There are many swear words that I could note down here which would more than adequately express my feelings on why this chapter is late. As things are still messy at work, a couple of important things have been put on the back-burner and unfortunately, despite the promise to have this up yesterday, this was one of those back-burner things. My apologies for all those who waited for this chapter and as always, there are a few things to note.
1) I'm quite proud of this chapter, I didn't mind re-reading it though it was inordinately long.
2) For this to work, I've tampered with the Dragonball universe somewhat, tweaking bits here and rationalising other things there so don't expect this to follow the iron clad rules of cannon k?
3) Insert interesting psychological responses to plot-related situations here? This made sense in my head…
4) Spelling and grammar checked but I've probably missed something as usual. It's really hard to see spelling errors when your computer refuses to acknowledge that you've already included Goku, Gohan etc in the dictionary. Stupid machine (grumble grumble)
Enough rambling…ONWARDS!
36: Be Careful What You Wish For
"Heh…heh heh…ha…"
Tonbo's concentration shattered as the barely restrained giggles bubbling up from the warrior god sitting hunched over the dimension window filtered across the air. Irked, the seer's apprentice threw Sensou's back a disdainful look. Tonbo's eyes narrowed suspiciously as another hiccoughed laugh found its way to his ears.
The warrior god had been acting strange all morning, uncharacteristically jovial, skipping across the meadow to collect a few berries and throwing his arm around Shorai's shoulder as the seer crumpled into a piled up heap of documents. His eyes had a vivid tint to them that Tonbo swore he'd never seen before, almost as though Sensou had been partaking of too much unnatural sugar and was likely to crash out at any moment.
Of course, Tonbo knew that nothing trivial would move Shorai's brother to such elation. He wasn't a fool; something was going on and he was convinced that it involved the reasons for Gohan collecting Dragonballs on Earth but he just couldn't figure it out. How were mortal objects like Dragonballs going to be of any use to Sensou? What did it have to do with the blue dragon he and Shorai kept seeing in their fragmented visions?
He glared as the warrior god shifted slightly, lifting a smooth thumb to his mouth where he proceeded to chew on the nail. He rocked back on his heels as he regarded the dimension window and then all of a sudden, he stiffened.
Tonbo blinked, watching as the warrior grunted and slipped sideways, his movements completely changing to reflect something agitated, animalistic. Instinctively, the seer's apprentice drew back, recognising on a primal level the movements of a predator.
Sensou suddenly snarled at the dimension window, staring with blazing eyes at the demi-Saiyan as he set down before the Son household. He watched as Gohan stared at the house, trying to pre-empt the boy's thought patterns, the psychological backlash of this visit. He wondered what the hell had possessed the boy to blatantly disregard his earlier orders to minimise contact with his friends and family. A visit like this was just crying out for attention.
Could Gohan possibly be rebelling after all this time? Had he missed something in the endless conversations the boy had had with Goku, Krillin and Piccolo that could have caused Gohan's loyalty to waver?
He was too close for his plan to fail now.
"Boy if you mess this up, I swear…" Sensou muttered, biting at a particularly loose nail and tearing through the skin of his finger instead.
Behind him, Tonbo recoiled, alarmed by the murmuring, the warrior god's erratic behaviour and as the grass beneath him rustled, the unnaturally bright eyes as they shot round to fix him with a hollow stare.
Sensou spat out the bloody nail and bared his teeth at the seer's apprentice.
Tonbo felt his face contort in terror as he observed the bright red streaks running down the smooth yellow-white surface of Sensou's teeth.
For a few seconds, neither party moved, locked in the sort of stalemate that occurs between predator and prey before the prey decides to run. Eventually though, Sensou was the one to break eye contact, his feral expression twisting into a smirk as he turned back to the dimension window without a word.
Tonbo was frozen to the spot, his eyes wide and frightened, flinching every time Sensou's hand moved up to pull at his dark hair. The warrior god's behaviour had gone beyond suspicious, this was disturbing, terrifying…it was like Tonbo was witnessing a mental breakdown.
Automatically, his eyes twitched over to the prone form of his mentor. With just a little while to go until the blue dragon appeared, Shorai had been reduced to nothing more than a gibbering heap. Despite both his and Tonbo's best attempt to see through the fog obscuring the current line of fate, they had continued to fly blind. Tonbo hadn't been a legitimate seer for long enough to truly miss the visions but for Shorai, it was like losing the ability to hear words. Caught as he was in his desperate need to find a way to bring his future sight back, he had lost all sense of anything else.
Looking between the crippled seer and his belligerent brother made Tonbo re-think his attitude to the whole situation.
He would have to shuffle his priorities starting from now. Instead of checking fruitlessly on a misty future, he would focus his energies instead on trying to learn what was going on with Sensou and why Gohan was collecting the Dragonballs.
Steadying himself, he moved, ignoring the hostile look that followed him from the warrior god's direction as he stood, purposefully swiped at the grass clinging to his robe and set off across the flat land.
