DISCLAIMER: I don't own Dragonball-Z, not really sure who does either. It'd be a shame if people I don't know sued me. J v
THE KILL
By Jacob M. Bosch
CHAPTER 4: Constructive Uses, Giving Back, and Revenge
Laughing madly, Gohan stomped on Yamucha's right leg just below his groin. Krillin heard the bone snap with a dull crunch. Then the boy cut off the warrior's scream by whacking the ex-bandit across the face. Yamucha fell unconscious to the ground, his jaw broken and his cheekbone shattered.
Next, Gohan went over to the unmoving Tenshinhan who lie face down on the tiled floor. His long green over coat was burned away in back. Gohan grabbed the hefty warrior by the scruff of his neck and lifted him up half way off the ground. Krillin's face scrunched up in sympathy when the possessed boy began repeatedly pounding Tenshinhan's face into the floor. Gohan never stopped laughing.
Krillin watched sickened as Gohan abandoned Ten after a dozen more bashes and moved on to Chou-zu who also lay insentient on the ground.
This was the worse possible situation, Krillin thought while peeking over the edge of the Lookout. He'd hoped that at least one of his friends would be able to distract Gohan while he healed the others. But everybody was out of it; if he tried to help one of them with the senzu now, Gohan would be all over him.
Krillin!
Gokou! Oh, man, am I glad to hear you! I've got magic beans but I can't get to anyone!
…
Gokou?
… Okay… be ready.
Huh?
Krillin's gaze found Gokou as the Saiyan struggled to push himself up from his back with one arm, while he cradled the other in his lap. His face was bruised raw, almost beyond recognition. And Gokou's usually spiky hair hung limp, damp with perspiration. Krillin watched in awe as his oldest friend managed to rise unwaveringly to his feet.
Gohan was grinding his heel into Chou-zu's spine when Gokou called out his name. Gohan removed his foot from Chou-zu's back and faced his father. The older Saiyan's expression was hardened, but Krillin could see the sorrow in Gokou's obsidian eyes.
Gohan and Gokou powered up simultaneously, their ki's levitating small rocks and pulverized tile particles off the ground. Gohan's ki was higher then Gokou's, but wilder. Less focused then it had been when the battle first began.
"I'm sorry, Gohan." Krillin heard Gokou say just before he flew at the boy.
Krillin averted his eyes. He had no desire to witness what Gokou had to do to give him this opportunity. The monk flew all the way onto the Lookout and ran to Yamucha. Kneeling beside the injured warrior, Krillin took a senzu out of the pouch.
"Yamucha!"
The scarred man groaned but didn't stir to full consciousness. Krillin put the bean to Yamucha's lips much the same way Karin had done to him earlier, and forced the senzu into Yamucha's mouth. Hoping that just the taste of the magic bean would heal Yamucha's broken jaw enough so he could eat it.
Yamucha opened his eyes a little, "Chew the bean, hurry!"
When Krillin saw Yamucha start to munch on the senzu, he quickly made his way to Ten. The Triclops was easier to revive and was on his feet moments after Yamucha. Chou-zu was revived promptly as well, despite a pulverized spine.
Krillin went over to Piccolo and tried to give the Namek a bean.
"No… Kami is dying… senzu won't work…"
Krillin turned away from Piccolo's evaporating form. Bewildered and disturbed by how badly he didn't want the Namek to die. That at some point he'd started to consider the reformed demon a friend.
Krillin joined Yamucha and the others. And after watching the two Saiyans battle for a time, Krillin decided he couldn't stand by any longer. "We have to help Gokou."
"How? They're way out of our league," Yamucha said.
"No, they're not—at least not completely. Gohan is strong but he doesn't have our experience. All we need to do is find an opening and…"
"I don't know. We might get in the way of whatever Gokou's got planned."
"Yamucha, Gokou doesn't have a plan! He's just fighting Gohan to stop him from coming after us," Krillin stated then tied the pouch with the senzu seeds to his belt. "But I do have one."
Yamucha and Krillin flew towards the two battling Saiyans, and flanked Gohan. Both warriors began powering up in a flashy manner, attracting Gohan's attention away from his father.
