Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball/Z/GT, but I do own Janden, the Laniins, the other races not including Human, the planet Giendon, a few techniques, the unfamiliar languages, and a handful of other things that are my creation alone.
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Last time on Kakkhan: Immortal Saiyan Z-fighter—
He'd deserved to be brought down a peg or six, Kakkhan admitted, if only to himself, as his behavior had been absolutely atrocious! Kakkhan sighed. He'd better stop bashing himself or he'd have absolutely no faith in himself, and he needed that. Menrui had enough low self-esteem for the both of them.
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Chapter Seven: A Visit to the Akuma Dimension
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It was a big adjustment, going to college, Kakkhan reflected as he fell onto the couch after school. It was time-consuming, leaving Kakkhan practically no time to socialize. Well, that was going to change. Starting today, he was going to visit people every day, even if he didn't feel like it. He was going to start with the Z-senshi at Capsule and go from there.
He hopped off the couch and took a look at himself. First, he'd better take a shower, he decided. He looked as ragged as he felt. Eyeing disdainfully the two backpacks waiting for him, Kakkhan turned and stomped into the shower. While in the shower, the immortal sensed Menrui's ki coming into the house and changed his mind about visiting Capsule. He hadn't taken his twin to the dimension of the Akumas yet, even after a year. It was about time that he did that.
He came out of the shower and quickly dressed. 'Gohan!' Kakkhan called, jumping down the stairs.
"What?" Menrui asked, alarm in his wide black eyes. Kakkhan smirked at him, showing him that there was no danger.
"Oh, nothing. It's just that I haven't shown you the Demon Dimension yet, and you've not met Lotto. That's all," Kakkhan announced to his past counterpart. Menrui looked surprised, and he managed to stammer out,
"Lotto? As in your akuma guardian?" At Kakkhan's sharp nod, the demi-Saiyan simply stared at the other boy.
"Why?" Menrui merely asked.
"Because you're my brother, you deserve to be taken to the City and because I haven't gone to that place in ages," Kakkhan replied, rattling off all the possible answers to that question. He would have gone on, but Menrui stopped him by saying weakly,
"Okay, okay, you've got me. When are we going to go?"
"How about now?" Before Menrui could move, Kakkhan grabbed him and shoved him within the thin fiery barrier that guarded Kakkhan's mind. This action was reminiscent of a move that Kakkhan had performed another time, another place, and in another environment. In fact, it was exactly the same thing, with just as little warning and as much shock afterwards.
The difference was that Menrui knew Kakkhan now; he knew that his twin didn't mean for him to be shocked. He didn't mean the disorientation that Menrui was feeling upon suddenly standing in an immense ever-shifting room of darkness in which there was no up or down, just forwards and backwards.
Kakkhan could just let Menrui enter his mind on his own, but that just wasn't his style: Kakkhan had to do something or be bored out of his mind. His twin also liked to be center of attention, although he certainly wouldn't admit that. Oh, Kakkhan got tired of the limelight sometimes, and didn't grab for it when it wasn't on him, either, which was a relief to Menrui. Vegeta….
But Kakkhan definitely liked to be noticed. He liked knowing that he was thought about, seen, and acknowledged, even if it was only by a grunt in the rudest cases.
As he trudged after Kakkhan in the darkness, having started out after Menrui's dizziness had passed, the demi-Saiyan deliberated about his twin.
It must have been Kakkhan's Laniin upbringing, the way everyone Kakkhan came into contact with paid attention to him, even the most innocent bystander. It was the custom, almost a law, to give everyone one met one's undivided attention, even if one positively loathed the person, or persons as it were, one met. This custom had, inadvertently or not, increased awareness of the people and beings around one's self, which in battle was a sure benefit, one that Menrui was struggling to acquire himself.
Despite all the blindfolding that Kakkhan had forced him to suffer through, Menrui still didn't quite grasp the concept of spreading one's consciousness everywhere around one's self. Kakkhan had told him—rather tartly—that he'd done it before, when Piccolo had been hiding and Gohan still could not sense ki.
