The Good, the Bad, and…

Summary: A dbz SI fic. Because I haven't found a single one yet. References to Bleedman's "Grimm Tales" web comic, but not a crossover.

Chapter 1: The Underworld…good times…

My vision was blurry. I felt like I was in a sauna or a steam room. The heat was agonizing, and a terrible stench overpowered me. I brought my hands up to rub the sweat and blurriness. Where was I? The last thing I remembered was…

…It was the middle of the night. I was walking home after hanging out with my friend after a night of playing videogames…

Is that what we were doing? My memory was so fuzzy. I just can't remember anything clearly. How did I end up here? I looked around. What I saw…was…surreal. Before me, lay a barren wasteland with ominous red mountain ranges. I seemed to be on a boat of some kind. I could hear the hull creaking.

I stood up, taking off the jacket that I'd apparently been wearing. It felt almost refreshing to shed the extra layer. I walked over to the edge of the boat, and looked over. My heart leapt to my throat at the sight of the seemingly endless river of blackness with human like…creatures crying out in anguish as they reached up, and they all seemed to be looking right at me. Cataracts in their eyes and their faces harsh as rusted razors…like looking down into a zombie movie.

I backed away, heart pounding in my chest. I looked around franticly, seeing no one else on this particular deck, I ran to a small flight of stairs in panic. My shoes made heavy clunking noises as I ran, like I could fall through at any given moment. I looked down over the edge again…yep, same freaky river of living corpses…lovely.

A bellowing growl from behind me made me jump. Fists clenched, I slowly turned around to see what it was. My heart stopped. Standing about ten feet away from me was something that looked like ihmotep from the mummy movies, but in a tattered robe. He uttered another choked growl as he tilted his head to the side. I could feel him staring at me, even though his eye sockets were empty. Nothing but darkness, but I could still feel his eyes on me.

The sound of a grown man giggling impishly cut the tension as I looked to its source and stifled a laugh. My situation now felt like I was in some kind horror parody film. Now flying over the barge was a grey skinned man in a blue bodysuit with horns protruding from the head, wings from his back and a spaded tail from his tailbone. There was even the upward curl in the toes of his shoes. It was becoming harder and harder to look at him and not laugh.

The blue devil man smirked at me. "you don't seem at all frightened to be here human." My lack of fear seemed to intrigue him.

I scratched my head with a grin. "…well, no offence, but you aren't really a very intimidating fellow. The…gentleman here…" I gestured to the cloaked zombie, still standing there, uttering sickly groans. "…and what I saw in the water are what scared me. If anything, you showing up seemed to take a lot out of the tension."

The blue devil man crossed his legs, Indian style, in mid air as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "tell me boy, what crimes have you committed?" he asked.

I raised an eyebrow. That was a weird question… "I haven't ever committed any crimes, not that I'm aware of." I answered. It was true. I was probably the only one out of my little circle of friends who hadn't ever gotten in trouble with the law. "I've never even had sex or gambled." He seemed rather surprised.

The devil man looked at me with a mix of confusion and surprise. "…then why are you in hell?" he asked dumbly.

My eyes went wide. What? I really was in hell? I wandered back to the edge for the third time. "This really is hell?" I asked timidly.

"Indeed it is" I heard the devil man say behind me.

I looked down at the dark river, over flowing with agonized dead souls. "…and this river…?"

I had a feeling, and he confirmed it. "It's the river Styx"

I turned around again, and pointed to the cloaked guy. "…and he's…"

"That's Caro, boatman of the damned" he said with a nod. The devilman gingerly landed with his hands on his hips. "Maybe you can tell me something" he mused. I looked back to him. "…you've committed no crimes, I sense very little darkness in you…just why are you here in the underworld?"

I shrugged. "haven't the foggiest." I stated bluntly. "I was hoping you would tell me why and how I got here"

He seemed to think again, brow furrowed in thought. "if I were to hazard a guess, it seems the fates have some kind of plan for you. Your name?"

Some kind of plan for me, huh? "…Victor…" was all I said.

Out of nowhere, a clipboard and reading glasses materialized in his hands. "age?"

