The Nikholas F. Toledo Zu
presents
The Three-Fold God's Path
A DragonBall Z fanfic
by Nikholas "Don Juan" F. Toledo
(Overseas Correspondent - status: finally home for a bit)
note: Sorry, it's been a while. After my finals, I had places to go,
things to do, oceans to cross... Really. Plus, I sort of have a job
this summer. If you've been keeping up with this story, then I have to
thank you for having the patience for it. Oh, yes, it may have occurred
to some of you readers out there that this looks suspiciously like a
self-insertion 'fic. Well, YOU'RE WRONG =P I don't do those. You'll
just have to take my word for it. C&C very much appreciated. Oh yes! I
have to thank 'Pervert' for his extremely helpful technical assistance
regarding the anatomical damage certain injuries cause. Thanks to
'Switch' for the useful term, "terrestrial chi".
Episode 7: First Path
As the Necroborg's elbow shattered his spine, shards of bone tore
through his throat, causing blood to trickle down into his lungs, and the
muscle groups of his neck and upper back were strained from the weight of
his body hanging from his head. The void was before him, and the last
sensations were disappearing at last. The last sounds he heard were
his neck breaking, and his heart slowing, and stopping.
He would have wept if he still had eyes... And he cried out at the
loss, the terrible pain of soul being wrenched from body. And he
REMEMBERED.
I've felt this before... I can see it! How terrifying, I can
finally see it all!
He was a serving boy buried in the wreckage of his family's ancient
castle, slowly asphyxiating after a great earthquake several hundred
years before. He was a soldier in a king's army, commanded to kill his
enemy, and falling prey to an ambush, arrows rained down on him, and
through him. He was a slave girl, strangled to death by her master for
disobedience in times gone by. A hundred, hundred endings in agony.
Steel piercing through his body, fire crushing his bones, poison coursing
through his blood.
He was at peace, and yet, that peace was a heavy burden that he
could not deny.
And in the endings, his souls... connected. One community, one
line of thoughts and emotions, one endless life. One coherent thought
dominated the city of beings and ghosts he had inside: that he was
needed NOW... So he woke. And his body was plunged into the flames.
The Power burned.
The Spectacled Man's extended metallic fingers whirred and clicked
as the light from the displays before him tinged his gunmetal eyes a deep
blood red.
"Unit N-520, increase magnification."
On the screen before him, a picture of a man being held up by his
broken neck was enlarged.
"You should not have betrayed me, Arien. It's finished n..." A
steadily increasing beeping sound came from the secondary display by his
left wrist. In the time it takes for a camera shutter to open and close,
Henry's implants processed the relevant data and sent the appropriate
signals to his artificial hands, triggering a change in the main screen
before him and overlaying the image of the dead body with a scan of the
changing readings of the life-forces it was radiating.
His face paled, and the increased stress to his heart triggered the
sensors in his implants to release an appropriate dosage of
neurotransmitters designed to calm him while increasing his reaction
speed and cognitive functions.
"No..." Henry tapped the screen hard. "It must be a
malfunction... All physical life signs, heart rate, breathing rate have
stopped, body temperature is dropping... Chi levels... increasing."
"No malfunction at all..." he breathed softly as he brought up a
graph of Arien's old chi performance and compared it to the steadily
rising power levels in the body. "This is nothing like the
necrotechnology powering the Facility cyborgs... It is impossible."
Gohan tapped disgustedly on the side of the intricate circuitry of
the bright and shiny looking mirror shades he was wearing.
"Turn the sensitivity up higher."
"Sorry, 'Nii-chan. Any higher and our chi signals would completely
mask the energy of the fight underground. Bulma's a fantastic engineer,
but she can't work miracles. By the way," Goten turned to look at his
brother, "why're you wearing that outfit again?"
Gohan glanced down at his black and green uniform... "Aaah...
Well, it occurred to me that if we should find the battle, and there are
injured people down, I could get help faster from the hospitals if I
were, 'The Great Saiyaman'. And," he swept his red cape back
majestically as he grinned, "I'd forgotten how much fun it was to wear
this thing." He came to a stop abruptly, almost causing his brother to
crash into him.
"What is it?"
"The scouter's locked onto it... Goten, the chi-levels are rising
very high, too high..."
"Yes, I've got it on my scouter too..."
The silver lenses shuddered, and shattered, shards spraying
outwards (a patented safety feature of Bulma's design).
Goten eyes widened in surprise. "'Nii-chan... The scouters were
calibrated for human energy ranges... The level of chi down there...
it's like another Super Saiyajin!"
"Yes... But it feels... different. Come on!"
The two figures blasted forth in an explosion of speed, thunder
left in their supersonic trails.
