Beginning with an End
Part 10
"P-p-pregnant?!" Goku nearly fell over with disbelief.
"Uh-huh,"
Chichi nodded sullenly.
"But honey," Goku protested gleefully, "that's wonderful!"
"No it's not,
Goku," she countered, tears welling in her eyes, "You won't ever get to meet
your own child!"
"Aww, c'mon Chichi," Goku eased, "You know I'll do my best to get back down to Earth."
"No you won't,
you chose to stay up there, remember?" she prompted unhappily.
"That was before King Kai told me that there
might be a way that I could come back to Earth without being a threat to it."
"Goku," she
shrieked, "how in the world could you ever be a threat to Earth? You spend practically all your time trying
to protect it, or some other god forsaken planet!" She threw her hands in the
air wildly, but slumped again, and returned to her weeping.
"Think about it, everyone who has tried
to destroy the Earth has actually been trying to get to me," he answered calmly. "I
know that sounds big-headed," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck, "but it's true. – But don't worry," he added quickly, "King Kai has found a way that enables me to come back to Earth."
"You mean it?"
her eyelashes fluttered, as smile creeping across her face, and she wiped her
eyes.
"I promise," Goku said confidently.
******
King Kai
cleared his throat, "I wouldn't promise anything Goku, but, oh yeah, that's
right, you didn't hear me. Well, this
whole plan of mine might not work. It's
almost impossible," he explained.
Goku took his
hand away. "I don't care how hard it
might be King Kai, or how long it will take, or what I have to do to make it
happen. I am promising you now that I
will be back on Earth before the birth of my child, no matter what it takes."
He moved to replace his hand.
"Goku, you
can't get Chichi's hopes up like that," King Kai protested.
"I'm not. I'm making that promise to you," – he
replaced his hand – "Chichi honey, did you hear? I promise I'll do the best I can, but King
Kai says that I you can't be too sure that it will work, okay? So you have to promise me that you will take good care of Gohan and the baby if I don't make it
back. And be strong."
******
Chichi nodded
gladly. "Don't talk like that Goku, I
know you'll make it, you always do." She couldn't contain her joyous laughter
as she stood up, wiping her face.
That had been
the most emotional moment in anyone's life that Bulma had ever witnessed. She ran up and hugged her friend,
congratulating her and Goku, crying her own tears of joy. Goku laughed too, enjoying the literal
moment.
"Uh Dad," Gohan
interrupted, "Mom, you had better listen too." They all fell silent, Chichi and Bulma starting at Gohan's serious tone.
"Yes, Son?" he prompted, no longer laughing.
Gohan couldn't
remember how many times he had explained this already, but he knew that this
was the most important time of all. He
had no idea of how he was supposed to stop Nahmi from being evil, and he really
needed his father's advice. Somehow,
Goku always knew what to do.
Goku paused,
calculating. "If all that you say is true, then you have to find her quick."
"Oh,
Trunks is now," Bulma interjected, casting an apologetic grin at Chichi. She
didn't notice. By now, she was
clutching Bulma and trembling for her son's safety.
"But surely," Goku continued, thinking aloud more than
anything else, "if she was truly trying
to conquer the Earth, then she would have started destroying things by now, and
you would have sensed her ki, right? But you haven't."
Gohan shook his
head in reply.
"Is there any reason that you can think
of, why she wouldn't have started straight away?" Goku questioned. It was Bulma who answered.
"Well,
she was ill when she left, so she probably has to rest and regain her strength
before she could do any real damage. She only left a smut of black and took off a little paint on my
ceiling."
Gohan shook his
head; it didn't make sense. According
to Bulma, her fever was really high and she had remained unconscious for
hours. He doubted that upon awakening
from a fever like that, that he would have even been able to even sit up, let
alone fly. The answer suddenly struck
him, how could he have forgotten?
"The flask," he
answered quickly, "she told me that she carries her flask with her at all
times. Whatever it is that is in that
flask, it works like Senzu beans – she could have drank from it and easily
regained enough strength to get away. I'll bet that Trunks and I flew right by her; she can cloak her ki
perfectly, but to do that it takes a lot of concentration and peak
condition. I don't think it's a question
of not having enough strength." Then he
remembered something; what she had said to him in those few seconds during
which he had glimpsed the evil in her eyes. "She's gone to find her ship," he
stated matter-of-factly.