"Where are you going little seer?" Sensou's voice rang out tauntingly after him. He shivered involuntarily but kept walking.
"Bathroom," Tonbo replied, afraid that his voice would brake if he answered with more than one word.
No protestations followed this revelation so Tonbo assumed that his answer was accepted as he disappeared into the trees.
The morning was crisp and clear when Gohan awoke, streaks of sunrise colours decorated the skyline and he knew it was time. He took a deep breath in, savouring the smell of the outdoors, the scent of the pine and the feel of the cold breeze ruffling his gi, letting him know that this place was alive, that the world was still turning. When he was taken back to Sensou's training dimension, the beauty of his home would be replaced with an environment so much more hostile and he felt somewhere deep in the core of his soul that to make a memory of this place to visit at night might not be so bad for his sanity. After all, he'd spent a lot of his time raking through his limited memories to find what little comfort there was, what was the harm in trying to enrich the experience?
Eventually, he could put it off no longer. In slow, mechanical movements, he went about placing the Dragonballs on the ground, watching them emit a dull yellow glow against the green of the grass. Shorai had told him that the dragon currently plummeting towards the Earth intent on causing a cataclysm would be drawn to the highest power source so he made sure to turn up the heat before he went about summoning Shenlong, the white of his aura burning on the morning atmosphere.
In the original vision, the dragon had been drawn to Goku and Vegeta who had taken a stand outside of his house. This time, the dragon would be drawn to Gohan, away from anyone or anything precious. Gohan was pleased he'd been able to do at least that much.
He ran his hand through the flame of hair, sparks of static igniting between his fingers as he stared at the resonating orange balls and began to call the dragon.
'Goku…Goku wake up! Can you hear me Goku?'
Goku stirred briefly, grunting and swatting at the air beside him before rolling over to snuggle into the nape of Chi Chi's neck where it smelt sweetest. Within seconds, he'd fallen back to sleep.
'Damnit Goku, you'd think a good telepathic poke would get a guy up and at 'em in the morning. Maybe I would have had better luck with a dog whistle.'
Goku could feel the barest flickering of irritation at the forefront of his mind and snorted. It had been a long time since he had slept like this, especially since Gohan had returned, he wasn't about to let anyone pull him into the brutal land of consciousness just yet.
If he concentrated, he could keep on sleeping…
'GOKU! ONLY CRAZY PEOPLE TALK TO THEMSELVES AND I'M NOT CRAZY! ANSWER ME!'
The mental shout had Goku throwing himself out of bed, a knee jerk reaction which, when coupled with Saiyan strength, meant that he flew straight into the flimsy wooden door of the closet, destroying it on impact and spraying splintered wood all over the place.
Chi Chi, rudely awakened by the cacophony, shrieked on impulse.
Goku winced as he sat up in the closet, pulling the expensive material of one of Chi Chi's formal yukatas off of his head and blinking stupidly.
'Goku!'
'King…Kai?' Goku asked groggily, scratching the back of his head, his warrior's instincts kicking in gradually to put him in an alert frame of mind despite the chaos and the hysterically babbled words of his wife as she tried to reprimand him for his sudden destruction.
'Yes, yeesh, it's about time you responded! We have a situation on our hands, something is heading towards Earth and it's…well, it's just colossal Goku!'
Goku's eyes were sharp now as he stood; his mouth was tugged down at the corners. Chi Chi, observing her husband's expression, clamped her mouth shut, tugging at the fly-away strands of hair knotting on her head instead.
'What is it? Is it hostile?'
'Yes, we believe it is. It's a cosmic entity that traverses space, slipping through even the network of the Kai's and wreaking havoc wherever it goes like a parasite.'
'Where is it? How long do we have until it lands?' Goku asked frantically, tugging on an orange gi and reaching over to grab his boots.
'Not long, 3 hours at most. I'm sorry we couldn't give you more warning,' King Kai confirmed, the apology sincere.
Goku frowned as he ran out of the house, not even pausing to comfort Goten who was watching him go fearfully from the doorway of his bedroom. He took off into the early morning, transforming into a Super Saiyan so his golden aura mixed with the gold spewing out across the sky from the sun.
'It's heading towards a forest clearing a way from Satan City…Goku…it seems to be heading for the most potent power source.'
Goku's heart clenched in his chest.
'Gohan…'
The sky darkened, gradually fading out into a blackness that overtook the sweeping set of the sunrise until only a faint, burning orange could be seen on the furthest horizon. Gohan shivered involuntarily, reminded of the first training dimension he had been dropped into as a kid, where the air was ash and the sky was decorated just like it was now, the faint orange glow on the horizon letting him know that the fires were still raging.
