My Place among the Gods
Kochou-hime
All characters belong to their respective owners.
Journey for a Change
Serena groaned as she rolled over doing her best to shield her eyes from the morning sunlight slowly pouring into the room. Her struggle ended when finally her eyes sleepily fluttered open to behold a great window; like a chasm open to the sky. She sat up and observed that she was still wearing the same clothes from yesterday with her skirt now rumpled from her tumultuous sleep. Inwardly she wondered if the past day's events were merely a dream, as she remembered not coming to sleep, but she quickly realized that to be false as the room was foreign to her. Standing, she walked towards the window and in her reflection saw that her hair had almost completely fallen from her meatball like pigtails. She quickly fixed them and continued to gaze through the window with a sigh.
A gasp escaped her lips when suddenly she saw something zip by the window. She leaned in for a closer look when a peculiar yellow shaded cloud paused before the window. Squeaking, she took a leap back from the strange and startling sight. The strange cloud zipped around the window almost indicating as if it wanted to come inside.
"Well, what could a cloud hurt?" She asked herself aloud and with a shrug she opened the window and the small cloud bolted inside of the room. It flew quickly around her almost in a sort of giddy happiness and stopped before her face. Serena giggled at the cloud's antics and her mouth fell agape as she watched it lower just above her feet.
"Huh?" she wondered as she cautiously placed a foot onto the cloud. It was surprisingly sturdy as she curiously stood upon it with both feet and before she knew it, with one jolt the cloud had knocked her down to a sitting position upon it and flew out the window. She screamed in utter fear; the cloud was flying quickly as she looked down upon the lookout. Grabbing on to the cloud for dear life she shut her eyes tight as she felt herself rapidly moving through the sky.
"I'm gonna die!!" She wailed as she finally opened her eyes. To her amazement she wasn't plummeting to her death but instead her eyes were filled with the beautiful pink tinged sky. She smiled and laughed as the cloud swirling and quickly traveling took her for a ride of a lifetime. After several minutes the strange cloud carrying Serena began its descent to the lookout. As she got closer she saw Goku quietly sitting with closed eyes on the lookout.
Goku's eyes flew open as Serena seated upon Nimbus arrived in front of him. He laughed as he stood up eye level to Serena who remained hovering on the cloud.
"Nimbus!" He touched the cloud with a laugh and then lifted his eyes to Serena. "I see you've met my friend! I didn't even know he was here." Goku laughed as he looked into Serena's confused but sparkling eyes. She put a hand behind her head and laughed nervously.
"Well, he just showed up at my window!" Serena said as Goku helped her down where once again the tall man towered above her. Goku was grinning at her. She met with his gaze and watched the rising sun dance in his eyes. "What's so funny?" she asked with a laugh. Goku laughed also as he looked down at the petite princess.
"Nothing really," he said with a smile, "its just that Nimbus can only be ridden by one who has a pure heart, and I guess I knew that you had one already." He finished as a small blush crept across Serena's face.
"Hey, Goku; Serena!"
Both Goku and Serena turned to see Bra approaching the pair.
"Breakfast is ready!" she said happily and without another second's notice Goku bolted back to the palace. Serena leaned to do the same when suddenly she stopped and looked to Bra.
"Hey Bra, I've been meaning to ask you…" Serena trailed off as Bra tilted her head to the side. "Do you think the Darien you caught cheating on me in Los Angeles, was real? Or the Pan guy that Dende was talking about?" She asked as Bra crossed her arms and sighed.
"Well," Bra began, "I told Dende about it and he said that he couldn't be sure." She finished as Serena appeared exasperated. "However, he did say that Pan is only able to mimic another person for a few hours, and the girl and people who were with him, well, seemed to know him pretty well…" Bra said with what resembled a sad smile.
"I see," Serena said sadly as she looked down to her feet. Bra put a hand on her friend's shoulder and met Serena's gaze.
"Don't worry about it Serena, you know," Bra smirked, "Goku would never cheat on anybody!" Bra announced as Serena's face turned a colorful shade of red. She started jogging toward the palace.
