Chapter Eleven: The Meeting
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The living room of Kami House had more people crammed into it than ever before. All of the Z-Fighters, their wives, and their children were sitting on the couch, the floor, or some chairs that were scattered throughout the room. Akira, leaning against a doorway with his arms crossed in a very Vegeta-like manner, was the only person standing. Feeling incredibly uncomfortable being surrounded by a group of people who were mourning something he feared he was responsible for, he had taken a spot as far away from the others as possible.
The group sat in an uncomfortable silence for several minutes until Krillin decided that someone needed to get things going.
"So, uh, I'm guessing everyone knows what's happened in the last two days...so, obviously the reason we're here is to figure out what we do now," the grey haired fighter cleared his throat, "I mean, how do we fight this...whatever it is...and how do we keep our families safe?" There was a long moment of silence while everyone looked blankly at each other.
"Well, I think we need to stick together," Tien said from a chair against the wall. "If everyone's together then we can watch each other's backs and no one has to fight alone." There were several murmurs of agreement from around the room.
Akira watched and listened silently, his face devoid of emotion, but his mind turning Tien's idea over and over. He was sure that grouping everyone together was stupid, but he wasn't sure if it was because he wanted to make it harder on himself to kill them all or if it was because he wanted to make sure they all survived. Regardless of what the other Z-Fighters decided to do and his guilt or lack-there-of, he was fairly certain he shouldn't be privy to the details of their plans. He still couldn't bring himself to believe that he had committed those crimes, but the evidence was becoming pretty convincing.
He closed his eyes and sighed, wondering what sort of excuse would be needed to get him out of the room before anything vital was discussed when he realized something: he could sense almost every single person in the room regardless of where they were; the only ones that were safe from someone with his kind of power were Android 18 and the human non-fighters who would be camouflaged by the rest of the earth's population. Even if the Z-Fighters suppressed their powers to the point of being invisible, they wouldn't be able to do it forever; all of them had base powers far above those of the average human and as soon as they weren't consciously suppressing their power, they would naturally return to that base and stand out like a torch in a dark room.
'Launch, Marron, Valese and the others would be safe if they stayed somewhere far away from anyone that can manipulate ki; Videl is iffy, but she's gone so long without training it would probably be safe for her to stay with them,' he thought as his eyes roamed the room. 'Roshi definitely has to stay with the other fighters...not that anyone would want him left alone with their wives or daughters anyway.'
He was still mulling it over when he noticed Valese valiantly struggling to keep her grasp on the tiny terror known as Kumo. In truth, the two and a half year old had held still far longer than could really be expected of a child his age and now that his little mind had locked onto the idea of finding something to play with there was little his mother could do to stop him. Though he still hadn't mastered the art of peeing in the 'potty' or eating without making a huge mess, the toddler was easily more powerful than his mother. In a matter of seconds he had broken free from her and was about to run out the room when his father scooped him up and held him tight. The little boy was not pleased.
"No!" Kumo wailed as he struggled against Goten's grip, "No tantu daddy! Wanna play!"
Valese smiled apologetically to everyone, took the child into her arms and headed outside to let him play. Through the window Akira saw Kumo make a bee line for the beautiful, blue ocean the moment his feet hit the ground.
The young man smiled, 'It must be nice to be a child,' he thought, 'nothing to worry about, except where to find your next bit of fun...' The smile faded to a frown, when Kumo had been mad a moment before his power level had risen greatly, enough that it would be easy to notice if you were looking for it. If the woman and children were going to go into hiding, Kumo couldn't go with them. One tantrum, one nightmare, one popped balloon would be enough to give them all away. He glanced over at Bra who was sitting next to Trunks and Icalla, even without much training, she too would be enough to give the others away.
The sound of Goten's voice brought Akira back to the real world, "Alright then, Trunks will get a couple of house capsules and we'll find somewhere secluded to set up camp. Then we'll all take turns patrolling and looking for this basta--"
"We've overlooked something," Akira interrupted; everyone turned and looked at him. "If we're all in a group and this guy can sense ki levels we'll be sitting ducks. He's strong enough to beat Vegeta and can't be sensed, he could hit us anytime he wanted and we'd never see it coming."
"How is that any different than it is now?" Gohan asked.
Akira let out another sigh, it was a bad idea that he was the one planning the strategy, but the rest of them were scared and grieving, they weren't thinking straight. "Look, it's not that I don't think we should be together and face this thing all at once if possible, but that's not how this guy is operating. He's playing with us."
"What makes you say that?" Trunks asked with a slight edge to his voice.
"Gohan and Videl were upstairs and probably asleep when Chi-chi was killed. If he could defeat Vegeta...no offence Gohan, but you wouldn't have stood a chance against him even if you saw him coming." He paused as the full weight of his words sunk in.
"I take it you have some sort of better idea," Goten probed.
"The women and children need to be as far from us as possible, preferably in a populated area where they won't stand out much."