"Not so strong after all, target?" The hulk of rotting humanity
and metal still held up Arien's corpse. It was enjoying this after all.
There was a feeling of tremendous satisfaction as it shook the body by
its shoulders and the head flopped back and forth on it's broken neck.
Then, unit N-520 noticed its sensor readings. And, unprepared for the
sudden surge, half of its sensors burned out.
"Arien?" Andrea struggled to look, her own broken figure tragic
on the ground. She was dying, yet... She could feel him... It should
have been over, but...
It started from Arien's eyes. The scent of burning flesh mingled
with the odors of death already present in the room, as liquid light
spilled from his eyes, setting them on fire and leaving flaming tracks on
his cheeks as his skin cracked and blistered from the power. The light
spread to the rest of his form, causing N-520 to release its grip and
step back from the pillar of radiance before it. Arien's body was still
upright. And a slow, torturous heartbeat started again in Arien as his
head snapped upright with a sickening crunch of realigning bone. Blood
pulsed out of the holes in his neck caused by the fragments of bone. The
fire spread all over his skin, and he burned, but he burned with Power.
Power so great that it seared his weak human flesh, Power that could not
be contained in so weak a vessel. And all the while, his tears came down
from the empty hollows of his consumed eyes. What injuries the fire
touched in his body were healed, though new ones soon began to appear
from the incredible heat being channeled through him.
In Henry's command room, alarms everywhere sounded as the sensors
of the Facility security system overloaded. A few displays still
worked... Henry opened a black panel on his elaborate desk, and inserted
the exposed terminals on his left hand into it.
"Spectacled Man gives authorization. 5201978 Black Iris. Silent
countdown."
He withdrew his hand, and retracted the extended high speed fingers
to their normal length. He put on his gloves and his coat, deftly
adjusted his hat and tie, and left the room.
N-520 possessed a fairly impressive artificial intelligence,
connected as it was to the super mainframe of the Facility. But some of
its original humanity was still trapped, buried deep inside its
artificially preserved brain. And that part of it was the only part that
could feel fear. And fear was what paralyzed it now. Or perhaps it was
the computer being unable to reconcile the seeming impossibility before
it. It was an entirely logical and rational entity, and confronted
with... this utter alienness of energy before it, there were simply no
simple equations or formulas it could apply to the situation. This was
outside of its operating parameters after all. There could not have
possibly been so much energy concentrated in one place... Then again,
maybe it was fear after all.
The person who had become N-520 and its companion unit which stood
over Andrea were being forced back by the sheer presence of that awesome
being before them.
Andrea gasped, struck by the incredible heat and energy radiating
from Arien, and absorbed by the utter magnificence of that power just
barely contained within him. The air should have been unbreathable yet,
"A... Arien..." she coughed out. "Help... me." Whispering was so much
agony.
Arien turned towards her, and his ruined face caused her to shudder
involuntarily. He could not speak. The muscles stood out in his neck,
and his mouth worked open and shut, but it was as if speaking cost too
much effort to waste. Even as he faced her, his very features were
melting, partially exposing his skull. He floated over to her, and a
spherical wave of chi expanded from him until it encompassed her. It
tingled when she was inside it, and electricity seemed to dance about her
nerves. It was exhilarating, and painful, at the same time. And
somehow... she felt things inside her moving. He's healing me...
At that moment, many more of black figures tore into the small,
narrow corridor they occupied. The computer broke though the catatonic
state of the two units that were first there, and then, as one, the
twenty-four units, very nearly the ultimate combination of man and
machine, each containing more energy than all the nuclear weapons ever
created combined, blasted away in concentrated fire at the sphere. That
little corridor of shiny steel and plastic became a vision of Hell,
chaotic energies of undefinable colors leaping about, the very particles
of the air seared and disintegrated by the incredible heat.
As Gohan and his brother approached the base of the mountain that
was at the source of the chi, the air around it seemed to charge, and all
at once, the earth seemed to shudder , and go mad. Trees were thrown
into the air at random with enough force to punch through solid steel,
tornadoes tore paths of destruction through the ground, and tremendous
bolts of lightning struck the base of the mountain.
The two half-aliens turned their sight away for a moment to adjust,
and drew up more of their strength to armor themselves against the
onslaught of the strange, sudden storm.
Due to the tremendous noise, Gohan was forced to shout. "A human!
It's a human who's somehow gained nearly as much power as a Super
Saiyajin!" He tore his cape off so as not to be bothered by it in the
terrible wind. "That's why there's all this crap happening! It's too
much for a human's body to contain! Too much to control! It's pouring
out into the area and disrupting the earth's natural chi!"