"Krillin, Yamucha, what are you doing?" Gokou asked halting his own attack. Neither of the humans responded.
Don't hurt my son, Gokou telepathically warned the two.
Krillin got into position to prepare a Kamehameha wave, while Yamucha readied a Soukidan.
Krillin and the scarred warrior briefly made eye contact.
Yamucha launched his attack first. Two small spheres of ki sped toward Gohan and he dodged them easily. Yamucha quickly made gestures with his arms and the ki balls changed course and followed Gohan. The boy avoided them once more. Yamucha moved his arms faster and faster, causing the spheres to speed up as well.
Soon, Gohan was caught in the mists of zigzagging ki and he snarled with frustration. Krillin added to the boy's ire when he started gathering energy in his hands. "Kame-hame-ha!"
Gohan blurred as the wave streaked his way. Krillin pulled his arms to his chest and redirected the beam. Yamucha also gestured so that his ki spheres altered course again. The attacks chased Gohan, who'd re-materialized higher above the Lookout. Krillin suddenly cut off his attack, the Kamehameha dissipating without Krillin's will to guide and feed it, and flew over to Gokou as Yamucha continued to occupy Gohan with the Soukidan.
Krillin gave the Saiyan a seed.
Krillin! Gohan sees what you're doing! Tenshinhan's mental voice rang through Krillin's mind.
Gohan batted the Soukidan spheres away, breaking Yamucha's control over them. Yamucha let them go and covered his eyes with his right forearm just as Ten joined Krillin in the air.
"Close your eyes, Gokou!" Krillin said quickly before he and Ten placed their hands to either side of their foreheads and shouted together:
"Taiyoken!"
And two blinding flashes of light drowned the sky.
Krillin waited several seconds until the most intense cycle of the blinding attacks subsided before he opened his eyes into squints. He saw Gohan hovering several meters away clawing at his face, damaging his already ravaged skin even further. Oh, Kami! Now!
Tenshinhan and Chou-zu hastily flew over to Gohan and placed their hands on the boy's head. Letting out a short-lived howl, Gohan's whole body jerked violently, and then went slack. Ten was waiting to catch the boy before he tumbled out of the sky.
When Gokou went flying over to Ten and the unconscious Gohan, Krillin closed his eyes, and let out a quiet sigh of relief.
He floated down to the surface of the Lookout, gravel digging into the soles of his bare feet as he touched down. He thanked Kami. A being he wasn't feeling a great deal of faith in for letting his plan work as well as it did.
Gokou landed next to Krillin moments later, cradling Gohan in his arms. The boy's breathing was shallow but steady. And now that he was out cold, the rips and gashes in his face seemed less severe. Krillin could almost see the real Gohan.
Krillin reached out and brushed his fingertips against Gohan's face where his jaw line met his ear, one of the few places on Gohan's face left unscathed by lacerations. He'd never envied Gokou anything, not seriously, but he envied Gokou having Gohan. Krillin always dreamed of having children, and the sense of family that came with them. Krillin never thought of Gohan as a son; they were more like best friends, almost as close as he and Gokou were. But Krillin knew if given a choice he'd be proud to have a child just like the young half Saiyan.
"Thank you for saving my son," Gokou told the monk. Krillin took his hand away from Gohan's skin and looked up at the boy's father.
Gokou's smile was small, but his eyes were wide and bright.
Ten, Yamucha, and Chou-zu joined them on the ground.
"…And mister we're all doomed over here, was like, 'What are we supposed to do? Gohan's ki is bigger then all of ours!' and I was like, 'We can do it!' I never had a doubt!" Yamucha was saying as they landed behind Gokou.
Tenshinhan rolled all three eyes up to a god who was actually below him, then smiled. Chou-zu started giggling.
"What's so funny?" Yamucha asked the pair suspiciously.
"Nothing Yamucha," Tenshinhan and Chou-zu answered together.
"Hey! You're making fun of me telepathically!"
Chou-zu giggled even harder.
"How delightful," Garlic Jr. bellowed as a shadow blanketed the Lookout. "To see that you have embraced the end of your world with such gladness in your hearts."