I stifled a laugh at how funny he looked "sixteen" I said with a grin

He flipped through a few pages, spending only a minute looking at each one. "…As I thought…you aren't scheduled to meet your end for a good long time."

"So what do I do about it?" I asked, somewhat impatiently.

The devil man's glasses and clipboard disappeared and he looked at me. "…well, there is one way you could go back to the world of the living" he was serious now. "I just don't know if you'd actually go back to your original dimension…" he trailed off.

"Original dimension, what are you talking about?" I asked.

He leaned against the helm of the boat with his arms crossed. "…Your dimension is but one of the tens of thousands connected to this place. there's no way of telling which one you'd end up in"

I sighed. "…I'll jump off that bridge when I get to it. How do I get out of this place?"

The devil man seemed thoughtful. "willing to risk it, eh? This is quite a gamble here."

I smirked. "…I actually don't fancy going back to the universe I came from. Too much doom and gloom about the world supposedly coming to an end in the next few years." The devil man arched an eyebrow at my statement. "If my world really is going to hell in a hand basket, I don't wanna be there to see it first hand."

"…talk of Armageddon, eh?" he asked. I nodded.

"yeah, so lets hear this method of yours, huh?"

The devil man looked at me from the corner of his eye. "… a demonic succession ritual…"

I looked at him questioningly. "…what does that entail?" I asked. Naturally I hadn't heard of such a thing before.

"…find a demon on the cusp of death…" he began. "Earn his respect, and he'll make…an offer. If you accept the offer, his power will be transferred to you."

I arched an eyebrow this time. "what kind of offer?" I asked, confused.

"depends on who you go to" he stated matter of factly. "some will offer an old belonging, some will follow the tradition…" he seemed look at me as though he was confident that what he was about to say would freak me out. "…and offer the right eye…"

My eyes went wide. I pointed to my right eye. "…you mean…?" he nodded.

"It's symbolic of seeing through the eyes of another." The devil man explained. "This will transfer all of his knowledge…all his experience and powers to you. His soul will sit locked in your subconscious for the rest of your days."

"Uuughghh!" a trumpeting howl drew both of our attention. It was Caro, and he was still staring at me.

"we're having a conversation here!" I shot back, without missing a beat.

The devil man stifled a laugh at our brief exchange. "The boatman always demands a toll" he explained.

I glared at the standing corpse. "what do you need money for? What the hell are you gonna spend it on?" I demanded. He seemed to glare at me as he extended his boney hand in the common gesture that always seems to mean 'pay up!', growling as he did this.

My eye twitched as I dug through my pockets. I slapped a five into his open palm and was about to exit the ship which had finally docked. I heard Caro growl again. I slowly turned back to face him again, eyes twitching incessantly all the while.

"…What is it this time…?" I hissed. Low and behold, he was holding his hand out in the 'pay up' sign again. "…penny pinching bastard…" by this point the devil man was laughing his ass off. I glared at him…har de fuckin har…laugh it up…

I slapped another ten dollar bill into Caro's hand. "Uuggghhhh!" with that, it felt like an invisible force or a really strong wind pulled or threw me off the barge entirely. I landed with a heavy thud on the desolate ground.

"DUDE, WHAT THE HELL?" I barked. I heard the devil man burst into laughter. "what the hell was that? What was it 'gimme my money and get the fuck off my ship?" I bellowed.

"hahahaha! Haven't seen that in ages!" The devil man laughed heartily.

"…I'm glad you're amused…" I sure as hell wasn't. "…I'm out of here…" I said as I turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" The devil man asked with a smirk.

I looked over my shoulder sourly. "…to mingle. I won't find a demon drawing his last breaths standing here, will I?" The devil man chuckled and waved. "…yeah whatever…" needless to say, my dispute with Caro had put me in a foul mood.

I trudged through the wastelands passing various people who looked hauntingly familiar. Ruthless dictators from various countries and times…dead rock stars…My eyes went wide as I passed who I was pretty sure was Elton John…

Minutes later…oh, hell no! Abe Lincoln and Joseph Stalin…arm wrestling? I quickened my pace to a jog. This place was seriously starting to weird me out. It wasn't long before I encountered what could be my ticket out of this place. Two unearthly looking beings were clashing before my eyes. They too, were hauntingly familiar. My eyes went wide again as before me were two beings I though only existed in a fictitious world thought up by a Japanese manga artist in the early nineties. From the dimension that all from my own would know as 'Dragonball Z', about fifteen feet away stood both Cell and Frieza! Cell in his perfect form, towering over the final evolution that frieza makes before falling by Goku's hand.