******
Nahmi laughed
as she floated above the city. She
couldn't believe her own genius. She
knew exactly where to find her ship. Before she had fallen into the misty depths of unconsciousness, she had
managed to establish a telepathic link with the one who called himself
'Boss.' She grimaced; she didn't know
how she remembered what had happened, and she couldn't remember why she thought
it unusual that she had been able to remember what the 'Boss' had been
thinking. All she knew was that she had
a feeling that this was the first time that she had ever been able to remember
what someone had said when she maintained a subconscious telepathic link. She also had the feeling that she had only
just recently discovered that she even had the ability to keep a link while
unconscious. She shook her head, it was
all too confusing and it was clouding her thoughts. Either way, she knew that her ship was being hidden in a
warehouse by the river, next to a large vacant lot scattered with mangled car
wrecks and busted tires. Now all she
had to do was find it. She laughed
again; she did not realize that it would be no easy task.
******
Trunks could
have sworn that he had seen a tiny speck in the sky hovering above the city,
but in an instant, as he glanced at one of the houses far below, it had disappeared. It was still very far off, and had most
likely been a bird of some sort, seeking prey amongst the rich pickings of the
city. He drew his sword; he had a very
bad feeling about all of this.
******
"Why would she be trying to find her ship?" Goku pondered aloud; "I can't see what use
she could possibly have for it if she's evil. Something that small wouldn't be capable of getting her home once she's
completed her mission. And I doubt that
she would even care if she ever found her family or not. If she remembers her mission so easily, then
I'd say that she would remember more than that about her origin and who sent
her, so it's not her evil side that's searching for it. She has no use for it other than a link to
her past. If she still cares about the
ship so much that she is willing to postpone her mission, then maybe, somewhere
deep inside her heart, she is still fighting for good. Finding her ship could be her subconscious
way of giving the Earth time."
"Wow Dad,"
Gohan spoke with astonishment, "I never realized you could be so insightful."
"Well," he replied, abashed, "I do have a little experience with this
sort of thing, you know. But listen
Gohan," his voice grew deathly serious,
"You are the only one strong enough to stop her. You have to hold her off for me, I think I have an idea…"
"But Goku,"
Chichi tried to protest, but was interrupted by her husband.
"Chichi, it's the only way. Besides, I don't think that she will be able
to transform to Super Saiyan while she's evil. She must have truly been good for her to be able to transform with a
tail; it took her a lot of effort to make it disappear when she
transformed. The tail is the root of
evil in Saiyans, which is obvious when we transform into Oozaru, but she
managed to overcome that and transform into a Super Saiyan. That only proves to me that she is actually
good at heart, and she is still subconsciously fighting for good. We could just remove her tail, yes, but I
don't know what sort of affect that will have on her. I think that we have to try to help her good side overcome the
evil, or she may be left with a continuous fight between good and evil inside
of her and she would never be able to reach her full potential. I think that the goodness inside her needs
to be obvious before we risk removing her tail, which, remember, we may not be
able to get close enough to do. I think
that that is the only way, because if we take the root of evil from her when
she is good, she would have the strength to fight off the rest." He finished determinedly.
"But surely
that wouldn't happen if we take the evil by taking her tail? If we take away the root then the problem
would vanish as well. She's evil
because of the tail, right?" Gohan questioned.
"You've never been evil and you had a
tail," Goku retorted
knowingly. "I know you want to save her, Gohan, but I think that the evil in her
is more than just because of her tail. But that's just what I don't understand about all this, if she's good
enough at heart to be able to transform into a Super Saiyan, then where is the
evil coming from? I think that the tail
only made her vulnerable to the real evil."
"Oh," Gohan
said in understanding, "so the problem is more than it seems. But how are we supposed to help her good
side fight the evil?"
"You just stop her from destroying the
Earth," Goku answered
wryly, "I've got a plan, just leave the
rest to me…"
"Wait!" Gohan
called.
"Go find her, Son," he answered distantly.
"Goku!" Chichi
shrieked, "Don't leave!"
"Hurry!" His last
word echoed faintly in their minds and disappeared.
******
There it was
again, a slightly larger dot in the sky on the other side of the city. It was no bird, Trunks was sure of
that. He had just reached the place
where he had last seen it, after he had searched many streets of the city
fruitlessly. He hoped that if it had
been Nahmi he could gain a vantage point, get a bird's-eye view of where she
had been looking, which may have given him a clue as to where she was headed. The distant figure disappeared right in
front of his eyes; no one but an experienced fighter could have moved that
quickly, and no one but alive but Nahmi or Gohan could have moved so fast that
he could not see them. It was her for
sure. He took in the scenery below him
before flying to the place he had seen Nahmi disappear from.