Goten nodded, and shouted as he brought up the rage in his
subconscious, and focused the anger into himself. The transformation was
familiar, almost second nature by now. The flaming blond hair, the hard,
cold green eyes, and the cruelty that crept over his face, etching it in
harsh, jagged lines. And of course, there was the Power surrounding him
with its golden light.
Then the mountain exploded with more force than any volcano on
earth nature had ever devised.
"Shiiiiit!" Gohan threw his hands up and PUSHED, with muscle as
well as with will, keeping the tremendous energy from reaching the city
which was only a few miles away to the west, and also pulverizing the
gigantic boulders flying about that got too close to him. The effort
forced him back; it was no problem protecting himself as the destructive
energy was mostly unfocussed, but it was so widespread that making a
barrier large enough taxed even his unbelievable power. And, he
realized, he had to hold back not just the human's out-of-control chi, he
also had to deal with the disrupted currents of the earth's chi pounding
away at his barrier. His arms were trembling with the strain. Gohan
thought hard about what was happening around him. "If this were a
focused blast instead of the wild storm it was... not even I could stand
up against a full Genki Dama if father ever threw one at me..." Plus, he
hated to admit it to himself, but it had been so long since he'd had to
manipulate large quantities of chi that he was rather clumsy with it.
Goten was about to throw his own force at the chi disturbance, but
he stopped in time, thinking about how easily his interference could very
well make things worse. He had to find the source... He cried out,
"There! Can you see him?" He pointed down towards the heart of the
crater where the mountain used to be.
In his small, yet comfortable apartment, a tall, brawny, scarred
figure dropped the newspaper he'd been reading.
"What's that!" Eyes wide, he tensed, in preparation for battle.
He paused, stretching out with his spirit farther than he'd had to in a
while. "That's... Gohan... and Goten... and something else....
something familiar." He hesitated, sweat dripping from his body.
"Well... If the two of them are there, they'll handle it for sure."
He took a drink from the coffee at his side and sat down again,
twiddling his fingers. "Then again, if they can't handle it, well, I
wouldn't be able to do anything about it anyway."
He meant to pick up the paper and resume reading. But somehow, he
found himself opening his window, and leaping out of it instead. "Oh,
God, I'm going to hate myself for this... What if I die again?"
And he just knew that if Vegita heard about it, he would just make
snide comments endlessly about what an ineffectual fighter he was.
Dammit. I'm only human.
As he zoomed off to the east, a blue cat floated into the cozy
little living room. "Huh? Yamcha? Where'd you go?"
Gohan strained his eyes. At the very heart of that immense
conflagration was a sphere of energy, within which a thin, almost
skeletal figure stood over a woman... Outside of that barrier, two dozen
black warriors threw attack after attack at the sphere. He noticed how
they radiated no chi at all, and shook inside, at memories from when he'd
been but a boy. He couldn't fight them now! It was taking all his
concentration just to keep the chi-storm from getting to the city.
Yet... There were two dozen of them, and the man (he could tell that it
was a man now, though it was not easy, burning as he was) was
withstanding them even though his manifested power felt like only about
half that of a Super Saiyajin. Still considerable, and certainly enough
to cause a perturbation of this magnitude in the earth's spirit flows,
but significantly less than his own even when he was a kid.
"Goten! Take out those black things fast! I need to hold the
storm back! They're not that powerful, just watch your back - they don't
generate any chi for you to sense! They're a little like the
Jinzouningen I used to tell you stories about!"
Goten hesitated. The attackers down there looked so... human.
But he could feel... foulness in them. And his brother was right, there
was no life force to detect; that meant that they were dead right?
Little more than robots? Still, he couldn't help thinking about Klilyn's
wife... He was forced to dodge abruptly as intense bullets of chi were
flung at him by the first few of the Facility fighters to detect his
approach. That could have hurt him badly enough to stun him, and he
didn't doubt they'd massacre him once that happened. They'd just keep
pounding away. They were stronger than he'd first thought. And he saw
how intently they were trying to kill the two people at the center of
that shield in the crater. Goten saw the barrier starting to waver.
"Shit! Well... If they're going to be deadly, so will I!"
He streaked down, concentrating his will into his palms even as he
spoke, "Yes 'nii-chan! No problem!"
Below him, half of the once human monsters began to scatter,
sensing the build-up in Goten, but they were too slow, far, far too slow.
