I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the rights to any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.
Chapter 36: Outbreak
"Wake up big brother, I want my breakfast!" Goten shouted happily as he pounced onto Gohan's bed. Instead of the usual response of a light groan, Goten was viscously shoved off. He shook it off, but still held a slight concern for this unexpected response.
"Big Brother?" Goten asked innocently.
"What the hell do you want?" came the growl.
"I just want my breakfast! Don't you have to go to school anyway? It's Tuesday!" Goten declared.
A slight snort came from under the blankets, "All right, give me a minute!"
"Yay!" Goten shouted as he left and ran down the stairs in anticipation.
"Brat," he said as he slowly crawled out of bed. He glared at Gohan's reflection in the mirror for a second, but lightened the stare into a dark grin. It seems I've adjusted to this body quite nicely, time to start getting rid of some of these bothersome annoyances, Viro thought as he slowly dressed himself. He heard the phone ringing a moment later as he slowly walked down the stairs.
"Gohan, that was your school. It seems they've called off school for a few days. I guess a lot of kids have been getting sick lately and they want to reduce exposure to everyone else. Awfully thoughtful of them, I feel bad for your classmates though," Chichi explained.
"Yes, how unfortunate," Viro said, trying not to grin too much. Chichi narrowed her eyes slightly at the tone coming from her son, but let it slide.
"Well, they are shipping your schoolwork out to here so you can keep up. It should be here later today," Chichi said as she turned to finish cooking breakfast. Viro rolled his eyes slightly when she had her back turned.
"Gohan, since you're going to be home, can we play all day today?" Goten asked excitedly.
"Sure kid, we'll have lots of fun," Viro chuckled.
--
"I'd hate to ask a favor of you Miss Bulma, since you have already done so much for mankind. But this crazy virus has already wiped out thousands of people with no real signs of stopping. Can you please try to find a cure for it?" King Furry asked over the phone. Bulma sighed slightly, as she had been expecting this call several weeks ago.
"Yes sir, I'll do all that I can! Can you please send over a shipment of fresh blood samples so I can get to work?" Bulma requested.
"It's already on the way, good day to you," Furry said, hanging up.
"I take it his best scientists have either died or are completely baffled," Doctor Briefs asked.
"Pretty much both, I imagine. I guess it's a good thing we got a head start on him last week," Bulma said.
"Yes, it sure is, I'll be in the lab looking over the viral fragments from the victims, but we aren't going to be able to figure this thing out from the dead victim autopsies. The faster that shipment gets here, the better," he said, walking off just as Vegeta entered the room.
"I take it that fur ball contacted you because his top scientists are incompetent fools?" Vegeta said with a tight smirk.
"Honestly Vegeta, can you keep the insults off the table for at least a little while, this is a huge threat to the human population! This virus travels faster than any we have ever seen before, and it is popping up all over the place with no connections! I can't overestimate the potential danger of it because it kills the victims within a week!" Bulma explained.
"As long as it doesn't affect you or my family, I could care less," Vegeta muttered as he walked off.
"Argh, typical," Bulma sighed. It had been just about five-and-a-half-months since Vegeta and the others had returned from space. She was quite saddened to hear about Verto and the other Saiyans, but knew things would be all right in the long run. In fact, she was looking quite forward to using the dragonballs in a few weeks and getting everyone back from the dead. Getting Videl back would mean a lot right now, considering the situation. Gohan had come back a changed man, she wasn't sure if it was the stress of the war or something else, but he was definitely different than before. Bulma was very accustomed to Gohan's personality through thick and thin, and he wasn't acting like himself, no matter how many times he denied it. And it wasn't just because of Videl's death, something else had changed him. He seemed unsettled, unusually confident, and easily agitated at times. While he sounded like he wanted to get into a scrap at anytime with just about anyone, he denied every sparring match offered to him shortly after his bout with his father and Vegeta in the time chamber. Vegeta tried to entice him into one with random insults, but he didn't even acknowledge the Saiyan prince. Gohan wasn't the only one who seemed like a changed man, as Bardock had "borrowed" a spaceship from her and headed into space suddenly one morning. He didn't say why, or even where he was going, but it happened shortly after Gohan's vicious outburst. He did say that he would be back soon, but nothing more past that. Bulma shook her head slightly, there were more pressing matters to worry about right now.
