Chapter 02: Gohan The Dr
Gohan was staring out of the peep hole completely stunned for a few moments before Trunks knocked on the door again. Shaking himself from the shock, Gohan opened the door.
Trunks was holding the same glowing device from the night before, it was glowing brighter in the direction of the house in front of him. After knocking on the door a second time, the door was thrust open and Trunks came face to face with the boy from the night before also. He stared for a moment in shock, “Wait… you… what? What are you doing here?” he asked.
“I live here…” Gohan replied still feeling baffled.
“Huh… I must have calibrated this thing wroooong!” Trunks was pulled in by the arm and the door was shut.
Gohan shut the door and glared up at Trunks, “OK I don’t know why you’re here or how you found my house but I need answers!”
Trunks’ eyes averted rapidly to different directions as he tried to think of a way to talk his way out of this. This was not the scenario he’d been anticipating. “I’m… uhhh…”
“Look, I need to know what happened last night. No one believes me that I was attacked by flying books! Even the news says they think the whole thing last night was due to a mass area murder, and I don’t even know what to tell the police should they come and ask me about it.” Gohan looked up at Trunks with pleading eyes, “I just need to know what’s going on and how to make sense of all of this.”
Trunks sighed giving in to the boys need for understanding, “Well, the books attacking and killing those people really did happen. So if you’re worried that you were going crazy don’t worry about that. What you can tell people… Oh… I have no idea; they won’t believe you about the books or about me for that matter.”
Gohan’s look twisted as he tried to piece together what Trunks meant, “How were those books attacking us?”
Trunks shook his head, “It was a form of matter control that affects only those types of objects with a chemical composition made of crystalline structured carbon. The energy from this matter control was only strong enough to manipulate those particles of carbon held together by weaker covalent bonds.”
Gohan stared absently at Trunks for a moment before replying, “So something carbon with stronger bonds like diamonds couldn’t be controlled because the stronger bonds require more energy that this manipulator doesn’t have?”
Trunks laughed excitedly, “Haha! Exactly! Therefore we have in effect, paper control!”
Gohan rubbed his temples and muffled his voice with his hands, “Oh my god what are we talking about? Nothing like this exists!”
Trunks patted him on the shoulder, “There there don’t worry about it… something like this isn’t man made, it comes from a much more technologically advanced society from a faraway place.”
Gohan looked up at Trunks with widened eyes at the prospect that Trunks was suggesting they were dealing with aliens. Gohan was about to comment on the aliens on earth thing when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Eyes widening, Gohan whispered to Trunks, “Play along!”
Chichi entered the room and looked over the two by the doorway; “Hello?” she asked motioning toward Trunks.
“Oh mom! Let me introduce you! This is Trunks, he and I used to talk about different things we would research at the library. And well… he heard the news report last night and just stopped by to find out if I knew about anything that had happened there.” Gohan was able to give the explanation while hiding the nervousness from his voice pretty well.
Chichi seemed to accept the explanation. She looked Trunks up and down and raised an eyebrow, a half grin playing across her face trying to seem almost seductive, “Well how nice of you to check up on Gohan Mr. Trunks. Last night was a little traumatic for him, and I’m sure he could use someone to talk to for a bit.” Chichi returned her focus to her son, “Don’t be too long though, you still have plenty of studying to do.”
“Yes mom…” Gohan acknowledged with no excitement to his voice.
Chichi began to walk over to the kitchen when her manners struck her, “I’m sorry, I was about to start making breakfast, would you care to join us Mr. Trunks?”
“Ahh well… Actually you see I’ve got this,” Gohan gave Trunks a quick jab to the gut with his elbow, too quick and subtle for his mom to notice, but enough to make Trunks reconsider, “On second thought I am pretty hungry!”
“Alright it won’t be too long. Oh and Gohan can you come help me with something real quick?” Chichi called disappearing into the other room.
“Sure mom…” Gohan called after her. “OK I’ll be right back. Please don’t go anywhere; I still have more questions I need to ask you.” Gohan ran to the kitchen in a hurry leaving Trunks standing in the living room.
Trunks took a look around the house. It seemed ordinary enough. The thought of sneaking out crossed his mind when he heard a rattling sound coming from the living area by the couch. Curiously, he slowly approached the couch and noticed Gohan’s backpack lying on the floor. He knelt down and gently lifted the flap of the backpack to see what was inside.