"Ka-me-ha-me-HAAAAAAAA!!!!" As Goten extended his arms in a
blindingly fast motion, coruscating lightning danced from his fingers
about the beam of focused chi being generated from his palms. He knew
that he had to be careful. The large amounts of debris flying about
partially obstructed his sight, and he could not use his chi-sense to
accurately pinpoint the locations of the black assailants. He could only
try for the ones close enough to see. If he missed and his blast struck
the world dead on... well, there wouldn't be an earth for very much
longer. A surface blast would only cause cosmetic damage and a few
earthquakes - it was the deep, puncturing, direct strike through a
world's core that would cause the massive shock waves destabilizing it
enough to reduce it to dust. So he angled the attack carefully, reducing
the magnitude enough so that he had the necessary control to make its
path curve just the right way...
And the blue-white bolt sheared through four of the black figures
with almost contemptuous ease. It's energy still not depleted
completely, Goten's chi-strike slammed shallowly at the ground just
behind the massed group of cyborgs. It exploded then, the energy wave
losing coherency and dissipating in the fastest way possible. Still,
there was enough force left in the much weaker, spherical explosion to
knock another one flying. Then he was upon them, too close for chi-
attacks, and his fists and feet were everywhere, landing crushing blows
left and right. He twisted to the left and eviscerated one with an
outstretched left arm while kicking out with his right foot, crushing in
the skull of another. He flipped over the one whose guts were just now
beginning to spill out, and gripped its head between his palms to fling
it hard into a third cyborg which was interrupted in its attempt to fire
off a chi strike at this suicidally close target. Just as two more were
about to launch a flurry of punches and kicks at him, Goten suddenly came
out of his low combat stance, standing tall and straight, turning his
right palm up and holding up his index and middle fingers as a small
field of intense power surrounded him, disintegrating the limbs of the
two.
By this time, the Necro-borgs were completely disorganized,
fighting as individuals, limited to their own on-board AI capacities.
The destruction of the mountain disabled the main computer of the
Facility, and though the units were theoretically fast enough physically
to at least mount an offensive against the Saiyajin tearing through them,
their processors alone were not up to the task. There were just too many
variables to compute too fast. Not only did they have to process the
data on the changing terrain and the locations and vectors of the target,
they also had to process the data on the movements of their own fighters
so that they could keep from accidentally blasting each other.
Then Goten finally got a close look at the man at the center of the
fire... And he paused in shock. He'd never seen anyone hurt so badly
still standing. The injuries were horrible, and ever passing moment
burned the man even worse. The pain of holding that chi must have been
incredible... Then the figure turned his face towards him, and Goten
shivered. He could recognize him at last... Those empty sockets were...
somehow the worst of it all. The man raised an arm toward Goten, and he
sensed that the strike would probably cut him in half, but he was
paralyzed by the sight of Arien, and could not even muster the presence
of mind to shield himself from the coming blast. Those tears...
When he saw that flash of light slicing towards him, Goten
flinched. It brushed just past his cheek, giving him a shallow cut
there... then he felt the explosion behind him, and turned to see the
flaming bodies of the Necro-borgs that had tried to sneak up on him from
behind.
Goten nodded a silent thanks to Arien, and turned to finish the
fight. He could sense Arien's chi dropping rapidly, and moved, viciously
scything through the remaining enemies. Arien couldn't hold up the
shield any longer... But then, he didn't have to. It was over in some
thirty seconds more... And Arien collapsed as he released the last of
the power. As he did so, the storm of terrestrial chi about them began
to die down as well.
Goten checked the woman first... She was wounded, but not too
badly it seemed, and with another shock, he recognized her as well. She
was a teacher at the university. He pressed his fingers lightly against
Arien's neck, and winced at the sound of his brittle, charred skin
cracking at the pressure... but there was a pulse. Faint, but steady.
He was amazed that Arien had been able to hold the chi for as long as he
did. He was amazed that Arien was even alive.
Gohan hurriedly flew down to them as he felt Yamcha fly in. He
crouched down, carefully cradled Arien's skeletal form in his arms, and
stood. The human felt alarmingly light.
"Gohan, what's going on?" Yamcha looked around at the devastation
around them.
"I'll explain some other time. Please, pick up the girl, we have
to get these two to a hospital quickly. There used to be a military
base... right here. They must have been attacked by those black things.
The human overextended himself in defending against them. Goten, do you
feel that? " Gohan gestured around him.
Goten nodded. "Survivors. I'll start digging around. You two had
better hurry and bring help. I guess it's a good thing you wore 'The
Great Saiyaman' outfit." He turned, and the golden aura about him faded
as he relaxed down from Super Saiyajin. This would take far longer than
he could maintain Super Saiyajin... And that level of power wasn't very
helpful in actually searching around for survivors anyway. He started
with the closest presence to his left, and began to dig into the blasted
masonry around him with his hands. He grit his teeth in anticipation of
all the wounded they'd have to find as his two companions flew off
towards the city.