The Earth warriors whirled around and saw the giant form of Garlic floating in the air. And behind the demon was a huge red and green planet in orbit over the Earth.
"Where the Hell did that come from!" Yamucha shouted.
"Garlic." Gokou turned to Tenshinhan and handed the small, limp form of Gohan to the Triclops. The Saiyan blurred and was level in the sky with Garlic Jr.
"Now who's not getting it—don't you fools understand? I cannot be destroyed! I am a god!" Garlic proclaimed.
"You're not even close." Gokou said.
"Perhaps not in this world. But in the Dead Zone I will be!" Garlic spread his arms wide apart and unleashed a torrent of blue energy that didn't feel like any kind of ki Yamucha, Ten, or Chou-zu had experienced before.
But Krillin and Gokou had. Garlic was opening a portal to the Dead Zone.
"Get Gohan and Piccolo into the temple!" Gokou yelled to the warriors on the ground. Chou-zu and Tenshinhan ran with Gohan into Kami's damaged Temple. Yamucha and Krillin hurried over to Piccolo, and right away had trouble trying to pick up the Namek. They would gain purchase of Piccolo's arms only to have his limbs phase through their hands.
"No use… Forget it, just protect Gohan." Piccolo told the humans.
"No way, Piccolo! Garlic's about to open the Dead Zone! And you know what happens then," Krillin said as he and Yamucha managed to drag the brawny Namek a few feet before Piccolo dissolved out of their grips again.
"I said forget it!" Piccolo commanded more forcefully, pushing Yamucha and Krillin away from him. The two humans fell back, surprised by the strength in the Namek's shove. "Huh?" Piccolo grunted and stood up, his body steadily becoming more solid.
Standing at full height, Piccolo was completely material.
"Kami." Piccolo said simply.
Krillin and Yamucha raised their arms to protect their faces when Piccolo's aura flared into the visible spectrum and he shot into the air. Krillin started running for the safety the temple offered and was a few feet from the entrance before he noticed Yamucha wasn't following him.
"Yamucha, what are you waiting for?"
The ex-bandit eyebrows were furrowed and he looked quizzically up at Piccolo.
"I was just wondering why Piccolo didn't fall through the Lookout. You know, when he was intangible?"
"Yamucha, this is really a bad time! Come on!" Krillin shouted.
Kami and Mr. Popo arrived on the Mr. Popo's flying carpet moments after Krillin and Yamucha entered the Temple. The God of Earth was clutching a multi colored jar under his left arm. His purple cape and white robe was smoking and reeked of sulfur.
"Kami, thank…well …You!" Yamucha exclaimed after seeing the elderly Namek.
"Is that the Holy Water?" Krillin asked indicating the jar.
Kami knodded and leaped with remarkable vigor from the flying carpet and walked over to the group. The warriors were bunched around Gohan's unconscious form, shielding the boy from the occasional falling rubble bombing from the Temple's roof.
"Mr. Popo has already dispersed the Holy Water to the rest of the planet," Kami said.
The god motioned the warriors' aside and knelt beside Gohan. Then Kami opened the jar and slid a hand under the boy's head, propping it up. Tendrils of vapor rose from the brim of the jar as several drops of clear liquid doused Gohan's lips.
Krillin watched warily, some part of him was certain the water wouldn't work.
Gohan opened his eyes, showing that his irises were back to their normal obsidian hue. Everyone present relaxed upon seeing this but the period of relief was short lived however, because an instant later the boy started howling like mad.
Gohan was screeching in pain, Krillin realized in alarm. And in that instance the monk understood what was happening to Gohan. The possession must have put the boy's body through a colossal strain. And every muscle Gohan had had been overtaxed with ki. So much so that even his skin had been shredded under the stress.
The monk hurriedly took out another senzu, but before he could put the seed to the boy's mouth, Gohan fell silent.
"Oh, my God!" Chou-zu whispered. "He's dead."
