Disclaimer: You know the drill.
I just wanted to remind everyone that the map for the city is here. Those four corners will now be used.
The Portal to Beyond: Chapter XVII
"Vegeta here. We made the pickup and are now comin' back to Base. I repeat: Ninmu Kanryou[1]. The Saiyan Trio is returning to Base. Over." Vegeta turned off the comm unit and just flew over the Street of Death. Raditz handed the package to his prince on the other side and they were off to find the entrance to the Underground.
***
"Vegeta, I don't think I like this," Goku said hesitantly.
"Kakarott," his friend started slowly, "did I ask you for an opinion?"
"No but..."
"Then SHUT UP!" he shouted quietly. If anyone could accomplish this feat it was Vegeta.
The taller saiyan began to protest again when they all heard gunshots.
"Oh kami!" Gohan moaned. "We've got to hide!" The three looked about them quickly and then spotted an open manhole.
"C'mon!" Goku grabbed the other two by the arms and yanked them inside just as the loud group passed by.
"Tousan," Gohan whispered. "Is that your hand on my foot?"
"No," his father said, puzzled. "Is that *your* hand on my arm?"
"Kakarott! Get your hand away from me! Nobody should be touching that place except my mate and myself!"
"That's not me!"
"Then who...?"
There was a deafening roar behind them and all three jumped.
"SEWER MONSTER!!"
***
"Where can they be?!" ChiChi asked, frustrated. The other two groups had both returned some twenty odd minutes ago but Goku, Gohan, and Vegeta had all failed to show. "Are they dead or something?"
"Oh no Tousan! Niichan!" Goten wailed.
"Shhh! You're scaring my friend!" Trunks said to her. "He's quite a sensitive person."
Then the door creaked open and the third group finally arrived. Goten ran up to meet them. He skidded to a stop after he saw how they looked.
"What happened to you guys?!"
All three collapsed on the ground as Gohan triumphantly held up a gift wrapped box. "We brought this to you. The man gave it to us after we delievered what you wanted."
"All I have to say is it better be important! We had to go through a lot!" Vegeta complained.
"That still doesn't explain what happened to you," ChiChi said.
Goku was the first to recover and he explained. "We were doing fine until we heard a gang. I spotted the sewer and we ducked inside. But we had a little company."
"You should," Nathell spoke for the first time. "The weverill[2] should be thriving at this time of year."
"The WHAT?" Trunks asked.
"The weverill are a type of creature that only lives in the sewers. They're really large and are fierce if provoked."
"We now know that first hand," Gohan sighed. "We were attacked by one."
"How'd you escape?" Goten asked, entranced.
"Vegeta ki blasted it. He was the first to recover from the inital shock."
"I am used to being on guard. I once worked for Frieza remember?" he shrugged. "There were a lot of people who didn't like saiyans."
ChiChi pulled out three senzu beans and gave one to each. "You look a little beat up."
Goku chewed and swallowed. "It's mostly just scratches from that weverill's long nails."
"I have a question," Gohan spoke up once his wounds were healed. "Why in HELL didn't you tell us about those things before!"
Niichan must be *really* mad if he's cursing," Goten said to Trunks thoughtfully.
"I never actually expected you to go down there!" Nathell said in his defense. "It's common knowledge that you just don't at this time of the year."
Gohan stood and glared. "And you think that even with us being foreigners that we would still know?!" The last few words were shouted. All the people who could sense ki started to back away from him and the rest followed their example.
"He's about to go super saiyan right about.... now." On Trunks' spoken word Gohan's aura flared up even more and turned to gold. A few flashes of light later Super Saiyan level one Gohan stood there in all of his glory.
He started towards him slowly stressing each of his words. "I've been SCRATCHED, BRUISED, BEATEN, and MAULED. I came on this trip for ONE LITTLE THING AND ENDED UP RUNNING YOUR STUPID ERRANDS! I AM *NOT* A MESSENGER BOY. I AM *NOT* A SERVANT! I AM A BEING OF SUPERIOR INTELLECT AND I REFUSE TO CATER TO YOUR WHIMS ANY LONGER!!!"
Nathell held out his hands and spoke in what he hoped was a soothing tone. "Okay. Okay. I am sorry. Now will you please power down? You're scaring my people."