"Well, Arien, you certainly did it this time. Don't you dare die
on me, you jerk." As she spoke, she brushed away at a tear, wincing a
little from half-healed wounds. "You haven't explained anything to me
yet about you... I still don't know anything about you... And you still
have to teach me how to fight like you... And... and..." Her throat
felt raw still, and her voice was limited to a hoarse whisper. "And...
when you wake up, we can finally go to that site in Tibet together, and
dig up some more information about your precious Scroll..."
She could hear a minor commotion happening outside, and ignored it.
There seemed to be a brief scuffle, which ended with a calm, sure voice
saying, "Yes, yes, I know he's comatose... but I must see him. It's
important."
The door opened, and the green and black clad man (actually, it was
more like grey because of all the dust in his clothes) strode in quietly,
and stood beside Andrea.
"I knew I recognized you from somewhere, Son Gohan. The university
would be happy if they knew... You'd bring them a lot of prestige." She
murmured, still staring at the person on the bed, wrapped in so much
gauze there was no skin at all visible.
"I'm sorry. I understand that he was a good friend of yours..."
Gohan's eyes were concealed completely behind the wide, shiny sunglasses
he wore, and his face was completely devoid of expression.
Andrea shook her head. "He was... I'm not sure what he was...
is... to me."
"I came because I had to make sure that he wouldn't flare up with
the power by accident. He could cause a great deal of damage, even
unconscious, but..." He scanned Arien carefully, sensing for the
warrior's spirit energy. "It appears that he's used up a great deal of
himself in fighting those black things... That's why he's in a coma.
Well, aside from the physical damage, I mean. He doesn't have enough chi
to light a match right now..."
She shook, but was determined not to weep. "Will he recover?"
Gohan's voice was low, and she could hear his regret as he spoke,
"I don't know. He probably will. For a..." He caught himself. He had
been about to say 'human' and that would start a line of questions that
he didn't want to answer. "...For a person to have gained as much power
as him..." He shook his head. "He must have a very determined,
disciplined personality as well as great skill. But... it may be a week
from now, a month from now... Ms. Sterling, it may take years... Well,
I should go."
He turned to leave.
"Mr. Son," she called out softly, causing him to pause. "Thank you
for coming to help us."
He sighed, deeply. "Don't thank me. I wish I could have found you
two sooner... Will you be coming in for practice next week? I... know
that it seems a bad time, but you mustn't allow yourself to... you
mustn't allow the sorrow to rule your life. When my father died," Well,
the first time he died anyway, he thought. "When he died, what kept me
going was the knowledge that I had duties to fulfill, that could not wait
for my own sadness to die. Anyway... Nik and the rest of the club
aren't very comfortable with me. Uh," he scratched the back of his head
rather inanely. "...actually, I've only had very limited experience with
sword-work, and not very much with teaching, so I've just been working on
their physical conditioning and... well, they don't like me very much
for it." He couldn't quite bring himself to say exactly how much they
all hated him for the training he was putting them through.
"I'll... I'll be there. Can't. Can't let myself get rusty,
right?" She laughed, hollowly. "I'll be alright. I just wish... we'd
been able to talk first."
Gohan nodded his goodbye, and left.
Andrea sighed. If only he could talk to her, somehow. "Well, I'll
be going now, Arien. Don't worry, I'll be back tomorrow after work to
keep you company. I know you can hear me... somewhere."
Another voice intruded close by, one she didn't recognize, and it
took all her control not to turn around, revealing her surprise.
"I heard that you stayed because he wanted to... help me." It was
a stranger, a girl who, like her, sported a few minor bandages and scars
from the incident at the facility. She had a wide, somewhat squarish
face, and a well-shaped mouth that would look quite sensual, if she
smiled. Her eyes were a strangely striking sky blue, and her burgundy
hair, which was cut very short (shaved at the sides up to the level of
her temples, actually), would have looked luxuriant if she'd let it grow
long. She was small, and slender, and Andrea could feel the dangerous
energy concealed in that slight frame. Right now, however, she looked
more like a lost, young girl of sixteen than a fighter trained to kill.
Andrea could hear the... guilt in her voice, and suppressed the
resentment she felt that somehow, this young girl had a... hold on
Arien.
Andrea shook her head. She decided that she was being irrationally
jealous, and cut off the thought before it could really start. "It's not
your fault. He wanted to look for you because of what had been done
to... change you."
The girl hugged herself and shivered. "I still don't know what it
was that they did to us... But I saw my sister die, and what she turned
into. It was monstrous..."
Andrea came over to her and held her close. "It will be fine.
