Chapter 6
Trunks let out a tired yawn as he walked through the halls of Capsule Corps. It was one o'clock in the afternoon but he'd gone to bed at six that morning. The gang had spent the night fighting demons that, for some unknown reason, had begun fighting more at night rather than the day. This meant the gang had to sleep during the morning, wake up in the afternoon, and fight demons through the evening and into the night.
Vegeta had asked him to wake Bra up, well forced really. No one wanted to wake the princess from her beauty sleep since she always woke up on the wrong side of the bed. He reached her door and knocked. "Bra, wake up!!!" he yelled.
No response.
"I said wake up!!!"
Still no response.
"Don't make me come in there!!!"
Nada.
"BRA!!!"
"Shut up Trunks!!!" she yelled from inside.
"You have to get up now!!!"
"I've only had seven hours of sleep!!! Why don't you just leave me alone and go flirt with Pan or something?!"
"Listen, I've had to miss the beginning of breakfast to get you now come out!!!"
"Screw you!!!"
Trunks growled and started back to the kitchen knowing his dad will do everything in his power to send Trunks back to his sister.
Inside her room, Bra was glaring at the ceiling as she lay in bed. It had been two weeks since her run in with Shadow Reaper and she'd been having trouble sleeping. Every time she'd close her eyes, his piercing eyes always popped in her head. It drove her crazy.
As for Shadow Reaper, they had found more of the demon camps he'd attacked, what was left of them at least. Every time, they couldn't find a trace of him apart from the damage he'd caused. Vegeta was getting more and more obsessive with finding out who Shadow Reaper was and whose side he was on.
With a sigh, Bra got out of bed and stretched. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and proceeded to her dresser. She'd tortured Trunks enough for now.
In the kitchen
Trunks walked in as Vegeta shoved a mountain of pancakes down his throat. "Boy, where is your sister?" he asked after swallowing.
"I didn't want to ruin the princess's beauty sleep," Trunks replied sarcastically.
"Then go back and get her."
"Why do we need Bra so badly right now."
"Because that purple-skinned midget of a Kai wants to speak with her. He's waiting in the living room."
"Actually, he was eating with us but Vegeta and Goten took all the food," Bulma said as she placed another plateful of pancakes on the table.
"Speaking of which, where is Goten?"
"He's with Pan, Marron, and Uub in the living room. They wanted to know how Goku's been doing,"
Bra entered the room combing her hair. "Morning."
Trunks glared at her, which she responded to with a triumphant smirk.
"Bra, you're needed in the living room," Vegeta said as he continued to eat.
"But daddy I'm hungry."
Vegeta didn't respond. Instead he stood up and using his right hand, lifted the table over his head and proceed to walk toward the exit to the kitchen. "You can eat this there."
"Vegeta, that won't fit through the doorframe," Bulma said as Vegeta stopped in front of the said obstacle.
He raised his hand and blasted the sides. "It is now."
"Vegeta, how many times have I told you not to blast the house?!"
"Sorry," Vegeta mumbled before proceeding.
Knowing their mother was about to have a fit, Trunks and Bra hurried behind their father to the living room.
They found the others and Supreme Kai sitting on the couch. Pan was jumping up and down with an excited look on her face.
"What's with you Pan?" Bra asked.
"Supreme Kai said when my grandpa finishes his training, they're going to revive him so he can help us!!!"
"Really?!" Trunks and Bra said at the same time.
Pan nodded.
"Yes, I know he will be a real help in this battle," said Supreme Kai.
Vegeta set the table down and continued where he left off. "I know you didn't come here just to tell us that."
"Yeah, what'd you want with me?" Bra asked as she took as many pancakes as she could before her dad grabbed them.
"I heard you met Shadow Reaper."
Bra suddenly felt a chill go down her spin when Supreme Kai said those two words. "Yes."
Supreme Kai nodded and reached into his robes. He pulled up a rolled up paper and handed it to her. "Is this him?"
Bra unrolled it and gasped. On the paper was a sketch of his head. He had the same emotionless expression and piercing stare Bra couldn't get out of her head. On the top and bottom of the page was writing in some language she didn't recognize. "T-that's him."
Marron walked to her side and looked at the picture. "Is that really him?!"
"Is he really that hideous?" Goten asked thinking Shadow Reaper was really the scariest demon alive.
"Are you kidding me?! He's gorgeous," Marron replied as she looked at the picture.
"He can't be that good looking," Trunks said as he went to look at the picture. "Okay, so maybe he does look good."
Vegeta snatched the picture from Bra's hands and looked at the picture. Something about him seems familiar. Those eyes almost look Saiyan.
"What's that weird writing say?" Bra asked as she took the paper back and handed it to Supreme Kai.
"This is written in demon language. It say, 'Shadow Reaper, 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bloodstone reward, armed and dangerous, wanted dead'."
"Dead or alive?" Goten asked.
