The Underland: Part 1

Gaza found it hard to remember what had happened the night before, though it wasn't a particularly crazy night. Some monstrous beaver-koala beast or something escaped from a lab, and it require Gaza's effort to dispose of it. By dispose of it, he meant dismember it. Gaza had likely seen more of the beast's anatomy than it's creator, a balding, middle-aged man by the name of Leon Strauss. He had been working on cross breeding for years and Gaza had seen many of his experiments on the news that played on the picture boxes as he passed by electronic stores. Gaza wanted one of those, so he could go to sleep watching something other than the stars for a change.

Sometimes he just looked up into the sky, wondering if perhaps the tiny blip on the universal radar was his home world, and his parents. It'd been thirteen years since he'd seen them, thirteen years to long if you asked him. He wasn't even five years old when his parents had to quickly dispatch of him, sending him to an unknown destination that was eventually discovered as Earth. Gaza liked it here, perhaps even go as far as to say he loved it, but he felt something missing. He felt like he'd be able to get more done had his father been able to train him. He didn't know his father's name, but the people who spoke to him often called him Dashad, it apparently meant 'messenger' in some ancient alien language that Gaza hadn't ever heard another word of. Someday, Gaza decided, he'd return and find his parents, then he'd free them from their oppressive ruler and bring them back to Earth, where they could be free. His father would likely admire his strength, and notice how much taller he had gotten, then they'd share a small laugh before they took care of some serious issues.

Gaza was still homeless, even after working for the last few years to get the money together to buy a home, or a ship for that matter. He couldn't recall the event so much, his landing. All he knew is that he walked through the city as a four year old boy, and saw footage of the smoking shell of the pod being hauled off by some truck marked with a logo he didn't remember. The logo possibly held the clue to where exactly his parents were, where they launched the pod from. He desperately wanted to buy, or take, a home. Where it was located, was not his problem, he just knew he could use one. It might not be as pleasant as sleeping under the night sky, ambiance-wise, but it would likely beat waking up with dirt in his hair from when he tossed and turned. It was annoying and nothing short of a nuisance. He'd like to wipe the planet's surface of all dirt, though he didn't know that the planet's entire crust was comprised of large portions of dirt.

Aside from wanting to get away from the dirt, it had also become quite tiring waking up before sunrise to creatures liking or trying to eat him. Not that he didn't enjoying smashing them to pieces or incinerating them, it had just grown tiring, waking up mornings after a late night of training or destroying.

------------------------------------------------

Sometimes, but not very often, you find yourself not remembering where you are when you fall asleep after extreme exhaustion. Other times, you have managed to walk yourself to the opposite end of the room or even the house, but this was outrageous. Gaza awoke, disoriented, and confused. He had no recollection of going to sleep in the middle of a field where he'd get direct sunlight to the face. Wincing, he rose one hand to block the light, but it was no use. Trying the other, he realized that he was strapped into some sort of bed, but where was he? What the hell did he do last night?

Wincing still, his eyes adjusted, he could vaguely depict a lamp causing the light, one that dangled just a foot over his head. Rolling around for a short bit, Gaza was struggling to free his binds, they were solid steel. Thinking quickly, he took in a breath, then exhaled, releasing a storm of Ki blades, this one more concentrated than he normally performed. This was a utility ability, not an attack. Gaza freed his arms, and sat up, ducking out of the way of the lamp, on the table he was just strapped in to. Standing up, wobbly but not broken, he rubbed his head, feeling a large knot. Whatever had happened, that was likely the reason he didn't remember any of it, now he just had to find out who, or what, strapped him into that bed.

Before him, sat a door. One without a knob, it was metallic, silver in color. Along the wall to the side, was a panel with many buttons, many of which were the basic number pad one would see on password protected devices. There was an enter, delete, and clear button, as well as a slit for some sort of card. Gaza had no ID on him, for he didn't carry one, being Saiyan and all, a public service office would likely run him out of town. His methodology wasn't exactly agreeable, so he didn't bother trying.

On the far right side of the room sat a desk, it had much paperwork on it. So much that Gaza was sure it was close to making the desk collapse. It was the Desk of none other than Dr. Leon Strauss. But what the hell was he doing here? And where was 'here'? Questions he didn't have answers to, but he'd find out soon enough, this room couldn't contain the wrath of a Saiyan! Gaza was sure he could bust out of there, with little to no resistance on the end of the door. He'd find Dr. Strauss and get to the bottom of this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WC 1006

To Be Continued...

Gaza reached behind his back for his Power Pole, but was shocked to find it was gone. He was pissed now, Dr. Leon Strauss better have a good explanation for this, or Gaza was going to rip his spine out! What purpose did he have for taking Gaza's weapon? Where did he take it? It didn't matter, Gaza was going to find him, and his Power Pole, and, depending on the man's reasoning, slaughter Dr. Strauss.

