Chapter Nine: Bad News from Namek
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Akira and Trunks materialized in the middle of a cluster of Namekian huts and instantly recoiled at the sight and smell of death. Bodies were strewn everywhere and the ground was covered in sticky, purple blood. Some of the Nameks where missing arms or legs, others were completely cut in half, and still more looked like they'd simply been beaten to death. Akira nearly threw up.
"I don't get it," he said as he choked down bile, "they were alive when we left King Kai's planet; if they weren't I couldn't have gotten us here."
Trunks knelt next to the nearest whole body and placed his fingers against its neck. He wasn't sure if a Namek's pulse could be checked there, but the body still answered one of his questions. "This guy's still warm," he announced.
"Is he..." Akira looked suddenly hopeful.
"No, he's definitely dead, but I don't think he's been that way for too long."
"Then whoever did this might still be around!" the younger Saiyan exclaimed.
Trunks nodded, "Perhaps, or maybe they were close to death when we left and died during the trip."
Akira thought about it for a moment. "I guess it's possible, it would have taken us a couple of minutes to get here," he conceded. "Actually, now that I think about it, their life force did feel kind of weak when we were on King Kai's planet...if I hadn't known where I was supposed to look, I might not have been able to find them. I thought it was just because they were so far away, but maybe..."
"There's no point in speculating now, the only thing that matters is finding Muri so we can use the dragonballs to bring back everyone that's died today."
The two Saiyans headed in opposite directions as they searched the village, hoping to find a survivor amongst the dead.
After almost an hour of searching, Akira was about ready to give up and declare the village a complete loss. He'd tried sensing for power levels, but if there was anyone left alive, they were either too weak to feel, or suppressing their energy to hide. He had just turned to see if Trunks was having any better luck when he saw a slight movement in some tall grass at the edge of the village.
"Uh, hello? Is there someone there?" he asked, cautiously approaching the grass. There was no answer, so he bent down and peered into the tall weeds. Suddenly a fist shot out and slammed into the side of his head.
Akira was sent crashing into a nearby hut. Fortunately, the blow wasn't strong enough to actually do any damage to him and the young Saiyan was quickly on his feet. He watched in confusion as a battered and bloody Namekian warrior rose out of the grass and raised his power level slightly.
"Murderer!" the Namek snarled, "why have you returned?"
"What are you talking about?" Akira asked in confusion.
"You kill all of my people and leave me for dead and you ask what I'm talking about?"
Akira's eyes narrowed, "I haven't killed anyone," he said firmly. "I'm only here for the dragonba—"
"Lies!" the Namek screamed. "The dragonballs are gone; you made sure of that when you slew Elder Mouri!" The warrior's power began to grow larger, but Akira could tell that the stress was quickly becoming too great for the Namek's badly injured body to maintain.
"Stop," he pleaded, "you're going to kill yourself if you try to fight me. I don't want to hurt you."
The Namek smirked, "Too late for that I'd say; I'm going to die no matter what. I may as well go out trying to avenge my fallen people."
The green warrior rushed forward and threw a punch at Akira's face which the Saiyan dodged easily. His instincts screamed for him to retaliate, but he refused to do anything other than block and evade; which wasn't exactly difficult, given how weak the Namek already was.
It took less than five minutes for the warrior to wear down and fall to his knees clutching his chest and breathing hard; blood poured from old wounds that had reopened while he attacked Akira and from others that had never closed.
"Look, the Earth's warriors and the Nameks have always helped each other, so please, tell me why you're attacking me like this," the young Saiyan asked quietly.
The green warrior laughed and called out in a loud voice, "Funny, last time you were here you said you had to wipe us from the universe because we've been helping the Saiyans from Earth..." The Namek coughed up blood, "Why are you tormenting me? Wasn't it enough for you to slaughter my people?"
"I...I didn't kill anyone, I swear." Somehow Akira no longer felt as confident in his own words as he had a few minutes earlier.
The Namek looked up and scowled, "Fuck you and your games!" he screamed as he poured the last of his energy into a ki blast that he threw at the young Saiyan.
Akira backhanded it away easily, following the blast with his eyes until it exploded high in the sky. When he turned back to the fallen Namek, the green warrior was face down in the grass, eyes glazed over in death.
"What was that all about?" Trunks' voice came from just behind Akira, causing him to jump slightly in surprise.
"I...I think his injuries had driven him mad...he just attacked me."
"Did he say anything about what happened here?"
The younger Saiyan glanced back down at the Namek. "He...uh...no, he didn't say anything. Just attacked me for no reason," Akira lied. Something told him that it might not be a good idea to start spreading around the idea that he could be the killer. With his eyes on the body, Akira didn't see the lavender haired Saiyan's eyes narrow.
"Well, I think maybe we should go then," Trunks said quietly.
"Do you want to look for another village?"
Trunks shook his head, "There's no point, this planet is a graveyard now and we both know it."