You'll see. One of these days, the jerk's going to..." she wiped her
eyes before she continued. "Going to wake up and it'll be fine. And...
I've a friend who probably knows someone who can help you. What's your
name?"
"Mishima Anju... Thank... thank you." She whispered. "Do you
want to know something foolish, and strange? I know nothing about this
man, and about you, but. But I find myself drawn to you, and even more
strongly to him." She closed her eyes, and listened to their hearts
beating. "Even now, lying on those sheets and completely wrapped in
bandages, just on the edge of life, there's something about him that...
pulls me to him. I trust him. Like I trust you. Isn't that strange?"
The tremulous nature of Anju's voice when she'd said that sparked
the jealousy anew within Andrea, but she kept it locked tightly away.
"Miss Andrea... I know you don't want to hear this now, but things
will become dangerous for me and anyone around me very soon. The ones
backing the Facility will be coming after me, and the technology in my
body... I... The only reason no one's come yet is the Great Saiyaman
and..."
Andrea interrupted, putting her finger against Anju's lips, "Shhhh.
I know. We'll be staying with a friend of his, who can protect us.
That same friend has paid for some very well-equipped security people to
watch over Arien as well... We'll be as safe as anyone can be in a world
like this..."
Goten sighed once, deeply. It was the sort of sigh that wells up
from the very bottom of the soul, encompassing a hundred indescribable
frustrations at once.
He tried to shrug off the odd gloom he was feeling, but he just
couldn't. It was partly the psychological step down that always happened
when letting go of the power, it was partly the fact that just a few days
before, he'd been playing at superhero with Gohan during the search for
survivors, and now he had to slink back into anonymity to prepare for his
studies, which were about resume in just a few days... and mostly
because of the general feeling of helplessness that had permeated through
the air during those past few days. There had been far, far more dead at
what was left of the base than alive. It felt... terrifying, to see so
much death that he could not fight, could not do anything about but
accept.
And the military and the government, well... They just wouldn't
cooperate! It had taken Gohan shouting them down as 'The Great Saiyaman'
into getting them to give any kind of statement to the media at all.
This... concealment of the truth seemed to upset Gohan more than any of
the damage that was done.
All the government told the people was that a volcano went off, and
thank you very much to The Great Saiyaman for his fast assistance.
It had always suited the Z-soldiers before to remain anonymous and
to ignore whatever the governments told the people about the 'incidents'
they were involved with. It kept the people from panicking, and everyone
seemed happier about it that way. But somehow, this latest cover-up...
there was something sinister about it all.
And that was not the worst of it.
For the first few days after, he and his brother had tried to
search for the DragonBalls, to revive all those dead people, but... The
Dragon Radar just wouldn't... work. Bulma had checked it thoroughly
several times, at one point, completely disassembling it and building a
completely new one in frustration. Gohan thought that it was the nature
of the large chi disturbance Arien had caused. It had disturbed the
earth's chi to the point that the distinct energy signature of the
DragonBalls, which were tied into the spirit of the earth, were masked by
the distorted chi currents around the world. Bulma said that Gohan's
explanation corresponded with the strange new weather patterns arising
throughout the globe - cold, arctic air flowing down into vast deserts,
hot dry winds going to the wrong places... the seasons were being turned
upside-down.
And when Goten had tried to convince his brother to find Piccolo
and persuade him to use his... unique relationship with the Deity of the
Earth to get him to help fix it, Gohan had looked faintly disturbed, and
had said, "I can't... summon Piccolo out of nowhere. He's always...
always just come when he felt he was needed. I've actually tried, you
know, to call to him, with my chi. All I can sense is... is that he's
extremely busy with his own affairs... It's as if he's in a battle at
this very instant. It's been like that for days... I'm not sure, but I
think there's something strange happening in the 'Heavens.' Perhaps
that's the real reason we can't find the DragonBalls. Perhaps that's the
reason there's been no contact at all from Kaio-sama, who'd have surely
wanted to do something about the chi-disturbance here."
Well, that conversation hadn't improved Goten's mood at all. It
used to seem like... like the DragonBalls would always be there to solve
everything once the fight was over. As if, once the terrible fights and
massacres were done with, they could just wish all the innocent
civillians back to life... wish all the destruction away. Actually
having to deal with the consequences of one of these battles... it was
far more vast than any god-like monster they'd ever had to fight. Could
the DragonBalls have been destroyed again? He'd heard that, a long, long
time ago, Piccolo himself had destroyed the DragonBalls and the Great
Earth Dragon. The Earth's Deity just made another set after Piccolo was
defeated. Just what was going on up there?