He wasn't sure what he was expecting from this dragon. Something like the one he had seen on Namek so long ago? This one was much different, sleeker, longer and with a narrower face. It had long green whiskers that fluttered on a non-existent breeze and a set of angular antlers protruding from its head where the Namekian dragon had sported antennae. The teeth were long and exposed from a bigger jaw. This dragon had 4 feet and looked infinitely more like the dragons Gohan had seen in his old story books than the one on Namek had done but he supposed that was just a cultural thing.
The only similarity between Shenlong and Porunga that Gohan could discern was the eyes. Both sported the same intimidating red gaze, both appeared disdainful as they gazed at the mortals that had called them forth.
Shenlong spoke in a low voice.
"What are your wishes?"
Gohan blinked up at the dragon, keeping his expression calm. In all honesty, he was still convinced that this plan wasn't going to work. The current guardian was nowhere near powerful enough to pull off something like this, even if Sensou had put so much effort into the careful wording of the wishes.
Before Gohan had left for Earth, he'd had the wishes drilled into him, forced to repeat them over and over again like a mantra so he would remember precisely how to proceed.
He took a deep breath.
"I wish that the warrior god known as Sensou be granted the same teleportation abilities as the being known as Ma."
There was an ominous pause.
The incarnadine taint of the dragon's eyes bored into him and Gohan was sure that Shenlong could see the spilled blood tarnishing his soul.
The redness seemed to become more intense and Gohan felt like he was drowning in the colour, reaching his hand up to feel at his throat, massaging the oesophagus and coughing slightly as the intensity seemed to die once more.
The dragon shifted.
"It has been done."
"Wha…what's going on?" Shorai asked in a croaked voice, only half hearing Gohan's wish through the dimension window. Turning himself round so his face was directed at his brother's back, he frowned when he saw Sensou's hunched up form, rigid and unnaturally still.
"Brother?" Shorai asked, irritated when the word came out as nothing more than a whisper.
Sensou didn't seem to want to register him so, for the first time in several days, Shorai pushed himself up into a proper sitting position, running his hand along the length of his neck, alarmed when he heard his bones crack in at least 3 places. With wide eyes, he glanced across the meadow for his apprentice but the boy was nowhere to be found.
"Brother, where's Tonbo?" Shorai asked, suddenly registering a feeling of unease in his gut.
His eyes fell back on the still form of the warrior god, frowning as he realised his brother's shoulders were shaking ever so slightly.
"Heh…heh heh…ha ha…"
Goku winced, restraining himself from teleporting directly to Gohan who was sure to react just a negatively to that particular technique as he had the first time. Now was not the time to be engaging in a conflict with his son but the temptation to abandon reason and act on pure instinct to protect the boy was almost impossible to ignore.
After a few minutes of flying, Piccolo met up with him wordlessly in the air, his eyes dark and troubled as they continued bee-lining towards Gohan's bulging Ki signature. Vegeta would be coming from another direction but as they drew closer, Goku could feel him emitting energy levels just below the ascended transformation they had both mastered.
"What's going on?" Piccolo asked eventually and Goku shot him a questioning look.
With the absorption of Kami, Piccolo had taken on some of Kami's more mysterious qualities. The ability to know the particulars of a threat to the planet he had once reigned as 'god' over was one of them but though Piccolo knew something big was coming, that it was hostile and heading for Gohan, he couldn't know as much as the Kais.
"It's not good," Goku conceded. "King Kai says it's some kind of cosmic parasite."
Piccolo huffed and folded his arms across his chest, clamping the white cloak close to his body in a bizarre act of self comfort.
"What is it with this planet?" Piccolo ground out bitterly.
As the two of them drew closer to Gohan's colossal signature, the sky grew dark, ominously black and Goku fought against the feelings of unease stirring within him as he remembered how the sky of the dying planet Namek had looked right before he had managed to escape. Piccolo glared at the horizon, fixating on the pale blue just visible below the darkness.
"Gohan's summoned the dragon," Piccolo stated matter-of-factly, blanching when he remembered Gohan's frantic warning to stay away once the dragon was summoned.
He blinked.
Suddenly, everything was falling into place.
'If you just let us deal with it quickly and quietly…it doesn't have to be a disaster.'
A disaster…This was what Gohan was talking about? Some kind of cosmic parasite that only he could defeat with the aid of the Dragonballs?
With careful diligence, Piccolo let his Ki senses extend until he was touching the tip of the power heading towards them…
…and almost fell out of the sky.
"Piccolo!" Goku threw out, gripping the Namekian warrior's arm on a reflex when he felt his companion's Ki waver. He paused in mid-air, ignoring the gnawing feeling in his gut telling him to get to his son before something horrendous happened to him and made a point of checking the responsiveness of Piccolo's eyes.
Piccolo's face was ashen, his breathing was ragged and his forehead was sweaty. His eyes were small, pin-pricks set into endless white and without realising it, Goku gulped.
"What happened?" he asked gently, letting Piccolo recover as two more familiar Ki signatures hurtled forward – Krillin and Yamcha.