Piccolo had to put conscious effort into holding his place in the air as Gokou began powering up. Piccolo knew Gokou was strong, but the erstwhile demon had no idea how much stronger the Saiyan had become since their battle with Radditz. Gokou's ki aura blazed, its red radiance pouring out ki exponentially, to the point that the sheer force of Gokou's power smothered Piccolo's senses.
He must be using the Kaio-ken attack Kaiou taught him at full force. With that kind of prowess he could have easily overcome Gohan! Piccolo thought astounded.
A black rift, which opened into the Dead Zone, was already large enough to engulf the Lookout. Its inhaling forces wrenched at everything not securely fastened down, or too weak to resist its pull. The Lookout itself was also being adversely affected, not just its contents. As the Dead Zone's forces worked upon the celestial structure the Lookout tilted, only its connection to the umbilical kept it from yielding to the Dead Zone.
"I've been holding back Garlic," Gokou told the demon. "Until now you have not experienced my true power."
"You fool, it doesn't matter what kind of power you have, believe me. Once inside the Dead Zone you and this entire planet will be doomed to an endless void where I am the beginning and the end!"
"It'll never get that far," Gokou pledged pulling his arms to his side.
Gokou's ki was unbearable as he prepared a Kamehameha wave. Piccolo had no other choice now but to retreat. He flew to a safe position behind Gokou, watching through narrowed eyes and with gritted teeth as a sphere of red energy surrounded the Saiyan.
Such power! And yet Garlic makes no move to dodge the beam intended for him. Doesn't he sense Gokou's strength?
"Bakaaa! You never learn!" Garlic Jr. said.
"So I'm told," Gokou replied. "Kamehameha!"
"The taint has taken its toll on Son Gohan's body. It was too much for him. His heart has stopped." Kami proclaimed grimly.
"Oh, no… no," Krillin groaned.
"Wait… Wait… Kami is it just his heart? I mean, is that all that's wrong with him? Yamucha asked the god.
"Yes."
Yamucha, on his knees, leaned over Gohan's body and made a half fist with one hand and placed it over the boy's chest and put his other hand flat down across the clenched hand.
Suddenly, the floor shifted beneath the assemblage of warriors and deities, causing all but Yamucha to momentarily lose their balance.
"Yamucha, what are you doing?" Tenshinhan asked the scarred man.
Yamucha didn't answer him and started pressing down on Gohan's torso. His huge hands seemed to crush the boy's chest, but it was obvious the warrior was careful not to mash down too hard. Yamucha counted out three compressions, paused then repeated the process. "Damnit!" Yamucha cursed.
"What's wrong?" Chou-zu asked.
"He needs someone to breathe for him, too."
"W-What do you w-want us to d-do?" Krillin asked his voice shaking. He was near hysterics by then. And not understanding what Yamucha was doing did nothing to help alleviate his crazed state.
"After I do the chest compressions, pinch his nose and put your mouth over his and breathe into it in one constant exhale."
Krillin knodded then lowered to his knees and joined Yamucha on the floor.
The beam streaked over Garlic's head, startling the demon. The white beam burned its way toward the astral body looming over the Earth, cutting through the dense energy field surrounding it. Garlic turned following the Kamehameha with his eyes which widened when he recognized its true target.
"No… No… No!" Garlic Jr. cried.
The beam impacted and caused the exterior of the star to appear to ripple, as if the Kamehameha were a large stone dropped into the surface of a placid lake. Soon, those undulations turned into tidal waves of fire as Gokou's attack completely consumed the star. Garlic screamed again, this time in distress. His giant body shrinking back to its original size, his flesh and dark green skin withering over his bones. Piccolo felt the demon's power diminish and eventually fade away to nothing as Gokou's beam blew the star into nonexistence.
No longer able to resist his own creation, The Dead Zone took a hold of Garlic and yanked the immortal into its boundaries. The void's ebon maw swallowed the demon and his screams, then closed quietly behind him.
Krillin tasted the coppery tang of Gohan's blood as he pressed his mouth against the boy's cracked lips. Expelling his own breath into Gohan's nonfunctioning lungs. The monk brought his head up and watched Yamucha perform his role in whatever it was they were doing. They'd been at it for several minutes and Krillin was losing hope fast. Gohan wasn't responding to their efforts and the boy's ki was still undetectable.