"That was then, this is now!" Menrui had retorted, the blue headband over his eyes covering them so completely that he had his arms out for balance.
"Oh, Gohan, stop thinking like that. Once you've learned something you never stop knowing it. Now relax and let it flow to you. Try and sense where I am before I hit you," Kakkhan had shot back. In the next second, he had completely dampened his ki and disappeared so that Menrui was suddenly all alone in the darkness.
Which just brought them right back to the original thought-train: Kakkhan did things with little to no warning, raising his level of unpredictability in a way that was dangerous, sometimes. It certainly made life with Kakkhan interesting, at any rate.
Menrui looked up from his thoughts just as Kakkhan slowed down. Menrui picked up his own pace to catch up with Kakkhan, who lengthened his stride when Menrui appeared at his side.
'Are we almost there?' questioned Menrui, watching with interest the growing forest beside them. It was dark, close, and moody, with cobwebs stringing across everything, but it was fascinating to Menrui, the nature boy. The path they were following, though was cobbled and clearly well traveled, even with the signs of it being overgrown with moss, once. Indeed, there was still some of the green lichen to be seen clinging to the pebbles of the way, especially at the edges of the stones.
'Yes,' responded Kakkhan, breaking Menrui's inspection of the mysterious, brooding scenery. "In fact," he added, speeding up his step again, "we are there."
Menrui followed Kakkhan's gaze as he hastened his own gait. He couldn't see as much as feel something out there in front of him, something that did not recognize him or feel that friendly towards him. But this was the same thing that Kakkhan had felt, so Menrui was not as scared as he would have been, merely wary and alert, and even curious.
It was this wariness that enabled Menrui to dodge out of the way of what appeared to be a miniature leopard. The house cat-sized leopard paid Menrui no heed, however, having focus only for Kakkhan.
Kakkhan, too, sensed the cat's appearance, for he turned around just before it could leap on him. However, the immortal did not move out of the way, only calling as a broad smirk lit up his face,
'Lotto!'
So this was Lotto. To Menrui, It seemed bigger than what he remembered of the neko akuma from Kakkhan's memories. It had the same huge fangs that Kakkhan remembered, the same sleek conformation lines, and the lashing forked tail, which was whipping the air as Lotto pounced on Kakkhan. Laughing, the Saiyan caught the akuma and buried his head in Its fur.
'Oh, Lotto, I missed you so much!' Kakkhan cried in that hissing language of the akumas.
With a start, Menrui realized that he'd just understood those hisses. Kakkhan had actually said something to the akuma that Menrui could decipher! It had been with resignation that Menrui had told himself that he'd never understand the Language of the Akumas without Kakkhan's help.
It had been hair-raising to listen to it and not understand what was going on back in his timeline, but a tiny part of him had still wanted to know how the akuma language worked. This tiny part had grown and shoved itself to the forefront after the demi-Saiyan saw Kakkhan's memories, but the mortal boy had berated that part and pushed it away.
Well, that part was coming back in full force. Menrui listened interestedly as Lotto snarled a complaint back to Kakkhan about his long absence. As Menrui's future counterpart apologized, another shape stalked up.
'Hmpf. That (censored) cat always gets first dibs on the Legendary Lord. Always. You would think that I would be able to greet him every (censored) once in a while, but no. The (censored) Guardian gets to be first. Hmpf. I at least beat out Yoki and his (censored) uma,' the hulking greyhound-lean form muttered.
It took one more stride for the other akuma to reach Menrui; once It did, It grumpily sat Its haunches down and disgustedly watched the touching reunion playing out before It.
Menrui blinked, startled, at the newcomer. Like Lotto, this akuma was red-eyed, had huge fangs coming out of the corners of Its mouth, and Its paws and claws were uncomfortably large in proportion to Its sleek body. The waving forked tail looked as lethal as Lotto's, but there was one difference between this akuma and Lotto: this was more like a dog than a cat, actually only a shade smaller than the Paradoxes' own dog, Theron the Great Dane.