Gohan nodded, "You're probably right...but we can't just leave them unprotected with this monster on the loose, we'd need someone who can be there without being detected." He turned and looked at the ageless beauty sitting in-between Krillin and Marron. "18, you would need to go with them."
"The hell I will," she shouted, jumping to her feet in anger. "I sat out the battle with Ammit; I'm not sitting this one out. Just because I'm a woman doesn't mean that I need to always be put on babysitting duty."
"But--" Goten started to say.
"No, I'm stronger than any of the non-Saiyans here except for Uubu--"
"Yeah, we kn--" Gohan tried.
"So it's stupid to keep me from fighting--"
Akira listened to them going back and forth and growled; none of them understood what they were dealing with. "Shut up!" he screamed as the barrier that hid his power dropped and golden ki exploded around him; his power level shot up past what Vegeta had shown during their final sparring session as he ascended to Super Saiyan two. The rest of the people in the room were too shocked to say anything as the incredible energy swirled around the room. Akira was doing his best to control its flow so as not to destroy the house, but still wanted to make sure they felt how immense it was.
"This is only just enough to have beaten Vegeta, which means that whoever this guy is he's probably stronger, maybe a lot stronger. That is what we are up against and you won't be able to feel it coming." He turned his attention to 18, "You aren't being asked to baby-sit, you're being asked to buy us enough time to come help you if, kami-forbid, you are discovered. Most likely, you'll be dead before we get there, but it's our only choice." He powered down and turned back to Gohan and said, "She is right about one thing, anyone weaker than a Super Saiyan doesn't stand a chance in this fight and even a Super Saiyan won't last long."
Pan jumped to her feet, "So what should we do then? Cower in our houses hoping we're not the next ones one this psycho's list?"
Akira was silent for a long time. There was nothing he could say, everyone in this room was going to die even if he wasn't the killer. They just didn't have the power to fight against this enemy. He could feel tears start to fill his eyes so he closed them and started to walk to the door.
Just as he was about to pass through it he stopped and called over his shoulder, "If you send those who can't fight somewhere safe, don't send Kumo or Bra with them. They're both powerful enough to attract attention."
"Wait! Where are you going?" Pan asked.
"I justâI need to get out of here."
"Well, if you're going to leave, why don't you go see Dende," Gohan suggested, Akira turned and looked at him in confusion. "I was thinking that if Dende could make a new set of dragonballs, we could wish everyone back. Plus, since they'd be new, we wouldn't have to worry about the shadow dragons, because these balls wouldn't be tainted like the others."
Akira nodded, stepped outside, and then shot into the air while a giggling Kumo waved happily at him. Pan stared out the window for a moment and then took off after him.
ooo
Akira's light blue aura cut effortlessly through the air as he flew in the general direction of the Lookout; he really had no desire to ever get there. It wasn't that he didn't like Dende, far from it actually as the Earth's Guardian usually had plenty of wonderful food waiting for his guests, but the fact that the aging Namek knew so much was a bit intimidating. Akira had never asked just how much Dende knew about the everyday events on Earth, but he was certain that anything involving the Z-Fighters would be pretty closely monitored, which meant that the Namek would know if Akira was a murderer or not.
'At least I'll know whether or not I've lost it and become evil,' he thought with an unpleasant feeling in the pit of his stomach.
He was so wrapped up in his jumbled thoughts and conflicting emotions that he flew for over an hour without realizing that he was being followed; it wasn't until he reached the outskirts of South Capital that he felt the familiar ki a short distance behind him. He didn't even need to bother focusing to know that it was Pan; the question was did he really want to stop.
Akira knew he was playing with her heart, whether it was intentional or not, and it wasn't fair for him to continue doing it. He'd told her he didn't want to see her the day before and then showed up to comfort her when her grandmother was killed the very next day. No doubt she was feeling almost as emotionally jerked around as he was. He vowed then and there that he would make things permanent one way or another.
'If Dende says that I killed Vegeta, Bulma, and Chi-chi then I'll...well, I don't know what I'll do,' he suddenly realized that he had no idea what would happen if he was guilty. It wasn't like there was a prison that could hold him or a person with the power to stop him. Really, the only solution was his death, by the hands of his friends and family if they could bring themselves to do it or by his own if they couldn't. It was the only way; if Dende confirmed his fears he could kneel before Trunks and Gohan, power down as far as possible, tell them the truth, and then die with what little honor he'd have left. If the Namek said that he was innocent he would make everything up to Pan and he would crush whoever it was that had committed the murders.
He needed to know the truth and he needed it immediately. Akira stopped flying forward, brought two fingers to his forehead, and searched for the powerful life-force of the Earth's Guardian.
ooo
After over an hour of flying as fast as she could without transforming, Pan was finally starting to close in on Akira when he suddenly pulled up and hovered in mid air, his right hand in front of his face. She'd seen him do that trick often enough to know what he was doing.