Piccolo took a moment to focus on the intake of oxygen into his system before trying to explain what he had discovered. Whatever was heading towards them, whatever cataclysm was about to unfold across the world, had a Ki signature that dwarfed all of them.
"We have to get to Gohan," Piccolo spat out simply, flying shakily forward and leaving the others to follow.
"State your second wish," the dragon commanded impatiently, glaring down at the minute figure of the demi-Saiyan who was radiating enough energy to make Shenlong's head hurt.
Gohan's expression was one of mild surprise. He hadn't honestly expected that the dragon would be able to grant his first wish at all though the second wish was probably going to be harder to pull off. He steeled himself, preparing to face the worst case scenario, a battle between himself and the monster currently crashing down to Earth, a battle that could provide enough of a prompt for his energy to go haywire and for him to destroy the universe…
He took a deep breath.
"I wish for the warrior god Sensou to be granted immunity to being written out of fate."
Another ominous pause, something akin to a frown passed over the features of the dragon and then his eyes once again grew intense.
It took a long time for the air to clear of that unsettling sanguine taint and when it did, Gohan was sure that Shenlong looked a little paler.
"It has been done."
Gohan's eyes widened, his breath hitched. A sudden war of emotion erupted inside him, relief that he would no longer be endangering the people of Earth with his unstable energy, disappointment that he would get to spend no more time here, a niggling feeling of dread that his friends and family would be in such close proximity to the brutal being he had known for most of his life, an unfriendly and wholly unwelcome specimen.
He hung his head as the dragon dispersed and the golden orbs rose up into the air, giving off one last bright flash before shooting off in random directions to be gathered by someone else.
The darkness hanging over the sky lifted slowly, revealing the usual azure blue and the swirl of clouds collecting and orbiting around the creature dropping through the upper atmosphere. Gohan's eyes widened and his mouth hung ever so slightly. Though he had been warned about its size, Gohan had never thought to register something so monumentally large, something so monstrously intimidating. He was a smart boy and he knew how to apply the size of what he was seeing in the first stages of entering Earth's atmosphere to what it would look like on the ground.
It was heading straight for him, drawn towards his powerful Ki signature.
He could feel the energy within him responding to this threat and with careful control, he bit down on the sensation.
'I won't let my energy grow strong enough to threaten the universe,' Gohan thought stubbornly to himself.
'I don't deserve to live.'
Shorai froze as he heard the second wish projected crisply up at the dragon that had been summoned over the dimension window. His eyes were locked onto Sensou who turned to regard him with eyes full of insane light. Shorai read the expression there and started shaking his head violently.
'No, this can't be happening. Shenlong doesn't have the power to grant such a wish…except…'
He gasped, falling forward suddenly on the grass and clutching at his head. It felt like multiple nails were being hammered into his skull, popping blood vessels all over his head and provoking his thoughts to scramble. In an instant he was able to see as his brother teleported to Earth by himself and darkness clouded his heart. He could see the demi-Saiyan standing stoically, his eyes severe but he was unable to see where Gohan was standing, who he was standing with. He could see Goku and the others attaining higher levels of fighting prowess but was unable to hold on to the coherence of the vision for long enough to see if they were able to make a stand against…
Crack.
"Tonbo…" Shorai called weakly, his hands digging into his temples, veins throbbing over his forehead.
Sensou merely stared down at his brother.
His insignificant brother.
He tilted his head to one side and felt the tease of blood lust pool in his gut.
For years he had been a prisoner to Shorai's endless visions, had to be careful to consider how Shorai would oppose him at every angle of every plan but now…now even if Shorai could see what he was going to do, he would be unable to stop him.
Sensou was immune to the threats of the Four Winds, immune to being written out of fate.
The grin that spread across his face was nothing short of manic. It was the moment he had been waiting for, the moment he had been living for and now it was here. He ran a shaky hand through his hair and allowed the uncharacteristic excitement to bubble through him, erupting from his throat until he could do nothing but throw his head back and laugh, a loud, powerful laugh.
He laughed until he could laugh no more, clutching at the pain in his sides and wiping tears from the corner of his eyes.
He was left staring down once more at his brother who had adopted the foetal position and was calling softly for Ma or Tonbo.
"It's been nice working with you brother," Sensou hissed gleefully, holding his hand up and allowing deadly energy to form in his open palm. Through the excruciating headache and the half visions he was still caught up in, Shorai registered a moment of deep set fear as Sensou turned his open hand on him.
There was a moment of understanding and a profound sense of the present. Though he was still tangled up in the weave of fate which was acting essentially like a set of colliding tectonic plates, he was able to appreciate in these final few seconds, the idea of the present.
There was air in his lungs.
There was the beat of his heart.
There was the movement of his arms as he tried to throw them up to block his face.
There was a flash of light…
Minutes turned into years as Shorai waited for the blast to hit him and he was painfully aware of his own hoarse breathing but as the first lick of heat was starting to sear his skin, he felt two firm hands grip his arms followed by a sense of sickening displacement.