"Krillin! Again Krillin!" Yamucha ordered.
Krillin leaned down and forced more breath into Gohan.
Gohan coughed into his mouth and Krillin pulled his face away. The boy coughed again and then started gulping in air as fast as his lungs would allow.
"Gohan… Gohan, here's a senzu!"
Gohan opened his eyes and focused vaguely on the seed the monk held in front of him. The boy's eyes had a dull, vacant look to them as he parted his lips and accepted the offering. Gohan chewed the seed gingerly, almost mechanically, then swallowed it in one gulp. Then the boy's eyes bulged, glittering with awareness and life. The cuts etched into his face sealed themselves; changing form ragged bloody wounds, to fleshy pink scars, then faded away all together.
Seeing the grinning faces hovering over him, Gohan blushed.
"Uh… Hello?"
"How did you know?" Piccolo asked the Saiyan.
"How did I know what, Piccolo?"
The Namek closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and tried not to blow up at the man standing in front of him. Checking several different words for idiot from coming out of his mouth, Piccolo continued, "How did you know destroying that planet would take away Garlic's power?"
"Oh. Well, I could tell the closer that thing came to the Earth, the stronger Garlic Jr. was getting. So I figured it had to be the source of his power and once it was gone he would go back to being plain old Garlic."
"Clever." Piccolo said after a long pause, unable to curb the skepticism in his voice. Gokou smile crookedly, shrugged and walked to Kami's Temple, leaving Piccolo alone with his doubts.
"What was that strange act you were performing on Gohan, Yamucha?" Tenshinhan asked once Gohan got to his feet.
"Sounds kind of funny when you say it like that, Ten."
"Stop being a smart ass and answer the question."
"Its called CPR. Bulma took a pre med. course in college and learned it. She made me learn it, too."
"I've never heard of that technique. Good thing you knew it though."
Holding his hands up to his face and examining them, Gohan grimaced as he noted his blood-stained knuckles.
"I still don't know what I'm doing here. What is this place?" Gohan asked those in the crumbling building.
The adults refused to make eye contact with the youth, choosing instead to look everywhere but. None of them were sure they should be the ones to tell Gohan about his possession and what he'd done during that time. They weren't convinced he should be told at all.
"We're on Kami-sama's Lookout," Krillin offered finally.
"You mean we're actually in god's home?" The boy asked glancing around in wonderment. "Is it supposed to be wreaked like this?"
Kami cleared his throat, "Not usually, no."
"You must be Kami-sama. Pleased to meet you, sir." Gohan said mannerly once he noticed the ancient Namek, and bowed.
"Gohan!" Gokou hailed his son as he entered the Temple, Piccolo followed after him.
Gohan ran over to the two men. "Dad! Mr. Piccolo!"
"Wow, you're all better!"
"And you're all dirty!" Gohan remarked seeing the sticky blood blotted all over his father's face. Not connecting the scarlet on his hands with his father's blemishes.
"Gokou, what happened to Garlic Jr.?" Kami asked the Saiyan.
"He's back where he belongs," Gokou replied with all seriousness.
"So, it's true," Piccolo said tilting his head up and stared into the sky.
"Unfortunately, yes," Kami answered.
"I'm sorry Mr. Piccolo," Gohan said walking over to the Namek. Tears welling up in the boy's eyes as he took Piccolo's hand in his own.
Piccolo looked down at his pupil and somehow gave Gohan a reassuring smile. For a long time Krillin didn't understand how the Namek managed it.
"Don't worry about me kid. I know you lost someone on Namek, too."
Dende! Witnessing the Namek-jin home world's death had been so profoundly hurtful to Krillin, that he went numb afterward, and he never really had a chance to ponder all that was lost.
Dende is dead.
Consequences clicked through Krillin's mind. Falling like dominoes as one realization lead to another: Piccolo and Kami were the last of their kind. All that was left of a decimated race. Krillin opened his eyes—he hadn't been aware of having closed them—and looked at Gokou. What was his friend thinking? Was he thinking about his own standing as one of the last of his race?
