The Horror of Emptiness                                                                                                                                     Reda

Chapter Nine: Evil Legends

Darkness feed off of terror and fear. Fear is what we fear most. For a wise man once said, “There is nothing to fear but fear itself.” Empty Space is different. Empty Space takes that saying and throws it in the trash. Psyfoam works off of Empty Space, using its terrorizing power to persuade anyone into doing his bidding. Everyone succumbs to his will after the pain and horror of Empty Space. Yes, folks, even Goku.

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“Baba, what’s going on? Where’s my Goku?” Chi-Chi was angry, but only angry because all Baba’s crystal ball was showing was darkness.

The elderly woman answered, “He’s there. You just can’t see him through the darkness.”

“Whoa! It’s that dark! Gee, Baba, I thought your crystal ball could make any darkness light,” Krillin said through his surprise.

Then he felt it. It was like a cry for help, and as he looked into Baba’s crystal ball he could almost see why, almost. The strange thing, and this worried him, was that the plea for help seemed to be coming from Goku. But, Goku didn’t cry out in sheer terror, desperately wanting help. That wasn’t Goku’s style at all; no, their favorite hero did not ever cry out for help; not like that.

“Gohan, did you feel that?” Krillin asked, wondering if Gohan had felt what he had. Gohan nodded. “What do you think it means?”

Gohan sighed, casting a nervous glance towards Chi-Chi and Videl. “ I don’t know, but it’s definitely not good.”

“Sadly, you’re right, Gohan,” a familiar voice sighed into the silence that followed.

Krillin turned around to see Kibito Kai standing there with a very desolate expression on his face. Of course, they all called him Supreme Kai, since he was the dominate in the fusion. Well, whatever his name was, he was standing there and Krillin knew that meant something was terribly wrong.

“It’s Goku isn’t? That’s why you’re here. Am I right, Supreme Kai?” Krillin asked, jumping into the bad part right away, which usually wasn’t his style.

Supreme Kai nodded. “Yes, he is in deep trouble, and I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do to help. His fate is in his hands entirely, and if he gives in…. Well, how about I start at the beginning?”

Krillin nodded “Yeah, we can all sit down in the living room. I’m sure Gohan’s got some nice accommodations for us all. Maybe he’s even got those nice, soft, fluffy cushions.” Krillin said, his unspoken question hovering in the air.

“Yes, Krillin, we do, but does that really matter?” Gohan asked, confusion and annoyity finding its way into his voice.

Krillin held up two hands in defense. “Hey calm down, Gohan. I just wanted to cheer us all up before we hear the bad news.”

Supreme Kai smiled. Krillin, Krillin, Krillin; I’m sure your presence would have been greatly appreciated by Goku. Huh, with you there to help him he’d probably be able to beat Psyfoam’s terror. Then again, your presence could have made it worse.

“Hey, where’s Goten?” Chi-Chi asked suddenly, searching for her son.

Supreme Kai almost jumped up. Why did I have to be the one to tell them this? Wait... Maybe I can get around telling Chi-Chi. “Uh... Goten went out for a while to think about things. He’ll be back soon.” Or we’ll all be in trouble. Supreme Kai added silently in his mind.

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After they had all gotten situated everyone waited on Supreme Kai. Even Baba wanted to hear what he had to say. Starting from the beginning could mean a lot of explanations, and she had some questions that needed answers.

“I guess I’ll begin with the legend of Empty Space.”

“What’s Empty Space?” Krillin asked stupidly.

Supreme Kai was patient. “It’s the place where Goku is at this very moment.” No one else interrupted him so Supreme Kai continued with the story.

“Before life began in the universe, even before Old Kai’s time, there existed a place known as Empty Space. It was a place where nothing existed, and some say it wasn’t a place at all. When life emerged in the universe, a guardian also emerged, but that has nothing to do with this legend.

“Anyway, Empty Space continued to grow, mysteriously gaining power. It grew off of people’s fears and evil intentions. Before long Empty Space gained its own mind and anyone who stepped foot in its land would become a victim to its powers. Many fell victim to Empty Space and very, very few ever returned to their normal selves. You see, Empty Space had the power to take whoever was in its realm and resurface their fears. Then, the dreaded place would look straight into the person’s heart and pull out all his bravery that he possessed. With that bravery Empty Space would create fear and terror, and after multiplying that fear it would send it back into the person’s heart. So, someone like Goku, with all that bravery and heroism would find all of his bravery gone and in its place would be a large amount of fear.”

Everyone gasped. Chi-Chi turned dead white and fainted on the spot. Without Goten to take up the duty of helping his mother, Gohan and Videl took it upon themselves to try to wake her up. Pan, thankful to finally be away from her mother’s crushing grip, went with a curious eye to Baba’s crystal ball. She stared at it for a long time, calmed her breathing, and loosened her tense muscles. Then, her calm figure fell back in surprise, still staring at the dark crystal ball.