They glared at each other. "I'll be the one to take your power and walk out those gates!" Frieza declared. "…and it will be me who kills Goku and the rest of those earthling maggots!"

Cell merely smirked at Frieza. "Not until you can overpower the equivalent of a super saiyan, runt!" The taller humanoid countered. "as I recall, both times, all it took was a single super saiyan to take you down, where as it took four of them to bring me down and I still beat the lot of them to a bloody pulp before I was defeated!"

Frieza scowled in fury. "Why you UGLY LITTLE TOAD! How dare you belittle me in such a manner?" he barked.

Cell raised an eyebrow. "…I dare, because I can, weakling!"

Before I knew it, I was leaning against something and watching their conflict intently. "…awesome…" I whispered. I was brimming with excitement. I had always wondered who would win between these two.

Frieza returned Cell's comment with a sneer. "…disappear…" he said darkly, as he raised his hand and a red light emanated from his fingertip.

Everything seemed to freeze. Seeing Frieza's charging attack seemed to trigger something as my mind immediately went back to that night…

I was walking home at the middle of the night. What was I doing? Oh, yeah. Playing video games with one of my buddies… suddenly everything seemed to be engulfed in bright light. I looked around to see…my heart stopped as I looked in terror at the brilliant fireball was falling out of the sky.

As the light became too much to look at directly, I took off in a dead sprint. I could heat it falling now. the meteor had broken the sound barrier and was going to be right on top of me in probably less then a minute. Was that what put me in hell? It must be.

I managed to pull myself back to the tearful excuse for reality that I was stuck in. Frieza fired his attack. Cell didn't even flinch, he just let the attack collide with him. Big mistake! I grinned as the attack sent the green fighter flying back. "enjoying the show?" a voice said behind me.

I turned to face whoever it was. "…actually yeah I…" I trailed off. I had to remind myself to breathe when I saw who was behind me. Not four feet away from me, was Cooler! Like the two clashing fighters, Cooler was far more frightening in person. I could feel the pressure of his power.

Cooler glanced at me, presumably because I stopped in mid sentence. he seemed amused now. "…that look in your eyes…" he mused. "…you know who I am…don't you?" Stunned into silence, all I could do was nod. Both Cooler and I returned our gazes to the fight between frieza and Cell. "…do you know of the green one?" he asked.

He wanted to know about cell? Uh…okay… "…his name is Cell…a DNA based android created by a man named Dr. Gero…who eventually turned himself into an android in a demented quest for eternal life… Cell achieved his power by absorbing two other androids created for that specific purpose. To fuse them together, and create the most powerfull fighter that the universe has ever known…and hunt down the man who humiliated him…and destroy him…"

Cooler seemed further amused. "…but he failed?"

I nodded. "It took four level-two super saiyans, and he still beat all four of them within inches of their lives…but they were still able to defeat him in the end." I explained.

Part of my explanation seemed to catch Cooler off guard. "…level two…?" he asked, daunted by the concept.

I smirked. "yeah, they call it The Super saiyan 2…"

Cooler regained his composure as we continued to watch the fight between Cell and Frieza. Cell appeared to have the upper hand. It seemed to be Cooler's turn to catch me off guard. "…Do you intend to take the loser's power?" he asked.

Truth be told, I hadn't even thought about it. "I wasn't planning on it. I just appreciate a good fight." I answered truthfully.

Cooler remained silent, but raised an eyebrow in vague interest. "DIE!" Frieza bellowed, cutting our conversation short. He was charging his red distructo disk and was ready to throw it at Cell. Cell however had a distructo disk of his own. Sweet! The battle of the distructo disks!

