Disclaimer: I did not create Dragonball Z and I’m not making any money off of this.

Stranger in the Mirror Part 7

Alicia was wide awake now thanks to her wish and then heard Bulma’s scream.

“Oh no. No! Bulma!” She screamed slinging open her door. The corridor was dark and forbidding. It gave her the chills. What if the attacker was still in the house? She looked around for some kind of weapon and found a hair dryer sitting on Bulma’s dresser.

“Better than nothing.” She muttered grabbing it and stepping out into the corridor. She didn’t want to scream out for Bulma again because if there was an attacker in the house, she didn’t want to give away her position.

Carefully but quickly, she crept down the corridor until she reached the end. She stood against the wall from there was able to peeked into the kitchen and living room. She couldn’t see anything from there. She had to get closer. She took a deep breath and continued ahead into the kitchen.

Nothing looked too unusual in the kitchen. She held the hair dryer above her shoulder, ready to whack anyone who might attack her anyway. Slowly she made her way into the dining room. Bulma’s unfinished cup of coffee sat on the table completely cold now. She walked around the table and kept against the wall, making sure she was out of sight from anyone who might be standing in the living room.

The silence was oppressive and the only thing she could hear, was the pounding of her heart. She couldn’t remember ever being so frightened in her life! She should have expected this though. When in DBZ land, expect the unexpected. Ok, just stay calm Alicia. Take deep, steady breaths and stay calm. She took her own advice and inhaled deeply. She counted to three and released it slowly.

Ok Alicia. Time to go into the living room. You can do this. She commanded to herself as she slowly inched her way to the end of the wall and peeked around the corner.

On the floor in front of a recliner, a foot rest had been turned over and there was a dent in the floor next to it. It looked like some one might have hit the ground with a baseball bat or something. “Shi*!” She whispered to herself taking a stepping closer.

If she were attacked now, the only thing she had was a hair dryer. Well, at least she wasn’t completely helpless. She imagined herself as Indiana Jones but instead of a whip, she had a hair dryer cord.

“RRRROOOWWWWW!!” Something screeched suddenly and land on her shoulders biting her.

“EEEEKKKK!! AH! AH! AHHHH!! GET OFF!! GET OFF!!!” She screamed grabbing what ever it was and throwing it across the room as hard as she could. It was black and fuzzy and it landed against the far wall with a loud bang. As soon as it fell down to the ground, she knew what it was and felt really stupid.

“Oh my goodness! You poor thing, are you ok little kitty cat?!” She cried running to it’s side and helping it up to it’s feet. It was Dr. Brief’s cat.

The distraught cat meowed weakly and stood up on it wobbly legs. After a moment, it looked up at her, gave her a good sniff and hissed. It then took off across the room like lightning into the kitchen. Alicia plopped down onto the floor and held her chest. Her heart was beating like crazy and hands were shaking.

“Good job Alicia, way to go. You almost killed Mr. Briefs cat for crying out loud!” She groaned but then she slowly got back up on her feet and leaned against the wall for support as the room spun around her. Ok, take it easy and think. That’s it, just calm down and think about what’s happened.

Apparently the bad guy already left but where was Bulma? She decided now was a good time to call out to her since she’d already made enough noise. If there had been any one in the house, they would of heard her already.

“Bulma! Where are you?! Are you ok?!” She called scanning around the room. If she was in the house, then she was probably in another room. She could be too hurt to call out or move. She had to go look for her.

“This outa be fun.” She grumbled. “Ok, I’m coming to get you if your in trouble Bulma, so just hang in there! I’ll be right there!” She called bending over and setting up the foot rest. When she did, she felt something wet on it. Cautiously she lifted her hand and sniffed her fingers. Some kind of liquid but she didn’t know what kind. She whipped her hands off on the lazy boy and went off to search for Bulma.

“Hope I don’t get lost. Should have signs telling people where they are going.” She grumbled now carrying a vase she found in the living room.

On Kami’s look out...