"I better get some food before it's all gone!" She said with a nervous laugh as she and Bra bolted into the palace.
Shortly after breakfast the group of soon to be dragon ball hunters were finishing up preparations for the journey. Taking heed to Mirai's warnings they carefully gathered supplies as part of the search would require going into space to travel amongst the planets of the South Galaxy. Luckily, Dende had acquired two moderately sized spaceships a long time ago to which, Trunks, Mirai, and Ami were tweaking and making final repairs.
Ami tapped the side of her temple causing the blue visor to disappear from in front of her eyes. She typed a few more things into her handheld computer with Mercury's planetary symbol emblazed into it before putting it away.
"The central control unit is functioning properly at 100%" Ami said with a happy sigh. Trunks hopped down from the ceiling with a tool in hand as he grinned at Ami.
"Nice work! You sure are a whiz with the computer element. You'd really get along with my mom." He said with a laugh as Ami blushed.
Mirai was making outside repairs on the two ships expertly and meticulously. He crawled out of the hull of one of them covered in grease as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. He glanced behind him as a small blush crept across his face. Mina had grabbed a hold of one of the dragon ball radars and was studying it curiously.
"How does this thing work anyway?" She asked Serena and Goten as she shook it in front of her.
"Don't break it!" Goten exclaimed as he took the radar from her. A suspicious look appeared on Serena's face as she had noticed that during breakfast and while Mirai had been working on the ship that he kept tossing blushing glances toward Mina. She stealthily moved and suddenly popped up beside him. Mirai was taken aback a bit at her sudden appearance.
"So Mirai," Serena began with a silly look on her face that had attracted the attention from the others surrounding them. "Why do you keep looking at Mina, huh?" Serena finished with hearts appearing in her eyes as Mirai promptly fell over. He stood up completely red in the face as Mina upon hearing had opened her eyes and mouth wide. Mirai put his hand behind his head nervously.
"Well," he began with a gulp as he knew Mina and some of the others were now listening. Trunks and Ami had walked outside of the ship and approached the group as well. "Some of the people I've met around here told me that the late Queen of Venus was considered to be the most beautiful woman in the universe, so" he paused, "I guess I just wanted to see for myself!" he finished sheepishly as the entire group except Mina fell over. Rei ran up to Mirai and ferociously grabbed him by the front of his shirt.
"Do you have any idea what you've done?" she hissed as Mirai looked confused. Immediately after, a triumphant laugh came from Mina who now stood proudly with a hand on one hip and the "V" sign in the other. Sweat drops formed on the heads of the observers.
"Did ya hear that guys!?" She asked as her ego blew through the proverbial roof, "I, Princess Mina of Venus, am the most beautiful woman in the universe!" She announced as everyone once again fell over. Piccolo who was floating near one of the ships fell out of his meditation onto his bottom. He slapped his forehead at what he heard.
'Females…' he thought to himself in utter amazement.
The group quieted as Dende followed by Goku and Vegeta approached them. Dende smiled as he observed the preparations to be complete.
"It looks as if you guys are ready to go," Dende exclaimed happily. "According to the dragon ball radar there are four of them on Earth including the one Trunks has already retrieved leaving three somewhere in space, now, you all will be able to find the dragon balls more quickly if you split up." Dende suggested earning a nod from everyone but the Sailor Soldiers. Ami, Lita, Rei, and Mina quickly gathered around Serena.
"Split up?" Rei asked in amazement. Lita put a hand on her hip and shook her head at Dende.
"Yes, our primary purpose is to protect Serena, we can't split up." She explained as a sweat drop appeared on Dende's head.
"I'm afraid you all will have to." Mirai said stepping up to the girls. "I've seen the world out there, we'll need both the powers of the Sailor Soldiers and the strength of the others to retrieve the dragon balls; it isn't going to be easy." He explained as Serena sighed, disheartened. After a few moments Mina straightened proudly placing a hand on Serena's shoulder.
"Well, as the leader and the most powerful of the Sailor Soldiers," she said with pride earning a glare from Rei. "Serena will be in my group!" She announced. Rei put her face directly into Mina's.