About a month after their return, isolated reports of a new lethal virus had sprung up. This virus didn't behave like a normal virus does when jumping from victim to victim. There was nothing common about the victim's DNA or blood type that made them susceptible to it either, they simply got sick, went into a coma, and died within a week. Bulma was sure it wasn't an airborne virus either, as most of the human population would have contracted it long ago considering where it had been popping up. And until two weeks ago, it had remained isolated and scattered, and then a massive outbreak hit North City and more than half of the citizens died from it. Another batch in Satan City also fell to the virus, and it appeared that things were going to get out of control soon if something wasn't done. She walked slowly back to her lab, hearing the baby crying from her crib, most likely for a bottle of milk. Bulla was indeed hungry and was fed promptly while Bulma thought things over while fending off Bulla's twitching tail. That was the other thing, Bulla had a very bad tantrum when Gohan visited not long ago and the tail grew back. She had it removed early so there wouldn't be much pain later on, but not by the roots, so this wasn't a huge surprise. What surprised Bulma was because Bulla was generally calm with everyone unless she wanted something. It certainly wasn't the first time that she had met Gohan, but it was after his strange attitude appeared. Bulma shook it off as nerves for both of them. Once the baby was fed, Bulma resumed her pondering until the shipment arrived. She saw what it did on the outside, but now that the King had granted her the rights to conduct her own investigation, she could witness its destructive power first hand under the microscope.
It only took about an hour for a cargo hold full of fresh samples to arrive, and Bulma set about isolating the virus first. Once she had enough of it in a safe solution, she tested it on the clean blood that was sent over from a few blood banks. When she injected it into a clean batch of blood, she found that the viral cells demolished the other cells in a heartbeat, leaving nothing behind. And then they destroyed each other slowly, until there were only a few stray viral strains left behind. Bulma was instantly bewildered at this development, trying to figure out this kind of behavior. She had seen the usual cycle, attack, multiply and destroy many times over, but these virus strains almost competed for survival, the strongest would survive. Just like a Saiyan, I suppose. Vegeta always said that if the Saiyans had ever conquered the whole galaxy, that their society might collapse due to having no enemies. She sighed - she had been unable to see how the damn virus traveled, which was a huge key in developing a cure or at least a suppressant. At times it looked to be airborne, and others it looked to be by body fluid transfer. The only sense she could make of that was the skin color changes that happened with nearly every victim, as they often bruised easily from internal bleeding and even bled out in some cases after being poked with a needle. Even then though, nothing seemed to be significant enough to determine the method of travel, it literally could have been all of those ways. She shared her findings with her father, who didn't have much luck in determining its origins either. From what they could tell, this virus seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. There was nothing like it on Earth, anywhere, and yet, here it was. She considered calling Gohan now, knowing that he had been in Frost's base and hearing that he had indeed been sick for a few days afterwards. Just as she picked up the phone though, an icy feeling went through her. Wait a second, if Gohan accidentally brought this back from space, that means both humans and Saiyans may be vulnerable to it. But we were all around him first and none of us have gotten sick yet.
Her eyes whirled over towards Bulla's crib, and fell upon the child's tail that was twitching like a monkey on angel dust. She knew that a Saiyan's tail was part of the body's defense system, so if Bulla had this virus, it would surely be going crazy, just like it was. Bulma grabbed a syringe, intent on examining her daughter first, but then stopped, not wanting to inflict any pain on her just yet. She changed her mind and tied a tourniquet around her own arm instead, drawing a sample of her own blood. When she placed the sample under the scope, she drew in a deep breath and looked in. At first she didn't see anything abnormal, making her sigh with relief as she scanned the entire slide. But then she spotted a few stray strains of material that looked exactly like the virus. She gasped and almost made herself vomit at the sudden knowledge of infection. She let it pass for a moment as she wiped a tear or two from her eyes before looking again. She noticed all of the blood cells were moving around normally, but the viral strands were not moving an inch towards them. They're dormant? She took the slide out and made a fresh one from her blood batch, examining it again just in case there was a mistake. She saw the same thing in the next slide, and then dumped her vial of blood into the master computer's scanners. She found only a few thousands strains in her blood sample, all of them dormant with no signs of waking up. She then took a drop of the active virus and placed it on her own blood slides. The reaction was immediate, the active virus wiped out all living cells including itself in a matter of minutes. This means that everyone on Earth could be infected and we just don't know it. A dormant virus still leaves us with time, but the question is how much? I've got to find out what turns this virus on.