Goku, Vegeta and the other have gone to Kami’s look out to see if they can spot Gohan from there but so far, have had no luck. No one wanted to admit it, but it was beginning to look like Gohan might not be any where on Earth or even alive for that matter. In a desperate attempt, Goku contacted King Kai (however you spell it) and asked if he’d seen him. King Kai that he had no idea where he was and said that he wasn’t in the after life. It was getting too dark to search any more and every one was exhausted so they agreed to all meet back tomorrow to begin the search again.

Goku was determined to keep searching for his son and wouldn’t give up. Even if it meant taking one of Bulma’s space pods and searching through outer space no matter how futile it would be.

Vegeta stood away from everyone, and was peering over the edge apprehensively at something below. He frowned and crossed his arms. Something didn’t feel right. As Goku walked up behind him, Vegeta growled not threateningly but rather indicating that something was bothering him. Goku didn’t say anything at first because he knew Vegeta’s temper. When Vegeta was ready, he would talk to him.

Vegeta wouldn’t admit it, especially to him, but he appreciated it. Kakkorott was the only one who seemed to understand this about him. No one rushed him. Then, he suddenly felt it.

“Something’s wrong with Bulma!” He shouted uncrossing his arms and powering up. Goku took a step back and gasped at his unexpectant transformation.

“What?! What’s wrong with Bulma?!” Goku asked alarmed. Vegeta sneered and turned around facing the other Saiyan with dangerous eyes.

“Her ki! It’s gone! Some one’s taken her just like they’ve taken your son! Right before it disappeared, just a second ago, I felt it rise and then just disappear. I’m sure some one attacked her! I’ll kill them if they hurt her!” Vegeta roared taking off so powerfully that Goku was almost knocked over.

Goku watched as Vegeta quickly disappeared beneath the clouds and quickly came to a decision. he also powered up and motioned to the others behind him. “Come on guys! Something’s wrong with Bulma!” He said and then jumped off the edge with out further explanation.

The other’s didn’t need any more explanation and followed him. They all cared about Bulma a lot and they didn’t want any thing to happen to her either.

Back in the real world...

It had been a very rough ride but they were still alive. It was a miracle they survived, but there they were! Jason wasn’t in a rush to get out of the car but the bus was starting to take off and he had to run to catch up with it. When he got to the door, Christina pulled him inside. The car they stole was left behind, the engine smoking.

“We probably burned the engine up.” Jason muttered taking a seat next to Christina. Chichi however was still standing in the isle. She looked down at Jason and frowned.

“So, where is he?” She asked bluntly. He had no idea what she was talking about. The only thing he knew was that he was exhausted and it felt good to sit down and not have to worry about being killed.

“Who?” He asked irritably. Christina shrugged her shoulders at Chichi because she couldn’t remember what the guy looked like. Chichi scanned the seated passengers and finally spotted him way in the back. He was hidden behind a news paper. Chichi grew impatient and yanked Jason up by his collar.

“Come on! We’re going to talk to him right now! This is all your fault and your going to have to deal with it whether you want to or not!” She screamed hauling him behind her. Everyone who had their legs out in the isle moved them in fear of getting them trampled on and broken by Chichi. Jason whined and complained the whole way. They came to an abrupt halt in front of the old man and Chichi lightly tapped his news paper. The old man lowered his paper and studied Chichi curiously. Then he saw Jason.

The old man dropped his news paper and stood up pointing a shaky finger at the boy. “YOU! It’s you! Your the kid that took my ring!” The old man shrieked stepping out into the isle. By now, everyone on the bus was watching what was going on in the back of the bus. Christina didn’t want any part of it so stayed where she was.

“Where is it you punk! Do you know how dangerous that ring is?!!” He shouted grabbing his hand. He looked at his hand, didn’t find the ring, released it and grabbed his other hand.

“WHERE IS IT?! DOES THAT GIRL HAVE IT?!!” He demanded, his voice becoming louder and louder. Jason whimpered and tried to back off but Chichi held onto him tight.

“Where are you going Jason?! You tell him right now, everything that’s happened with that ring! NOW!!” Jason would have fallen back had Chichi not been hanging onto his arm. Everyone around them jumped as she screamed, now.

