--- Disturbance, Book 2: Divergence ---

Chapter D11-A - Bring Me To Life

Disclaimer: The fun about this sentence is that by the time you realise it doesn't say anything, it's too late to stop reading it. Also: See first chapter.

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-How can you see into my eyes like open doors?-
-Leading you down into my core, where I've become so numb-

Fire crackled around the ruined Satan City, both from exploded cars and ignited trees, glass shattered against the sidewalk, as cracked windows finally gave up the ghost, and thunder cracked the sky, both from the lava fountains still erupting in some places, and from the horizon, where ozone rushed to fill in the gap the massive blast tore mere moments ago.

Pi paid heed to none of this though. She had been returned to life as suddenly as it had been taken from her, returned to the exact point of her death, now a massive crater from Kaen's initial expression of rage and loss. Trusting her knowledge of the layout of the city, Pi blasted off, racing towards the place where her mate now lay dying.

As she neared the eastern outskirts of the city, she could see a pillar of rock in the distance, still glowing slightly from the molten core inside it, while red streaks ran down the outside, in a gory monument to the peak of Kaen's rage; and, if she wasn't fast enough, it would be his memorial.

Clearing the city, she spotted the humanoid form at the base of the monolith, and darted towards him. With a flick of her wrist, the two sword, embedded in the earth on either side, freed themselves and flew towards her, one of them sliding neatly into the unseen sheath on her back, and the other sliding underneath it to form an X formation; due to her own sword's invisibility, however, it appeared her mate's sword was merely stuck to her back.

Landing beside him, and kicking up a cloud of dust, which was swept into the maw of the great canyon beside her, she quickly placed her hands over his chest, forcing her energy into him as she attempted to heal him. "Kaen? Kaen, can you hear me?" His lifeblood continued to ebb however, her efforts seemingly doing little, though it was hard to tell with the mass of ambient residual ki from the blast; however, he failed to respond.

Putting her hands to her temples, she mused, "Okay Pi, think. Now is not the time for panic... The Icebreaker! Dad said he built a teleporter override into my watch!" Fiddling with the device for a few seconds, she found the function she needed, muttering to herself, "I hope they're not out of range..." With the press of a button, and a blue flash of light, the two were gone as suddenly as she had returned.

-Without a soul-
-My spirit sleeping somewhere cold-
-Until you find it there and lead it back... home-

In the depths of space, at the edge of the solar system, a consciousness stirred, and it felt pain. Its physical body had been destroyed, burnt away piece by piece and scattered across the vast emptiness of space. With that pain came anger. Anger that there had been someone strong enough to cause this much pain. It took satisfaction, however, that in the end, it had killed the pair of them.

Majin Buu knew that the one who had attacked him was dead, could feel that he had pumped his life-force into the final attack meant to kill him, but Majin Buu was far from dead; it would take more than a single upstart with a lot of power to undo the magicks of Bibidi, and banish Buu from this universe forever.

Unfortunately, with his body destroyed as it was, he would have to build a new one, and in the emptiness of space, that would take time; his hold over his physical body had been broken, the pieces too far scattered to draw them back in. Still, it could rebuild through sheer magical will, and dust particles scattered across the cosmos from the planets' movement. Though it had no mouth, Majin Buu laughed.

In time, all would feel its wrath.

-(Wake me up) Wake me up inside-
-(I can't wake up) Wake me up inside-
-(Save me) Call my name and save me from the dark-

"Oh yeah!" Oran cried out, jumping up and pumping his fist into the air, "I knew my brother could beat that thing!" He cast a jeering eye at Goku. "See? I knew he was stronger than you! When he gets here, I am so going to rub it in your face."

The adults around all cast wary glances at once another, before Goku was silently elected the one to speak. He sighed, starting to explain slowly, "Oran, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but your brother..."

"What about our brother?" Lime interrupted, moving to stand beside her twin.

Goku sighed again. "There is no way his body could withstand all that energy he was drawing in. Coupled with the backlash of that attack... I'm afraid there is no way he could survive without immediate treatment, and neither Dende or myself can even find him down there."

Her bottom lip quivering, Lime asked tentatively, "Are you saying... our brother's gonna die?" Goku slowly nodded his head.

"No!" Oran shouted, "My brother can't die! It's not possible!"

