A New Cruel World

Gohan slowly opened his eyes everything was blurry and he felt pain all over his body, his clothes were torn and his body was bloodied and bruised, when his vision finally came to him he was staring up at tall woodland trees.

"W-Where am I, why am I in a forest?" Gohan weakly said taking note of his surroundings. With a grunt of effort he sat himself up only to instantly collapse back on the ground. Gohan then rolled over on his stomach and to tried to crawl but couldn't even lift his arms due his left being broken and his right being weak.

He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his coccyx. A small yelp escaped from his mouth as he winced his eyes, he decided not to move since it took to much energy and hurt so much. "Where is everyone?" Gohan then let his eyes roam the area once more, he saw a dirt trail 2 meters next him.

"Guys?" He called out to his friends , his voice was weak and his throat was sore, he wished he had some water. "Mr Piccolo a-are you there a little help please." That was weird Mr Piccolo would never leave his side, especially at the current condition he's in right now. He then stretched out his Ki senses to locate his friends only to find nothing.

Where were they? He called out to his friends once more, only to get no response. They had to be around here somewhere and he wasn't dead that's for sure, his dad had told him about Otherworld and this definitely did not fit the description and his wounds would've been gone. Gohan then suddenly felt lightheaded and his vision blurred. The last thing he heard before he passed out was the sound of horse galloping and a carriage.

…

Dr Grisha Yeager was heading back from Pariass district after doing a checkup on one of his patients, he was leisurely strolling along the forest trail in his carriage and with the horse reins in his hands. He then suddenly looked off to the side of the trail to notice something purple lying in the green grass, when his carriage got closer he was able to make out what it was, it was a person! and they looked to be injured.

With a sharp pull on the reins Grisha brought the horses to a full stop and quickly dismounted and made his way over to the unconscious individual.

When Grisha finally got to the mysterious individual he was shocked to see it was a child and he was brutally beaten. Grisha placed a hand over his mouth in shock at who could do this to a child.

Grisha looked over the boy, the boy had unnaturally black spiky hair and a surprisingly muscular physique for his age, he appeared to be wearing some kind of strange purple martial arts gi it was torn and tattered, the poor boy was so badly beaten that his blood was staining the green grass below him, his wounds look fresh so this must have happened recently. Grisha then kneeled down with one knee and gently pressed his index and middle finger on the boy throat to check for a pulse and much to his relief he was alive. Grisha stood up and was about to go get his stretcher, but then stopped when he noticed something different about the boy

"W-what is that?" Grisha said in confusion.

He saw a long thick fur like belt protruding from the back of the boys pants, then suddenly it twitched.

"It's a tail!" Grisha yelled out taking a slight step back. "H-How is that even possible a human to have a tail?…" Grisha stood there for a few seconds observing the monkey tail in awe. "no I need to get this boy back to Shiganshina I can't get distracted over this." Grisha immediately broke out of his stupor and quickly made his way back to his carriage and pulled out his stretcher and quickly made his way back to the unconscious monkey tailed boy.

Grisha then sat the stretcher down right next to the Gohan and gently lifted his legs onto it before moving to his upper body, when he finally got the Gohan's entire body onto the stretcher he then dragged him to the back of his carriage. Lifting the top of the stretcher and resting it at the edge of the carriage and then sliding the entire stretcher into the carriage.

Grisha then mounted on the front of the carriage and with a snap of the reins the horses sprinted as fast as they could. He had to hurry or it be to late.

…

"Eren"

"Eren"

"Eren wake up."

Eren Yeager slowly opened his eyes to see Mikasa standing right next to his bed looking down at him.

"Oh...hey Mikasa." Eren said as he sat up and rubbed his eyes his hair was all disheveled.

"We should get ready we were going to meet Armin in market today." She said in her usual stoic tone.