-
"Okay, were there any strange circumstances that these people were in when they got sick? Were they playing sports, out in the sun too long maybe? Drink something they weren't accustomed to? Anything strange at all?" Bulma asked over the phone. The scientist on the other end wasn't sure what to make of this, but supplied what information he had.
"As far as we can tell, there were no anomalies with this virus. The victims were all random and all different from each other. It didn't matter if they were in good or bad shape, nor their age groups or ethnic backgrounds. This thing has hit just about every type of person there is!" he explained.
"I see, thank you," Bulma said, hanging up. She hadn't told anyone of her findings just yet, but only because she needed more information. She had called Vegeta down for a blood sample, but the high and mighty prince wasn't willing, saying that no virus would ever take him down. She had to settle for Trunks, she didn't want to put up with her baby crying while she was trying to focus. Once she got a sample of Trunks' blood, she sent him on his way, not wanting him to worry about what she had discovered. She tested his blood and examined it as well, finding quite a number of dormant viral strands.
"Damnit!" she cried aloud, kicking the side of her desk in frustration. Just to be sure, she also mixed Trunks' sample with the active virus. The reaction was much slower than before, but the virus eventually conquered the blood of the half Saiyan as well. If not for determination to see what would stand up to this virus, Bulma was ready to break down at any moment. She wanted to get a sample of a pure Saiyan's blood, and she knew both Goku and her husband were not going to cooperate. Then she recalled that she still had a sample of Verto's blood when he had first arrived almost two years ago. She rushed down to her father's lab to retrieve it, in hopes that it was still good. She pulled it from the cool storage and drew a sample right away, seeing that it was indeed still good enough to use. She also noticed that there were no viral strains within it at all, a fact she confirmed when she had her computer scan it, making her feel much better about the possibility that perhaps human bodies were just shutting down on their own. She injected a portion of the active virus into it and watched carefully. It took a moment, but the viral strains went after the red blood cells quickly. Any white blood cells around immediately attacked and fought them off better than the pure human or hybrid T-cells had so far. But in the end, it didn't matter, the virus still won and wiped out everything in the sample. Bulma sighed as she lit a cigarette, it was up to her to find a cure for this virus, and she didn't think there was one.
--
Another two days passed by, and Bulma furiously stuck to all forms of caffeine to keep awake as she struggled to find an inoculate to combat the virus. She hadn't slept a wink ever since she began her investigation, mostly in fear that she would never wake up. She had fresh blood samples of healthy people delivered to her without being examined before hand, all of them tested positive even though they weren't sick. She didn't bother to tell anyone of this yet, not until she could find a solution. She did however take notice that no blood donations older than five months old were infected, which evolved her theory about Gohan and the others a bit. Hours passed by as she tried every form of medication she had ever heard of on the virus, with little to no effect at all. She lost more and more hope as she moved to experimental drugs that hadn't even been tested yet, to no avail. She almost considered calling Vegeta in to hit the virus with his big bang attack, but calmed herself before she resorted to something stupid like that. Vegeta had stopped by a few times to check on her, wondering himself what had gotten her into such an uproar over what he considered a minor investigation. He understood her distress, a virus that could wipe out all of the humans wasn't exactly a thrilling concept to him either, but a virus was an enemy he could not see or fight against. He kept Trunks away from her and even took over baby chores for a few hours at a time, as his wife needed to work through this on her own. When he came back at the start of the third day and found her sleeping, he took the initiative to look over her notes so far in the computer. She hadn't written hardly anything down, except what sort of medicines did not work against it, and it was too long of a list for him to look over.