“Pan, stop messing around and help us here,” Gohan told his daughter. When the 14-year-old didn’t move, Gohan moved his eyeballs to his surprised daughter, sitting on the ground with her eyes shaking in both surprise and…fear? “Pan...” Gohan drifted off into a stern sounding sigh.

Pan swallowed the lump in her throat and opened her mouth to speak. “I...I saw Grandpa.”

The statement hung in the air for a while before Krillin got up from his position on the nice, fluffy couch. He ran over to Baba’s crystal ball, curious about Pan’s discovery. “What? How?” He crouched down, his eyes on the crystal ball, wanting to see what Pan had seen. His heart pounded in fear of what he might see. “How, Pan, how?”

By now, Pan had the attention of her parents, Supreme Kai, and Baba, who was pondering the thought of a young girl seeing something in her crystal ball that even she could not see. Pan was still quivering when she answered Krillin’s pleading question. “I just figured that Empty Space manipulated people’s fear to create something that the people would fear most. In this case that would be the inability to see Grandpa Goku. So, I looked deep into Baba’s crystal ball and did my best to calm down and rid myself of this fear. In doing this I guess had the ability to see Grandpa, even in the darkness of Empty Space.”

Supreme Kai was overjoyed that this little teenage girl had figured out something that even he couldn’t figure out, even with all his understanding of Empty Space. “That was smart, Pan. Very good job using that brain of yours.”

“That’s my girl!” Gohan yelled out with pride. Pan blushed in embarrassment and annoyity with what her father had said.

Suddenly, Krillin screamed out. “Oh my gosh! Goku!” Everyone stopped celebrating Pan’s genius at Krillin’s shout of surprise, worry, and fear.

Pan was the first to say something in the silence, and her question was directed at Krillin. “Did you see...?”

Krillin turned his head away from the crystal ball to face her. He nodded, and Supreme Kai wondered what this understanding between the midget and teenager meant. What are they so surprised about? And why is there a big amount of fear behind their eyes?

“What did you two see?” Gohan asked.

Krillin looked at Gohan’s pleading face and sighed. Shifting his gaze over to the darkened crystal ball so that he wouldn’t have to face Gohan’s staring gaze, Krillin told everyone what had Pan and him so worked up. “We saw Goku, and his condition was worse than I’ve ever seen. It was obvious to me that he couldn’t move to defend himself, much less attack.”

“Attack who? Defend against who?”

Krillin hesitated after hearing Gohan’s question. “Well...” he looked at Pan, who nodded. “I saw three of our old enemies, who should be dead. There was Raditz, who I normally wouldn’t be scared of, but seeing Goku’s helplessness makes any enemy worthy of a good scare. Then, there was Majin Buu, who I’m still afraid of.” Krillin said that in such a way, Supreme Kai had to hide a chuckle. “Lastly, there was Frieza. Now, I know Frieza’s not a big threat anymore, but if there was any evil being that Goku was afraid of it would be him.”

“I highly agree with you, Krillin,” Gohan said, masking a sigh. “It’s the same with me, except Cell’s my fear.”

Krillin nodded, looking thoughtful. “Yes, but that’s not what surprised me. Now, Goku told me once, I don’t remember when or what we were discussing, that his worst nightmare would be Frieza’s tail wrapped around his neck, and that’s exactly...what...I...saw.” Krillin spaced his last words, revealing to everyone the source of his worry and fear.

Supreme Kai was tired of the suspense. “Just tell us the real source of your surprise! What is it? Tell us! We have the right to know.”

Krillin hesitated, “Well...I saw Goku hanging there in Frieza’s grasp, helpless, and he was...He was...He was cr...I can’t say it.” He brought his head down into his chest, trying to escape the truth of what he had seen.

“Krillin, tell me,” Gohan said, softly. “What...was my dad...doing?” He barely whispered the question, taking deep breaths to hide the fear he felt rising from deep within his soul.

Krillin lifted his head to face the pleading faces of his friends. He took a deep breath and slowly let his information out. “He was crying, guys. Goku was crying in fear frozen terror.”

Supreme Kai fell backwards in his chair. Gohan remained speechless, and Videl was the only one who noticed Chi-Chi fainting again after just waking up. Supreme Kai clenched his fist, digging his fingernails into the fine leather of the chair he sat in. He knew what Psyfoam was up to.

Blast it all! Why did Psyfoam have to be so powerful and be such a genius? It’s a mix that lowers our odds. If Psyfoam manages to get Goku under his power...And he could too, especially with Goten...Damn it! So that’s why he wanted Goten! This was not good, not good at all. Oh, Goku, you’ve got to hang on! Don’t let the terrors of Empty Space get to you. Don’t let Psyfoam’s usage of Goten persuade you. Please, Goku, please. Fight it. Fight Psyfoam’s genius mind. We can save Goten, but if you bow down to Psyfoam all hope of saving you will be lost. Please, Goku. We need you. We need your power more than ever right now. Please...