For a couple of seconds, he was completely disorientated, then he saw the energy previously aimed at himself incinerate one of the trees towards the outskirts of the meadow and his head whipped back until he was looking into the furious eyes of Ma, his eyes bright as lightning as he scowled at the warrior god.
Sensou simply fixed him with a lazy grin.
"What in the nine hells do you think you're doing?" Ma ground out in a threatening voice.
Sensou's grin widened.
"Doing what I've wanted to do for the last couple of centuries," the warrior god confirmed, his eyes dropping down to the seer who was shaking violently now.
"Have you gone completely insane Sensou? The Four Winds will-
"Will do nothing!" Sensou declared triumphantly. "Their influence no longer effects me."
Shorai stared at Ma, trying to confirm what Sensou was saying but no sound was coming out of his mouth. He watched as the teleporter visibly paled.
"Wh-what do you mean?"
"I mean that I have finally been allowed to transcend beyond the power of the Four Winds," Sensou told him in a grand voice, sweeping his hands back. His eyes flashed briefly as he moved forward, his voice dropping to little more than a whisper.
"I am immune to being written out of fate."
Ma's initial reaction was to laugh uncertainly. Such a thing was impossible, it couldn't be done…and yet…the warrior god had just tried to take out his brother. Something he would not have done if it was likely to provoke the Four Winds to act against him.
Had he gone mad?
"…True…"
Ma glanced down at sound of Shorai's strangled voice, blinking into the seer's ashen face, the large, glassy eyes. A feeling of resigned dread was starting to course through him.
If Shorai said it was true…
"I won't take you anywhere," Ma began, realising that the only way to stop Sensou now was to refuse to take him where he obviously wanted to go.
If possible, the warrior god's smile widened.
"I don't need you anymore," he said in a sing-song voice and with that, before Ma could really begin to process what this could mean, Sensou disappeared.
Ma was left with his mouth ajar, still holding on to the seer's wrists as Shorai eventually gave in to throws of shock that had been threatening to overwhelm him since Ma had saved him from Sensou's surprise assault.
The Z Fighters dropped down on the edge of the forest where the trees gave way to a huge open-space gully, not bothering to keep their power levels hidden. Gohan felt them and cursed inwardly, wishing that Piccolo was less stubborn and had taken his warnings to stay away seriously, passing the message on to the others to protect them.
Goku's eyes gravitated to his son and stuck there; watching Gohan from a distance as he looked up with an impenetrable expression at what could only be considered certain doom. A million different thoughts seemed to run together in Goku's head – there were a million different things he wanted to say to the boy, a million different things he wanted to do. He wanted to hug the boy, apologise, ask Gohan to tell him about what had happened, what had changed. He wanted to know what he should do before the end of everything fell upon them to make things right for the boy.
Blankly, he took a step forward, the name of his lost son forming on his lips but then several things happened at once.
Most immediately, Piccolo's arm flicked out in front of the Saiyan warrior barring his advance to the boy standing resolutely by himself. Goku made to protest, turning his attention to the Namekian but when his eyes locked with Piccolo's face, he saw an expression of such intense disbelief that he was forced to stare back at his son and the man suddenly standing before him clad in the same general style of armour as Gohan.
A rumbling growl emitted from Goku's throat and he dropped low, beneath Piccolo's block, his teeth bared and his hair gradually becoming more severely spiked as his energy rose into the realms of ascended Super Saiyan.
He knew this man, the one that he had threatened when he had been taken along with Gohan to that strange dimension.
He wasn't about to let this man take his son again.
This time, he would finish what he'd started 4 years prior.
Gohan blinked up as Sensou appeared before him, his expression elated, his teeth bared in a completely disconcerting grin. With the back drop of the creature advancing behind him and his hair more ruffled than usual, Gohan found that his mentor looked more intimidating than he had ever looked before.
"You did well boy," Sensou said, his eyes bright, victorious. Without another word, the warrior god turned to face the beast, the dragon careening through the atmosphere causing a stir of gale force winds to blow across the surrounding area. Shrubs and smaller trees were starting to be torn from the soil, spinning through the air causing some of the Z Fighters to move awkwardly to avoid them. Gohan remained still next to Sensou on the grass.
Concentrating, Sensou raised his hands and let out a pulse of energy.
Gohan watched with sharp eyes, wondering if this was the technique that Sensou had mentioned, the one that could be used to stop the creature from destroying his world. If it was, it didn't look like much but then some of the most impressive techniques were ones that didn't look like much. Gohan knew not to be fooled by appearance alone.
To the surprise of both Gohan and the surrounding Z Fighters, the creature let out a call which sounded a lot like the mournful cry of a whale deep beneath the ocean before pausing on the air, the force of the deceleration disturbing the rotation of the clouds around it. It hovered on the air blinking down at the assembled Z Fighters and Sensou grinned, beckoning for the demi-Saiyan to follow him into the air.