He shook her awake, "Woman, you need some sleep. I suggest you get to bed. You're no good to anyone exhausted!"
"That's okay, I imagine I'll get plenty of sleep soon enough. We all will," she yawned.
"What is that supposed to mean?" he asked.
"I'm infected Vegeta," she said simply, she had no real good way to break it to him.
"What, how? Did you get near any of those sick weaklings?" he asked in slight anger.
"No, you don't understand. I'm infected, so is Trunks and Bulla, and as far as I can tell, so is everyone else on the planet! That includes you as well," she explained.
"What?" he gasped.
"I haven't been able to confirm it with you, Bardock or Goku yet, but as far as I can tell, Saiyans and hybrids are just as susceptible to this bug as humans are," she continued.
"Impossible! I refuse to believe that!" he growled.
"Well, you can give me a blood sample now, but I doubt it'll matter," she yawned again. Vegeta held out his arm without hesitation, and she lazily grabbed a needle and commenced with Operation Stabbing as he flinched a bit. After going through about a dozen needles, Vegeta finally cut himself with his nails and she used that for a sample instead. Vegeta hovered over her shoulder while she examined his blood. It didn't take long for her to find exactly what she was looking for.
"Yeah, it's there," she said, ducking slightly to avoid the explosion. It never came - in fact he stayed relatively calm considering the situation.
"So, is there a cure?" he asked.
"Not that I can find, I've tried just about every pharmaceutical there is and even a handful that aren't out on the market yet. Nothing works on his thing, and once the virus becomes active inside its host, it destroys everything in sight, and then turns on itself, as if to wipe out the evidence. It is unlike anything I have ever seen before," Bulma explained.
"What about Super Saiyans, can we stand up to it or at least fend it off?" Vegeta asked.
"You train in that form every day and I'm still detecting thousands of strains. If that transformation wiped it out, we would know. This thing has been in everyone's system for awhile, and seems to randomly become active," Bulma continued, suddenly pondering her previous theories.
"Can you at least tell me how long this thing has been on Earth?" he asked. Bulma didn't answer for a moment, but then looked him directly in the eye with a suspicious glance.
"Tell me, did the Protoss find anything strange on Gohan when he returned from fighting this Frost character?" she asked.
Vegeta caught on pretty quickly. "No, why?"
"I have been looking over old blood samples, and every sample taken before you guys got back is clean, absolutely no trace of the virus! Since we have never seen anything like this before, is it possible that it was engineered by Frost?" she asked.
"It is possible, however unlikely. Policy of the empire basically outlawed all forms of viral and other biological weapons. Frieza eliminated many species that deployed such dishonorable weapons, mostly because Changelings were known to have average immune systems, much like humans. Most of their race was wiped out by biological warfare several hundred years ago, thus why the Kold Empire never allowed it. Since that time though, many of their enemies developed these weapons, and it was a big reason why Frieza hired the Saiyans to wipe them out. Our strong immune systems tend to stand up to viruses that would wipe out anyone else. Frieza had himself vaccinated for thousands of types of lethal viruses after he blew up the home world just in case, but no one ever had the guts to go after him. However, if Frost is desperate enough, he may resort to it. There were many things he didn't agree with his father on, and war strategy was a big one," Vegeta answered.
"I see. Well, I guess I'll inform the King with the bad news, right after a hot shower," Bulma said, walking off. Vegeta however picked up the phone and dialed the one number he knew by heart.
When the desired voice answered, he took a deep breath. "Kakarot, we need to meet with the Namek regarding your son!"
