Disclaimer: I don`t own DBZ.
Hybrid Theory: Generations
Hero
It was also a forgotten world, and the last of it`s kind. Hundreds of other worlds had once filled the skies around Kaioshin-kai, which had then been just another Kaioshin-owned world belonging to one of the dozen or so East Kaioshin. All of them were now collected as the infinite, mystical cloud of debris that bordered Heaven from Hell. Buu`s slaughter ran deep, it`d even scarred the Afterlife, though none of the current Kaios, Enma or even the lower ranking Dai Kaio(he wasn`t a true Dai Kaio mind you, just the eldest surviving Kaio, beating the others out by roughly 200,000 years of seniority) could ever attest to knowing it.
Among other things, Kaioshin-kai had once been a school of warriors who knew no peer, they were endlessly skilled. The elites among even the gods, trained by the Dai Kaioshin himself. They were different from the fighters who took part in the Kaio-sponsored tournaments between Heaven and Hell from time to time, they were even different from the current Kaioshin. The last among them had been the thirteenth North Kaioshin, one of the current(East) Kaioshin`s group, who`d coincidentally been one of the better - but not the best - members of this elite fighting school. They were all as good as they were in ways differing from normal fighters of even that time though.
They all used weapons. Swords, spears, bos(the Power Pole, or Nyoi-Bo, depending on who you asked about it, was a typical divine weapon), bows and arrows, whips, scythes, chains and maces of every kind had been used by this school of fighters.
Kaioshin-kai had been silent for almost five million years. There`d been no training there, save the rigorous mental spars carried on between Kibito as he continued to instruct and school Shin in the arts of magic and telepathy, the only field where the old Dai Kaio was still one of the best in existence at. For all of five million years, nothing had happened. Kaioshin-kai was a very boring place, only the plants grew and changed during that time.
That had all changed starting twenty minutes ago. Now, the sounds of mock combat rang through the once empty fields of the world. The only visual sign of confirmation was the ever extending, looping, breaking, turning, spiraling streak of dust that was vaguely visible from low orbit. On the ground, it looked like the equivelent of Vegeta imitating a mole after too much coffee. Every second that went by, a visible streak of light flashed off of the blade of the sword, echoed by a whistle a few seconds later.
The dust trail came to a screeching halt in front of a cliff, spiraling around and blowing away like a tornado to reveal what could best be described as a golden haired lunatic in weird Knight`s clothing. Standing alone now, Gohan breathed a small sigh. He`d made an astounding amount of progress in just twenty minutes, but it didn`t mean much. He could feel himself a little stronger, and the sword felt just a little lighter to him, but he still hadn`t mastered it.
The cliff wall in front of him hardly made for a worthy opponent. Gohan held the sword to his right shoulder, breathing hard and taking a step back. The cliff began to shake briefly, and then blew apart into a few dozen or so imperfectly carved blocks. The blocks hovered in the air briefly and then fell back to the ground as a pile of rubble, crumpling after a few seconds. Gohan grimaced. His strength was beginning to improve but he`d yet to master how to properly weild the weapon with any skill. Sword fighting wasn`t new to him, in fact it had been one of the few types of fighting that he had enjoyed learning right off of the bat, mainly since he`d done so out of necessity at an early age.
He hadn`t practiced with a blade since then. Sure, he`d taken Mirai Trunks on in a spar using specially made kendo sticks, but that had been one time and it technically wasn`t legitamate practice.
"Need to find a way to get the hang of this thing," Gohan commented to himself, holding the sword down in front of him and gathering his breath. Sparing a bit of his concentration and effort from the task of even holding the sword, Gohan reached out with his mind and used his ki to force one of the massive pieces of debris up off of the ground, breaking it apart into as many fist sized pieces as he could before giving them the mental command to rush into a tornado-like pattern.
It wasn`t a typical swordsman who tried to master the art of precision by taking out floating chunks of fist sized dirt moving at mach one in a false tornado. But then again, Gohan wasn`t a normal person.
I am so high. I can hear heaven
I am so high. I can hear heaven
No heaven, no heaven dont hear me
"HIII-YA!" Gohan screamed, jumping off of the ground and right to the edge of the spherical tornado above and in front of him.