Krillin felt his stomach start to cramp; Kami, he wished there was some battle to fight to stop him from dealing with this. From feeling remorse so deep he almost wished Freezer had punctured his heart.
"Why is Krillin dreaming about it, Kami-sama? Is he psychic or something?"
"That I cannot answer, Yamucha."
"It doesn't matter why he had the vision," Piccolo said stoically looking away from Gohan.
"What matters is what's going to happen next. We have to talk about King Kold and how we're going to deal with him." Piccolo stated his voice dropping below freezing.
Krillin stopped listening to the conversation after Dende entered his thoughts. It was too much of a struggle to hide his weeping. Instead he kept his head bowed, chewing his lower lip until it bled to stop the sobs swelling his lungs from coming out. And violently swiped at the corners of his eyes to dispose of the tears that got away from him when he thought no one was looking.
The Sons' departed the Lookout, returning home and see Chi-Chi. Krillin would have gone with them, but Piccolo had left with the father and son. Every time he looked at the Namek now Krillin felt the need to apologize, to beg for the Namek's forgiveness. So he left with Yamucha instead to check up on Bulma and her parents at Capsule Corp. Tenshinhan and Chou-zu chose to stay behind and help Kami and Mr. Popo repair the Lookout.
Like Gohan, neither Bulma nor her folks remembered being under the influence of the Black Water Mist. And the Briefs' didn't believe Yamucha when he told them that they, and everyone else in the world, had been possessed. That is until video from several of Capsule's surveillance cameras showed the Briefs and their employees roaming the halls of Capsule Corp. growling at one another with burning red eyes.
"See, I told you, Bulma!" The scarred warrior gloated once the CEO saw the recording. "Admit I was right!"
"Cold day in hell, pal."
"I don't really think it's hot there, Bulma."
"And how the hell would you know? Have you ever been there? No!"
"Well, I was way closer then you've ever been. Seeing as how I've been dead before!"
"Kami, how many times are you going to bring that up! You seem to think that it's going to automatically win every argument!"
"I do not…!"
As the arguing grew louder and strayed off topic, Krillin left the security room. But he didn't go far. He lived alone and the last thing he wanted to be was completely alone. Krillin decided to tour the extensive grounds surrounding Capsule.
When he moved out of Kamesennin's house Krillin thought he wanted to be by himself. It had been too normal staying there. And despite coming to terms with what he did on Namek, at least a little, Krillin wasn't ready to feel normal. So he left his second master's home and built his own cabin on the outskirts of North Capital City.
As Krillin strolled through Capsule's property, he was again hit with the overwhelming desire to fall asleep. And he knew wasn't due to any kind of hurt or exhaustion this time. It had been a long time since he felt this way, worn down, both mentally and physically. Depression settled over him like an old familiar blanket. He wanted to wrap himself up in it and go away; rather he woke up or not was something he was all too happy to leave to fate.
No—not fate—fate is my enemy.
Krillin settled down in the lush green grass next to a lone building disconnected from the main complex of C.C. He knew it to be Bulma's private laboratory. Krillin pressed his back against its pristine white wall, sliding down it until he was sitting with both knees bent almost touching his chest.
It's quiet here, Krillin noted as he scanned the ground's layout. Not really surprising he guessed, since this place was pretty far away from where Capsule Corp. did its business. And where the Briefs' family kept quarters.
Krillin watched a mallard coast in from the north and land in a pond off to his left, joining others of its kind. He stared at them, listening to their communal quacks as the half dozen ducks swam over the small body of water, through reeds and pussy willows. Krillin cover his face with his hands then moved them up over the smoothness of his bald cranium. He let the tears come, hot and in streams. He cried until his chest hurt and his eyeballs started to itch and turned red from irritation.
But there was no release. The tears he shed weren't cleansing; they were poisonous. Just as toxic as they would have been if Krillin held them in. And the muscles in his shoulders and neck had tightened with tension that should have eased from his crying.
"Krillin?"