Interlude 36.1 –Matter-Energy Conversion-
I was sparring with Lenz for the umpteenth day in a row when Dabura paid me a visit. Lenz had improved a great deal since her defeat at the hands of Frieza, and became disciplined enough for lessons of power moves. The only real lesson I gave her though was how to use the Kaioken technique, everything else she could just witness enough times to copy it herself. She really liked my Final Shine blast, even though I hadn't used it very much as it was much different than its predecessors. I suppose being a basic combination of Vegeta's major attacks plus one from Piccolo's array was slightly appealing to her. I had polished it a lot more since my first one against Janemba, it was a hell of a lot controlled and concentrated now. Other than learning Kaioken and some power beams, the one thing I had her work on the most was achieving Full Power in the Super Saiyan stage. I knew she could do it the instant she transformed for the first time, the potential just oozed out more and more every day. When she finally got to that point though, it just stopped. It was one of the strangest things I had ever sensed before. I swore I felt that I could get an ascended Saiyan out of her before long, and then it was just gone once she topped out. I thought that maybe I had overestimated her potential, but it was hard to tell once I couldn't sense it anymore. Her power had increased a great deal though and she had shot past Videl in a hurry after the Frieza fight, so it wasn't a total loss I suppose. I considered pushing her a bit more to see if we could pull it off, but I felt I had put her through enough for now.
I myself had gotten very accustomed to channeling Chi power much like she had with her Super Saiyan stage. My power had also gone up, just not as dramatically, not that I expected it too. I doubted there was such a stage as Super Mystic Full Power, or even beyond that, so I was satisfied with my progress, as were the Kais. I was taken up to the sacred planet for a test, managing to channel Kaioken while in Super Mystic form for up to two minutes at a time without a huge amount of trouble. I may not have been able to handle it for very long, but the point was that I could handle it. The other thing I was adjusting to was the whole issue with the glowing hands, I had never seen that before, at least not with consistency. I thought it had been a slight side effect with my emotional state at the time, as I was pretty angry with Frieza, but that wasn't it either. Sure I had seen it many times with myself and others when they were charging a big attack or forcing all of their power into one blow, but this was constantly going on without much effort. They glowed either gold, blue or green depending on what energy I was using at the time. The more I meditated and eventually practiced any sort of blast or attack, the more they glowed. When I asked the Kais about it, they only chuckled and congratulated me on mastering my power. I had scowled a bit at this, but they did have a point. Every attack or action that required energy became excessively easier to do ever since that angry run in with Frieza. I accepted this and went back to King Kai's place, slightly bored that I still had a little while to go and I was already done. When Dabura showed up again though, I had a sneaking suspicion that perhaps I had only cracked part of the wall. He asked to see me alone and led me back to the barren wastelands where he had trained me before.
"I have one final lesson for you to learn. However, I don't know if you can do this yet. Most mortals cannot," he began.
"Big surprise there. What is it?" I asked.
"No doubt by now you have sensed myself and the Kai's use our Chi energy to create objects?" he asked.
I nodded, "Yeah, but I can't quite tell how its done," I said.
"Understandably, most of the time we use our energy to transform air matter into these objects, their size, shape, appearance and durability, depending on how much energy is expelled, but it generally requires a miniscule amount. But it does take extreme concentration," he explained.
"Are you saying that if I wanted a new set of clothes, I could create them myself?" I asked.
"You have that potential. If you can channel Chi energy better than any of the immortal beings up here, you can certainly materialize a few articles of clothing. However, since you are not an immortal being, I am uncertain about it," he stated.
"Well, I guess it never hurts to try, tell me what to do," I said, taking a seat.
"Remove your weighted shirt, we'll start with that," he ordered. I did so, dropping it on the ground in front of me and focusing on it.
"Now, channel a small amount of energy into it and use it to change the properties of the shirt by using your imagination," he suggested.
"That sounds a little peculiar, don't you think?" I asked.
"Be that as it may, your power and thoughts are nearly one when you concentrate hard enough at this level. I want you to change its color, just close your eyes," he said. I did so, while letting a small amount of energy flow gently through the shirt, picturing a yellow shirt instead. It wasn't out of desire for that color, but it would be a drastic difference.
"Now open your eyes," he said. I did so and stared wide eyed at the yellow shirt sitting in front of me as I removed my green glowing hands.
"That was easy," I said.
"Clothing usually is. Now, concentrate your energy into a pattern in the empty air space. Try to materialize a sword for starters," he suggested. I shut my eyes again as I maneuvered a thin energy field into the air, picturing a thick silver sword with a brown handle, similar to the sword Future Trunks possessed.