"Goten! Are you done with your take-home studies for the
vacation?" Videl called up from the floor below. "Chichi would kill me
if she found out I was letting your studies slide! If you're done, come
down for dinner."
Goten sighed again. Ever since mother had gone with his father
(for once) Videl had completely assumed the role of being his mother.
She was doing such a good likeness of Chichi... it was almost as
frightening as wondering about what the hell was going on with the world.
It really was scary. Before Videl and Gohan married, she was just like a
big sister to Goten, but now... now it was as if both his parents had
died and been replaced by younger versions of themselves.
Not that Goten was upset about how Gohan and Videl were taking care
of him. Between the two of them, they understood him far better than
either of his real parents did. And perhaps that thought was scariest of
all.
"I did them before we left for the camping trip," he restrained
himself from calling Videl, 'Mom,' "Videl-san." Well, a little lie now
and then didn't hurt much. He'd done about half of it before, expecting
to have a reasonable amount of time afterwards to finish the research for
his term paper. The rescue business... had taken up just too much time.
Goten sighed again. He'd have to practically live at the library this
last weekend in order to finish the job. How come Dad never had to worry
about school when he was at this age?
And just when was he going to have the time to talk to Mari
about... about the strange understanding they'd agreed to?
His stomach rumbled. Best to eat now, and leave later at night
when both his surrogate parents were asleep so that he could start
catching up with the work for his term paper at the library without
having them needlessly worrying about things. Correction, without having
Videl needlessly worrying about things. Gohan apparently understood
exactly the things Goten was going through, and would wink at him
whenever he had to do one of those sleepless all-nighters that Videl
disapproved of so mightily.
His thoughts were interrupted by a tap-tapping he heard at his
window. He whipped around, instantly battle-ready, to see... Long,
lavender hair about a slender, pixie-ish face... Mari?
She waved him over to the window, and leaned back out of the way at
a ninety-degree angle to the wall, arms crossed in front of her chest,
somehow contriving to maintain that position with just her legs so that
Goten could swing the shutters open. Once she was clear of the windows,
she rose back up to a straight, upright position, smiling a delightfully
self-satisfied smile.
"Wh- wh- what are... what are you doing up here?" Goten
stuttered. All thoughts of DragonBalls, parents, and natural and
unnatural disasters rather abruptly left his mind as his thoughts were
lost in a hazy mist of sunny and blissful summer days and picnics and
little cute puppy dogs and their really cute lady owners.
She winked mischievously as she whispered to him, "Not so loud! I
got up here by climbing. My martial arts training, though it didn't
teach me how to fly," she smiled, "taught me a lot of other useful
things. Like how to sneak around and about real quiet. So," she pressed
her right index finger against his lips to still his impending protests.
"Did you fall behind in your schoolwork as much as I did? I spent a lot
of time watching the news about you and your brother. Do you know, you
look real cute on TV - but whatever gave you the idea to use those
ridiculous dark glasses as a disguise?"
Goten hoped the dim light obscured his reddening face as he coughed
a bit. He wondered if all of the vasodilation in his cheeks was robbing
his brain of blood. "Uhm... I borrowed a pair from Gohan. He said that
I'd want some form of disguise, and well... It was better than nothing,"
he finished lamely. Dopamine was probably shooting off in his synapses
in somewhat excessive quantities. Perhaps with some serotonin to go with
it. Whatever neurotransmitter it was, it sure beat drugs, Goten thought.
"Don't worry," she pulled herself up and swung her long, shapely
legs (she was wearing a pair of black tights for pants which outlined her
well-defined musculature rather nicely) in through the window so that she
could sit. "As I said, you looked rather... handsome, actually. Nobody
at the university's going to believe that 'The Great Saiyaman III' is
you. They'll all just remark on how much you resemble him."
He put his nervous hands (why was he nervous?) in his pockets as he
took a focused, serious look at his slippered feet. A move which also
threw his long-ish bangs over his face, concealing his eyes. A good
thing, as they were starting to get slightly glazed. "D-did... did you
really think I looked good?"
"A veritable hunk of manliness," she smirked. "Our classmates see
you as such a nerd that there's no way that they'd realize that 'The
Great Saiyaman III,' new champion of justice, etc. etc., possessor of a
really tight set of buns and darned cool shades is really you, my
slouching, shabbily-dressed friend."
By now, Goten's brain was completely overloaded with the thought of
being a sex object. "T-t-t-tight buns?" His fingers trembled.
"Yup. You do know that several teen magazines have just done a
special on you, right? No? Well, you've been voted as possessing, 'the
Best Buns of The Year'."
That just blew his mind away. "Inconceivable..." he murmured
faintly. Sex object indeed.