Trunks was knocked off his feet as a library book flew from the backpack and began floating across the room. Trunks sat up quickly, regaining his composure after having the wind knocked out of him. He turned around in time to see the book as it smashed into his face.
Trunks scrambled to his feet and attempted to shield himself as the book continued its rapid assault. Trunks reached for his cylinder device at his side, but the book crashed into his hand and knocked the device from him making it slide across the room and under a cabinet.
The book continued to bash into Trunks until he was able to reach out and catch the book by the hard cover flaps and hold the book at bay at arm’s length. The book reversed its direction of motion and began to pull Trunks with it across the room, dragging him along the floor. Once pinned to the floor, the book began try and suffocate Trunks but though he was struggling with it Trunks was able to hold it up away from him.
Gohan came back to the room finished with helping his mom defrost breakfast when he noticed Trunks holding a book out in front of him. Gohan looked at him quizzically before asking, “What are you doing?”
Trunks looked over at Gohan with a look of panic on his face. Gohan had thought Trunks was just playing with him but grew concerned with the look Trunks gave him. As he approached closer Trunks yelled, “No! Run away!”
The book flew up out of Trunks grip, made a flip in the air, and turned towards Gohan. The book flew towards Gohan at lightning speeds, crashing into his abdomen and sending him flying across the room. The book continued to assault Gohan, knocking things off of their shelves and causing a big ruckus.
In the kitchen, Chichi continued to cook contently humming to herself. The loud sound of the friar filled the entire room. She flipped over a patty of sausage and took a look at it saying out loud, “Just a little more!”
Trunks hurried and reached under the cabinet and pulled his device out. Making a few adjustments on it by pushing a few button combinations, he pointed it at the book and blue light shot from the device hitting the book dead on. The book fell to ground normal again.
Trunks ran across the room and retrieved the book. Holding it up and examining it, he turned and began to march for the door. Gohan climbed to his feet and ran after him, “Wait!”
Trunks did not slow his pace and kept walking out the door and away from the house. Gohan caught up, “Please, you have to tell me now what’s going on! Why are these things happening? What have these books got against me anyway?”
“It wasn’t after you,” Trunks replies in monotone.
“What?” Gohan still keeps stride with the taller Doctor.
“It was after me not you. The only reason it chose you as a target was because you were in my vicinity,” Trunks explained.
“OK I can tell you know a lot about what’s going on, so please tell me!” Gohan demands.
Trunks sighed, and slowed his pace, “Alright… You see there’s an alien presence on the earth right now, and it wants to claim the earth as its own. But in order to do that it feels the need to wipe out the current dominant species. It’s using this paper control as a way of carrying it through. Once all the humans are destroyed the planet will become much more inhabitable by its kind.”
Gohan blinked taking it all in, “Wow… so are you trying to stop them?”
Trunks smiled and sped up again, “Yes,” he replied simply.
Gohan ran in front of Trunks and stopped him, “Wait, then… what… who or what are you anyway?”
Trunks looks Gohan directly in the eyes, “Do you remember when you were a child, and you were told that the earth below your feet is spinning, and that the planet as a whole was revolving around the sun in the sky and you couldn’t believe that because you couldn’t feel the ground below your feet moving… I can feel the planet moving, I can see all these people hanging on for dear life to this rock as it’s hurdled across the galaxy. And if you let go… that’s who I am.” Trunks smiled and moved past a bewildered Gohan toward a Capsule Call Booth, “Go home, you’ll be safe there.”
Gohan was about to make a remark along the lines not treating him like a kid when the door to the call booth shut. Gohan sighed and turned to sit on the curb. He wasn’t going to let this guy off that easy. Who did he think he is with all this talk of “letting go” and what not. It just wasn’t a proper answer and Gohan needed to understand more. As soon as he got done with his call in there he was going to…
Gohan’s thoughts were interrupted by a strange noise. A noise unlike anything he’d ever heard before. Like a grinding sound but stranger and of a higher pitch. He turned around to see the Capsule Call Booth was no longer there. It had just vanished, and Trunks along with it.
Gohan continued to stare in disbelief. He checked the ground where the booth was only to find nothing. No tracks, no signs of a trick, nothing. It was just gone. Gohan started wondering back home with even more going through his head now.
Gohan walked through the front door to find his mother staring angrily at Gohan, “And just what happened here?”