"Have you got a good idea of its size and shape?" he asked.
"Yeah," I said, opening my eyes.
"Then do it!" he said.
"I thought I did," I said, glancing up towards my energy field. There was nothing there, other than the traces of Chi that I was moving around with my mind.
"Hmmm. Maybe we should make this simpler. Try concentrating your energy sword into a solid one in your hands, it might be easier that way," he suggested. I did as he asked and concentrated for about thirty seconds, but the only thing I got was an extremely bright green energy blade.
"I figured as much," Dabura sighed with a deep frown.
"What's that?" I asked as I shut off my Chi sword.
"One of two possibilities. Either you can't do this because you are a mortal being. Or there is an outside force that prevents you from doing this. Try your shirt again, concentrate and increase its density and mass to make it heavier and more durable!" he ordered. I did as he said, channeling my energy through the shirt again, and making sure I changed its color back to blue while I was at it. I even used my spiritual vision to make sure it was changing on the outside. I imagined it weighing about a thousand pounds or so, and heard the ground crack an instant later as the gravity kicked in. I opened my eyes again to see that I was indeed successful, and noticed a serious load of weight when I picked the shirt up.
"Okay, so far it seems you can't manipulate invisible matter such as air, only existing physical matter so far," he said, accessing his own energy for the moment. He created a spear and tossed it to the ground in front of me.
"Try changing that into a sword like you tried before," he ordered. I repeated the steps and even imagined it vanishing and reappearing as a sword. When I opened my eyes, I still saw a spear.
"Very strange, and very annoying. You should be able to do this fully. It isn't you though, it is some sort of restricting force put on you," he said with an angry expression.
"Who would do that, the Kais? I mean, even Piccolo and the other Nameks can materialize stuff! And they're just as mortal as I am," I said.
"That is true, but they are also a highly developed species. I doubt it was the Kais, not without wiping your memory clean or something. No, this can only be the work of someone much higher than that. The only thing is, whoever it was would have had to get very close to you due to your high power and resistance. Either they did it recently in your sleep, or possessed knowledge of the future and did this long ago. Makes me wonder if that old fossil actually did this!" he concluded, looking ready to explode any second.
"I wouldn't doubt that. I was asleep for half of that unleashing ceremony after all," I grumbled.
"All right then, I want you to master this technique on yourself and others eventually. If clothing is the best you can do, then so be it!" he ordered.
"What about this issue I'm having with the constant glowing hands. Sure it looks cool, but it's kind of annoying and it could tip off an enemy," I said, casting an eyebrow up at the elder demon.
"Oh that, I imagine that is just a side effect from your diverse amount of training. As I'm sure you've noticed, it enhances your physical attacks by a great deal, and enables you to quickly use any sort of energy attack. Again, it might also be a side effect from being a mortal with this kind of power. As I've said before, it is very rare. Look at it this way, your energy attacks have been lacking speed for a long time, this will help you a great deal," he pointed out.
"A side effect that enhances my attack power and attack speed, how generous," I muttered.
"It's not something to just wave off. From what I've seen, energy manipulation seems to be your specialty. While most warriors excel in one thing or another, it is usually something very particular like a technique. I suppose you are becoming a lot like that Protoss warrior Aldaris. He seemed to be very adept with energy manipulation once he discovered his power," Dabura said, bringing up the past again.
"Yeah, I noticed," I groaned.
"As you also likely noticed, you can create your mystic energy waves much easier than before when this started. Be thankful that you discovered and mastered this in your own controlled training rather than in a desperate situation like before. That is all I have for you. Your training is as complete as it's going to get. Proceed at your own discretion from now on!" he said, pointing towards the exit. He looked to be very frustrated about something, and as curious as I was to this so-called higher power interference, I really didn't want to ask. I had enough stress to deal with after all. I suppose the glowing hands thing could be called the Mystic Wave Effect with the increase in attack power and speed. At the very least, it could be used in multiple ways to fool an enemy if I use different attacks from it.