Mari started to laugh uncontrollably, a deep-throated, sultry
chuckle that stirred something in Goten, causing his stressed neurons to
completely burn out. "Oh, Goten, if they only knew it was you! All
those stuck-up, prissy air-heads lusting after an even more impressive
specimen than Yuu, and you've been right in front of them, unnoticed for
some months now! It's just too rich."
"D-do... do y-you think I'm an impressive specimen?" he managed
to blurt out.
That dammed the laughter instantly, and now it was her turn to
blush. It was fortunate, she thought, that Goten's eyes were still fixed
on his feet. "Ah, well... yeah..." She cleared her throat somewhat
meaningfully. "Objectively speaking, of course. Ahem. Well, on to
business..."
"Goten, you're dinner's getting cold!" Videl's voice cut through
the fog in Goten's head quickly.
Mari froze, a little guiltily, Goten thought.
"Well, uh," she whispered, "I was wondering if you wanted to finish
that term paper at the library... with me."
"Starting now? It's getting a little late..."
"Well... I'm really behind and... Best to start now and... And a
lady doesn't like to travel alone at night and... look, are you coming
or aren't you?" she ended a little harshly.
Goten closed his eyes and thought. Hard.
"Uhmm... Videl-san, I just remembered something I have to do at
the library... I'll fix something for myself later."
"Okay. Just don't be too late!"
Mari grinned, and leaped straight out backwards through the window,
caught a close tree limb, and almost flew down, bouncing from branch to
branch with liquid, cat-like grace. "What are you waiting for,
slowpoke?"
Goten shook his head, grabbed his backpack and a pair of sneakers,
and jumped out to follow her into the cool, moonlit night. Ruefully, he
wondered how he'd gotten over Ami so quickly. Or if he'd gotten over her
at all. But he couldn't keep his thoughts off of Mari, and at that
moment, he wondered at how remarkable Mari seemed, how much more...
alive, vibrant... and happy?
He grunted as he struggled through the acrobatic manouevres that
were made necessary to get down without using chi, trying to follow her
as closely as possible. He wasn't used to this type of exercise,
although the superhuman athletic conditioning of his body made it
possible for him to improvise. He lost track of the path they were
taking, swept up in the rhythm of leap, swing, and jump from tree to
tree, over, under and through the relatively high branches.
Goten felt odd as he tried to hold them up against each other in
his mind, although the sight of Mari's lithe, well-formed legs just
before him rattled his thinking a little more than normal. She's a
lot... sexier for one thing. Must be that training she's had. I
wonder... how good would she be if I could teach her some of the things
we know about chi?
And of course, they were both theater majors... shared quite a few
interests... martial arts, old movies, old martial arts movies... ah...
ok, so he didn't know that much about her yet but that could be fixed....
that is, if she wanted to get to know him.
Due to his distraction, he barely noticed her finally slowing and
jumping down to the ground. He was following so closely that he fell
into her, feeling terribly embarrassed as he tried to balance for the
both of them and getting somewhat tangled up with her in the process.
Time ran into one of those kinks in the river that caused the flow to
slow down considerably for the two of them.
"Ulp. S-sorry... It was an accident..." he mumbled, his brain
again reeling under the assault of the equivalent of several doses of
some rather potent happy drugs. But that warm body so close to his and
its surprising contrasts of soft and firm against his own were doing
things to his psyche that helping to save the world several times just
did not prepare him for. He did manage to get both of them steady on
their feet though. Not an easy matter in his condition.
"Mmm..." she blushed. "Uh, huh. 'Sokay. Ahem. I guess we should
go in and get started, right? Main stacks A?" He could hear her heart
beating fast, but she did not step away at least, he thought to himself
fiercely.
"Sure." Oh, man, Goten pondered. I wonder I'm even going to be
able to think rationally, let alone write a paper on stupid ol' Chaucer.
At least... it won't be a boring weekend at the library...
----end episode 7
Afterword - If anyone who's kept up with this has just finished and said
"Huh?" to himself, I have to say that I know there are some things in my
fanfic that just aren't consistent with the DragonBall universe. I say
to you purists who insist on accuracy and conformity to the original
vision of the creator, I say, "Blah!" - I warned you at the beginning
that I would be playing with the DragonBall concepts a lot. Still, I
hope it's providing everyone with a good read. I'm still learning to
write as I go, and C&C is always welcome (but be warned that while
suggestions are always taken into consideration, they are often not
followed).
*******
Nikholas F. Toledo Zu @ http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/3145/mezza9.html
Vector, Switch, Yebah, Don Juan, goo, Pervert, Scruples, Hollie, NomaD,
Blitz, Gee, Datzo
Fanfiction @ http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/3145/fanfics.html