Right,” Gohan accepted.  “We’re both gonna go for speed, and then when I’ve got him pinned down, you go for pure power and hit him with something close up.”

            “A simple task!” Vegeta confirmed.  “Let’s do this.”

            They quickly powered up as their irises turned a pale green and their grayed hair stood up on end and turned a rich golden color.  As Super Saiyan 2s, they powered up further until they were sure they’d be faster than the Chimera King and then proceeded to do their work.

            Gohan once again flew in front of the Chimera King and distracted the lion’s head.  Even with teeth and hooves, there was no way the Chimera King could keep up with the original Super Saiyan 2.  Just for fun, Gohan landed a few kicks, but his sneakers did little damage against the leathery hide of the Chimera King.

            Vegeta, meanwhile, kept the serpent busy.  While it was extremely flexible, Vegeta was just too fast for it.  He gracefully back flipped across the body and then went right under the snake’s neck.  This caused the serpent to tie itself into a knot, effectively limiting its movement.

            Gohan sensed this at once and knew it was time to strike.  He flew backwards and prepared an attack.  Vegeta, knowing what Gohan was planning, quickly covered his eyes with his gloved hand.

            “Solar Flare!” the half-breed shouted and at once, there was a burst of light from sources unknown (after all, there was no sun in Otherworld).  The Chimera King was not expecting extraneous tactics to make it bleed, and it cried out in frustration as its eyes closed on their own lest they be blinded.

            “Now I will make you bleed!” The Saiyan prince laid his hand on the Chimera King’s leathery skin and made a very finely concentrated energy attack in a slashing motion.

            When the chaos had cleared, Gohan and Vegeta once again stood before the Chimera King, still as Super Saiyans.  The serpent unwound itself and stared at the side of the goat’s body.  A steady steam of blood flowed out of the wound that Vegeta had inflicted.

            The serpent looked at it, and at once healed itself up.  It then stared at the two Saiyans, not anywhere near their maximum power and still ready for more.  Not only that, but they were entirely unscathed.

            “I have never had the privilege of fighting warriors of your caliber before,” the Chimera King admitted, without any shame.  “You are indeed worthy to pass.  Not many have passed me before, and I know not of any who have actually found the Fountain of Revival.  I have faith that if anyone can do it, it’s you two.”

            “You are an honorable opponent, true to your word,” Gohan complimented, and he and Vegeta bowed.  “We will collect our wives and move on.”

            “Whenever you are ready,” the Chimera King said and moved back into the cave to resume its sleep. 

            Bulma was already landing the airship, seeing that they had won the battle, and she and Videl jumped out of the ship.  Videl at once embraced Gohan.

            “You did it, Gohan!” she congratulated, bright-eyed.  “Now we can complete the journey.  What we seek is close.”

            “I hope so,” Gohan said, but in actuality, he no longer cared about the Water of Revival.  What he sought above all else was to find Goku.  If he could have his father back, everything else seemed secondary. 

            After all, even in his current state, he had just defeated a creature that made the ancient peoples, able warriors in their own right, fear for their very lives.  He could still turn Super Saiyan, and he was still one of the strongest beings in existence.

            On the other hand, all guardians he met seemed to honor Goku greatly, as did Gohan.  Even Vegeta must have missed having a rival, and Chi-Chi may have been hit hardest of all.  For all of his friends, Gohan wanted to find Goku, whereas he felt the Water of Revival would have been only to suit his personal interests.

            “Well, let’s not waste any time,” Vegeta said, taking lead of the group once more.  “Time to proceed into darkness unending.  Ready?”

            The three others of the fellowship nodded.  “Ready,” they verified his statement.

            With that, the four of them entered the cave and walked past the Chimera King.  Videl held up a small ball of energy, but they could only see the light of each other’s faces.  She wondered if Gohan and Vegeta could sense the cave; maybe they didn’t have to physically see it to know the layout.  She could only hope.