-
I mastered the technique of modifying clothing pretty easily, and was even able to repair torn shirts and fighting outfits very easily. I couldn't do boots though, it might have been the metal, though I wasn't sure. I could handle shoes just fine, but they were also cloth and stitching, which appeared to make it easier. I considered asking King Kai about it, but when I explained what Dabura had told me, he was just as confused. I shrugged it off for now; weapon creation wasn't something I really needed with my current ability. The clothing thing would be very handy, as I wouldn't have to worry about what I was wearing. And if I didn't want to have a certain shirt on, or needed to repair torn clothes, no problem. I found that even if the shirt was torn to shreds, I could stretch it out and expand it back to normal with little to no effort as long as there was some existing material. So, I mastered that little technique easily enough, though I was very curious about playing around with changing the air into material. It didn't matter how much I tried or how hard I concentrated though, I still couldn't create anything from plain old air. I let that frustrate me for a few days while I had Lenz spar with Pikkon to further test herself.
The only technique that worked and manipulated the air really well was my Status field technique, and it only super cooled it to a freezing point and formed ice. I knew I needed to develop a faster method of delivering that particular attack, but wasn't sure how. Then I played around with it in my bored state, making very small ice fields that could fit in my hand as I did it over and over again, basically making a bunch of fist sized ice cubes. I was busy smothering it in Psi energy when I noticed that the ice field broke down. I figured that perhaps I had just ran too much energy through it, but then took note that the energy was now super cooled when I touched the ground nearby. A thick layer of ice formed around the grass as I dropped the energy ball, and it spread out a bit, freezing easily a fifteen Square foot area of grass. I figured it out quickly, my ability to stop movement of air molecules is what cooled the air into solid ice, that part was easy enough to know from basic knowledge of physics. When my energy was reintroduced afterwards into a very small pocket of this super cooled air, it reformed into a very cold Psi blast. I tested this again on a small tree and watched as it glazed over almost instantly on contact, but stayed limited to the tree. I wondered why for a moment, but then noted that it ran out of energy quickly once it spread out far enough and lost its cooling effect. I tried this with larger amounts of power, making a skating rink out of a lake in the process. I mastered this new Stasis technique very quickly, as forming these small ice blasts was very simple to do. I wasn't sure what to call it at first, but something simple like Psi Freeze seemed to do it justice. Combined with my Mystic wave effect, it made my stasis trap a hell of a lot faster. King Kai walked by when I was testing this out, and actually came up with a decent joke.
"Forget what I said about you being a warmhearted person," he chuckled slightly.
"Only when I'm alive. Speaking of which, how much time do I have left anyway?" I asked.
"Just about a week or two I think," he replied.
"Good, no offense King Kai. This place is nice and all, but it isn't for me, and I don't want to see it again until I die of old age," I said, laughing slightly as he and I walked back towards the delicious smell of Videl's cooking.
--
"Come out Kai, I want to have a word with you!" Dabura shouted angrily into the air. It had been a few days since his last discussion with Verto, and he had been fuming ever since. He snarled for a few more seconds when no response came, and luckily no one was in the nearby mountain range when he blew it up a moment later.
"Get out here and face me you coward!" Dabura shouted again.
"You wanted to see me?" a voice asked from behind. Dabura managed to calm himself enough to simply turn and scowl at Kibitoshin, who hovered at eye level with an eerie demeanor.
"It's about time, I was wondering if you completely ignored everything important in your area of jurisdiction," Dabura sneered.
"I only ignore what does not matter, like the start of this splendid conversation for example," Kibito replied, enticing Dabura's rage even more.
"Then explain this to me, why is the boy's full power being held from him? If you want me to teach him everything, you must not put a leash around his neck. Especially without his knowledge. You know what could happen if he is restrained!" Dabura warned.
"And we also know what could happen if he is not. Believe me all of the facts on the matter have been examined. But as usual, you are accusing the wrong party. We have very little to no influence on the kid other than which direction to point towards. His will remains free," Kibito explained as he turned to leave.
"You do not excel at lies Kai, no matter how hard you try," Dabura growled.
"I'm sure you would know all about that," Kibito said with a slight grin.
"Tell me who or what is inhibiting him! I refuse to believe that this is as far as the kid's power goes!" Dabura snarled.
