The dark familiar walls of his palace made Doale aware of his power,
a power that got taken away from him. All that was about to change now, he
was about to get it back. Upon his return to the palace, the guards, who
now technically worked for Cell and Buu, put up no resistance as they
feared the Emperor as well.
Doale could feel the new, but yet ancient power course through his veins. So this was the power of the Firebird, locked within him his whole life. Was it what drove him to kill his parents? To take their empire from them? What goes around may come around, but Doale was going to break that cycle using this power. He was going to kill Buu. He wanted to watch the pink rubbery demon writhe on the floor in sheer agony before he finished him off. There was no better way to do that than using fire, a power completely under his control.
The young Emperors thoughts drifted back to what happened mere minutes ago. The Firebird power was incredible! It would've proved to be a major asset in fighting Buu. Yet, Gohan had condemned it. Why would Gohan build Doale's confidence up, convincing him he was really a good person and to fight for the right side, only to reject him again because of his past life? What could the Firebird have done to get such an extreme reaction out of someone? Doale could only guess...
***
Gohan sat at a cliff's edge near the Briefs residence, where he and Chichi now stayed temporarily. He was hunched over, legs curled up into his chest as he watched the billions of stars scattered throughout the heavens like diamond dust.
"All this time..." Gohan was at a loss of words. He ran his hands through his black hair in frustration, trying to justify what he did to Doale. "I was so sure he was Goken. I put my confidence in Doale, hoping his good side would eventually show."
"And it did," Videl said, trying to sound supportive. "He was willing to fight Buu with us."
"You don't get it," Gohan said, "I thought he was capable of being good because I thought he was Goken. But if he's really the Firebird, that means the good side he revealed was really from Doale himself. And that means what I did to him back there was unfair."
"You were shocked, Gohan," Videl replied, hugging her husband.
He was relieved to feel Videl's soft arms wrap around his shoulders. He'd been so caught up with Doale, Buu and Cell lately he had forgotten about his family. Thankfully, Videl understood the intensity of what had happed so many years ago, about the mystery brother of her Gohan's. "Has Doale returned to opposing us? Is it because of me?"
"We pray he hasn't," Kamisama said, joining Gohan at his side. "This explains why the Firebird was missing from the underworld. He was really Doale all along. And now that he's discovered the truth about his past life and his own powers, he could prove to be a formidable enemy."
"Damnit!" Gohan kicked the ground. "Those powers aren't even rightfully his! The Firebird inherited those powers from when he posessed Goken! Everytime I think about that despicable creature - and now Doale is taking advantage of those powers!"
"We need to attack his Empire," Kamisama said.
"Are you kidding?" Gohan said. "There's a handful of us and the guy is an Emperor with his own army! We'll never have the power to take them all on."
"Obviously, you would've realized we have no problems getting through their security from when we rescued Goten," Kamisama said. "We only have to deal with Buu and perhaps Doale."
"That's two very powerful people you're talking about."
"And I know one very powerful person who could help us," Kamisama said, gazing upwards into the night sky. Gohan and Videl's gazes followed his. At first, neither of them saw anything, but then they could make out a faint streak making it's way across the stars. It glowed faintly, but grew with intensity and detail as it came closer.
It was a giant, golden dragon gliding like a snake through the heavens. Riding on it's head was a man with long, spikey, golden hair. The air surrounding the apparition sizzled with electricity. As it approached, they could see the mans expression - a childish smile waving his hand vigorously in the air.
Gohan swore he would've exploded with excitement if he hadn't screamed out loud, "DAD!!"
***
Buu sized up the furious Emperor Doale who now stood before him, body ablaze like a walking tongue of fire. His eyes were blood red. Even the hair on his head spiked up, charged with power. But Buu was not intimidated. "Come out of that shell," he said. "You have broken the laws of the underworld, Doale. You've been made aware of your past life. Stop pretending to be this pathetic Emperor. You are the Firebird."