Holding his hands passively, Goku replied, "I know you want to believe he's still alive, but Gohan and Vegeta-"

"-Were mortal," Oran cut him off. "My brother's not; he's a phoenix, he can't die, coz if he does he's just reborn again from the ashes, stronger than before. I'm right, just wait and see." Oran's mind would not be swayed.

Dende gasped, "No! It's not possible!" Everyone turned to face the Guardian, and he pointed a shaky finger towards the sky above. "T-There. It's... It's M..m.. It's..."

Stretching his senses out in the direction Dende pointed, Piccolo too gasped in shock at the power he felt building up. "No," he growled, "All that power, and he still..."

"What is it?" Krillin asked fearfully.

Paling, Dende replied, "It's Majin Buu... He's still alive!"

-(Wake me up) Bid my blood to run-
-(I can't wake up) Before I come undone-
-(Save me) Save me from the nothing I've become-

With a low hum and a flash of light, the teleporter aboard the Icebreaker activated, and when the light faded, Pi crouched upon it, clutching the bleeding form of her mate. "Help!" She cried out upon spotting her family standing nearby, "I need to get him to the tanks quickly." No one moved, "Please, help me! I can't move him on my own!"

Kat moved to help, but Avarrdo held her back. Stepping forward, Kellre barked, "Which dimension are you from?"

Growing angry, she shouted back, "This one! Now help me!"

"Don't lie to me!" Her father shouted back, "Both of you used techniques today that you should not know. Now, tell me the truth: which dimension are you from? And before you start, we found the device when we searched your house."

"You SEARCHED my HOUSE?" Pi shrieked incredulously, "Do you have NO respect for out privacy?"

Folding his arms, Kellre stated, "Listen-"

"No YOU listen!" Pi cut him off, "If you don't help me get Kaen healed up right NOW then I swear to you on every god that ever did and ever will exist that Majin Buu will very quickly become the least of your concerns!"

Kellre smirked, and even in her angry state she could tell he was very pleased with himself. "That's my daughter all right." Stepping forward, he pressed a few buttons on the teleporter console, saying, "This is as good a time as any to use the intra-ship transport system." With another flash of light, this time green, they were gone again.

-Now that I know what I'm without you can't just leave me-
-Breathe into me and make me real-
-Bring me to life-

When the flash cleared, Pi found herself in the regeneration tank room. "Quickly," her father prompted, "We've got to get him into the tank." Running on autopilot, she helped her father carry Kaen's limp body to the nearest tank, and the older man pressed the required key sequence to begin the process. Checking the preliminary read-out, he commented, "Well, he's borderline, but I think we got him here in time." He turned back to his dazed daughter, "Are you all right?"

"Uh, the teleporter's new," She mumbled.

He waved a hand disinterestedly, "Oh, improving this ship is a pet project of Avarrdo's and mine. Now what's really wrong?"

"It was all a set-up, wasn't it?" Pi asked accusingly, "Everything you said was just to provoke a response from me, which would hopefully be the response you expected."

He nodded. "We couldn't be sure, given your newfound abilities, that you were you." He strode forward, enveloping her in a hug. "I do have respect for you and your privacy under normal circumstances, but with the pair of you disappearing so soon after a small but intense battle, your mother and I were worried enough to bend our rules."

Her face buried in his chest, but her arms still by her side, she mumbled, "You could have come and asked."

Even without seeing his face, she could tell he was smiling, "Yes we could, but as I said, we respect your privacy; if there was a problem, you yourself would have brought it to our attention and called for help."

She felt herself smiling. "You've got an answer for everything don't you?"

"And you don't?"

She wrapped her arms around him. "You're definitely my dad."

There was a comfortable silence, broken when Kellre asked, "So, he knows the truth?"

She sighed. "Some... Not all of it. I don't think I even remember all of it myself."

"It's not important," Kellre replied, "You are where you need to be. What is important is, are you happy?"

Her smiled widened, "Since the day I met him."

Kellre smiled himself, kissing the top of her head, "Then that is all I could wish for you. Now, you should eat something." She opened her mouth, but before she could say anything he added quickly, "And as I know you won't want to leave this room, I will bring it to you here." Without another word, he was off, and Pi sat down at the nearby table to watch the tank.

-(Wake me up) Wake me up inside-
-(I can't wake up) Wake me up inside-
-(Save me) Call my name and save me from the dark-

"WHAT?" This was a sentiment shared by pretty much everyone on the Lookout, but voiced by Krillin. "You're joking right? Please Dende, tell me you're just playing around."