"Since when do you get to make all the decisions?" Rei yelled wildly waving her arms in the air. Mina glared back and stuck out her tongue.
"Um, leader, remember?" Mina reminded as Rei turned blue in the face finally backing off.
"I think it's a wise idea," Ami commented earning a glare from Rei, "Sailor Venus' attacks are the most powerful." She reminded as Rei finally conceded. Goku walked over to the group and stood by Serena.
"If its alright with you guys, I'd like to accompany Serena as well." He said nervously as the other Sailors except for Serena blushed with a slight nod. His face became serious as he looked toward them. "I promise to protect her." He announced and with a small smile he placed his hand on Serena's shoulder as it was now her turn to blush. Dende nodded indicating that Goku's accompaniment was a wise decision. Trunks turned toward Goten and gave him a high five.
"We're definitely in the same group." Goten laughed as Trunks nodded. Argument ensued as Rei and Mina began bickering again about the subject of Mina's authoritative decision.
Serena waved into the air as the two spaceships simultaneously took off into space. Her group had been assigned to gather the dragon balls on Earth as Mirai and Trunks were the only ones who knew how to make repairs to the ship in the case of it was damaged, and it so happened neither of them ended up in her group. She turned to see Dende speaking seriously toward Mina, Piccolo, and Goku who were intently listening. She stepped up to them placing her hand nervously behind her head.
"That was a bit of an ordeal." She commented as a groan escaped from Piccolo.
"Tell me about it." He said sarcastically as he rubbed his ears that currently ached from the screeching between Rei and Mina. Mina shot Piccolo a look and crossed her arms.
"Rei was just looking out for Serena, but this is the best decision." She said finally as she glanced toward Serena who's spirits fell at the thought of Rei, the person she was closest to out of the other Sailors, not with her for this journey. "Cheer up Serena!" Mina smiled at the girl, "We'll find these dragon ball things before you know it and we'll all be back together!" Serena nodded and hugged her friend. Piccolo was analyzing the dragon radar and showed it to Goku.
"It appears the closest dragon ball is near Old East City Japan." Piccolo said flatly as Goku nodded.
"Ok, I should be able to teleport us near there." Goku and Piccolo stepped to fetch the girls to leave when Dende stopped Goku by placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Goku; Piccolo." Dende addressed them as he looked from one to the other. "While gathering the dragon balls is important, your primary concern must be to protect Queen Serenity." He said to them as Piccolo crossed his arms. Dende cast his eyes to the ground and made a fist. "I don't know how to illustrate to you how important she is to this world; this universe." He explained as both Goku and Piccolo glanced toward Serena and Mina.
"Its kind of ironic." Piccolo commented, "Since she's the reason we're in this mess in the first place." Dende sighed.
"Its no matter who's at fault; I really don't think any of you can defeat Chaos without her." Dende explained. Goku looked back to Dende.
"Well, regardless," he said, "She'll be protected; I'll make sure of it." Goku finished earning a smile from Dende. The two departed from Dende toward the girls and in an instant the small group disappeared.
With a brief flash of light, the group of four suddenly appeared from thin air. Goku put his hands on his hips and looked to the group.
"Well, here we are in East…" Goku trailed off as he took in his surroundings. The grand city he had once remembered had been reduced to what appeared to be a slum-like wasteland. The buildings appeared dirty and unkempt; some of them appearing as if they could collapse at any moment. Piccolo flinched and shook slightly as he viewed city for himself.
"Mirai…he wasn't kidding." Piccolo muttered lowly as the other three stared in silence and awe. Cautiously the group left the alley from which they appeared and walked into the bustling city. Vendors lined the streets; peddling various things as the city's population quickly hustled by. An eerie silence hung in the air of a place that with so many people should be deafeningly loud. Serena slowly stepped in front her two taller companions to get a better look at what was before them. Tears threatened her eyes as she saw their faces. The faces of a people who hustled in terror and in fear with eyes that seemed to reflect countless horrors of which she could only imagine. She looked down as her hands writhed together; almost in knowing that all of this was the cause of her future self's absence.