"Quite devoted to his training, isn`t he?" Shin asked, standing with his hands behind his back a good mile or two from where Gohan was cutting into the tornado. "Not devoted enough," Kibito replied. "He fails to grasp the enormity of the task before him, the sword he has is not a toy to be wasted on pieces of dirt, and Majin Buu is not an enemy to be defeated in the way he intends to try," the Dai Kaio stated. "Possibly, but given the methods available to him on this matter, I somehow doubt there`s much better, short of storming into one of the Hells and trying to find the best swordsman there," Shin grimaced. "This is all we have for now, it`s best that we try and make it count."
"Indeed, but he lacks the proper focus. As I said, he does not grasp the enormity of the task before him," Kibito replied. "And I believe you do not grasp the problems facing any other method of training. Name any one weapon off the top of your head that can likely withstand the power of the Zet Sword, without referring to a Damned Sword," Shin challenged quietly. Kibito paused briefly. Then he shook his head with a grimace. "I`m afraid I cannot," he stated. "Then be quiet about trying to improve him. Any harder and I fear his mortal mind would buckle under the pressure."
"You have always misjudged the strength of mortals, Kaioshin," Kibito reprimanded. "And you seem to misjudge the kind of power they`re capable of. Can you or I even hold that weapon without dropping it or having to power to our limits? And can we do so even half as well as the boy is?" Shin asked. "Recklessness in this situation will get us no where, we need to have at least the caution to make sure we don`t destroy our only real chance in sight."
Kibito was broodingly silent to Shin`s response.
And they say that a hero can save us
Im not gonna stand here and wait
I'll hold onto the wings of the eagles
Watch as they all fly away
Goten and Trunks sat idly next to one another. They were both at least far enough past the shock and grief of losing Gohan and Vegeta that they`d become competent enough to take orders - begrudgingly - from Goku, who was trying to gauge their powers. "Now both of you, power up to your limits," Goku ordered. Goten and Trunks shot each other looks of disbelief, but they did as told. Raising themselves up and out of normal, the two boys both let out shouts and lurched forward. Goten was only an inkling quicker, his hair had started to turn gold all of an eighth of a second before Trunks, who`s own hair flashed golden in the same blazing way as Goten`s. The Look Out again began to shake for the second time of the day as the two boys` hair rose up, one taking what almost looked like the shape of a crown, the other`s hair rising up to look like golden flame turned solid.
The eyes went next, shifting from blue and black to teal, just as the prerequisite golden aura shot up from the tiled flooring and lit up the entire room, not to mention kicked up a small scale whirlwind within. ChiChi and Bulma both had to grapple onto things to remain standing, Videl wasn`t much better off and Yamcha was only barely able to weather it without moving. Piccolo`s cape billowed and Juu calmly proceeded to leave the room with Marron, who was shouting out encouragement to the two boys within.
Goku wasn`t that surprised when Trunks hit his limit and slowed down, standing up straight with a nod. Goten just shouted again, rattling the room further. That was when Goku found his surprise - Gohan hadn`t been joking when he`d said that Goten`s power didn`t seem to have any tangible limit. The boy just kept going, and his ki kept growing. "... Maybe this 'Jack' thing has something to do with it," Goku thought with suspicion. He could almost feel an extra ki, infinitesimally smaller than even that of an insect, residing in the shadow of Goten`s own ki. The small blip vanished soon enough though, drowned out as Goten continued raising his ki, showing visible strain as he hit some sort of barrier.
Goku blinked. "So he does have a limit," he mused, only to watch as Goten`s hair started lengthening just a bit. The boy let out a shout and staggered to the side, his ki dropping sharply as Trunks caught him and chucked him back onto his feet. "I told you to stop doing that," the older boy chastised. "Well, he did say to... Keep going to the limit," Goten defended, though he was short on breath at the time. "Very good," Goku observed, noting the look on Piccolo`s face. It was either the first time the Namek had really seen what Goten was capable of or just slight concern.
Goten`s ki kept dropping down, though Goku could feel the boy straining to keep his power up, eventually causing it to level off at the exact same point as Trunks. "Both of you, remember the levels your at, you`re going to need it in the future, alright?" Goku asked. Trunks and Goten both gave begrudged nods. "Okay, now power back down," Goku ordered. Trunks and Goten did as told. "Why do we have to be the same level?" Trunks asked.