"You will have to believe it, because right now this is his maximum potential, no matter how much you or I refuse to believe it! As for his supposedly limited abilities, know that we are extremely lucky that they are inhibited as they are now. The higher powers are barely taking notice, we should pray that they don't look into things further," Kibito said with a serious tone.
"What are you blabbering about now? What higher powers?" Dabura asked, annoyed.
"Come now Dabura, you know much more than you yourself choose to believe, as do I. You know exactly whom I am talking about. Even though we've had peace and quiet for several million years, the standoff continues!" Kibito said sternly as he spun around to look the demon in the eyes. Dabura lifted an eyebrow for a moment before relaxing as he accessed his own memory for distant facts.
"You don't mean...! The legends are true?" he asked as his jaw slipped a bit.
"Yes, the eternal struggle between the two forces continues. The war that has spanned longer than even the lifetime of my elder. Even though the cease-fire holds, both forces have been mounting their power and have allowed the shaky peace in the living realms. It is only a matter of time before things erupt again," Kibito explained.
"And thus the caution surrounding the boy, I see," Dabura said, much calmer than before.
"Yes, we do not want him to be the spark that sets things off again. For now I wouldn't worry too much, his power isn't something either side will become interested or concerned with at the moment. But now that some of the spies have been released, we must be mindful from now on," Kibito suggested.
"I take it they are scouring the cosmos for more recruits then?" Dabura asked.
"They've always done that. This time though, the chess match is starting to unravel. They may be pre-occupied in other realms right now, but we both know that won't last. It is not a matter of if, but when a strategy is unveiled for this one, and somebody will strike. The only question now is when and where," Kibito said as he prepared to teleport. Dabura remained quiet and staring at the ground, the level of surprise to this revelation was almost too much for him.
"Good luck to you in the future, former demon king. You are free from your restrictions. May you travel in whatever direction suits you the most," Kibito said as he vanished. Dabura floated in mid air for a few more minutes while deep in thought. He grinned a bit and turned to leave, heading straight for King Kai's house.
-
I was sparring lightly with Lenz when Dabura flew in suddenly a few days later. I wasn't expecting to even see him again to be honest, but he had a very business-like grin on his face.
"Okay, dare I ask what this one is about?" I asked.
"Leave us, little girl," Dabura growled as he landed.
"Hey, I'm not a little girl!" Lenz shouted at him.
"Go ahead, he probably has a good reason," I said, motioning her off. She snarled at him a bit, but complied and we were silent for a few minutes while waiting for her to leave listening range.
"Quite a firefly that one is. I only have one final question, did you develop that attack I suggested?" he asked. I frowned a bit, there was only one other attack he had wanted me to develop after the shield technique, and it wasn't something I planned on using.
"Yeah, I can use it. I haven't tested it out for real though, seeing what it can do and all," I said nervously.
"Just another part of the arsenal I suppose, but sometime in your life you will likely use it on someone that deserves it. I pray I'm not that victim," Dabura chuckled.
"You may be right, but I don't think anyone deserves that sort of punishment, death is enough," I growled.
"You may reconsider that opinion in due time. Remember that it may not come to that worst-case scenario if it is carefully used. However, the full effect cannot be ignored. Farewell boy," he said as he lifted off into the air.
"How long before you come back this time?" I asked.
"If we are fortunate, never!" he shouted back as he blasted off into the distance. I traced his power signal for the next several minutes, but lost it when he left the planet and promptly vanished.
"Well, what was all that about? Where did big red and grumpy go?" Lenz asked as she walked back up, a little upset about the interruption.
"You got me," I said. As I stared into the sky, I allowed my own thoughts to sink in as Lenz practiced her moves a bit more. Knowing him, he'll probably show up again when we least expect it, as always. But why did he want me to learn that damned attack? I'm probably never going to use it.
A/n: Heh, more of me and my foreshadowing. So what's the big mystery here, have fun trying to guess it.
Next time on DBV: It's battle time, as Viro makes his move and starts attacking. Can the gang stop him now that he possesses Gohan's powers, or is this the end of both the human and Saiyan races?