Gohan cocked his head and quickly said, “Something came up and Trunks had to go… he got an emergency phone call.”
Chichi shook her head, “Well that’s one thing, but what happened in here?” Gohan looked around and finally remembered the mess the book made.
“Oh mom, I’m sorry… when Trunks… he opened the door to leave and the neighbor’s cat ran in. I know you’re allergic to cats so I tried to shoo it back out and it ended up jumping onto the shelves and knocking some stuff over.” Gohan was glad he was able to think up that excuse quickly. What would his mom have though if he had told her the truth about a book gone mad?
Chichi seemed to accept the explanation, “I’m going to have to have a talk with them about that darn cat… anyway… breakfast is getting cold, so come eat.”
Gohan sat in silence eating his breakfast. His mother too seemed to have something on her mind as she contemplated her son. As Gohan finished his food, he took his plate to the sink to wash and was about to excuse himself from the kitchen.
“Now remember, you have a lot of studying to do, I don’t want you to fall behind because of what happened yesterday.” Gohan looked at his mother in shock… fall behind? He was seven years ahead of his age… falling behind really wasn’t possible.
Gohan looked down at the floor and replied, “Yes, mum…” He started to head for his room when a brilliant idea struck, “Hey mom, I was thinking… with the library closed down, and my research paper still needing some more information that I hadn’t found yet, would it be alright if I went over Piccolo’s place to research?”
Chichi looked her son over, “Now Gohan…”
“You know there’s more books there about everything than any library could hope to have mom, please?” Gohan hated always having to make excuses and references to studying just to go see his friends, but today there was more he needed.
“That’s fine Gohan, but I want you to find what you need and come straight back! No lollygagging!” Chichi said in a very stern voice.
“Yes mum!” Gohan replied racing for his shoes, grabbing his backpack, and heading out the door.
Chichi shook her head. Gohan was headed to upsetting her today, she could just feel it. She would have to have a serious talking with him once he gets back.
Gohan made a jump, a flip, and then took off into the sky flying to Kami’s lookout. In his current state of mind he hardly noticed the time and scenery pass him until he was right in front of the lookout. With a turn straight up, he flew up the walls of the massive floating structure and landed on the surface. Piccolo stood there, apparently waiting for him.
“Hi Piccolo,” Gohan said happily as he saw the green man approach him.
“Gohan, what lie did you tell your mother to let you come here?” Gohan flushed at the remark and averted his eyes from Piccolo who just gave him a knowing smirk.
“I told her I needed to come do research for my thesis paper since the library is shut down for the moment. And yeah I actually finished that paper already, but I really did want to look something up here.” Gohan looked up at Piccolo with anticipation in his face.
“What do you need to see?” Piccolo eyed the boy precariously.
“I need to see the master world history log,” Piccolo closed his eyes in thought of Gohan’s request.
Nodding Piccolo said, “Alright, Mr. Popo will take you to it.”
“Thank you Piccolo,” Gohan hugged the tall man and went to find Mr. Popo.
Mr. Popo was in the garden tending to the flowers when Gohan and Piccolo approached him, “Popo, I need you to take Gohan to the room where the master history log is kept, and help him anyway you can with what he needs.”
Mr. Popo smiled, “Of course Piccolo, right this way Gohan.”
“Thank you,” Gohan replied courteously.
Piccolo turned and went back to stand over the edge of the lookout.
Mr. Popo lead Gohan down a stairway to a room sealed by a stone door. He pulled out a set of large keys and used one to open the door. Inside was a well lit room with a gigantic book on a pedestal in the middle of it.
Mr. Popo opened the book, “OK Gohan, now what is it you’re looking for?”
“I want to get to the events that took place last night at the Liibrary,” Mr. Popo turned the pages to the very resent past, and found the entry for the previous night.
“Here we are! We have you studying at the library, books falling from their shelves and attacking people, a few deaths… and a man the book refers to as The Doctor helping you out.”
“That’s it! Where did he come from?” Mr. Popo back tracks in the book to try and find out where this man was before the incident.
“This is very odd…” Mr. Popo looks over the pages in confusion.
“What is?” Gohan looks as well trying to read what Mr. Popo is seeing.
“According to this the man just stepped out of a phone booth… there’s no record of him entering it though…”
Gohan thought for a moment, remembering the Capsule booth that just vanished by his house, “Mr. Popo, is there a record of that phone booth being built or placed there?”