To Menrui, this akuma was also vaguely familiar, as if he'd seen It somewhere. It came to him just as It turned Its face to him.
'InuYasha?' Menrui gasped, his mouth slightly open. The akuma sitting beside him looked disconcerted for a few seconds, but as It took a closer look at the stranger here, the look cleared up.
'I know you, you're… you're the (censored) hybrid who the Legendary Lord was watching in that alternate timeline. You're the one with the darkness in his soul… The one I was sent as a messenger to!' InuYasha declared, adding a glower for the last sentence.
If Menrui wasn't nervous before, he certainly was now. 'Uh, yeah, I am, I-I guess,' he stuttered. InuYasha looked him up and down, then asked, suspiciously,
'Has that neko greeted you yet?'
Menrui shook his head hastily. This was the right thing to do, for (somehow) the inu's expression brightened.
'All right!' the akuma crowed. 'I get one over the damn cat at last! Welcome, Prince of Puzzles, to the City!' With that, the dog bounded off, calling over Its shoulder, 'Come! I will take you to the Demon Gods!'
Menrui stared after the gleeful akuma, feeling like he'd been run over by a truck, a human one that is. These were the feelings of shock and being overwhelmed that plagued Menrui, and they only increased when the something before him suddenly solidified into a concrete image.
There were the iron gates, the many multi-sized buildings crowding beyond it, and rising above it all was the Tower. From far away, the Tower seemed like a shining multi-faceted crystal planted right in the middle of the City for no apparent reason. Menrui took a half-step forward, his mouth hanging open, as he took in the attention-grabbing sights before him.
'Come on! What are you waiting for? Let's go already!' the gruff voice of InuYasha razed through the air to Menrui's hearing, breaking the boy's shell-shocked reverie. He looked dazedly at the inu akuma waiting impatiently for him, then let his gaze travel back up to the City. His feet carried him to the glistening, waiting gates, where InuYasha was, and followed the akuma as It raced though the entrance and zoomed away.
All of a sudden, Menrui found himself jerked forward, as if something were pulling him. Things and images flashed by him in the blink of an eye, and it seemed to him that there were more pairs of red eyes than could possibly exist—
And then it was over.
Menrui stood before the Tower, the crystal planted randomly in the middle of the City, and gawked. Seconds later, Kakkhan and Lotto appeared, as well, and they stood with Menrui and looked with him at the tall building standing superciliously in front of them. InuYasha had already disappeared, so it was Lotto who rumbled,
'Welcome to the Tower, Prince of Puzzles.'
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Contrary to Kakkhan's experiences, the inside of the Tower was bright and airy. Menrui looked in awe at the impeccably designed pattern of black and white tiles, with the white tiles overwhelming the black in number, even if the black tiles were larger in size than their white complements. Menrui couldn't help but feel that that design was symbolic of something, of many things, and he attempted to ponder the symbolism, but the stairs distracted him.
The stairs were alabaster and seemed to pulsate. Menrui's sharp eyes picked out other stones accompanying the alabaster, but it was mostly the white seashell-like stone that Menrui saw. The pulsating somehow seemed to result from having the alabaster mixed in with the marble, the white onyx, the pearl, the cloudy diamonds and crystals, the quartz, and the polished sandstone, but as far as Menrui knew, that was impossible.
He was suddenly reminded of his own necklace, the crystal pendant that Kakkhan had given him—was it only a year ago? It seemed so much longer—that had protected him against the Androids. He reached into his shirt and drew the ornament out. Within seconds he was blinded by the brilliant light that beamed out from the small crystal, illuminating everything around it and its owner.
Then the light retracted into the crystal, which was no longer a crystal but a shimmering alabaster, just like the stairs, leaving a stunned Menrui, an immobile Kakkhan, and a very interested pair of akumas in its wake.
'Yessss…' InuYasha muttered, Its voice only a low growl. Lotto added, in Its own snarl,
'It has come, at last.'