"No, just dead," Supreme Kai replied.
"So it's a wanted poster," Trunks said as he rubbed his chin.
"What is bloodstone?" Uub asked.
"It's the demon form of currency."
"That's a lot of zeros," Goten said a he looked at the poster.
"We retrieved it from a demon camp. Apparently, they've figured out he's come to Earth. That's why they're only attacking at night."
"If the demons fear him so much, he must be powerful," 18 said from her spot on the couch.
"He beat Steel like it was nothing. I've never seen someone fight so dominantly," Bra said as she looked at her now cool pancakes.
"This should show all of you he's on our side. My suggestion is that you try and get him to join you. He obviously has experience in fighting these demons. That could be the crucial edge we need to turn the tide of this war. Now if you'll excuse me, I must go back to Other World. The other Kais and I are trying to figure out what Chaos Kai is planning." With that, he disappeared.
The room remained silent and everyone turned their attention to the poster lying on the table.
Bra felt someone poke her shoulder. The one doing it was Goten. "What is it Goten?"
"Are you going to finish those?" he asked pointing to her pancakes.
Bra sweatdropped and pulled her pancakes away from him. Goten's hunger could be scary sometimes.
That night
Bra blasted an ogre as it tried to escape from the battle. She ducked a swing from behind and kicked the attacker in the stomach before finishing it with a roundhouse kick to the face, sending the demon crashing into a taxi.
Trunks, Gohan, Goten, and Pan were nearby, fighting off an ambush of skeletons and ogres.
"These guys get easier and easier," Goten said as he dodged the many ki blasts sent toward him.
Trunks nodded as he fired a blast that killed three ogres and a skeleton. A roar brought their attention to the right and they all gasped. A dozen giants were charging straight for them, their eyes burning red with anger.
"We've never faced this many before," Pan said as she watched them come closer and closer.
"Pan, you and Bra hold off the ogres. We'll handle the giants," Gohan said as he flexed his fingers in preparation.
Pan nodded before she and Bra flew down to engage the mass of ogres.
"You two ready?" Gohan asked as he looked to the two demi-Saiyans. Trunks and Goten nodded and the three went Super Saiyan. Gohan took it a step further and went to level two. "Be ready to fuse just in case."
One of the ogres fired a blast from its mouth, forcing the three to fly in different directions. Four of the giants went after Goten and Trunks while the remaining eight charged Gohan.
Gohan dodged the first punches from a giant and fired a blast. It had little effect, and only made the giant stagger a little. Another threw a punch, which Gohan caught. He noticed another charge from behind and used the one he grabbed as a club to keep the third at bay. The giant he grabbed growled and punched him with its free arm. Gohan regained control and two more charged.
Gohan disappeared and reappeared behind them. He raised his arm and elbowed one of them in the back of the neck. It merely growled as another swatted him into a nearby building. Gohan stood up and secretly wished Vegeta and Uub weren't patrolling another city right now.
Three of the giants opened their mouths and fired ki beams simultaneously. Gohan crossed his arms in front of him and braced himself. The blasts slammed into him, pushing him into the wall and pinning him there. He was about to push the blasts back when a giant's arm crashed through the wall from behind and grabbed him around the waist. He now had to struggle harder to keep the blasts back and keep the other giant from throwing him around. With a yell, he powered up, incinerating the hand and sending the blasts back toward their owners. Not expecting this, the three firing giants literally swallowed their own attacks as they reached them and exploded.
Gohan turned his attention to the demon that grabbed him. "KAMEHAMEHA" Gohan fired one of his most powerful ones and incinerated the rest of the giant. "Four down, four to go."
Goten was struggling to escape the grasp of another giant. Trunks was busy fending off the other three. He gritted his teeth as the giant tightened its hold on him.
"Let my uncle go!!!" Pan yelled as she kicked the giant's face. The giant reeled back, letting Goten go in the process. Bra caught him and allowed him to recover against her, much to her delight.
The giant glared at Pan and swung its fist at her. She ducked and flew high into the air. The giant let out a roar and followed her. With a smirk Pan stopped then flew at top speed toward it. Goten and Bra watched as Pan powered up and slammed her head into the giant's stomach. The giant let out a howl of pain as it fell to the ground, impaling itself on what remained of a lamppost. Pan flashed them a peace sign before flying to help Trunks.
"I swear Goten. Your family has the hardest heads in the universe," Bra said as Goten left her grasp.
"Well we need hard heads when my mom goes on one of her frying pan rampages."
Bra giggled and followed Goten toward the giants.
Gohan panted as he looked at the remaining two giants. He'd dispatched the other two with a blast to the sides from each hand and it had taken a lot out of him. The giants had sensed his weakness and were now trying to wear him down.