Unnoticed to anyone but her she watched as a young boy tripped and fell on the cracked side walk before him. A strange looking, horned, slightly yellow, skinned beast walked into him as the boy's presumed mother moved to fetch him.
"Wretched child!" The beast scorned as he lifted his hand to strike him when instead he hit the arm of Serena who was now kneeling protectively before the boy. The mother quickly scooped up the child and ran away as Serena slowly stood up to watch them leave. Goku, Mina, and Piccolo approached curiously as the beast growled toward Serena.
"How dare you!" he demanded causing Serena to look at him. "A lowly human; to interfere with the affairs of a superior!" Serena narrowed her eyes and straightened bravely toward the strange creature.
"You should never strike a child as you were about to!" she yelled in protest when suddenly the long fingered hand of the creature flew from it and grabbed onto her arm tightly. She yelped in pain and tried to move only to be thwarted by the being's great strength. In a flash, a second, much larger hand appeared over the wrist of the monstrosity and squeezed down hard. Goku glared into the beast's beaming red eyes as he quickly let go of Serena's arm bringing his hand toward his body in shock. Serena fell down in pain as Mina quickly came and knelt beside her.
"You're quite strong," the beast bared a fanged grin as he shook out his hand, "for a human, but no matter." People were gathering in the streets around the group and the strange beast as they looked on in wonder. The beast let out a mighty howl as it formed its right hand into a fist and launched it with great speed and strength into Goku's chest. The crowd gasped as the sound of the fist striking released a sickening thud, but to their surprise, Goku didn't so much as flinch as the creature yelled in absolute pain falling to its knees in an attempt to cradle its now crushed hand.
"What are you?!" The creature yelled in damnation as Goku took a step menacingly toward it. He looked down hard as a smirk flew across his face.
"Not, human." He stated simply and dangerously. Fear consumed the pupil-less red eyes of the creature as it painfully stood to its feet and ran away from Goku. After a few moments, the crowd began to cheer as the foursome looked in amazement around them. Serena and Mina now stood as Goku turned to them.
"Serena, are you alright?" he asked concerned as he touched her bruised arm. Serena nodded as Goku still appeared concerned. Mina looked to Goku in sheer marvel.
"You…" she began in wonder, "crushed his hand, without even moving." She said in amazement as Piccolo walked up beside her.
"Yes, I don't understand Mirai's concern." Piccolo commented. "The adversary was very weak." Mina looked toward Piccolo in shock.
"Weak?! Look what it did to Serena's arm!" Mina protested as Piccolo responded with silence. Quite suddenly there was stir amongst the crowd of cheering people as a man came running past them.
"The Everto Castrensis; they approach!" he yelled in fear as screams overtook the once happy cheers. The mouths of Serena and Mina fell agape as the entire city's population had quickly disappeared into the city's dwellings leaving the streets and sidewalks as empty as a ghost town. Both Goku and Piccolo looked with stern faces toward the North as they seemed to know something was approaching. The wind howled around the city buildings blowing newspapers and trash as all that could be heard was the sound of Piccolo's cape fluttering in the wind.
"Everto Castrensis?" Serena asked herself aloud. Mina shrugged.
"Its Latin," Piccolo said quietly, "for, The Demon Militia." He translated expertly causing a gasp to escape from the two females of the group. They could now hear the faint steps of marching as they saw a group of at least 100 beings approach. Upon coming closer they observed both creatures similar to the one they had encountered before, as well as presumed humans.
"I sense ki's similar to that of the weak creature before," Piccolo said as Goku shifted his eyes toward him. "But there is one amongst them with a much more substantial ki." He finished as Goku nodded and smirked.
"Still not a match for us." Goku estimated as Piccolo gave no response. Goku quickly turned toward Mina and Serena. "Serena, Mina," he said calmly but seriously, "Go back to the alley, this shouldn't be a problem but for the sake of your safety, you two should stay back." They both nodded as they jogged quickly toward the alley where they had once appeared.
Serena and Mina plastered themselves against a wall in the shadows of the alley as they saw the strange army finally approach Goku and Piccolo.