******
Nahmi gazed at
the city below her; it was much larger than she had expected, and the task at
hand was proving to be all the more difficult. Suddenly, a ki nicked her senses, and she turned her gaze towards the
direction in which it came from. A grin
slid across her face. The weak Saiyan…she mused, and her
features snapped to a look of disgust…if
he's one of Us, then there's no point in killing him, a playful smile
suddenly appeared, but that doesn't mean
I can't play games. This is the perfect playground. She dove into hiding in the maze of streets
below her.
******
"Goku, I don't
know what you think you're doing!" King Kai yelled in vain, walking backwards,
slightly in front and to the left of Goku. He was being ignored.
Goku continued
to march towards the doors of the heavenly Taj-Mahal. "This place looks like
that palace on Earth," he acknowledged, "that one in India."
"The
Taj-Mahal?" King Kai was glad to at least get some speech out of him. "That would be because the one who built the
version on Earth was trying to replicate what he had seen when he passed
through here and received his halo."
"His halo?"
Goku questioned.
"Yes," King Kai
answered with exasperation, and explained about the levels of the soul once
again. He finished as they ascended the
wide glittering, golden stairs.
"Wow, you're
right, if I do get this level I will
get the best of both worlds," he said confidently, he had to make sure of
everything that he had thought King Kai had said earlier, "so what should I
expect when I get inside?"
"Well," King
Kai answered, scratching his head with an embarrassed grin, "to tell you the
truth I don't actually have a clue!" He laughed uncomfortably.
"Well," Goku
took in a deep breath, full of determination, "here goes nothing, I guess. HELLO!" He banged on the golden door, as he
stood on a terrace scattered with winding white-gold pillars.
"Goku!" King
Kai hissed, "What are you doing? If you
want to get inside you are going about it the wrong way!"
"No I'm not,"
Goku countered, "look, the door's opening."
King Kai rubbed
his face in exasperation, "Goku, this is the palace from which the lives of
everyone are governed. Don't you think
they deserve a little more respect…"
He was suddenly
interrupted by a booming voice. "We
welcome you, Son Goku," the voice reverberated around them. A silver mist emanated from within the open
doorway. It began to slowly disperse,
but not before the speaker had finished. "You have passed the tests of will and loyalty. Your will was strong enough to guide you to
this palace, and you show loyalty enough to your friends, that they are willing
to risk themselves to return that loyalty." The smoke had cleared enough to
reveal a large room, at the back of which was a long bench with five strange
figures seated at it. "Come forth and
we will hear your cause for requesting the position of the fourth level of the
soul, and if we believe your intentions to be pure, you will be allowed to take
the final test. Come forth and speak!"
The voice commanded.
Goku walked
forward into the room, not at all phased by what surrounded him. King Kai slapped his forehead, He's going to mess this up, I just know
it. He never brags, but he'll need to
do some serious bragging if he want's to be allowed to return to Earth. These people may control where his soul
goes, but they don't take any notice of what happens on such a tiny,
insignificant planet like Earth. He
scurried forward, clearing his throat as he stopped in front of Goku.
"…" He was
interrupted just as he opened his mouth to speak.
"Be
silent! This is not a court room, and
there are no lawyers permitted!" King Kai was now able to see the speaker. He was the smallest being he had ever
encountered. His skin was light yellow
and his face was long with a wide frowning mouth that seemed to separate a
small sliver of a chin from the rest of his face. He was heavily wrinkled with deep frown lines and sagging cheeks. His forehead was dented with small ravines and
his eyes were tired with heavy bags beneath them. He wore the same uniform of the Other World as the gatekeeper
had, with royal blue hair protruding through the hole in his cap. He stood up
in his high seat in the center of the bench, hands arched on the table as he
bent over it. To his left and far left
sat two similarly aged figures with wisdom engraved deeply in their
features. One was surprisingly human,
but he was from a time long forgotten and was no longer remembered. His white beard extended far below what was
visible, and he wore half-moon spectacles. The frazzled white hair was left to grow and held in place with the
white cap. The other appeared to be a
large insect that continuously gnashed its large jaws. To the far right of the being whose
minuteness was only rivaled by Chaozu, was a seemingly young manlike creature
with the head of a jackal, and beside him was a large green being whom Goku was
most astounded by.