"You`ll see... Now raise your kis as high as you can while normal, it`ll be hard to fuse as Super Saiyans," Goku advised, feeling no change in the two. "Something wrong?" Goku asked. Trunks snorted, hunching his shoulders in a manner which Goku promptly imitated. "What were you doing when Gohan and Vegeta were killed?" Goten asked. "And why was it so important that you couldn`t help them?" Trunks added. Goku was silent, everyone else in the room was mortified.
"... I was unconcious," Goku finally answered. "You were unconcious?" Goten asked. "You were knocked out. You`re weak mister..." Trunks stated annoyedly. "Learning techniques off of you won`t make us any stronger, and they won`t make us any more skilled," Goten added. Goku blinked and Piccolo cursed under his breath. "Don`t you get it?! Gok-" "It`s okay Piccolo," Goku interrupted, glancing over to the Namek with a shrug, setting his hands on his belt. "I really am pretty weak. I don`t stand a chance against Buu," Goku said with another shrug. Piccolo stared at him blankly.
"But..." He began, turning back to Trunks and Goten with a smirk. "I can still teach you Fusion, and if you want to kill Buu for Gohan and Vegeta, you`ll learn it," Goku stated, playing a little mind game with the two boys and winning right off the bat. Goten and Trunks stared at him briefly. Trunks looked dumbfounded, Goten looked prepared. "Do you honestly think we`re go-" "I`m baaaack!" A shrill voice exclaimed, ending any and all thought of continuing the arguement.
"We`ve found a much bigger city this time," the voice stated cheerfully. "We`re going to erase this city now, kiss it good-BYE!" Babidee howled with laughter. "Ma Junior, Goten and Trunks, this will happen again and again and again and AGAIN until you show up!"
"He`s talking about us!" Trunks yelped, glancing over at Piccolo. "Trunks, close your eyes, you can see Buu that way!" Goten advised, his own eyes already squinted shut. Trunks gave a nod and did as told, right as Piccolo shouted to them to not close their eyes. "Well, it looks like nobody wants to talk to me... Oh well, I guess this means Buu gets a snack," Babidee stated, waving his finger at the nonexistent camera. "Turn them all into chocolate!" Babidee ordered.
Buu shouted happily and lunged it`s head forward, tail whipping forward and pointing into the city. Goten and Trunks both recoiled in disgust. "He`s turning them into chocolate!" Trunks shouted. Buu quickly finished his little snack, then carelessly raised a hand up, pointing a gloved finger to the city and firing off a thin, pinkish bolt of energy.
The city exploded in flames instantly. It was gone by the end of the following five seconds. "Heh heh... Look`s like Buu`s had his fill of chocolate, hm? I guess he`ll just blow up the next city. Where will we pop up next, hmmm?" Babidee asked, just as the visual began to fade.
"BABIDEE!!!" Goten communicated angrily. "Eh?" The sorcerer asked. "This is Trunks!" "And Goten!" The two boys stated. "Oh good, at least they`re talking to me..."
"Listen up asshole," Goten began. "Not now, but soon, VERY soon, we`re going to kill you!" Trunks finished. "Stop talking to him!" Piccolo ordered. "He`ll find out about this place," he explained. Trunks and Goten both gave stern nods and did as told, shooting glares straight to Goku, who just smirked. "CHEATERS!!!"
"Now are you going to train and learn Fusion?" He asked. Goten and Trunks replied only with fervant nods.
Someone told me love will all save us
But how can that be, look what love gave us
A world full of killing, and blood-spilling
That world never came
Zangya grimaced, touching down on Kame Island alone. She hadn`t wanted to do this, in fact, she literally would`ve preferred her own death over doing what she was about to do. It would`ve been far less degrading for one, far less chilling for another. Unfortunately for Zangya, the statement Juuhachigou had made some five and a half to six years earlier still rang as true as the day it had been said to her.
"They grow on you, don`t they?" Zangya quoted in thought, quietly giving the surrounding ocean a dull once-over. "Hello there," an elderly voice greeted, just as Zangya heard a faint shuffling a few feet away, exiting the surf. "Hello, Umi," Zangya greeted with a nod. "What can I do for ya?" The turtle asked politely, shuffling along on the sand. "Nothing really, just here to... Pick some things up," Zangya replied with a shrug. Umi raised a hairless brow. He`d departed the group earlier on, somehow managing to swim all the way home in a fairly short amount of time with effort to spare.