"I will destroy you," Doale implied, suddenly rushing forward to strike Buu. But Buu was quick too and knocked sidestepped Doale's punch, kicking his hand away. The Emperor responded with a fierce backfist with his other hand that connected painfully with Buu's jaw. Buu, using the tentacle on his head, stretched it and wrapped Doale with it, slamming him into the ground. A piercing pain shot through Buu's tentacle as it exploded in a rain of fiery pieces. The abuse Doale just went through barely scarred him. He threw a ball of fire at Buu and spread into a fiery ring upon contact, nearly frying him to death.
"Stop this foolishness, Firebird" Buu ordered. "Don't you see?" He dodged another fireball. "We are allies condemned to the same hell. What have we been freed from if we're only here to fight each other?"
Doale felt his rage subsize, only to be replaced by a new feeling - the feeling of kinship. He didn't want to give in to Buu's speech, but he felt he was right. Memories of another life began flooding Doale's mind.
***
"Aaah!" the Firebird screamed as he was surrounded by a bright light. The pain was so intense, as if a hot knife was slicing through his body. "What are you doing to me?!!!" he screamed. Here in the afterlife, no amount of screaming to alleviate the pain. Without a body with hormones to surpress the pain, the Firebird was living through the true meaning of suffering. "AAARRGGGHHH!!!"
Another voice eventually joined his chorus of pain, the voice of a young child; the voice of the brat that he'd posessed. Now he understood where the pain was coming from. Their souls had merged, and now that they were in the afterlife, their souls were being seperated. A condemning voice spoke in his head.
"Your fate has been decided, Firebird. Hell awaits you."
The Firebird saw a red light start to envelope him. He looked towards Goken's soul, seeing a white light lift him from the pits of the underworld. He reached up with the strength he had left and snatched Goken's ankle and refused to let go. The flames pulled the Firebird downward, but he would take Goken with him before he went. The struggle between the flames and the divine light pulling began. The Firebird managed to kick free somehow, and the next thing he remebered was flying through a tunnel of white light. He remembered turning to his left and seeing an unconscious Goken travelling through the same tunnel.
But what he saw confused him. Everyone talks about the light at the end of the tunnel, but what he saw contradicted that. There wasn't one light at the end, but two. To the left, where Goken was headed, was a bright green planet. He could see flashes of a house, friends, a family gathered around in front of a fireplace on a cold night and lots of food.
To the right was a dark castle in the middle of a vast sea of buildings and technology. He could see slaves working and being punished, hauling blocks and building material to construct more buildings to add to the growing empire, while a corrupt monarch bathed in wealth and whom were never satisfied with what they had. That was the path the Firebird was headed towards.
***
"The only reason Emperor Doale came into being is because you were able to join Goken in reincarnation," Buu explained. "But with your memories fully restored, you can stop this sharade as Doale and join me in conquering this world. Whatever your answer now we still have a common enemy; the Z soldiers. We have to deal with them first and we can't do it without working together."
There was an awkward moment of silence as Doale stood there contemplating Buu's offer. He was right. His whole life only came to be because the Firebird was able to escape Hell. The entire identity of Doale had no relevance to the power he had right now. He could afford to leave the title behind. After all, just like Goken, the Firebird too had been given a second chance at life, but he could take this as an opportunity to continue his hunt for power despite being killed by Gohan. Ah yes, Gohan. The Firebird wanted revenge on Gohan for killing him.
"First of all," he said to Buu, "Doale is not my name. I am the Firebird."
Doale could feel the new, but yet ancient power course through his veins. So this was the power of the Firebird, locked within him his whole life. Was it what drove him to kill his parents? To take their empire from them? What goes around may come around, but Doale was going to break that cycle using this power. He was going to kill Buu. He wanted to watch the pink rubbery demon writhe on the floor in sheer agony before he finished him off. There was no better way to do that than using fire, a power completely under his control.
The young Emperors thoughts drifted back to what happened mere minutes ago. The Firebird power was incredible! It would've proved to be a major asset in fighting Buu. Yet, Gohan had condemned it. Why would Gohan build Doale's confidence up, convincing him he was really a good person and to fight for the right side, only to reject him again because of his past life? What could the Firebird have done to get such an extreme reaction out of someone? Doale could only guess...