Akira nodded in resignation, "Okay...let's get out of here." He placed his hand on Trunks shoulder and the two Saiyans vanished once again.
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King Kai looked up as Akira and Trunks briefly appeared on his planet.
"Ak—" he started to say, but the two Saiyans were gone almost as soon as they arrived.
"Damn it!" the North Kai cursed, "Can't anyone take sometime to explain just what the hell is going on to me?" He turned to Bubbles and Gregory, who looked up at him in confusion, "How is it that the one day I spend looking at one of the ten thousand other planets in my quadrant is the day the Earth decides to go all to HFIL? Can't those people go more than ten minutes without some sort of super villain showing up out of no where and trashing the place?"
The monkey and bug looked at each other and shrugged before wondering off to find something else to do.
"Maybe I can answer your question," a gruff voice called out from behind the deity.
King Kai turned and smiled, "Ah, I was wondering when you'd show up Vegeta."
Pan, Goten, and Gohan were sitting on large pieces of rubble, carrying on a quiet conversation when Akira and Trunks returned to Earth.
"Did you..." Goten started to ask.
Trunks turned his head away, too upset by the day's events to even think about what the failed mission meant. He noticed that someone had covered the bodies of his parents with a pair of sheets that had probably come from what was left of the upstairs bedrooms; the lavender haired Saiyan was grateful that he didn't have to see Bulma and Vegeta's bloody corpses anymore.
"No, the Nameks are all dead," Akira answered for him.
"This is no coincidence," Gohan said quietly. "Whoever killed Vegeta and Bulma knew that we'd try and revive them with the dragonballs and so they killed the Nameks too. We're facing someone who knows us very, very well; and if they were on Namek only hours after being here then they know something like Instant Transmission or else theirs more than one of them."
Akira, Pan, and Goten nodded in agreement; Trunks just stared at the red stained sheets lying not too far from him.
"So, what do we do know," Goten asked.
No one had an answer for him.
The five Saiyans stood in silence for several minutes before Akira finally said, "I need to get out of here...I...I just need to go think...or something."
"I think that's good advice for all of us," Gohan said, looking around. "There's nothing we can do here. We don't have any clue who or what did this or even why, but if he, or they, knows us well enough to know about Namek's dragonballs, then we have to assume that our families aren't safe." Gohan's face became grim at the thought, "I think we should call everyone together tomorrow, we'll see what we can do then..."
"What should I do about...them?" Trunks asked in a soft voice. No one needed to be told which 'them' he was referring to.
"Well, I don't think we want the police trying to deal with this; anything that can defeat Vegeta is going to be way out of their league anyway," Gohan reasoned, "I guess the best thing to do is make whatever arrangements need to be made and have a funeral. With all the chaos in the city we can probably leave them where they are or at most move them upstairs without worrying too much about someone discovering them anytime soon."
Trunks nodded as tears began to well up in his eyes once more.
Akira walked over to him, placed a hand on his should and whispered, "We'll get whoever did this." Without another word he shot into the air and headed away from the city.
Pan watched him go for a moment, torn between two desires. Finally she gave into the stronger of the two and took off after her former boyfriend.
Goten and Gohan remained with Trunks until he was a little calmer, and then they flew with him to Icalla's apartment before heading to their own homes.
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"Wait up Akira!" Pan called out as she slowly closed the distance between her and the swift moving warrior. "We need to talk."
The spiky haired Saiyan stopped and turned; he really didn't want to talk to her at the moment, but knew she'd just follow him anywhere he went anyway.
"What?" he asked brusquely.
"I want to know the truth."
"The truth about what?"
"Why you broke up with me," she said sternly. "I know you fed me a bunch of crap earlier. I went home and cried about it for over an hour, but in the end, I don't think you'd do that to me. I think I know you better than that and you're not that kind of guy."
Akira smirked, "So, what, some sort of woman's intuition gave you this supposed insight into my soul?"
"No, my heart did," Pan's eyes began to swell with tears. "I love you Akira and I know you love me. I can see it in your eyes even now."
The Saiyan turned away from her, closing his eyes tightly, struggling with his emotions. "What do you want from me?" he asked in a voice barely above a whisper.
"I want to know what's happening to you! Akira, just let me in again, let me help you," she pleaded.
Akira spun around and faced her, his eyes blazing, "You want the truth? You want to know if I lied? Fine, I did lie; everything I said was a lie. I do love you...more than you could possibly know. And as the man who loves you I will say this once and only once: Stay away from me!" he shouted and then in a quiet voice added, "for your own good." A golden aura exploded around him like an inferno as golden fur covered his body. In the blink of an eye he was gone.
Pan knew there would be no following him now, she couldn't sense his power level, couldn't see him, and couldn't even reach him with her mind. Akira was completely closed off to her, but he did love her, and that was something. She was puzzled by his words, confused about why he thought he had to lie to her, why he had tried to hurt her so badly that she'd never want to see him again.