"Us too!" Goten shouted. All the rest nodded except Vegeta and Goku.
Gohan fumed for a bit longer then he took a deep breath and powered down. Looking at Nathell one last time he ground out three words from between his clenched teeth.
"Watch. Your. Back." Spinning on his heel, he headed off for a dark corner.
"By the way," Gohan called back over his shoulder sounding unbelievably pleasant after the earlier incident, "what's in the box?"
Nathell's eyes got a farway look as he reached over and opened it. "My favorite. Double chocolate chip cookies!"
The man had a split second to think before Gohan was all over him.
***
"More ice please!" Nathell shouted.
Goten grumbled and threw a plastic bag with some at him.
"Don't act that way boy! It was your own brother who did this to me!"
Nathell was in his bed at his apartment, surrounded by the space travelers. Gohan had really done a number on him because he couldn't really do much of nothing.
Quite a few bones were broken including some in his face. There were bruises and scars all over from ki blasts and fists. ChiChi had done the best that she could on the bandaging and Vegeta knew how to elevate his two broken legs but other than that, they couldn't really do much.
After he had told everyone what exactly was in that box, Gohan had appeared at his side so fast, he left an image where he used to be. At first they were just going to let him beat out his frustration and anger on the man but when the ki blasts started appearing and when Gohan was about to break his neck, Goku deemed it time to step in. From there it had taken him, Vegeta, and two other people almost thirty minutes to call him down.
"Is he going to be okay? We really need to find that metal!" Goku whispered to ChiChi.
"He'll be fine. He may have nightmares about Gohan for a while, but he deserved it."
"I AM *NOT* APOLOGIZING!" Gohan roared from another room.
"But Niichan! He might not get us the metal if you don't!"
"I don't care!"
"I'll have Kaasan take away your food supply..."
"No!"
"I'll have her take away your laptop!"
"NO!"
"I'll tell her not to let you see Videl!"
Gohan was in that room so fast the wind in his passing knocked over a few lamps.
"I am *so* sorry! Do you hurt too bad?"
Goten snickered as he entered the room. "Works every time."
***
A few days later Nathell was mobile. He brought out the holo-map again and pointed to an area that was somewhat in the corner of the city.
"This is a Corner," he started.
"We can SEE that!" the younger Vegeta said rudely.
"Duh," ChiChi added under her breath.
He continued as if he hadn't even heard them. "The Corners are important for they make up the whole of the city. This is also usually where the decent people live."
"I kind of deduced that seeing as *you* live in the Western Darkness." Gohan said pretty loudly.
Nathell ignored him as well. "Most of the technoogy is created in the Corners. The best schools are here, the best jobs, hospitals... well you get the idea."
"We also get the idea that you want to live in a Corner by the way you sound when you speak of what they have," Gohan spoke up again.
The man spun on him. "Is it so bad to want to live in a safe neighborhood? Is it so bad to have an honest job for once?! It is the dream of everyone who lives in the bad areas!"
"You want to be like the Jeffersons!" Trunks exclaimed.
"What?" Nathell asked blankly.
He and Goten broke out into loud, enthusiastic singing. "We're movin' on up! To the east side! We've finally got a piece of the pie!"
Gohan made a slashing motion across his throat and the off-key voices ceased. "Hmm. I see you haven't been studying Chikyuu as much as you say. It's a television show."
"Before he goes off again, can we *please* just get that metal and leave?" ChiChi asked. "I promise we won't bring Gohan back ever again."
"Fine," Nathell huffed. "There are four different places to go in the four Corners. But unfortunately you can only get one try and only one location is the real one."
"What are you talking about?" the older Vegeta asked.
"Only one of the metal places is the real deal. The others have the fake stuff. I can not tell you which is which."
The dangerous look returned to Gohan's eyes. "Are you saying that you refuse to?"
Nathell's eyes widened. "NO! I really don't know! Someone *please* call him off! My body can only take so much abuse."
ChiChi spoke softly to the boy and then whispered to Nathell. "It would do you good not to say anything like that about him. He's not an animal."
"In understand. I tell you all that I know but can it wait until tomorrow? I'm tired."
They all left the bedroom, leaving the man to his pain.
Here's my footnotes:
[1]: Ninmu Kanryou = misson accomplished/complete
[2]: weverill = wev - er - rull