Both of the Paradoxes turned to the akumas inhabiting the same space. InuYasha had apparently come back from wherever It had gone, for It was padding back towards them now. Both It and Lotto were staring intensely at the emblem Menrui was holding; so intensely, the hairs on the back of the demi-Saiyan's neck rose. Nervously, Menrui protectively drew the necklace closer to him as he queried, as intimidated by the stares as his actions said, 'What has come? Why are you staring at my ki damper like that?'
Lotto didn't answer. Instead It transferred Its gaze from the Necklace to the Mortal clutching it. Menrui was unnerved even more, but he stood his ground. At last, InuYasha broke the tension with a snap.
'We should get going. The Gods are waiting for us.'
Menrui looked up, gulped, and nodded. He looked for Kakkhan, found him, and pleaded for reassurance without a word. His Immortal twin seemed to understand, for he fell into step with his Mortal counterpart and placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it comfortingly.
Menrui's nerves quieted, but only temporarily; with every stair they took, closer and closer to the Demon Gods, they jangled louder and louder until Menrui was constantly surprised there were not echoes fleeting after them. As it was, Kakkhan only looked curious, even perhaps a little grim, and the two akumas in front of them were as silent as the quartet's footsteps on the stairs. The only sound to be hard besides Menrui's internal chaos were the soft breathing rhythms of Kakkhan and Menrui. The daemons apparently didn't need to breathe.
Then came the archway through which Kakkhan and Lotto had visited the Gods of the Akumas so many times before. Menrui would have stopped, but Kakkhan pushed him on, deaf to his brother's mental protests. The Immortal forced the Mortal through the cupola after the akumas.
All of a sudden, Menrui felt oppressed, like he was being weighed down by something extremely heavy, but there was nothing there. With a tremendous amount of effort, Menrui forced his eyes to lift, although they dropped instantly again and he had to start over. Why he was struggling so, even Menrui didn't know, but he kept trying. From a far-off direction, he heard someone utter in a frosty, deep voice,
'Kindly let go of my brother. He has done nothing to you.'
A split-second was all Menrui allowed himself to think over the words. My brother? Who's the brother? To whom has he done nothing? Is that why Menrui was being punished like this, because the brother had done nothing? Further questions went unacknowledged as the weight pressed down even more on the demi-Saiyan.
It was then that Menrui started to panic, and with the panic came the need to get out from whatever was on him. He started to struggle, his ki raising in proportion to his growing hysteria, but the thing still held on.
A white aura flickered around Menrui, as his energy increased to that level, but it rapidly turned to blue, then red, and finally showed edges of gold. Menrui's ears caught snatches of a voice that called encouragement to him, concern in its fluctuations. Menrui wanted to tell it not to worry, not to be so concerned, but the tonnage wouldn't let go of him, wouldn't let him reach for the kind inflections. He then began to get angry—'Why won't you let me go to him?'he roared silently, fiercely—and he lunged for his ki, let it flow into him, helped it bolster him, strengthen him, support him—
A flash of golden color, a ferocious roar, and a huge upheaval of ki later, Menrui threw off the hand of the God and leaped for Kakkhan. He grabbed his twin's shoulders and yelled, 'Don't worry, I'm all right! Don't worry!'
The warrior stood, panting, in a conflagration of flaming aureate, and abruptly returned to his senses as he felt hands on his shoulders. He stared unthinkingly at his mirror-image—except that his hair was gold now—still panting heavily, when Kakkhan stated,
'You did it, Ru. You did it, you passed the test.' The Immortal's eyes were as bright as his vociferation was rough, and his breath was as heavy—as Menrui's—as his grip on his brother's shoulders was tight.
'Test? That was a test?' Menrui grated out. His vocal cords felt raw, as if he'd been screaming for hours on end. For all he knew, he might have been.
'Yes, and you passed with much honor,' another voice boomed out. It came from the shadows in front of Menrui and Kakkhan, and yet it was everywhere at once, bounding off from the walls and coming back with double intensity. Menrui felt like his ears might bleed.