"You think they'll be ok?" Serena asked worriedly.
"Did you see what Goku did to that guy's hand? Come on Serena, have faith." Mina reassured as Serena turned her eyes back toward their comrades.
A low chuckle escaped from the creature standing at the very front of demonic army. His skin shone a pale scaled blue as four twisting horns came up and out of his forehead. He wore black fitted armor and his bright green pupil-less eyes laughed at Goku and Piccolo causing a low snarl to escape from them both.
"So, Lamentor was correct," the blue creature chuckled, "You're no human at all." He mused as neither Goku nor Piccolo flinched. "A Saiya-jinn." He let the words roll off his tongue as he pointed toward the brown tail wrapped around Goku's waist. Small whispers could be heard from the mixed army as the creature continued. "And a Namekian to boot, what grand presence you both grace my great city with." He continued with a faux grand bravado. Goku snarled.
"This city belongs to the creatures of Earth," Goku accused, "not to the likes of you!" he announced as the being chuckled.
"And what makes you think I'm not a creature of this Earth?" he asked amusingly as both Goku and Piccolo was taken aback. "First wave, attack now!" the creature indicated as at least 20 men and creatures ran toward the two firing weapons expelling pure dark energy. Both Piccolo and Goku stood as the attacks bounced off of them harmlessly. The faces of the attackers were covered with horror when suddenly Piccolo extended his arm and with one swipe the first wave were sent hurdling and yelling into the surrounding buildings. The army's leader chuckled. Goku smirked toward him.
"You seem to find this funny," Goku claimed as the creature raised an eyebrow, "I know you're the one with the highest power; I want to fight with you." Goku announced as the Saiya-jinn within couldn't resist the prospect of a battle. The creature chuckled as a small blue ball of energy began to form in his hand.
"Very Well," the beast hissed lowly as the ball became larger. Goku and Piccolo watched in confusion as they felt no ki rise from the creature.
'It doesn't make sense." Piccolo thought to himself, 'This attack has no ki power, what is he planning?' Piccolo's eyes narrowed as the creature lifted his arm.
"Bachu Freeze!" The creature called his attack as he let the ball fly toward Goku and Piccolo. Both lifted their arms to shield their faces from the attack as it hit head on. To their horror they were suddenly encased with blue light and unable to move their bodies. Both Piccolo and Goku grunted as they struggled in vain to move their limbs.
"What is this!? This is no ki, I can't move!" Piccolo bellowed as Goku in anger raised his voice and began powering up. His voice and power shook the city as he blasted into Super Saiya-jinn and as far as into the 3rd Super level before he stopped. The blue creature cackled maniacally as he watched them struggle.
"Power up as much as you'd like!" he yelled as he sauntered toward them, "you won't be able to move, you're mine now!" He finished as the two remained struggling.
Serena gasped from the alley in horror as Mina followed suit. They plastered themselves further against the wall as if afraid of being seen.
"Mina, they're trapped!" Serena whispered as Mina gritted her teeth. "We have to do something!" Mina said nothing as she looked toward the ground. While she knew she should probably take Serena and get her away as far as possible she knew deep within her heart that she needed to help their comrades who she was sure would return the favor, and she needed the power of Sailor Moon.
"Alright Serena, quickly transform, I've got a plan." Serena nodded as she held up her broach and Mina her power tool.
The creature walked up to Goku, with his now long blond hair and crackling power and got right up into his face.
"Not so powerful now." He sneered as Goku yelled struggling to escape. The creature lifted his hand and with great force smacked Goku across the face. Goku's eyes lit up with rage as the creature smirked. "I am no weakling like Lamentor." He said quietly when suddenly he heard a strange sound from his right. Sailor Venus leapt from the roof of a building and pointed her finger downward toward the blue beast.
"Venus Love Me Chain!" she shouted as a spiraling chain of orange hearts wrapped around the creature. Venus landed gracefully on the ground and pulled the chain tight as blasts of dark energy came flying at her from the army to which she expertly bounded and avoided while still holding onto the chain.
"What is this!?" the creature shrieked as he struggled to move his arms.