'One things for sure,' she thought as she stared in the direction she thought he'd headed, 'if he thinks I'm letting the man I love face his demons alone, he's got another thing coming!'
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"Please, please, why are you doing this?" a green skinned farmer asked as he backed away. He looked around wildly, but the rest of his village was already dead or dying.
"Don't blame me...blame your elders. They're the ones that chose the monkeys over the good of the universe."
Akira thrashed about in his sleep, sweat rolled down the side of his face as he fought against the dream.
"Wha...what are you talking about? We don't know any monkeys," the Namek shook with fear as the unstoppable warrior stalked towards him.
"The Saiyans you fool! You and your magical dragonballs are a liability, I'm afraid I can't let you slugs keep reviving them after I've gone through the trouble of killing them."
"The Saiyans saved the universe from Frieza and...and Cell and Buu and...and Ba—"
His voice was forever silenced by a hand slicing through his throat.
"A lot of good that does the people the so called saviors of the universe chose to wipe out."
Akira's hands dug into the soft earth he was laying on, his face flinched as each scene of the terrifying dream played out before his closed eyes in all their glory. The forest animals wisely stayed well clear of the area the thrashing Saiyan was sleeping in.
There was not much light coming from the windows to the house, but in the dark of night it still stood out in stark contrast from the rest of the world around it. Practiced eyes might have been able to see the dark shadow zip from tree to tree as he made his way closer to the house with as much speed as he dared; each foot step was completely silent.
The shadow glanced through the portal of light as soon as he reached it and saw an older, but still attractive, woman softly weeping as she looked at a photo album. He couldn't see what the pictures were of, but it wasn't a hard to guess. He tightened his grip on his knife and waited for his opportunity. Just as she seemed to be settling down for the night, a noise came from upstairs. With lightening fast reflexes, he ducked away from the window and pinned himself against the wall. The old woman was not the only one still awake.
He glanced up at the upstairs window and carefully levitated towards it. He chanced a quick peak at first and then, after seeing that no one was near the window, he peered inside. The noise had obviously come from the man hunched over his desk; he had several books open in front of him and appeared to be taking notes from each of them. However, it was obvious that he wouldn't be awake much longer as his head was bobbing up and down in a vain attempt to remain conscious.
Two minutes later the man turned off the small light he'd been using to read and climbed into bed with his wife. The shadow dropped silently to the ground and glanced through the lower window once more.
The older woman was no were to be seen, but a light from the hallway revealed that she had simply gone to the bathroom. The shadow placed his hand against the glass of the window and slowly channeled energy through it; in seconds the glass had completely melted away. He levitated himself through the window with a smile.
The woman was drying her eyes as she stepped back into her room, she looked like she'd been crying for several hours and would probably have done more of it in the morning if given the chance. She had only taken a few steps toward the bed when she noticed the breeze, as her eyes slowly moved to the window they went wide in alarm.
Just as she opened her mouth to call for her son, a powerful hand latched onto her and pulled her head back.
"I know you didn't know what your husband was when you married him," a familiar voice whispered in her ear, "or even when you had his half-breed son, and for that reason I was tempted to let you live, but even after you knew, you still had another child with him. Because of you the Saiyan race which had shrunk to only two was able to expand once more, and I'm afraid that is just unforgivable."
With a flick of his wrist, he snapped her neck so hard her head almost spun 360 degrees around. He carried the corpse to the bed, pulled back the covers and laid her down. With a smile he slid the blade along her stomach and chest, splitting her completely open before covering her with the blanket. With the exception of the blood that was slowly seeping through the mattress and blanket, she almost looked completely natural.
The temptation to climb the stairs and finish off the others in the house was strong, but he resisted for the moment. It was far more fun to watch them suffer slowly; soon the revenge of Arlia would be complete.
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A/N: Well, since I got eight reviews in less than three days for the last chapter, I figured I should hurry up and write out the next one. Actually, I think this has been my favorite chapter thus far. Anyway, let me know what you think. Thanks for all the reviews, they totally make my day.
Toni the Mink: Sorry if my reply email was stupid, I was a little annoyed that you figured part of the story out that quick. I'd been thinking how clever I was to use such an obscure thing and then you up and figured it out on me! Oh well, thanks for not putting it in your review so the others can be hopelessly lost in the dark for as long as possible.
Anouk: Man, you and Toni are really impressively quick. If I wasn't writing the story I don't think I would have figured things out nearly as fast as you guys did. Also thanks to you for not giving to much info away about what you figured out.
Erica: I think you'll be quite happy with the eventual response from Trunks. Unfortunately it won't be happening for a little while yet, but hang with me and he'll get there.
Everyone else: I'm glad you didn't think the emotions in the last chapter were terrible, I still don't like it. Even after rereading it a couple of times, it still seems forced, but oh well, I'm over it. Thanks for the reviews.