Now, for his first obstacle, this metal door he was still standing in front of. It was quite clear he wasn't going to be able to guess this password, even if he could, there wasn't a key card around he could use. So he'd have to go through it. Gaza lifted his palm, figuring a small Ki ball should be enough. Human's hadn't really been good with their engineering. They hadn't seen a ship that was able to go far beyond their own solar system in just a year. With a human spacecraft, that trip may have taken a decade. However, the Ki ball exploded on the door, leaving behind some soot, but not blasting the door open.

"Right, I'll have to try something.... more destructive." Gaza said with a slight smirk. Cocking back both hands, he formed purple energy in both hands, then, pushing his hands forward, released two beams, both a separate Galick Gun. The blast tore through the door, Gaza could tell before he released the blast. He heard the metal screech as the blast impacted, sounding like it had been tearing clean through the hull of the door.

Ducking his head as he walked through the makeshift door, Gaza now had but one thing on his mind, "Dr. Strauss." Gaza said through clenched teeth, also clenching his fists. Gaza walked, his boots thumping on the metallic floor in some sort of rhythm. Gaza, however, didn't take notice. He was much to infuriated to care even if he did hear it. Gaza walked down this hall, just outside the door that he had peeled open like a soup can. The walls of this hallway were made of the same material as the door he had just peeled open, so tearing them didn't seem like too much of a problem if he had to.

The hall went to another hall, this one however, was filled with doors that led to other rooms. These doors all seemed to have the same mechanics, panel for putting in a password, and a slit for a key card. Gaza had a different type of key, one he found to be much more enjoyable. While Gaza indulged in his habits, something was going on in this building, something he could not yet see.

-----------------------------------

Dr. Strauss set in a lab, watching a strange glowing liquid go through some tubes, into other saturated solution, where it changed color and moved through other tubes. This wasn't anything substantially weird for a scientist, but what was it? What was he going to do with it? Whatever it was, Strauss seemed to be more than excited about what was going on, he had his mad scientist grin on. There were pictures spread out on a table, they were strange pictures. There were Mole looking people, who looked like nothing more than large moles, but they walked on 2 legs, and appeared to be conversing in the pictures. In another, there was a bit of shrubbery in the way, but it depicted two of the molemen digging into the ground, then another one behind it showed them dragging someone into the hole, Gaza!

------------------------------

"Strauss!" Gaza shouted, tearing through door after door, with waves of Ki. He pulled back and blasted on of the further down doors, it was only 2 doors from the door at the end of this hallway. Suddenly, the door at the end of the hall opened, and out stepped Dr. Leon Strauss, with a mad grin.

"Oh good, you're awake, and not mutated." Strauss said, walking over towards Gaza. "I see you've been looking for a way out, heheh." This was not the reaction Gaza suspected, he was sure Strauss would be upset, or crushed. Each of the rooms he'd been blasting into contained a different engineered animal, each who was engulfed in Gaza's Ki, burning to death.

"What the hell am I doing here, Strauss?" Gaza commanded. This answer better be good, or Strauss would loose his lifes work, along with his life. Gaza would kill him and blow up this entire lab. Adding insult to injury really seemed like what he'd be doing.

"I've no clue, I found you laying on the ground, and some mole looking creatures carried you into a hole, then you showed up in one of my terrariums, on top of a mound of dirt. But when I picked you up, there was no hole under it, just a pile of dirt."

"Take me there." Gaza commanded. Strauss quickly listened, walking off in the direction of the door he just came through, Gaza followed close behind. Strauss wasn't going to worm his way out of Gaza's grasp. They walked far down on hallway and turned left, there was but one door, it had to be the terrarium.

"Here it is. Not sure what you want with it." Strauss said, sighing as he led Gaza into the terrarium. It was a fully underground terrarium, the walls produced the perfect amount of artificial sunlight. Gaza saw the mound of dirt strauss had talked about.

"So, Dr. Strauss, how much did you look for the hole after you found me?" Gaza said, discovering something.

"Well, after I strapped you down for safety reasons, i came back and couldn't find a thing. Gaza turned, looking at him like he was a total idiot.

"I assume i came through that hole." Gaza said, sighing heavily as he pointed upwards to a hole in the ceiling that likely went all the way to the surface. "For a doctor, that was a pretty ridiculous miss." Gaza smirked, making Strauss feel like a moron.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think moles to come from above!" Strauss said, attempting to defend himself.

"When 'above' is made of dirt, that leads to ground level, you should have." Gaza said, stinging Dr. Strauss even more. The doctor let a small tear fall. "Now give me my damn Power Pole so I can go kill those bastards."