"Yeah...give me a second." He tiredly said as he got up out of his bed, accidentally stepping on one of his toys. He let out a small ouch, he then groaned and walked over to a mirror at the other side of the small room. He grabbed a comb and started brushing out his unruly hair as he stared back at his reflection.

"Eren you should've cleaned your side of the room like Mrs.Yeager told you to yesterday. Mikasa said as she looked at the difference between her side of the room which was neat and organized as for Eren's side was disorganized although they were not the type of kids to play with toys they had a few laying here or there.

"I'll do it later Mikasa." He said slightly annoyed, which caused Mikasa to sigh. "Eren I heard you tossing and turning last night. Where you having another nightmare?"

"I don't think so I can't really remember it that much-"

"Eren, Mikasa breakfast time!" Carla Yeagers voice rang from the kitchen.

Eren's tired groggy state immediately faded when he heard his mother's words. His favorite meal of the day was breakfast, solely because bacon is involved.

…

Carla was standing in front of the sink, washing the dishes. There was two bowls of hot porridge sitting on the wooden dining room table.

She heard her children coming down the stairs, Mikasa came first followed by Eren. Mikasa sat down at the table and began to eat, Eren was about to sit down but his mother stern voice stopped him in his tracks. "Eren did you clean your room last night?"

Uh…yes?" His voice was nervous and his ears were red. He was so obviously lying that Carla didn't even need her mother's intuition to tell.

"Eren, go clean your room."

"Aw mom! Can I eat first, if I clean my room now my food will get cold."

No because every time you say you're going to clean it you don't, then I have to do it for you. Go clean it and then you can eat."

The young boy let out a groan before trudging off to his room. Mikasa sat awkwardly at the table before standing up. "I'll go help him Mrs Jaeger."

"No Mikasa, he has to learn to do it himself and not just stand around the corner waiting to sneak out the door." A small 'darn it' could be heard before being followed by rapid retreating footsteps. A smile crossed Carla's face as she turned back to Mikasa. "Besides I thought you were gonna finish drawing your picture for Grisha, he'll be back soon and I'm sure he'd love it."

Mikasa's cheeks reddened in embarrassment. "I'm not even that good."

"Nonsense dear, let me see."

Mikasa looked over at a piece of paper lying face down at the other end of the table, see grabbed it and hesitated before showing her drawing. It was of a small village inside the wall, sat near a beautiful lake. It's natural beauty only slightly diminished by Mikasas drawing. She was in fact quite a talented artist to be sure. She hadn't improved much however since she barely drew pictures any more. Apparently she used to draw lots with her real family and the village was somewhere she had visited when she was very young.

"See Mikasa, it looks great. I'm sure Grisha will love it." A horse and carriage could be heard pulling up just outside. "Oh would you look at that. Here he is now."

Grisha did in fact walk through the door a moment later, but he didn't look excited to see his family like normal, instead he looked tense and concerned. "Carla, clear the table, Eren come here, now!"

Carla was immediately concerned, he only asked for the table to be cleared when he had a patient to take care of. Working quickly she cleared the table of the plates for what was soon to have been their breakfast, while Mikasa tidied away her pencils and paper, stuffing them in a nearby cupboard.

Dad I'm already cleaning my room like mom said." Eren appeared in the living room once more.

"Eren, I need you to help me carry someone, Mikasa you can help too."

Erens eyes widened in surprise before he and Mikasa followed Grisha outside. In the back of his carriage sat a boy, only slightly older than Eren, but visibly beaten heavily. Blood and gashes adorned the boy's body, and his arm looked like it was broken.

"Mikasa, Eren, grab the other end." Grisha began to pull the stretcher out from the back, pausing only to allow Eren and Mikasa to grab the other end, before carrying the boy into the house.

The three of them greatly struggled to carry the boy in, it was like he weighed a hundred pounds. "…Is guy made of bricks or something, why is he so heavy." Eren said as he struggled to hold the stretcher up, even Mikasa was having trouble.