Before the Mortal's stunned eyes, the shadows faded away to unveil a giant dragon-ish akuma. Gray wings rose out of Its back and jumped high over Its head to blend in with the shadows It wore. Red eyes regarded Menrui over a long snout, in which two huge fangs resided, resting on either side of the lower jaw. A long neck led the way to the rest of the body, which had the same sleek luster as any other akuma Menrui had seen, but the light bounced off of large iguana-like scales, not seemingly wet fur. A tail curled around the massive legs, all four of them, and like any daemon's, it was forked.
Despite all this fearsome appearances—the claws were huge on those hands!—the Demon God did not frighten Menrui. Rather, it had a look of frailty not unlike that of birds, and it exuded only a pleasant pride. Menrui found that he was sorry to have had such rage at It for not letting him cheer up Kakkhan, though he still shuddered at the fresh memory of that unbearable mass.
Suddenly the demi-Saiyan realized that he was still in Super Saiyan mode. He started to let go of the ki which had been so helpful to him, but the Demon God stopped him.
'Do not power down. Your rite of passage is not over yet. You will want to remain as you are for the second, and last, part of your test, Prince of Puzzles,' It said. The darkness had crept around the God, so Menrui could not see Its face, and he had to rely on Its voice to tell him what It thought.
For the first time in what seemed ages, so much so that Menrui jumped, Kakkhan spoke up. 'Is this second part going to be the same as mine? That is, will Ru have to fight the Grim Reaper to show his immortality?'
The demi-Saiyan in question felt shivers go up his spine, and not just at Kakkhan's question. This was the second time that his twin had called him "Ru", his personal nickname for the name "Menrui", and not "Gohan". Menrui brooded as he realized that he himself had not thought of him as Gohan, either. He hadn't for ages, he saw now, and whenever Kakkhan had called him "Gohan", he'd had a sense of confusion, of discomfort, before he'd remembered that he was Gohan, that it was he whom was being addressed.
He sighed, feeling lost. Who was he? Was he Menrui, or was he Gohan? Was he the doomed warrior fated to fight the Androids in that long-ago losing battle? Or was he the free time traveler learning about Spirit Glaives from his soul-twin? He felt torn, like his soul was being ripped in half. Who was he?
'He isn't immortal, you know. So what will Ru be tested on? Is it— Ru, what's wrong?'
The sudden note of concern in his twin's speech brought Menrui out of his drowning reverie long enough to look up at his strong counterpart. Kakkhan's forehead was burrowed and there was a slight look of—was that panic he saw in those black depths?—in Kakkhan's eyes. This only served to make Menrui feel guilty, so he tried to comfort Kakkhan, let him know that he was all right, but he couldn't make the effort.
Something must have alerted Kakkhan to his plight, though, for the Saiyan grasped Menrui by the shoulders, as the demi-Saiyan had done minutes before to Kakkhan, and stared into his twin's green eyes.
Menrui could feel Kakkhan nudging at his mind, his light-filled mind that was slowly becoming dark, as the darkness caged by light gently broke free. The boy tried to concentrate on the powerful presence edging into his mind, but the darkness was embracing him, promising him that everything was going to be all right. Menrui closed his eyes…
…and opened them again as a pair of muscled arms encircled him.
'You're not taking my brother,' Kakkhan said. His face was turned to the space beyond them, however, so it was clear that Kakkhan was speaking to the darkness in Menrui's mind. Still, Menrui couldn't help but whimper as the shadows retreated, at which point Kakkhan tightened his grip and turned back to him.
'Hey, bro,' the Immortal greeted. 'What's wrong?'
Menrui let his head fall forward onto Kakkhan's shoulder, even as his own arms lifted and hung on to his twin. He didn't say anything, but he didn't need to; the returning light whispered the answer to Kakkhan.
'Oh, Ru,' the Saiyan sighed, his shoulders dropping as he relaxed. 'I'm so sorry.'
'For what?' Menrui asked, his forehead still finding that nice spot on Kakkhan's shoulder.