"Your what? You came here with nothing more than clothes on your back." Strauss assured him.

"Lovely, this should be fun." Gaza said, now knowing the events that were to follow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WC 1104
TWC 2110

Gaza launched from the ground in the terrarium, bursting through the hole in the ceiling that he apparently was dropped through by the moles. He was hungry for blood, and he wasn't going to let them take his Power Pole, not without a fight. He'd get it back or die trying. He surely wasn't going to let a couple of moles get the jump on him again, that's for sure. He was more angry now, assuming that the moles struck him on the head while he was asleep, then took him and his Power Pole elsewhere. Looking around in the early morning light, Gaza saw many holes dug, looking like something human sized made then to walk through. They had to be made by those damned moles. Landing on the edge of one, Gaza saw that it went pretty far down, then it turned, heading the opposite direction he was facing. He let himself slide down into the hole.

Not being able to see much in front of him, Gaza formed a small sphere of Ki in his palm, not much bigger than a golf ball, but enough to light the way. The walls were the same width that the hole was, no surprise, but as for where it would lead him, that was still to come. Ahead, Gaza could hear the skittering and somewhat recognizable words, they really were Mole Men! Gaza thought it was an exaggeration, but now it seemed clear. He ran ahead, wanting to catch them. What they looked like, was still a mystery to him, only Dr. Strauss knew. If these Mole Men had his Power Pole, he'd be a bit relieved, he'd easily cut through their population to get to it, but Dr. Strauss was some crazy old guy, by the time he got back, the psycho could have engineered an army of some sort of animal crossbreed. That was unsettling, to say the least. The more he thought about it, the more Gaza thought these Mole Men were some sort of creation of Strauss's, why else would he be concerned about him getting mutated?

"Dr. Strauss, perhaps you've gone too far, messing with the human gene pool. Your race is too weak in traits for such!" Gaza laughed to himself. "Idiot human..." It was true, if this in fact was a creation of Dr. Strauss, then perhaps it was not the Mole Men's fault, but in fact Dr. Strauss's. If it was Dr. Strauss's, that wouldn't keep Gaza for obliterating the populous, not even close.

Gaza looked forward to killing whatever was responsible for this knot on his head, as well as whatever took his Power Pole. The matter of who or what, unimportant. The skittering got louder as Gaza got closer. He could make out the words now, "But where are they taking it?" one of the Mole Men said to another.

"Does it matter?" Was the response. Gaza assumed they were talking about his Power Pole.

"Hey!" Gaza shouted, coming within light of them, they were sitting in the dark, discussing it. "You're going to tell me where my pole is, or you're going to be in a world of hurt." Gaza assured them.

"You won't get it!" The one who was previously questioning shouted.

"Damnit, that's the kid we took it from idiot! You shouldn't have told him we have it." The elder sounding Mole Man shouted angrily at the other from over his shoulder. They backed away, subtly, to the edge of where the light shown on them.

"Don't even think about running!" Gaza said, stepping forth, then they skittered back, again to the edge of the light.

"Sir, please put out that light!" The elder Mole Man pleaded.

"Sure." Gaza said, as a large smirk came over his face. Gaza made the sphere grow larger, lighting a larger area, even brighter. However, he listened to their request, he threw the Ki ball at the younger of the two Moles, exploding on impact. The explosion killed the Mole, quite easily, and the tunnel closed on top of him.

"You monster!" The elder shouted.

"I'm no monster, just answering your request..." Gaza said, still smirking. "Now tell me, where is my Power Pole?" Gaza commanded, forming another sphere of Ki in his palm, as if to threaten the elder with it.

"I can't tell you!" The elder whined, jumping back again at the sight of the light. He was now with his back against the fallen rocks, trying to retreat through them. Gaza strode through the tunnel towards the elder, stomping menacingly as he did so.

"I think you can!" He assured, again growing the sphere to glow brighter.

"Alright! I'll tell you!" The elder cried, cover hi eye with his paws. "The 'Power Pole' you speak of, it's in the Underland! Please, just stop that light!" The Underland? What was that? What could it mean?

"Where is it?" Gaza shouted, get closer.

"It WAS through this tunnel, but you may have to find one of our other tunnels, this one will likely be out of commission for awhile." The elder whined.

"Perhaps I can just help clear it!" Gaza said, sounding very sincere.

"Really? You think you could?" The elder said, buying what he was saying.