Goku's growl deepened and he made to take off to keep pace with them as they ascended but Piccolo gripped his shoulder, yanking him back hard. Goku fixed him with a volatile gaze but Piccolo simply shook his head, calm as always.
"Despite your grievous errors in judgement, things have progressed according to plan and you have truly proven yourself, your loyalty," Sensou said, pausing as he came close to one of the large scales on the dragon's nose. A waft of strong, hot air fell upon them and, with the disorientation that came with trying to process the sheer size of this creature, it took Gohan a moment to realise that the hot air was the breath of the creature as it exhaled smartly.
Gohan blinked, frowning at his mentor, trying to make sense of what was unfolding before him. Of all the scenarios he had prepared himself for following the summoning of Shenlong, this was not one of them. He had expected that, should he succeed with his wishes, Sensou would appear to immediately engage in battle. If anything, he seemed to have stopped this thing with a single effortless action. Had the warrior god really fought this thing before with difficulty?
Gohan's face twitched as Sensou brought a gentle hand to rest on one of the creature's giant scales.
"I do believe, now that you have succeeded in this mission and I am free of my previous restraints, that I will let you in on the truth."
Something painful seemed to inject itself into Gohan's system, circulating his body like blood until he was frozen in place. A rush of emotions flared up, processing through him on hyper-drive – panic, betrayal, anger, horror, more panic.
He glanced down briefly at the assembled fighters scattered along the edges of the trees and bit his lower lip. Sensou was revealing 'the truth' to him now…had he been lied to? What exactly had been a lie?
Involuntarily, he backed up a few inches in the air.
"Sir?" he asked, making a point of keeping his voice steady, merely curiously prompting. Overreacting to something he hadn't had confirmed was going to get him nowhere.
Sensou sighed a long suffering sigh but a smile was still tugging at the corners of his mouth as he faced the demi-Saiyan in the air. The elephantine creature above him grunted contentedly as Sensou's hand fell into a rhythmic motion over the scale.
He was stroking it.
"The truth is that the universe as it is now is completely unacceptable."
Gohan flinched and drew back on the air, struggling to process what these words truly meant.
"This creature isn't just a random cataclysm, it's something of a pet of mine, called to help me cleanse this imperfect existence. This is something the Four Winds and my beloved brother would never have approved of so I used the blind spots in Shorai's future sight to hide my true intent until now."
He fixed Gohan with a bitter look.
"They've always lacked the appropriate vision."
Gohan's Ki was starting to spike, oscillating wildly. A white aura ignited around him, flickering madly between gold and white as he released his restraints and let his power grow unchecked. His own teeth were bared in a mirror image of his father's hostility on the ground.
Sensou simply speculated as the demi-Saiyan drew back, anger and betrayal apparent now on his young features. The warrior god had expected no less of a reaction from his protégée once his true motivations were revealed. He had spent years trying to re-shape that boy's moral outlook into something similar to his own but despite the effort he had put in; Gohan remained stubbornly pure-hearted. Now that Sensou had been freed of the threats holding him back from achieving his potential as the true god of the cosmos, the boy was merely an eye sore rather than a necessary component in his plan. True, his power was almost limitless but it would only be like losing a priceless treasure for the warrior god – disappointing but not detrimental.
The whole situation was a far cry from the one he had initially planned so many years ago when Shorai had first had the vision about Gohan's destruction. Originally, he'd been planning to use Gohan's power to remake the cosmos after learning to harness that impressive destructive force himself from the prison of his own dimensions but as he'd spent time with the boy, realising that the demi-Saiyan would never completely submit to his will, he had focussed on the idea of using the Dragonballs to exploit loopholes in the iron clad restraints that had been placed upon him by the crippling power of the Four Winds. Since this plan had worked, he no longer needed to rely on the demi-Saiyan's power to make changes in the mortal realm though he would be lying if he said he wasn't wary of his student, of the capabilities that had been projected through Shorai's eyes.
He was still fascinated with the potential of the boy's energy and he'd spent a pretty penny on the boy – the mark on his wrist a brutal reminder of the time he owed Majo.
"I'm planning to remake the cosmos as I see fit, upgrade the obsolete filth until everything is more efficient, better for everyone involved. People will be happier, presented with opportunities to test their true values and I will reign over this existence as the undisputed god."
Gohan couldn't believe what he was hearing. He honestly couldn't.
Though he had known somewhere deep inside that Sensou wasn't as wholesome as his actions suggested, he had never thought that…
Never would have imagined that…
With no real conscious input from himself, Gohan slipped into a naturally defensive stance, his tail flicking out beside him in serious agitation.
"You sound just like Cell," Gohan spat darkly, his eyes glinting.
"And you are far too young and naïve," Sensou retorted instantly. "Think about it Gohan, you're a smart boy. Cell wanted to wipe out imperfection, yes, but he had no good intentions about what to do afterwards. I want to improve existence, lessen suffering and to do that; I know that I have to be in charge, start afresh. Only I can make sure that everything is truly okay. Don't you want that for everyone? Don't you want to make the world a better place?"