When they were inside the dining room they lifted the boy onto the table. Carla was by Grisha side moments later with his emergency medical supplies. He took them with a small thank you and immediately set to work cleaning the boy's wounds.

"H-h-how?" Carla's voice trembled at the sight of the boy, only one year older than her children.

"He was attacked. Not by something, but someone. Maybe one of the new crime gangs that have sprang up. Carla, I need you to go and get Hannes for me. I need to stay here for the boy, but this is a matter for the police."

She gave a shaky nod before leaving. Giving a mental prayer for the boy's wellbeing.

…

It was many hours before Carla finally returned with Hannes. The man had been surprisingly difficult to find. It turned out he had been sobering up in the back of a barn near the wall. At first he had been unwilling to move, complaining of a bad hangover. When she had mentioned about the boy though, he had quickly sobered up, somewhat, and was hotly following Carla back to her home. Despite what he had been told, he still wasn't ready for the sight that greeted him when he opened the door.

The boy, so clearly still but a child, lay motionless on their dining room table. His arm was set in a splint and his body was wrapped in bandages.

"Holy-" Hannes's words were sharply cut off by a stern look from Grisha, who indicated to the children waiting in the room. He had dismissed them earlier, deciding it better that they not see him, Mikasa in particular, but Eren had been too curious, and Mikasa too concerned, to leave. Instead he made them wait quietly in the corner while he worked. Grisha nodded in thanks to his wife before stepping outside to speak with Hannes.

"Wow. Where did you find him?" Hannes was still struggling for words, both due to the gruesome sight and the heavy pounding in his head. Had he been thinking clearly, he might have reworded his question to be more tactful.

"I saw him when I was heading back from the Pariass district. He was lying on the ground in the forest. Alone."

"Alone? What was he doing out there?"

"I found him unconscious , I heard him muttering in his sleep, he said something about someone named Cell."

"Cell?"

"A strange name I know, I figured it could have been someone from a gang, they tend to change their names to those more weird than scary."

"Yeah, I'll have someone look into it, see if anything comes up. Did you catch anything else?"

"Nothing good I'm afraid. By the look of it, he wasn't alone when this Cell character attacked him. His father, and some friends at least. I think something may have happened to them though, nobody was around when I picked him up."

"Not even bodies?"

Grisha shook his head slowly.

"Damn. I'll have some people take a look if I can, but if theres no one else out there, alive or dead, then he may have been dumped there and left to die."

The doctor looked miserable. Being a man in his profession, Grisha was no stranger to death. But the thought of someone so similar in age to his children being hurt like that. It sickened him.

Hannes was surprisingly quick to notice the doctor's sullen mood. "What can you tell me about him to help me find his parents? Or…just mother I guess."

"Well I still don't know his name, I didn't catch much. He knows someone named Picollo and Vegeta though if that helps."

"Weird names."

"That's not the strangest part. He has a rather…unique deformity."

"Oh?"

"He has a tail."

"A tail!?"

"Yep. Fur and everything."

"Wow. That's…well. It will help narrow down the list of missing people at least."

"I don't think he would have been declared missing yet. When I found him, his wounds looked very recent. It may be a while before we even hear anything."

"Damn it. Well what happens to the boy until then?"

"He'll have to stay here. It was a big risk moving him at all in his current state. I'd rather not try it again. Besides, he still has a lot of recovering to do."

Hannes let out a sigh before rubbing his temple. "Well thanks anyway doc. I'll see what I can do and get back to you. Let me know if anything changes."

"Will do. Oh, Try some of the more upper class areas when you look around, his attire looked high-priced so I assume that would be the best places to look."

"Will do." With his final goodbye. Hannes turned and began walking towards headquarters. Tonight was going to be a busy night for the garrison soldier.

For the poor doctor though, tonight was going to be the first of many sleepless nights as he worried himself senseless about his patient. Don't worry young man. We'll take care of you.