"Sailor Moon, now!" Venus yelled as Eternal Sailor Moon leapt from the shadowed alley quickly jumping around the blasts of negative energy.
"Moon Spiral Heart!" Sailor Moon called her attack which hit the creature head on causing him to shrill in pain. The chain around the creature dissipated and to Sailor Moon's horror the creature still stood very much alive.
"Foolish," he said as he went to attack Sailor Moon and Venus himself when he suddenly paused and glanced to his left and horror overtook his eyes. Piccolo and Goku had disappeared and in the blink of an eye a fist went crashing into his abdomen causing blood to expel from his mouth. Super Saiya-jinn 3 Goku attacked the creature in a rage of flying fists to which the creature was increasingly becoming more destroyed.
The army continued its assault toward Sailor Venus and Sailor Moon when suddenly Piccolo appeared before them.
"Destructive Wave!" He called out his attack which released a giant blast blowing the crude army off of its feet and into buildings. Goku still angered and crackling with power picked up the bloodied and beaten creature by the neck of his armor and thrust him into the concrete of a building.
"Who are you!? Why do you hurt these Earthlings?" Goku nearly screamed in anger as stared down the now defenseless creature. The creature let out a pained groan as it opened its mouth to speak.
"Debonaire," the creature breathed heavily, "the lower general of the eastern hemisphere." He stated his title as Goku pushed him further into the concrete. "The Everto Castrensis merely carries out the wishes of its master, as we, both human and demon, are Earthlings as well." He choked in pain as Goku finally released him and tossed him lazily toward the ground.
"Take your army," Goku commanded scathingly, "and go tell your master that if he insists on hurting the people of this Earth, he can answer to me!" Goku bellowed as two members of Debonaire's infantry ran up beside the blue demon. One threw a capsule to the ground forming a flying vessel to which Debonaire and the two others entered and flew away. The remainder of the army had begun its descent from the city as well.
Now that the threat had past people started flowing curiously into the streets as Goku, who had begun calming down, powered down to the first level of Super Saiya-jinn as he breathed heavily. He shifted his gaze toward Sailor Moon, Venus, and Piccolo who stood at the other end of the street. Walking toward them he stopped putting his hands on both Moon's and Venus' shoulder.
"Thanks a lot you guys, if you hadn't attacked him, Piccolo and I might have been goners!" Goku exclaimed in wonder as the two girls appeared shocked at his sudden change in attitude.
"This is what Mirai meant, we'll have to be more careful about some of these 'magical' attacks." Piccolo mused aloud, "what I can't understand is how two little girls could interrupt his attack and with all our power we could do nothing!" Piccolo exclaimed as he shifted his gaze to the perturbed Venus.
"Little girls! We are Sailor Soldiers, and our powers showed that guy what was up!" she argued making a fist toward Piccolo as he growled back at her. Choosing not to argue, he reached into his cloak revealing the dragon ball radar. He clicked it a few times.
"It seems from Kami's lookout the reading was off, the dragon ball is actually on the coast of China." Piccolo announced as Goku nodded.
"We'll fly this time, and get a more accurate location." Goku then whistled to the sky and Nimbus came flying from the sky to stop before them. With a small eep escaping from her, he picked up Venus and placed her on the cloud. He then looked to Sailor Moon and smiled. "Thanks again, Sailor Moon." Goku said with a grin as he lifted her by her waist sitting her beside Venus.
"What in the heck is this thing?" Venus demanded when suddenly Nimbus took off flying with its passengers next to Goku and Piccolo who flew beside. She screamed and held onto Sailor Moon tightly who was already accustomed to the experience. Sailor Moon turned her gaze to Goku. His hair had returned to black as she viewed the smile on his face. He shifted his gaze towards hers and winked as he did a barrel role around them. Moon and Venus giggled as Piccolo flew seriously alongside.
'I wonder how the others are doing.' Sailor Moon thought as she looked up into the sky.
Thank you to Sesshy's Mistress, Cosmic-lover, and drake202 for the reviews! I appreciate it so much! ^^
Always,
Kochou-hime