Gohan's eyes were wide, tortured and Sensou knew he was pushing the right buttons. He smirked openly, making a complicated hand gesture to signal to the beast to move down beside him in the air. As the serpent started to shift downward, its body casting a shadow over the forest with the Z Fighters still scattered in the trees, it was almost like an eclipse.
Piccolo's lips were drawn tight as he watched the unfolding exchange, his super hearing picking up everything audible.
This newcomer, the stranger with Gohan…
…he was a maniac.
And he was the grand architect of all of this.
Goku was practically pressed to his side, gauging Piccolo's reaction to the talk in the sky whilst struggling against the ex-demon's firm hand. On his other side, Vegeta was also using his power to keep the Saiyan warrior grounded, knowing instinctually that this verbal exchange needed to be brought to a close before they could jump in.
In the air, Sensou extended a hand, his face calm but unfamiliarly friendly.
"I've been training you not only for the battles you have been in so far but to help me create this new, better existence. Will you do that Gohan? Will you help create where you were destined to destroy?"
Gohan inhaled sharply and Sensou knew that the boy had reached a decision when his eyes cleared, suddenly becoming cold and distant once more. All trace of the confusion he'd had a moment ago was gone, replaced with something calculating, calm. Sensou's grin was feral.
'Yes…'
"I am well aware of my own hand in the end of everything Sensou. I've been fighting against it ever since you told me I was due to destroy existence with my own power. If I accept your proposal and join you in this ludicrous quest, then I'll just be fulfilling that destiny in another way."
Sensou's lips tugged down into a neutral line and Gohan's stance shifted until it was more offensive.
"I like the universe the way it is," he said stiffly and this time, he didn't give Sensou a chance to respond. He shot forward in the air aiming a smart kick to Sensou's torso which the warrior god could see coming a mile away. His hand was ready to grab Gohan's foot as the boy catapulted towards him but at the last second, Gohan changed his angle aiming a small Ki blast to the side of Sensou's face, something designed to do extensive damage to the ears.
Huffing, Sensou dodged by turning his head at a sickening angle, hearing the low hum of energy and feeling the sting of heat as it whizzed past him to explode harmlessly in the trees, creating a fair sized crater.
As a counter attack, Sensou lunged forward, grabbing on to Gohan's ankle before he could yank it out of reach and using it to pull the boy in, elbowing him in the stomach when he was situated horizontally below his mentor.
Gohan cried out in agony.
On the ground, Goku flinched, his face contorting into a picture of such rage that even Vegeta took a step away from him. His energy was climbing, the static sparks given off in the ascended super Saiyan form running into the soil and through the closest foliage until it looked like he was going to explode outward trying to contain so much Ki. Piccolo's hand felt uncomfortably hot on his shoulder and as Goku started vibrating, he removed his hand on a reflex, afraid the energy would burn through his skin.
Before any of them could jump in to replace Piccolo's restraint, Goku had taken off, shooting through the air towards his son like a canon, the boy's name running through his head on a loop.
In the meantime, Gohan had righted himself in the air and was arching his arms round to produce a violent red output of Ki, the same technique he had used to win the battle against Cell. The energy output was mind-blowing, sensational and angry. As Goku drew closer, he found that he had no choice but to stop because of the heat given off by that mad energy.
In the air above them, Sensou grinned while the serpent behind him looked on lazily.
"You think you can beat me with that Gohan? I gave you that technique; you think I wouldn't know its weakness?"
He shifted, signalling for the beast to move its head downwards which it did, dipping below Sensou so the tip of its jaw brushed against the highest tree top. Sensou kedged himself on the tip of the beast's giant nostril and pulled his hands in close to his chest, his fingers splayed and his palms facing outward.
Gohan poured everything he had into that attack, the harsh feelings of betrayal fuelling a righteous fury. He still couldn't believe how this had turned out; it just wasn't processing through him quick enough. He'd been Sensou's student for so long, had been shaped and moulded by a man he thought was only proceeding the way he was to save the universe from the monstrosity that Gohan was to turn into…How could he have been so blind to Sensou's true intentions? How could he have missed the conniving reality? How could he have followed so blindly when he'd been given tools to use against the warrior god, his own training in the art of future sight coming to mind?
'It's just one more reason I don't deserve to live,' he thought to himself, a pang of fresh grief coursing through him as he realised he'd probably been manipulated into killing the replicas of his friends and family as much as he had been manipulated into following Sensou's orders without question.
'I should have known something was amiss when he told me the wording for those wishes…I was just too caught up in the idea of going home…and Shorai confirmed that the cataclysm was real…'
The ball of Ki in his hands was small but he knew that when he released it, the whole world would be bathed in red. He wanted to tell the others to get away, to distance themselves from what was surely to be a devastating attack but his voice seemed to have abandoned him.