'For confusing you. I kept calling you "Gohan" when you had become used to "Menrui", and called you "Ru" when you expected "Gohan". When we get out of here, I'll try harder to keep them straight. You're—'
Menrui cut his brother off. 'I'm not either of them. I'm not Gohan anymore, but I'm not Menrui either. I'm a nobody, and I'll always be one. How could I expect to be somebody when I came to this world? Everything's changed, but I haven't, and I'm lost, a victim of identity crisis—'
Now it was Kakkhan's turn to interrupt Menrui. 'Listen to me, Gohan Menrui,' he started in a sharp voice. Black eyes met green as the demi-Saiyan hosted his head up from Kakkhan's shoulder.
'You are not a nobody. You are both Gohan and Menrui, and my brother. Don't ever forget that, ever again. Whatever I call you, whatever other people call you, always know that you are Son Gohan and Tairyoku Menrui,' he continued. 'Those lives may clash sometimes, but it is possible to be the person who lived both of those lives. Do you hear me, bro?'
Listening to Kakkhan's words, Menrui felt something uncurl inside of him, something that had tightly wound up a long time ago. It felt to the demi-Saiyan that he was falling apart, and he grabbed for the disappearing part. But the arms around him stirred, reminding him of the stubborn brother still with him, and he sighed.
He let the part dance away from him, and watched, startled, as it dove back into him and fit itself back into its original position. But it conformed in a different way than before; Menrui held his breath as the fragment wriggled, seemingly for a more comfortable position, then rested. The demi-Saiyan held his breath a little longer, but then he had to release it—and the component still held. He took another breath, and one more, but through it all, the piece stayed.
It felt weird, how it was now, but it was definitely more comfortable, and it allowed him to grin with wonder at Kakkhan.
The Saiyan slackened again, as everything seemed to be okay with his brother again. Just to be sure, he added sternly, 'When we get out of my mind and back to reality, you and I are going to start talking, and you know what I mean by that.'
'Even if that applies to you?' Menrui asked, jokingly. His smile faded as Kakkhan blinked back at him, clearly astonished. 'Oh, Khan, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to—' Menrui started to apologize.
He hadn't mean to offend his brother, he wanted to say, but Kakkhan shook his head at him.
'No, you're right. I need to talk about myself, too,' he said, smiling easily at Menrui, who grinned back in relief. Together, they looked towards the Demon Dimension, where more than three souls waited for them.
Kakkhan fell back into himself with an internal sigh, but immediately returned to business. He turned with Menrui to gape at the eight other beings in the room with them, along with InuYasha, Lotto, and the Demon Gods.
'What are you doing here?' Kakkhan accused Yoki, eyeing him and his life-hating horse akuma. 'And what are these people doing here?' he continued, waving at the other three pairs of Horsemen and Horses.
Only these Horses were not daemons; these were horse Morphs, or horses that had been created out of dead body parts, picked organs, and given life with a touch of the rune Lide, and perception with Bashir, movement with Nata, and finally the gifts of thought and learning with Donatien. As a result of this, the Morphs looked rather grisly, but they were clearly valued for more than their looks.
The Grim Reaper simply grinned, a grotesque drawing back of his lips that sent chills scrambling all over Menrui.
'Hello to you, too, Legendary Lord. It's been a long time,' the Akuma Rider calmly told Kakkhan, who just Looked™ at him in return. Yoki only chuckled. 'As humorless as ever, I see. Fine. These,' he gestured to the Horsemen standing behind him, 'are my fellow Horsemen. I once asked you to introduce yourself to them, but you declined, saying that—'
'That I despaired greatly at the thought of there being more of you, yes, I remember,' Kakkhan finished, looking over the Reaper's colleagues.
There was one dressed in an all black outfit consisting of a mid-thigh length coat buttoned on the right side of the chest and long, loose ebony pants with thick obsidian boots strapped on underneath. He had an impish face accentuated by the impeccable goatee he wore and the longish black hair stopping at his chin. The wicked grin reached the clear blue eyes and warmed them, even if it did promise mischief as well. A sable top hat topped it all off and rounded the outfit up quite nicely, Kakkhan had to admit.