"Guru?" he
questioned.
"Yes, Goku, it
is I, but it is a sad fate indeed to see the one whom saved my people standing
before me in the Other World. It is a
sad loss for the Earth and the Universe alike." The aged Namek answered solemnly.
"Oh, but that's
where you are wrong Guru," Goku replied, his voice full of awe, "it was all
worth it, it if only to meet you. I've
heard great things about you, and I can't thank you enough for bringing out
some of the hidden powers in my son."
"Gohan? Such a nice boy. And good at heart like his father. It is I who should be thanking you, for saving the Nameks and
restoring them to life after the tragedy that befell them at the hands of
Frieza. If you had not destroyed him…"
"This is the
one who defeated Frieza?" the small yellow being questioned.
"Well, no,
actually," Goku answered, rubbing the back of his neck, "Trunks did that. I guess that somewhere in my heart I must
have believed that Frieza deserved a second chance, so I didn't put enough
energy into the attack to kill him. Unfortunately, it seemed that I was wrong and he used his second chance
for evil."
"You mean to
say that you believed that Frieza deserved
a second chance?" the miniature man interrogated, astonished.
"On some level,
everyone deserves a second chance – no one can be born evil, right?"
The Judges
simply blinked at him, except for Guru.
"This man does
not even need to take the final test for you to know that he is pure of heart,"
his eyes twinkled with pride.
"That is not
for us to decide," the small being snapped, "we are to determine whether he
deserves to take that test according to the deeds he has committed, and to
judge that his intentions are worthy." He turned to Goku, who, unlike most, did not waver under his gaze. "Why
do you stand before us? Why do you deserve to attain the fourth level of the soul? Why is it that you seek us? Answer me now!" he demanded.
"Because," Goku
answered simply, "unless you grant me the fifth level of the soul, the Earth
will be destroyed. At the moment, the
fate of the Earth is in the hands of an eleven year old boy, my son, and he is
young and confused, and though he is more powerful than I, he will be forced to
fight an evil that has taken over a close friend. We do not wish to destroy this girl, for she is good, but the only
way to save the Earth is to save her from the evil inside of her. She is equal in power to Gohan, and if he
were to let his guard down for a second to try to help her fight the evil, he
too will surely be destroyed. It was
she and my son who defeated Cell, and if she were to defeat Gohan, there would
be no more in the known universe able to defy her power."
"If she was
once good, and defeated Cell, then why did she suddenly turn evil," the Head
Judge questioned wryly.
"Does it
matter?" Goku retorted defiantly, "Isn't the fate of the entire universe more
important than that? I will be able to
save her and the Universe if you grant me this level."
"There will be
others to rise to the challenge, and she too will be defeated, like the rest,"
the yellow man answered casually. King
Kai was chewing his fingernails.
"In time," Goku
rebutted slyly, "but are you willing to let possibly millions die when you have
the answer right in front of you? That
would not be a good number to have on your head, because it would be your fault."
"There will be
more people to take the places of the old."
"People are not
expendable," Goku countered coldly, "and neither is this girl. She could be the Universe's most powerful
defender for good if you allow me to save her."
"You have not
as of yet presented to me how you propose to perform such a feat," the little
man slammed his hands down on the bench.
"Does it
matter? I'm the only chance you have! Anyway, I thought it was only your job to
determine whether my intentions were pure?"
The little man
laughed smugly, "I'm the one who makes the rules, and I command you to answer
me!"
Suddenly,
blackness erupted from the very air surrounding the High Judge. A look of terror contorted his wrinkled face
and he let out a scream of pain. At the
same instant, white light engulfed King Kai, and they both ascended into the
air of another accord.
"What's
happening to me!" King Kai shrieked, and in an a amazing clap of white light,
and a thundering cloud of blackness, the High Judge let out a last wail of
despair and disappeared.
When those left
in the room regained their sight after the blinding flash of light, they looked
to the High seat in astonishment to see a befuddled King Kai dressed in white
robes.
"It seems King Kai," Guru laughed, "that you've been promoted."
by Lolli
Well, that's
all we have for this evening… If you've read this far, well then, wow! Thank
you so much ^^…But hey, surely you have something to say about it? Please
review! Or even better, tell me what you think yourself and email me at lollirulz@hotmail.com …PLZ!!! Oh, BTW, I
forgot to mention…heh heh…no reviews, no more – got that!?! Bwahahahahaha! Bye!