His fist clenched so tight his nails dug into his palm, purple blood starting to drip, Piccolo stated, "He's not. Majin Buu is still alive, and rebuilding his body as we speak."

"Bullshit!" Oran shouted above the cacophony of panicked voices, "My brother was at least ten times as strong as Buu, and that attack was fifty times his limit, so how the hell can he still be alive?"

"You're right," Dende replied. "By all logic, that attack should have wiped Majin Buu from the face of the universe, but it didn't. From what I'm sensing, it just wounded him greatly."

Goku collapsed backwards onto his butt, muttering, "What a monster... To have survived an attack of that magnitude..."

Her lip quivering again, Lime asked, "You mean to tell me my brother and sister both died in vain?"

Dende shook his head. "No, their deaths did have meaning. Buu may not have been defeated, but they bought us no less than a day to prepare."

Glancing around at the adults fearfully, Goten stuttered, "But, if Kaen wasn't able to beat him with all that power, how can we?"

Goku glanced at his son, and sighed. "I just don't know..."

-(Wake me up) Bid my blood to run-
-(I can't wake up) Before I come undone-
-(Save me) Save me from the nothing I've become-

"Wait a minute," Videl piped up, drawing the attention of everyone present. "So far today, both Vegeta and Kaen have basically tried nuking Buu, correct?"

"What's your point Videl?" Bulma asked, a little defensive given that Vegeta's attempt had cost him his life.

Turning to face the older woman, the raven-haired girl replied, "What if they both failed for the same reason?"

A curious note in her voice, Chichi asked, "What reason would that be?"

"Think about it," Videl replied, waving her hands around for effect, "What happened to both Vegeta and Kaen today that might influence whether they could or could not defeat Majin Buu."

After a few moments of tense silence, as they each tried to work out the answer, Goku shouted, "Babidi's magic! They both got taken over by Babidi's spell."

"Exactly!" Videl cheered, equally happy that they'd worked it out, and that they weren't ridiculing her idea.

"I think you're on to something Videl," Dende commented, "Babidi wouldn't have wanted his servants being able to kill his pet monster, so maybe his spell did something to them to prevent them killing him."

"Or maybe," Piccolo offered, "The pair of them being taken over by the spell was proof they couldn't defeat Buu."

"Either way, it works out the same," Videl stated confidently, "Which means that all these guys need to do is master that fusion thing and get to around Buu's level, and they should have no problem defeating him."

"Then we'd better get started," Lime added, grabbing both Goten and Trunks by the back of their gi's and dragging them off, Oran in tow, to begin their training.

-Bring me to life-
-(I've been living a lie, there's nothing inside)-
-Bring me to life-

Pi sighed, resting her head against her folded arms atop the table. Her father had brought her some food a while ago, but it sat on the table to one side, uneaten, untouched. While she knew she needed food, she didn't particularly feel like eating, and given the news she'd just received, even if she had she would have thrown it up anyway...

It wasn't working. The tank was operating at full capacity, and the wounds across Kaen's body were healing, but his energy continued to decline, albeit at a snail's pace. The greatest medical science the universe had ever born witness to, and it failed. Her mate was dying, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it.

He father had come down earlier to check on things, and she'd overheard him mumble something she probably wasn't meant to hear; sometimes her father seemed to forget just how good her hearing was. He'd said that it looked like Kaen had just simply given up on living, which is why he wasn't getting better. And what hurt her worst was that she could see how he could've drawn that conclusion.

She had died, and he had flown into a homicidal rage, and when his power had waned, he no doubt would have resolved to let himself die to be with her again. The one catch to this plan was that she had been brought back to life, but not, as she originally thought, was returned to normal. The bond between her and Kaen was still not complete again, although now, it felt more as though there was a wall actively blocking her out, rather than simply... nothing.

"Oh Kaen," she whispered to herself, "Don't you want to come back to me?"

-Frozen inside without your touch, without your love, darling-
-Only you are the life among the dead-

Without warning she felt a familiar comforting warmth envelop her, as an equally familiar voice whispered in her ear, "Hey, I thought I told you to stop worrying about me."

She jumped up and spun around, to see the visage of her mate standing before her, smiling softly. "You're okay!" She squealed excitedly, rushing forward to hug him, only to have her arms go right through his form.

He scratched the back of his head, a habit he picked up from Gohan no doubt. "Uh... Not exactly, no."