The second "colleague" turned an intense stare onto Kakkhan, whom had the feeling that the sleeveless gray shirt and the jade knee-length shorts he wore were not his usual dress. The sharp angles of this Horseman's face and the muscle-packed body he sported made him seem like an instant bully, but there was a mind behind those grim brown eyes hidden unkempt blond hair. He seemed to be troubled, too, but was the last person who would admit it.
The last co-worker, the only female, was striking in her blatant expression of sexuality. Kakkhan only raised an eyebrow at her tight clothing, but Menrui blushed so hard he looked like he was going to be sick. Knowing green eyes didn't help the situation at all, especially with the kohl underneath them. A white stripe ran giddily through the woman's shoulder-length brown hair, zigzagging wildly as though it were drunk. Brown nail polish completed the ensemble, covering fingernails that looked like they had been bitten with precision.
'I hoped you would, Legendary Lord,' admitted Yoki, resplendent as always in his ragged cloak, bandaged arms, loose breeches, and his bandaged legs and feet. His trusty scythe was clasped loosely in his hand. He continued, blithely, 'That imp over there, my lords—'
The Reaper pointed with his free hand at the raven-dressed Horseman, who promptly whisked off his hat and bowed deeply. 'I'm Flint, my lords,' he told them, straightening up. He motioned with his top hat to his Morph, a horse that seemed to be merely a coal-painted skeleton, and announced, 'And this is my trusty steed, Flaunt. We are the faction that represents Famine.' Both he and the Morph bowed; a jingling came from the saddlebags of the Morph, drawing the Paradoxes' attention to a pair of golden scales affixed to them. The Morph tossed Its head and snorted; Flint only smiled mysteriously.
'My name is Wenton, commonly called "Wen", and my Morph is Witter, also called "Wen", or "Witt",' the blonde man spoke up. He rolled his eyes at the mock glare that Flint sent his way, even as another Morph limped up. This Morph was the color of old blood and bore many scars. Like Flint and Flaunt, these two bowed to Menrui and Kakkhan, but didn't mention if They represented anything.
Menrui watched Witter nudge Wenton and felt an immense tiredness come from the pair, as if they were old soldiers who had participated in a long war that hadn't ended just yet. Kakkhan felt it too; there were no words needed when it was clear this Horseman and his Morph symbolized War.
It was with a simpering smile that the last Horseman—or rather Horsewoman—introduced herself. Kakkhan instantly distrusted her, and Menrui felt goosebumps pop up on every centimeter of his exposed flesh. Neither of the Paradoxes trusted her, and it became apparent why.
'For Pestilence,' she purred, wrapping a hand around the nose of her white Morph, 'we stand before you. I am Penelope, and this is Peninah. Right, my Pearl?'
The Morph, which was whiter than even Yoko, nickered, bumping Its owner with Its nose. Their bow to the Paradoxes was exactly as the pairs' before Them, but with a distinctly different air about them that instantly made the courtesy a disrespect. Kakkhan shook his head disgustedly. Menrui simply looked away.
Without warning, the Four Horsemen leaped for Menrui.
:-:-:-:
Hours later, Menrui was still recovering from the second part of his test in the Akuma Dimension. All four Horsemen had attacked him: Yoki, with his sickle; Flint with two Japanese knife-like weapons known as karakurijitte; Wenton had a large unadorned staff called a rokushakubo, or just bo, and Penelope wielded a fan with iron ribs and a beautiful picture of the sky on it. Penelope also carried a short samurai's sword called an owakizashi and she fought with this as well as her fan, making her just as dangerous as her male Horsemen counterparts.
Kakkhan had been pushed out of the way by Yoki and restrained from protecting his brother from the mad Horsemen by the Demon God Itself. The immortal had then understood that this was Menrui's second test, and had quieted. It had still been hard for him to watch.
Menrui himself had yelped when the Horsemen all piled on top of him. He'd been in Super Saiyan mode, still, so he'd bounced back fast, but fighting four Horsemen all at once had been no easy task. Soon he was hard-pressed to defend himself, and how could he attack if he couldn't guard?