He didn't look up. He'd sensed Yamucha coming moments before, but lacked the resolve to wipe his face clean. Yamucha lowered himself next to Krillin, and the two warriors sat together in silence against the wall.
Yamucha knew when to shut up no matter what Bulma said. Yeah, he admitted to being insensitive sometimes, but he liked to think not when it really counted. It took awhile, but he finally rid himself of his bandit ruthlessness, and learned how to empathize.
Yamucha picked at the blades of grass beside him with his fingers. His left leg stretched straight out, the other bent with his right elbow resting on his knee. He looked out at the same view Krillin had been observing minutes before. Thinking it was pretty, but not as beautiful as his desert.
"Krillin," Yamucha began still looking out at the grounds, "you couldn't have known that was gonna happen."
Yamucha turned and saw that the monk had raised his head and was looking at him sideways, red puffy bags had swelled under his eyes.
"I mean Kaiou shouldn't have made you see something like that without explaining it to you."
Krillin turned his head away abruptly and Yamucha though he heard the smaller man say something under his breath. Yamucha had the feeling he wasn't helping his friend so he decided he'd better change the subject. Damn, this is harder then I thought.
"Hey, you wanna go check out my new digs. I had to get a new place after, well, you know, dying."
Maybe I do bring that up too much, Yamucha thought as he stood up and stretched.
"Then maybe we can go out… hit some clubs… shamelessly ogle lovely women. What do you say?"
Krillin looked directly at Yamucha.
"Yeah, sure, why not?" He answered with a voice empty of any real conviction.
Krillin followed behind Yamucha willing himself not to think. He made his whole world the sky in front of him. But the knowledge always fought its way to the forefront of his consciousness, demanding its place in his awareness.
"Hey, Krillin! We're coming up on my place now!" Yamucha shouted back at the monk.
They were flying high over a bustling city. Many thousands of small ki's registered to Krillin's senses, and he quickly closed himself off to them. Just more reminders of what he had endangered.
"Where are we?" Krillin asked his companion.
"West Capital City," Yamucha answered looking back at the monk with concern drawn across his scarred face. Krillin had not paid any attention to where Yamucha had lead him.
They came upon a small mountain range composed of two large mounts and a handful of smaller hills, which encircled a large section of the city. A dozen different houses were built along the peak region, every one bigger then Kami House and Krillin's modest cabin put together. Yamucha flew toward one that sat higher then all others on the tallest mountain, and Krillin followed.
They landed on the house's large terrace. The patio itself was constructed of wood and erected up on six steel poles buried in the rocky ground several meters below. While the house proper sat on a manmade shelf blasted and bulldozed into the mountain.
"Watch your feet," Yamucha warned Krillin as he maneuvered past porch furniture to the glass patio door leading into the house. But the floor was sanded and lacquered smooth. Krillin's uncovered feet were safe.
As Yamucha slid the door open a high pitched screech rang out and a tiny, dark flying shape smashed into the fighter's upper body.
"Oh, Yamucha!" Puar whimpered. "Something awful happened while you were away!"
"I know, Puar, I know," Yamucha comforted the shapeshifter gently. Gently scratching between Puar's pointed ears.
"I know what you're thinking. You're thinking: How can he afford this place?" Yamucha asked coming down the stairs.
Krillin was standing in front of a wall covered with scenic and still life paintings and was studying them before he turned to Yamucha. Yamucha had changed out of his badly tattered street clothes and into another pair of blue jeans and a plain white tee shirt. Only the shoes remained from Yamucha's former ensemble.
The scarred warrior went over to a fully stocked bar buried in a corner of the spacious living room, Puar was floating happily over his right shoulder. Yamucha knelt behind the bar and nosily rummaged for something then stood up holding a six pack of beer in his right hand.
"How were you able to afford it?" Actually Krillin hadn't been wondering but Yamucha seemed to want to discuss it.
"Baseball contract, my friend, as in multi million dollar contract! You want a beer?"
Shaking his head, Krillin turned back to the paintings.
"I don't drink," he said and then more softly. "My father drank."