-(All this time I can't believe I couldn't see)-
-(Kept in the dark but you were there in front of me)-

She paused for a moment, seeming to study him intently, and quite frankly it was making him nervous. "Uh Pi, what are you-" He was cut off by a slap to the face, one that, surprisingly, made contact. Holding a hand to his face, he demanded, "What the hell was that? No, scratch that, how the hell did you even do it?"

She shrugged, "Just figured it out, and needed to see if it worked."

He rubbed his cheek. "You could have tried something less dramatic..."

-I've been sleeping a thousand years it seems-
-Got to open my eyes to everything-

Using her new ability, Pi hugged his incorporeal form, intent on cutting off any more griping. Putting his arms around her, Kaen muttered, "It took me three whole days to get this astral thing down, and you manage to-"

"Create a trans-phase rift my ki to allow me to contact you metaphysically?" Pi interrupted.

Kaen nodded. "-That, in a few seconds, and yet it took you nearly an entire month to learn how to fly?"

She smiled. "Correction: I knew how to fly within the week. I just didn't actually fly for nearly a month, coz I was milking the attention for all it was worth."

-(Without a thought without a voice without a soul)-
-(Don't let me die here, there must be something more!)-
-Bring me to life-

"And that's the sort of shit I need to talk to you about," Kaen added, "But not now. I just came back to tell you not to worry about me; I'm fine. Or I will be, assuming Gohan doesn't screw up..."

"What do you mean by that?" Pi asked curiously.

"Long story short: Phoenix and I are still linked, he's a douche, and is slowly killing me. Gohan, who, as it turns out, is still alive, was dispatched to solve the problem, but if he doesn't do it right he'll kill me too. You know, the usual." Kaen's form glowed brighter briefly, before returning to normal. "Ah, seems like it worked." He began fading out, with one final parting statement, "I'll be right back, just gotta let 'im know what's going on."

Soon, she was alone again, but now, she smiled; Kaen was all right, and together, they would move on from this. She was sure of it.

-(Wake me up) Wake me up inside-
-(I can't wake up) Wake me up inside-
-(Save me) Call my name and save me from the dark-

"Goku, tell me something," Piccolo started. "Could you have beaten Majin Buu before?"

The deceased Saiyan sighed; he'd been expecting this question sooner or later. "Honestly Piccolo, I'm not sure. If I'd powered up to my maximum right away, threw in a Super Kaioken for good measure, and hit Buu at point blank with a Super Kamehameha... Maybe. Now though... I'd need to do what Kaen did, but I'd be back in Other World before I could complete it."

"What do you mean Goku?" Krillin asked.

"I'm exhausted," Goku breathed.

"A little exhausting is nothing Dende can't fix," Piccolo barked back.

Goku shook his head. "Not this time. I've burned through most of the magic used to keep me in this plain of existence, and as such, the only way for me to recover is to go back to Other World. I guess it's lucky that Oran and Lime know fusion..."

"What are you saying Goku?" The formerly bald monk asked his dead best friend.

Goku's face was grim. "I'm running out of time. At most, I'd say I have an hour left."

-(Wake me up) Bid my blood to run-
-(I can't wake up) Before I come undone-
-(Save me) Save me from the nothing I've become-

Pi smiled to herself as she looked over the computer readout; true to his word, Kaen was indeed getting better now. Her smile dropped a little when her mates voice sounded from behind her, this time less comforting and more angry. "Alright, explain." He had projected himself back down to Hell, telling Gohan he'd be back shortly to teach him how to use that sword properly; first, he needed to get some answers.

Her face scrunched up with confusion. "Explain what?"

She almost thought she heard him growl at her. "So we're back to this are we? It's like you have split personalities... So which Pi am I talking to now? The one I grew up with, or the one I almost killed today?"

"What are you talking about Kaen? There's only one me."

"Oh really?" Kaen raised an eyebrow. "And the succubus routine from earlier was..." Pi had the good graces to blush, but said nothing; still, she wore a rather cheeky smile. "Fine. If you don't want to talk, I'll just have to go over your head." With nothing else to say Kaen strode off, in search of the one person who would certainly have the answers he sought: Kellre.

-Bring me to life-
-(I've been living a lie, there's nothing inside!)-
-Bring me to life!-

To be continued...

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Author's notes:

Wow, it's a nice feeling to know there are people out there that really want me to update. This one's for you.