The scenario had reminded him too much of the Dark Androids in his timeline, and at first Menrui had flinched away from that, resulting in a painful smack from Wenton's bo. Then he'd started to get angry again, but not at the Horsemen. He became angry at himself for letting them get to him like that, for not being strong enough to overcome that memory.
So it was with a yell that he forced everyone back, although they were quick to come back again. This time they didn't all press in at once; they instead sought out his weak spots and nailed them when he wasn't looking, forcing him to try to bolster his defenses again as he was attacked from four different directions.
The different attacks at different times were also annoying Menrui, adding to his rage and his ki as he tried to attack someone, anyone, although he never did. Finally, he'd had just enough; in a fantastic display of bronze fire, Menrui went past the highest level of Super Saiyan and blazed his own trail to Super Saiyan Two.
Kakkhan had been impressed.
The four Horsemen hadn't been as lucky. They had been blasted away, beaten, and left bloody, torn up, and in Flint's case, unconscious. But it was only when Kakkhan got into Menrui's mind again that the demi-Saiyan had snapped to and surveyed the damage he had wrought.
Needless to say, Kakkhan and Menrui had started in on that talking process with a lot of stuff to consider. Menrui wasn't over the damage of the new Super Saiyan level yet, but he wasn't in shock from seeing the Horsemen lying around like busted up rag dolls, either.
As Menrui sat feeling each and every one of his bruises, Kakkhan bustled about, getting tea for his brother and wrenching open the jar of Senzu Beans he still had. He handed one to his brother and watched, satisfied, as all evidence of the gauntlet Ru had just endured, disappeared. Kakkhan put away the Senzu Bean jar and was just handing Menrui some tea when his computer beeped.
The Paradoxes looked at each other and then back at the machine. It would beep only if a certain Laniin were contacting them, and she would only seek them out if it was important….
Kakkhan moved over to the computer and touched the keypad only briefly. The screensaver vanished, instead throwing up a dialog box with an "Important Message Incoming" message flashing beside a red exclamation point. The Tairyoku twins looked at each other and waited, as Kakkhan clicked on "OK".
Sure enough, it was Rakael's face that popped up in front of him. "Oh, good, you're here. I have just found something about the Kjordians. By my calculation, they'll be attacking Giendon in full force in about three years," she gasped breathlessly in Japanese, obviously from having run to her room from someplace.
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A/n: I'm trying to cut down on my author's notes for all of my stories. That's why there isn't one at the beginning of the story, where I greet you all and welcome you back to my story. I'm sorry if you were greatly disturbed by this. (Don't worry, this includes me. (Sweatdrops))
If you have read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, you will have seen some elements from that book in here. Specifically, the horse Morphs. I do not own the rights of that Romantic literature. I didn't put this in the disclaimer above because that would have given it away, so I'm doing it down here, in case anyone gets any ideas. (Narrows eyes) As for the runes, those are mine. (Smiles possessively) Yeah. Don't take, please.
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SNEAK PREVIEW OF: As the Years Go By
As the Tairyoku Twins grew older, their interest in girls increased as well. They weren't dating as of yet, as they didn't have the time, but they kept their eyes open.
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REVIEW RESPONSES:
Go click on the link under homepage in TheShadowPanther's bio and click on "Review Responses" on the navigation bar to see the responses for this chapter.
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Thanks for the reviews, Lucy Wood, Fairy of Speed, Salazarfalcon (sorry I didn't review chap. 6), Gohan's One, and here kitty kitty kitty.! I couldn't write nearly so much without you guys.
Well, I don't have anything else to say, except that I know that this chapter is definitely more interesting than last. It had some elements of the first visit to the Demon Dimension, but was different enough to be interesting. (What do you think of the four Horsemen? Do they sound familiar, anyone?) Really, this chapter ran away with me, which I am glad for, because I'm finally getting motivated to write my favorite fic. (Not that Vigilante Angel isn't important….) I was getting guilty….
Take care!
TheShadowPanther and Allati, from AASN
AASN; Writing is what we do for you at AASN. Enjoy.
Updated 07.23.05