"Gohan!"
His father's call on the wind.
He glanced down and his teal eyes locked on Goku's tortured expression. He frowned uncertainly when he saw that the Saiyan warrior's hair seemed to be growing on overdrive, the blonde locks cascading over his shoulder, slowly snaking towards his waist. Squinting, Gohan could just make out the change in his father's facial features, the new angular set of the jaw.
His father was…changing? Transforming into something new? But what? Gohan had only ever seen Super Saiyan taken to the ascended stage and beyond that, he'd been forced to find a new way of progressing…was there something past the next level? Something that Goku had only started to unlock?
He blinked and pushed the matter aside as trivial.
It didn't matter if his father was breaking fighting conventions once more.
All that mattered was that the enemy in front of him was presenting an unbeatable front.
He steadied himself and let his energy flow as freely as he dared.
"Netsuki…"
In the air, Sensou muttered something in a long dead language and locked himself in place stiffly.
"HA!" Gohan yelled, releasing his energy.
The Z warriors on the ground had just enough time to fling themselves into a defensive position before the world ignited. There was a terrifying flash of blood red light that overwhelmed the natural blue of the sky and a bombardment of heat so intense the grass around them instantly dried out, becoming brown and brittle around them. Their own skin cracked and blistered and as the light started to fade, a bone-chilling boom resounded through the atmosphere threatening to burst ear drums.
Through the energy release, Gohan watched feeling the exertion on his system as Sensou's face was lit up in a myriad of various reds, his eyes small and mad as he inhaled and caught the energy bombarding towards him.
Gohan's face contorted in blatant horror.
It was like watching someone catch the resulting explosion from a nuclear weapon and rather than simply catching the attack, Gohan could see that he was absorbing the energy, the heat and light disappearing into his open palms and pouring into the dragon below him, almost like he was earthing electricity. The dragon began to glow a deep ultraviolet.
An age seemed to pass where Gohan pushed as much of himself as he was able into that attack but eventually, miraculously, his energy died out and the last of it slipped into Sensou's hands. The dragon glowed like an ethereal, serpentine beacon.
Gohan was left drooping in the air, his breathing laboured and his body shaking.
Sensou's grin was manic as he stared down at the exhausted demi-Saiyan. He licked his lips, pushing a strand of loose black hair back into place behind his ear. On his forehead was a sheen of sweat, evidence that he had exerted himself to stop that attack.
He chuckled mirthfully as the sky cleared; slowly fading back to the usual blue though the Earth was trembling under the pressure of Gohan's energy.
"That really was impressive Gohan and for a boy of only 14 years too. It would have been interesting to see what you would have turned into given a few more years to grow. I admit, I am seriously disappointed that you've decided to oppose me after everything I've done for you, after the control I've taught you."
Gohan fixed him with a malevolent stare, Saiyan pride shining through his eyes, a silent challenge for Sensou to finish him.
Sensou felt a surge of ecstasy course through him. The boy honestly had no idea who he was dealing with, didn't realise that he was playing with true gods and monsters. A mere mortal, while an abnormally strong one, was never going to come close to the sort of power that Sensou had access to even if it was the warrior god himself who had coaxed the boy to this point.
He raised his hand and lifted up, hovering above the creature which was opening its mouth.
It seemed to take an age for the creature to finish lifting its colossal jaw, even longer for a spark of something to ignite deep in its throat. Still, Gohan was too tired to get out of the way. This was it for him.
He wondered briefly if, by dying, he would be freed of the guilt he carried with him every day, free from the anxiety that layered his heart every time he thought about the way he could lose control and murder his family, cause the end of everything…
He could feel his father's Ki growing in the back of his mind and prayed that Goku would have the sense not to put his life in danger. He had his wife and his little boy to go home to after all; they'd be devastated if he didn't come home.
A bright blue light reminiscent of the energy used to form the infamous Kamehameha attack grew in the dragon's mouth until suddenly, what could be considered the dragon's throat contracted and the energy was released.
Gohan could hear someone calling his name but it sounded far away and in an instant, the energy had connected with him. His thin frame was engulfed in volts of firing electricity and his body convulsed. All coherence was replaced with a single burning thought running on a thrum through his mind as his system was ravaged.
'Pain.'
He knew that he deserved it, knew that he should ask for nothing more than death considering what he had done, attacking the replicas of his family, destroying the universe and, even when he'd been aware of this fate and had been permitted to try and change it, allowing another psychopathic villain have his crack at unleashing Armageddon.
The universe would be infinitely better off without him around to mess it up.
Stars popped behind his eyes and darkness burnt through the colours from the centre of his eye and out. Once the darkness had reached the edges of his vision…
…well, he must be dead.
Is Gohan dead? Will Sensou bring calamity to the cosmos? Will anyone ever bitch slap him and tell him he's a nutjob?
Find out next time on…Naruto Shippuden!
Because if you cut off my head, I will STARE you down! (rofl)
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