“Um, well ya see, um...” He stuttered. Chichi screamed, kicked open the back door, and slung him around until he was hanging out the door. The only thing keeping him inside the bus, was Chichi. (remember, the bus is still moving!)

“OK! OK! I’LL TELL HIM! PLEASE JUST PULL ME BACK INSIDE!!!!” He screamed nearly wetting his pants. Chichi smiled and yanked him back inside. The driver didn’t even see or hear any of this because he had on head sets and was staring straight ahead.

Jason explained everything to the old man. When he was finished the old man just sat there with a stunned expression. Then he whispered something very softly.

“Kharon...”

“Excuse me?” Chichi asked. “What did you say?” The old man was in a trance. Chichi snapped her fingers in front of his face and had to nudge him with her hand to snap him out of it. He shook his head slightly and looked up at Chichi as if for the first time.

“Kharon. He’s been released from the ring and now, he’s going to come into our world and destroy it.” He muttered shaking his head. Jason sat down in a seat feeling ill.

“D, d, destroy our world?!” He stuttered shocked. “Who’s Kharon?!” The old man shook his head again and explained it all. Chichi found a seat and sat down crossing her arms over her lap as she listened patiently. Now that she had some one mature to talk to, she could relax. A little bit.

“I sealed Kharon back into that ring a thousand years ago. For a thousand years, I’ve kept that ring safe. Made sure it was always locked away. I don’t know how it got out of the safe. I didn’t take it out. Kharon must have some how did it. I’ve always made sure that ring never got into the wrong hands until you and your girl friend came along.” He said bitterly glaring at Jason.

“Look, I’m sorry about the stupid ring, ok?! But your telling us that your over a thousand years old?! That’s impossible! You really expect us to believe that?! Just tell us how to get the ring back so that we can stop this Kharon dude!”

“You can’t get the ring back because your girl friend is wearing it and she’s in another dimention right?! And yes, as a matter of fact I’m 1023 years old. I was 23 when I found that infernal ring exactly one thousand years ago I released him. Kharon executed thousands of innocent people.” By now, Jason’s head was spinning with all this new, horrifying information. He had just repeated what this old man had done a thousand years ago. If what he’s saying is true.

“Every time your friend makes a wish, which I’m positive she’s doing right now, Kharon is going to be released from his ring. Each time he is released, he gathers energy, and the way he gathers energy is by sucking it out of people until they die!” He said bitterly pounding his seat with his fist.

I’m afraid that once he has gathered enough energy, he will come into our world and take over. Thousands will perish!” Chichi and Jason stared at each other stunned and then back at the old man who was shaking his head sadly. Jason was beginning to shake nervously. He was talking about the end of the world. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine it ending like that. The old man snapped him out of his thoughts.

“You just go and steal anything you want, not paying any heed to warnings! I warned you about that ring but NOO! I’m just a crazy old coot who’s fallen off his rocker!” The old spat glaring at Jason. Guilt was written all over Jason’s face. Chichi also glared at him. It was all his fault! The world was going to end and he was to blame! He was just a kid for Christ sakes!

“I was young once just like you. Young and stupid! I found that ring, made a bunch of worthless wishes and before I knew it, had a monster on my hands! I had to fight Kharon all by myself and let me tell you, it wasn’t easy!” He said staring out his window. The people that had been around them, had slowly moved towards the front of the bus to separate themselves form the three weirdoes as much as possible.

“Was that one of your wishes to live like a thousand years?” Jason finally got the nerve to ask. “That’s the wish that released Kharon. That’s when he... he killed my wife.” He finished, his voice wavering and eyes misting up. Chichi and Jason both bowed their heads. Jason turned pale.

“How did you stop him?” Chichi finally asked and couldn’t help worry how her family was doing. If Alicia was indeed making wishes, than they were in danger. The old man kept his head bowed for a long time and without looking up spoke again.

TO BE CONTINUED

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! I know a few people who are going to want to kill me now!! I’m the QUEEN of all cliffhangers!! HAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!!! Read it and weep!! Please review! I’m feeling much better now!