"But..." He began to question, only to fall silent as Zangya hopped through the open living room window and into the house. It had certainly changed since Zangya lived there, they`d replaced the television and the old couch - the new one didn`t have Roshi`s signature stink on it - and toys littered the corner of the room. Zangya smirked lightly at the picture of her god-daughter climbing her hair during the brief period of time when Zangya had kept the lengthy mess of orange tied into a rope-like braid. Sure, it hadn`t been funny at the time, the agonized expression Zangya had on her face in the picture spoke of that little fact, but looking back on it, Zangya found it pretty humorous.
She could still remember the days when she, Krillin and Juuhachi would lounge around in the kitchen, making fun of whatever happened to be on the television at the time. Moving up the stairs and off of the first floor, Zangya`s ears vaguely registered the sound of Umi grumbling in the living room after the door had opened up. For not having fingers or opposable thumbs, Umi Gama could get around.
Placing her hand on the door knob to the attic, Zangya steeled herself for what she knew was about to happen. Turning the knob and opening the door, Zangya stepped inside, instantly feeling the heat of the room in the afternoon. It was unmistakable, along with the dusty humidity that came with it. For a moment, Zangya had trouble believing she`d actually lived in the room once, and then she shrugged.
Zangya didn`t want to do this. She didn`t want to come here for this purpose. She didn`t want this day to have what was about to happen take place. She didn`t want to have to settle into the maddening effects of what was going to happen to her. In fact, if it was just Zangya, and no one else, she`d have much preferred being killed to what was about to happen. Unfortunately though...
Juuhachigou had been right. They`d all grown on her, and for them, Zangya had no other choice. Nonchalantly shoving aside an old filing cabinet labelled 'Roshi`s Pr0n,' Zangya rummaged through the drawers of an even older dresser, eventually coming to the top left drawer after several minutes.
What she removed looked like any ordinary black box, but it wasn`t just any ordinary black box. The finish was dusted over, the rim was slightly sticky and the stick it note reading 'Do NOT open' was faded badly. It was a plain black box. Inside though, was something that wasn`t plain in any sense of the word but appearance. Opening the small box with a popping sound, Zangya glared at what was inside.
The old jewelry. Two ear rings and a medallion-like necklace. The gemstones on each were large and red, the same color as frozen blood. "They really did grow on me," Zangya said to herself with a bittersweet smile, lifting the necklace up out of the box.
And they say that a hero can save us
I'm not gonna stand here and wait
I'll hold onto the wings of the eagles
Watch as they all fly away
Kibito watched mercilessly with the gaze of a grizzled veteran warrior. He`d never been an elite but he knew enough to have a great deal of skill and experience under his belt when it came to sword fighting. Kibito had always been one for spears more so than anything else. Gohan was improving, yes, but he still hadn`t managed half the skill that Kibito felt he would need. A whistling explosion and another stone shattered into burning dirt that vaporized before it could touch the ground. The golden haired youth had improved greatly, but he hadn`t improved enough. His style was still two handed, clumsy and off-balance.
Kibito winced as the boy missed a strike and sliced through the bark of one of the oldest trees on the planet, straight to the core and out the other side. It would scar the old tree permanently but thankfully it didn`t destroy it. The youth was looking tired but defiant, moving at such a speed that Kibito was only able to keep up by using his mind, keeping his eyes open and following Gohan`s direction only to continue urging the boy on.
"Lord Kaioshin isn`t being tough enough about him. This may require far more drastic measures..." Kibito thought. In his heart, Kibito wasn`t as ruthless as he probably seemed at times, but at the moment, the universe literally hung by a few threads. He percieved he had to pick up Shin`s slack, and he was doing just that with as much devotion as even a god could manage.
But he still felt it wasn`t devoted enough. Kibito shifted his eyes in the direction of the small palace that he and Shin resided in. He could see the other god standing at the door, watching Gohan`s training just as fervantly.
"I`ll just have to convince him somehow," Kibito thought, turning his attention back towards Gohan, who was still tearing through the remains of the tornado he`d created earlier.