"Akira, wait!" she yelled as she sped towards him. To her relief and slight surprise he did not vanish before she got to him. "Hey, let's go toge--" her voice caught in her throat when she saw the look on his face. The young man had gone very pale, his eyes were wide in terror, and his mouth hung open in shock.
"Wha...what's wrong?" Pan asked uneasily. Akira didn't seem to hear her or even see her.
"No..." he whispered, "But it I...then they're...Shit!"
His golden aura erupted around him with such power that Pan was sent tumbling end over end through the air. As she struggled to regain control of her flight, the young woman caught sight of Akira rocketing through the sky with such speed that the clouds were flowing behind him, caught up in his wake. She frowned with concern as she transformed and chased after him as best she could.
ooo
When Pan arrived at the enormous building floating above Korrin's Tower, she found Akira, his back to the palace, standing at the Lookout's edge; his eyes where closed tightly and his face was filled with grief. It didn't take long for her to see the reason for his behavior.
Lying next to one of the rows of palm trees was Mr. Popo's body or at least part of it, Pan realized as a wave of nausea hit her. The rest of it appeared to be several feet away by the other row of trees. Whoever had killed the assistant of the Kamis had literally ripped him in half; the once beautiful white, marble tiles in between the two rows of trees were now stained crimson with blood.
"We have to find Dende," Pan said quickly.
"There's no point," Akira replied without opening his eyes. "He's dead, all of them are. Korrin, Yajirobe, Dende; their all gone."
Pan shook her head, refusing to believe that such a thing was possible and that Akira had written them all off so quickly. "Fine, stay here if you want, I'm going to go help them," she said fiercely and hurried into the palace. Akira didn't give any sign that he'd heard her or that he cared she was gone; he just continued to stand motionlessly at the edge of the Lookout.
'It happened again, but I don't even remember this one...I don't think,' for a moment he wished he could remember more of his dreams from the night before, and then he thought it might be better that he didn't. There was no doubt in his mind what the dreams were of. Still, he didn't have the definitive answer that he craved and now there was no living being that could give it to him. Suddenly a thought struck him, 'Just because he's not alive doesn't mean he won't know.'
His fingers went to his forehead and he vanished.
ooo
Pan ran into the Palace and yelled for Dende, receiving no answer; she continued to run from room to room until she came across the sight that she'd been dreading most. The Namek was lying on his back in one of the rooms, his mouth open in surprise and his eyes glazed over in death. A hole was burned clean through his chest and a puddle of purple blood had covered much of the floor.
Tears burned in Pan's eyes as she turned from the sight and hurried out of the palace. A quick glance around told her that Akira was gone, she couldn't really blame him though she wished he'd at least waited for her. She ran to the edge of the Lookout and leapt off the edge, letting gravity build up her speed for her as she plummeted back to earth.
As she passed Korrin's tower she put the breaks on and floated back up to the window, Korrin's white fur had become red from lying in his own blood for so long, his staff was broken and lying in the corner. Yajirobe was lying face down in another pool of blood, his ever present katana sticking out of his back.
'I'm going to make the sick bastard who did this pay when I get my hands on him!' she vowed as she turned and headed back to Kami House.
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A/N: Well, here's the next chapter. After how long the last one took (and it was pretty short too) I hope you enjoy the fact that this took only two days and is nearly twice as long as the last one. Let me know if you see any bad spelling or grammar mistakes, I didn't proof read this as well as I usually do. Also, please excuse the meeting at Kami House; that was a pain to write. I tried to make show Akira being torn about whether or not he should tell them he might be the killer. Its hard writing a character being all mixed up because I know (though I hadn't completely decided until just recently) whether or not he is. Oh well, I'm almost past the part where everyone just sits around moping, so the chapters should start flowing a little easierâmaybe
Donkeykong27: You probably had the right to feel gypped; it wasn't much of a chapter. Your review is one of the reasons this chapter came out so fast (that and I already felt bad about its length). I don't mind being told if I'm not living up to the standards my reviewers feel I should be achieving. A good kick in the ass never hurt anyone.
Phantom 1: I'm sorry to say this, but I like that it has you bouncing off the walls, it means I'm doing a decent job at putting suspense in. Unfortunately (if I do it right) you won't know what's going on for at least a couple more chapters (4 minimum). I'm glad you're enjoying it though.
Draco the Destroyer: I'm glad you liked the last chapterâI didn't, but I don't like many of them. They always seem better when I think them up at night, but for some reason they don't always come out the same when I type them up. Probably because I plan the next part of the story when I'm lying in bed and end up forgetting by the time I'm in front of the computer again.
Erica: Frieza huh? I don't knowâactually, I do know, but it's not him, sorry. I have been thinking about writing a story with Mirai Trunks, but I don't want to put much thought towards it until I'm done with this one. I learned my lesson during the Ammit Saga.
Toni the Mink: Sakura is kind of annoying, but in the later chapters she sort of grew on me (I think inner-Sakura is hilarious)âHinata's a better match for Naruto anyway. I haven't read Four Turtles and a Baby yet, but I'll check it out if you're going to be updating it.