One of them attacked and threw a punch. Not able to dodge, Gohan blocked the punch but the other giant fired a blast that slammed into his back. This allowed the other giant to punch Gohan with its free fist sending him crashing to the ground. The two giants opened their mouths and fired. Gohan quickly recovered and fired back. The two blasts from the giants combined and collided with Gohan's. Gohan powered up in an attempt to keep the blast at bay. But, he knew he could keep it up much longer.
Trunks grunted as one of the giants slammed its forearm into his stomach then proceeded to throw punch after punch at him. Trunks was still recovering form the first hit and couldn't dodge the attack. Pan suddenly appeared in front of him and stopped the next punch. The giant grabbed her arm and threw her against a nearby wall.
Before Pan could get up, another giant grabbed her around the waist with its left hand and slammed her back into the wall. Bra was in its other hand and it slammed her against the same wall. It pulled them back and slammed them again. Pan opened her eyes slightly and saw her dad trying to hold off a blast, Trunks struggling to stay on his feet, Goten getting stomped on, and Bra starting to lose consciousness.
Pan herself was about to pass out when a shadow leapt high into the air above the giant that had them in its grasp. She saw a sword come out of nowhere before the shadow flew straight toward them. Before the giant could react, the shadow slammed into it and impaled its neck with the sword. The giant let go of the girls as it fell to the ground.
Bra looked over as well just in time to see the shadow pull its sword from the now dead giant's neck. "It's him."
"That's Shadow Reaper?!" Pan said as she watched him turned toward them.
He looked at them both to see if they were all right then disappeared. He reappeared in front of the one stomping on Goten and fired a red ki beam from his left hand. The ki blast hit its mark and blew the giant's head off. He next attacked the two attacking Gohan and dispatched them with one fluid swing that sliced them across the waist. The last remaining giant charged and slammed its fist into his stomach. It grabbed him with it right hand and pinned him against a building. He dropped his sword and let it fall to the ground, stabbing the ground when it landed.
For a moment, Shadow Reaper didn't move. His head was tilted down so his hair shadowed his eyes. It looked as though he'd been knocked out. But that idea was trashed when he slowly raised his head and looked the giant straight in the eyes. He didn't show an ounce of fear as the giant raised its other hand and prepared to slash him with its claws. He cupped his right hand and red ki started to gather in it. The giant thrust its claw at his face but he merely tilted his head to the side and the claws missed him. He spread his palm in front of him and a red ki ball formed in it. He narrowed his eyes and a series of ki spears shot out of it, impaling the giant in various places. The giant let go and fell dead to the ground as Shadow Reaper landed gracefully on his feet.
He walked to his sword and pulled from the ground. He turned around and started to walk away.
This time however, Bra rushed forward and stood in his path. He stopped in his tracks and looked at the panting princess.
"Don't go just yet," she said as she panted.
Goten waked up and patted him on the back, which caused Shadow Reaper to flinch slightly but it wasn't noticed by anyone. It wasn't a flinch of pain, just one of not being used to such contact. "You were awesome back their."
He didn't reply and merely raised an eyebrow at Goten's excitement. It was just a battle; he didn't see what was so exciting.
"That was impressive," Gohan said as he landed next to them. Shadow Reaper turned his gaze to Gohan. "How'd you like to join us? We could use someone like you."
"How bout it?" Goten asked. Shadow Reaper turned his piercing gaze to Goten, which caused the half-bread to step back. "Of coarse if you don't want we understand perfectly." It wasn't that the guy scared him. Something about him was just so intimidating.
"That's twice you saved me. Its pretty clear we're on the same side," Bra said nervously. They were all starting to get nervous from his silence. Trunks and Pan remained silent. There was something about him that frightened them.
Shadow Reaper looked at Bra again and closed his eyes. He suddenly took off to the right, passed Gohan and into the night. The others managed to see him disappear into the darkness as if he'd melted into the shadows.
"Not again!!!" Bra said as she slump to the ground.
"Not exactly the social type is he?" Pan said.
"He could at least tell us his real name," Goten said as he took a seat next to Bra.
"Well guys, there's nothing we can do about it. He probably just needs time to think about it. I'm sure he'll tell us his answer sooner or later. Now, let's head back to Capsule Corps." Gohan said before taking to the air. The others remained in place a few minutes before following him back home.
Shadow Reaper watched them fly away from his vantage point on the top of a building. He'd been watching them from the shadows the entire time to see what they were capable of. Today's battle had shown him their limits and it wasn't good enough for the challenges that lay ahead. He knew they had potential but they might not live long enough to reach it.
He decided he would test them. If they passed then he would consider their offer of an alliance. If they didn't he'd take them out of the war. He came here to fight not baby-sit.
His hearing picked up the sound of a few skeletons not far off. He'd worry about the other Saiyans later, right now he had work to do. He jumped off the building and disappeared into the shadows below.
And Shadow Reaper strikes again. The gang got nothing out of him. Don't worry, he'll finally speak next chapter. Review please.