Now that the world isnt ending
This love that I`m sending to you
It isn't the love of a hero
And thats why I fear it wont do
"Everyone`s counting on me again," Gohan thought, stumbling his feet into a better position while spinning his body around. The weight of the sword was still offsetting his balance and he`d yet to finish compensating for it. "Mom, Goten, Videl, Dende, Piccolo, Zangya, Bulma, Trunks..." Gohan sounded off a name in his mind with each thrust or slash he made with the weapon. "Everyone."
Gohan jumped through the air, dragging the sword along with him and slicing straight through another of the few remaining chunks of debris from when he`d begun the tornado a while earlier. "... I guess this is going to be..." Gohan paused his thoughts, landing on the ground and placing the sword tip down into the grass. It`s weight automatically cut through several inches of dirt, and Gohan hunched forward over it, wheezing exhaustedly. "... Gut check time for me. Maybe I should finally tell Videl about the crystal I gave her... Or that minor detail about us being soul mates," Gohan mused. Sure, the universe was in danger, but hell, Gohan had a life ya know. "Assuming of course that I live through any of this," he added, standing open straight letting out a lengthy yawning sigh as the remaining stones began to sounds high into the air, right into low orbit in fact.
"Days like this, I wish I was Dad. At least he knew what to do in these situations..."
Gohan raised the sword back up off of the ground, holding it sideways over his shoulder and then willing the stones to drop. It was back to work...
Again.
And they say that a hero can save us
I'm not gonna stand here and wait
I'll hold onto the wings of the eagles
Watch as they all fly away
"Ohhhh Earrrrthliiiings!" Babidee called out as Buu touched down in the middle of the city they`d selected as their next target. It was a city all of thirty miles down the coast West Capital. Buu was grinning with a look to be described only as childlike as he waited for the order. "It`s that time again folks! Unless Ma Junior, Trunks and Goten show up right here and now, this city is going to go straight to Hell with everybody in it!" Babidee howled into the hearts and minds of the people of the Earth.
Trunks and Goten paused. They`d been practicing with their power levels for almost fifteen minutes now, and both were more than a little tired about doing it. Goku grimaced, placing his hands to his hips. Piccolo shook his head as well, glancing over towards Goku. "It looks like they`re getting closer to West Capital," Piccolo announced. "I know. I`d say we have twelve more minutes - tops - before they manage to get there. This is bad," Goku replied gravely.
"Then what do we do?" Trunks asked. "Stand here and do nothing?" Goku shook his head. "No. Keep practicing your power levels, it`s all we can do for now," he stated grimly, just as Bulma appeared in the doorway, concern evident in her face.
"They`re near West Ca-" "We know Bulma," Goku cut her off dryly. "What about Mom and Dad?" She asked. "We can wish them back with the Dragonballs," Goku explained calmly. "Not without the Radar you can`t," Bulma replied hotly. Goku almost slapped himself. "Alright, Trunks, do you know what the Radar looks like?" Goku asked, just as Trunks shot his eyes open. "Buu just started blowing buildings up..." He said.
"Don`t focus on that. Do you know what the Radar looks like?" Goku asked again. Trunks shook his head yes. "Good, I`m going to try and stall Bu-" "Having fun, are we?" A new voice entered into the massive conversation that Babidee had started.
And they're watching us
Watching us
As they all fly away
Buu turned around sharply in response to the new voice. "Who are you?" It asked curiously, though almost with annoyance at the figure who`d dared to interrupt it`s killing spree. Half of the buildings in the city had crashed to the ground and were burning, most of the inhabitants of the city were either running away or dead. Babidee was cackling briefly before he`d heard the voice as well, turning around to face whoever had bothered getting up the guts to so calmly address his Majin Buu.
"Who I am doesn`t matter. What I`m going to do to you, however..." Cell Junior stated, cracking his knuckles gingerly. "Most certainly does."
Author`s Note: Bwahahahaha! ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER! Being evil is such fun :D
And on a sidenote: Anyone else besides Rev.Vampyre and I who uses the name Kaioshin-kai for Shin`s planet? Not sure if it was ever titled that in the series but it just seems fitting in a way... Ah well, Sh33p out. Leave a review and see ya next time!