The two fighters launched their attacks. "…After you sir!" Cell shot back. The two floating disks missed colliding by a hairline fraction. Both of them went wide eyed as the attacks hit their targets. Both of them dropped. Cooler and I both gave each other a quick glance before darting towards the fallen fighters. Cooler teleported to cell and I dove for Frieza.

"You've been beaten and no one's coming to help you! I'm your best shot out of here." I inform Frieza.

The white skinned alien glared at me, his face scrunching up in agony. The disk had cleaved him in half at the waistline. Purple blood oozed from the wounds and his mouth. "I should kill you for even suggesting such a thing, human!" he barked.

I sighed. "…from what I hear, it's a lot easier if both parties are in agreement…" I said. "…If I tried to take your soul and power by force…" I glanced over to Cell and Cooler to see that Cooler had plunged his hand into Cells skull and ripped out the android's right eye, forcing it into his own eye socket.

Dark energy swirled around them both as Cooler screamed in agony. Cell's remains seemed to take a vapour-like form and seemed to have an acidic effect on Cooler. Eventually Cooler's body was engulfed in black flames. Frieza's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked down at him to discover that he had seen the whole thing. "…w-what?" he demanded shakily. "…What happened to them?"

"Cooler tried to take Cell's life energy by force. It destroyed them both…" I said quietly. Cooler didn't exactly go out painlessly…I looked back down to Frieza again. "…I'll ask once more. Will you join with me? It's the only way out for both of us…" Frieza was still looking in horror at the charred remains of his brother.

The former alien warlord sighed in defeated. "…That I have been reduced to this…" he muttered. "…fine. Do what you will with my power…will you accept my offer…?" he finally asked, life fading from him with every passing minute.

I nodded. "…yes…" was all I said. Frieza proceeded to remove his right eye. I very nearly gagged, but took it, and brought it to my own eye socket. That's when it began. Frieza's form turned to vapour and flooded my mouth and nostrils. The next few moments were filled with this bizarre euphoric feeling.

At first it felt like I was being electrocuted, but it was quickly replaced by a rising heat all over my body. I could see the same dark energy swirling around me as what happened to Cooler and Cell. But I wasn't in any pain. I also saw a barrage of images and a cacophony of voices and the sounds of explosions, gunfire, and various other sounds of a war torn battlefield in the background. It was safe to assume these were Frieza's memories.

It was done. The feeling had subsided and frieza was gone. I looked down at myself. Physically, I was in better shape then I'd ever been. I could feel the power coursing through me. I looked over my shoulder to see a dark figure standing where I had been standing only a short while earlier. It looked like a solid silhouette wearing dark blue robes. It had glowing blue eyes. The figure spoke. "Bravo, bravo…" he said, calmly

Clapping his clawed hands.

I tensed. "Can I help you?" I asked nervously.

"Actually…" he began. "…it is I who can help you, human." His blue eyes seemed amused. Does everyone around here find me THAT amusing?

"Is that so?"

He the shape of his eyes gave him an ominous yet mischievous look. "…indeed. You see it is I who passed the law down here that a successful succession ceremony will grant one a ticket out of the underworld."

I was taken back by this. "so you're here to present me with my ticket out of 'a beautiful mind' the home game?"

The demon started laughing. "Hahahahahaa! I've heard it called a lot of things over the millennia…but that is a first!" he said boisterously. "…back to business, yes I am" he finished with a chuckle. "You do not belong here boy. You convinced the whit one to give you his power without using force. That is the reason that your ritual was a success, and the only reason you are perhaps one of the only ones in this dimension who could ever pull this off with out destroying yourself."

I nodded as I took in his words. "so, what do I call ya?" I asked.

The demon bowed. "I am high priest Sadow." He introduced.

I bowed back. Not sure why, guess it just seemed to be the proper thing to do. "Victor Kaine" I replied.

Sadow straightened his posture. "…and through you, victor, Frieza shall find atonement as you use his power and abilities for good." He raked his claws across the air in front of him. I stared dumbstruck at what looked like a rip in the time-space continuum. "…Have a nice resurrection, boy!" he said as he grabbed me by my collar and tossed me into the rift. My vision is bombarded by a rainbow of colors. I offhandedly wondered if this was what it was like to be high…until unconsciousness overtook me.

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