Yamucha, who had been in the process of pulling off a can from one of the plastic rings, stopped in mid action and eyed the monk. For as long as he'd known Krillin Yamucha couldn't remember ever having heard anything about Krillin's life prior to his training under Master Roshi. And certainly didn't recall any information about the monk's family.
Yamucha opened his mouth to advance the unexpected and interesting path the conversation had taken, but before he could, Yamucha sensed the approach of unfamiliar ki's.
"Krillin do you feel that? We got company."
Krillin nodded minutely with his back still to Yamucha, seemingly unconcerned.
Yamucha hurried over to the patio door and watched through the glass as two people ablaze in ki auras sped toward his house. He didn't sense any malice in their ki's, but that wasn't what'd concerned Yamucha in the first place. What bothered him was that he thought he knew every warrior and fighter that possessed high ki, yet these powers were totally foreign. And they were very powerful, at least by normal standards.
The strangers halted in mid air, and hovered several hundred feet above the mountain, looking down at each house on the mountain. Yamucha knew they were scanning for a particular ki or ki's. Then Krillin suddenly elevated his power level and the strangers immediately locked in on the house.
"Krillin?"
Seconds later a girl and a very young boy touched down on the patio.
The girl stood a head shorter then Yamucha. She had long straight black hair and reminded Yamucha of Chi-Chi in a lot of ways. Except the girl's features were not as delicate as Son's wife's. A highly developed muscle tone had squared off any softness to the girl's face. If not for her small pointed nose and full pink lips, the girl might have appeared boyish. But as it was she was pretty, regardless of the hard edges of her face. She wore a black gi trimmed in white; similar in style to the outfit Kamesennin wore, except black boots adorned her feet instead of the simple slippers Roshi wore.
The boy came up to Yamucha's mid section, about as tall as Krillin. He had black hair also, cut evenly short. His face was soft with youth, yet Yamucha could tell by the boy's dark eyes, that the kid was older then his years. The boy's expression was still and studied, offering nothing in the way of what he was thinking or feeling. And like his companion, the boy wore a black and white trimmed gi with boots.
"May I help you?" Yamucha asked the pair carefully.
"Sure can pops," the girl said.
Pops?
"It's okay Yamucha," Krillin said walking up to the glass door, smiling for the first time that day.
The monk stepped out onto the patio and the two youths bowed to the small man.
"Kyichi, Poi, this is Yamucha.
"Yamucha, this is Poi Inakoya," Krillin said pointing to the girl. She raised her right hand and waved a two-fingered salute from her temple.
"And this is Kyichi," Krillin continued, pointing to the boy. The boy, Kyichi, bowed.
"They're my students."
He was battered and broken. The sun still shone and the pitiful creatures that inhabited this worthless planet were free of the Mist. He could hear them chirping and squeaking.
Lord Garlic Jr. had not succeeded… No, it is I who has failed, not milord. I have allowed this defeat to occur.
The human, the scarred one, had blown him from the celestial palace believing him dead after a direct blast of ki. But he had only feinted under the attack, and fell unconscious to the Earth below. He wasn't under the delusion that he'd been strong enough to survive such a great decent. Even as he lay shattered and helpless, he knew his lord had sensed his survival and sent him the dark energies from the Makyou-sei. He felt that energy surging through him, healing him however slowly.
Oh, how unworthy he was to have received this gift of redemption! How unfit! The Earthlings were stronger, and not the easy prey Garlic Jr. proclaimed them to be.
They were superior.
I, who was favored above all others in the Prime Realm to be the right hand of the prince, was swatted away like a mere nuisance!
And his senses did not lie. To add insult to most heinous injury, his conqueror was not even the strongest of those who railed against his lord. I fell before an inferior warrior.
I am inferior to an inferior!
He wailed. He howled until his lungs deflated, until his bellow was no more then a dry, grainy exhalation.
I swear you will be avenged, milord. I will revenge myself on those that dared resist you, and took this world from the perfect darkness you offered! They may believe themselves beyond my grasp, but they are not. They will soon learn that there are ancient forces that even our vaunted race feared for they were too dark. I will embrace this power and wield it against your enemies until they all lay dead at my feet!
And then their world will suffer for their rebellion!