Mr. Popo looked through the book and a look of confusion washed over him, “No… nothing…”
Gohan shook his head in thought, “How can he not exist in the master world record… this is really…”
Gohan was cut off by a third voice, “Weird?” Gohan and Mr. Popo turned around to see Korin the mystical cat standing in the doorway.
“Yeah…” Gohan acknowledged the statement.
“Well… I knew it was only a matter of time before someone else noticed,” Korin trotted in and stepped over to the book. “Let me show you something which may peak your interest,” Korin turned the pages back a few decades to the assassination of the American President John F. Kennedy. “What do you think?”
Gohan saw a photo of the parade Mr. Kennedy had been in moments prior to his death. At first Gohan didn’t know what he was looking for, but then in the crowd he saw it. The face… the same face that he’d seen this morning… “But… wait…” He took a look at the date, November 22nd, 1963. Forty years ago and he looked exactly the same. “How?”
Koring laughed and turned the book back another ten years to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, “Take a look at this.”
Gohan looked over a picture with the caption of the Royal Crowning. Upon closer examination Gohan noticed Trunks standing in the background of the picture. The date of the photo stated June 2nd, 1953. “But how… this was more than fifty years ago… how could he still look the same?”
“It gets better,” Korin pulled up captions from the launching of the Titanic, the first world war, the Hindenburg, the revolutionary war, the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, and even more dramatic was the mention of the Doctor at the Holy Crusades, and the fall of the Trojan Empire.
“What is this?” Gohan slumped back not sure what to make of this anymore.
“It’s odd that the book can only keep track of him when he’s actively engaged in something, there’s no record of where he comes from or where he goes, just that he appears and destruction takes place in his wake. With this little information it’s impossible to tell if the Doctor is merely a title passed from father to son… but personally my theory is that he’s some kind of immortal alien who comes and leaves the planet every so often.”
“Immortal?” Gohan and Mr. Popo stared at Korin trying to determine what to believe.
On the top of the lookout, Piccolo was still looking over the side when a rise of panic below caught his attention. He took to flight and dove to the earth to get a grasp on the situation. Piccolo’s eyes widened as he penetrated the cloud line, the people below were all dead…
Piccolo landed and looked around carefully. He wondered what could have done this and left this entire town deserted. The wind blew tossing about random newspapers and paper bags. One sheet blew onto Piccolo’s leg, pressed against him by the force of the wind, but he simply ignored it.
Piccolo was taken completely off guard when the paper stretched up and gagged his mouth. Piccolo reached to remove it, but his arms and legs were already seized by other papers. He was knocked off of his feet and dragged behind a building.
Gohan sat silently after taking everything in. He was disappointed that instead of answering his questions, this session only brought him more… “I need to find him again.”
“I wouldn’t recommend it…” Korin closed the book before turning back to face Gohan and Mr. Popo, “Can’t you see what most of the events this man has been involved in have in common?” Korin waited a moment for effect before shouting “DISASTER!”
Gohan shook his head, “I don’t know, the Trunks I met seemed to be trying to prevent disaster, I mean… he did save my life…”
Korin waved his stick at Gohan, “He saved you from something he caused! Everywhere this man steps, death shortly follows. I’m telling you he’s bad news! The chances of you seeing him again are slim, but if you ever do you’ll turn the other way if you’re smart!” Korin turned to leave the room, “You’re a nice kid, and I’d hate to see something bad happen to you… so be careful…”
Gohan nodded, still working on piecing together this puzzle in his head, “I will… Thank you Master Korin.” Gohan bowed.
Mr. Popo watched Korin leave as well, “Was there anything else you needed while you’re here Gohan?”
Gohan shook his head, “No I think I’m ready to leave.”
“I’ll walk you out then,” Mr. Popo lead Gohan out of the room, locking the large stone door behind them.
Back on top of the lookout, Gohan walked over to Piccolo who was standing at the edge. Gohan’s mind was still in a jumble, and he didn’t seem to notice that Piccolo’s features seemed a little dull. A grumbling noise shook him from his concentration, “I guess I’m hungry… You want to come have lunch with me Piccolo?” he asked the man.
“OK… You lead… The way,” Gohan nodded and jumped off the lookout, Piccolo following close behind.
To be continued…