"Of course! Anything for a friend." Gaza said, smirking again, his head cocked ever so slightly, he threw the Ki sphere he used for light at the elder. This one exploded more severely, killing the elder of course, and blowing through the rubble. Before it was resealed, Gaza dashed through the cloud of dust. The other side was the same tunnel, the same width, and the same sight. It was dull, round, and dark. The Underland, whatever the hell that was, was apparently through this tunnel. So through this tunnel is where Gaza would go. He was owed something by these Moles, and he'd not leave until he had his Power Pole in hand, and the Underland in ruins. That was a promise, and a promise Gaza would keep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WC 1006
TWC 3116

As Gaza continued walking, he could hear skittering, skittering and talking. This irritated him, the skittering that is. They could talk like others, but the way they walked like mice, it was disgusting. Gaza looked forward to wiping this filth from the face of the planet, or from under the face of the planet. Whichever way you chose to look at it, he'd enjoy it immensely. He could not wait to waltz in and show a couple Moles their way to the afterlife. He was sort of a spiritual usher, and he loved his job.

Gaza walked to an edge, which he assumed went down into the Underland. It wouldn't be much of a sight, until he shed some light on it. Gaza grew his Ki ball that he was using for a light to about the size of an Earth child, then lobbed it towards the ceiling. It exploded, creating a massive gaping hole nearly 80% of the Underland's ceiling. Rubble rained down like it was some sort of demented winter, Gaza enjoyed it. It was only a regret he could not make it rain fire, perhaps another day, when he had some free time. That would be truly enjoyable.

The Mole people below ran indoors, it would make it easier to locate the Power Pole if they weren't in the streets. That isn't to say, they would be safe from his wrath. Given that the Power Pole was indestructible, he was free to level this area in search of it. He smiled at the idea, and so that is what he will do. The Underland set in a bowl type room, and Gaza stood on the rim. He looked down at the steep slope, that led to the flat bottom on which most of the buildings were built. The ones on the slope were first.

He cocked back his arm, and brought it forth, releasing a weaker beam of Ki, not something immense like his Galick Gun, but enough to demolish a small, rocky hut. It toppled, and the residents whined in pain as the walls collapsed inward. Gaza looked over the rubble, not seeing any sign of his weapon. On to the next. There was a lot of no luck, and that irked Gaza. He shouldn't even be here, he should just now be waking up under his tree, and stretching for a day of training. "You filth are delaying my progress!" Gaza shouted, releasing a small puff of Ki from his nostrils as they flared. Turning towards the mass of what was left of the city, and cocked both arms back. He hastily collected energy in his palms, then thrust both palms forward, releasing two Galick Guns, one from each of his extended hands. He started in the center, then swiped them in opposite directions. He should have done this sooner, it was much quicker and efficient. How ever, there was still no sign of his Power Pole.

Hearing screams of pain, and pleas to help, Gaza made his way to a small pile of rubble, where an apartment once stood. It was an older man, must have been nearing his final years, Gaza was surprised he survived his fury. "You," Gaza said, pulling him out from under a large slab of what looked to be granite. "Where is my weapon?" Gaza said, commanding an answer.

"I-I'm not sure what your talking about! Please, I swear!" The old timer pleaded, waving his mutant hands wildly. It was a disgusting motion and Gaza choked back a grimace.

"This is the Underland, is it not?" Gaza inquired, sure that it was.

"Yes, well..." the elder man began.

"Well what!?" Gaza shouted, interrupting him.

"It's one of the sectors!" The Mole man whined, now sobbing as Gaza held him.

"Just great!" Gaza shouted, tossing the man backwards, landing on his ass. "Hmm... I've no time to go through all these 'sectors', who is your creator?" Gaza said, very peacefully. Vegeta once told him he'd make a great diplomat for his inept ability to fake sincerity and his quick wit. The Mole man hesitated. "Please understand, something was stolen from me, something I care about deeply."

"Alright, well, I'm not for certain, but there are stories that have been told for years about the Great Weaver. It's a long going custom that he created us, the Mole people in his lab on the surface world, then after extensive testing, he released the first generation into the wild." The elder man began. This had nearly confirmed Gaza's suspicion that these men were, in fact, manufactured by the one and only Dr. Leon Strauss.

"And this 'Great Weaver' as you called him, do you happen to know his name?" Gaza said, calm and peaceful yet again. He was winning over this elder man in a hurry. This was good, he hated to waste time, especially when the artifact he'd worked so hard to acquire was at risk.

"He is said to have an earthly name," the elder began, and Gaza knew what he meant, but his pronunciation was off. "Layon Stross."

"Right, just as I suspected." Gaza said, rubbing his chin in thought.

"You know the Great Weaver?" The elder man looked at him, astonished.

"Well, yes," Gaza began, at which statement the man dropped to his knees and began bowing to him, "but he's nuts. Just last night, before I was abducted, I had to handle one of his insane creations."

"Sir, you must bring him to us, we are in great peril!" The elder pleaded.

"Yeah, well he's about to be."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WC 931
TWC 4047