***
Gohan sat at a cliff's edge near the Briefs residence, where he and Chichi now stayed temporarily. He was hunched over, legs curled up into his chest as he watched the billions of stars scattered throughout the heavens like diamond dust.
"All this time..." Gohan was at a loss of words. He ran his hands through his black hair in frustration, trying to justify what he did to Doale. "I was so sure he was Goken. I put my confidence in Doale, hoping his good side would eventually show."
"And it did," Videl said, trying to sound supportive. "He was willing to fight Buu with us."
"You don't get it," Gohan said, "I thought he was capable of being good because I thought he was Goken. But if he's really the Firebird, that means the good side he revealed was really from Doale himself. And that means what I did to him back there was unfair."
"You were shocked, Gohan," Videl replied, hugging her husband.
He was relieved to feel Videl's soft arms wrap around his shoulders. He'd been so caught up with Doale, Buu and Cell lately he had forgotten about his family. Thankfully, Videl understood the intensity of what had happed so many years ago, about the mystery brother of her Gohan's. "Has Doale returned to opposing us? Is it because of me?"
"We pray he hasn't," Kamisama said, joining Gohan at his side. "This explains why the Firebird was missing from the underworld. He was really Doale all along. And now that he's discovered the truth about his past life and his own powers, he could prove to be a formidable enemy."
"Damnit!" Gohan kicked the ground. "Those powers aren't even rightfully his! The Firebird inherited those powers from when he posessed Goken! Everytime I think about that despicable creature - and now Doale is taking advantage of those powers!"
"We need to attack his Empire," Kamisama said.
"Are you kidding?" Gohan said. "There's a handful of us and the guy is an Emperor with his own army! We'll never have the power to take them all on."
"Obviously, you would've realized we have no problems getting through their security from when we rescued Goten," Kamisama said. "We only have to deal with Buu and perhaps Doale."
"That's two very powerful people you're talking about."
"And I know one very powerful person who could help us," Kamisama said, gazing upwards into the night sky. Gohan and Videl's gazes followed his. At first, neither of them saw anything, but then they could make out a faint streak making it's way across the stars. It glowed faintly, but grew with intensity and detail as it came closer.
It was a giant, golden dragon gliding like a snake through the heavens. Riding on it's head was a man with long, spikey, golden hair. The air surrounding the apparition sizzled with electricity. As it approached, they could see the mans expression - a childish smile waving his hand vigorously in the air.
Gohan swore he would've exploded with excitement if he hadn't screamed out loud, "DAD!!"
***
Buu sized up the furious Emperor Doale who now stood before him, body ablaze like a walking tongue of fire. His eyes were blood red. Even the hair on his head spiked up, charged with power. But Buu was not intimidated. "Come out of that shell," he said. "You have broken the laws of the underworld, Doale. You've been made aware of your past life. Stop pretending to be this pathetic Emperor. You are the Firebird."
"I will destroy you," Doale implied, suddenly rushing forward to strike Buu. But Buu was quick too and knocked sidestepped Doale's punch, kicking his hand away. The Emperor responded with a fierce backfist with his other hand that connected painfully with Buu's jaw. Buu, using the tentacle on his head, stretched it and wrapped Doale with it, slamming him into the ground. A piercing pain shot through Buu's tentacle as it exploded in a rain of fiery pieces. The abuse Doale just went through barely scarred him. He threw a ball of fire at Buu and spread into a fiery ring upon contact, nearly frying him to death.
"Stop this foolishness, Firebird" Buu ordered. "Don't you see?" He dodged another fireball. "We are allies condemned to the same hell. What have we been freed from if we're only here to fight each other?"
Doale felt his rage subsize, only to be replaced by a new feeling - the feeling of kinship. He didn't want to give in to Buu's speech, but he felt he was right. Memories of another life began flooding Doale's mind.
***
"Aaah!" the Firebird screamed as he was surrounded by a bright light. The pain was so intense, as if a hot knife was slicing through his body. "What are you doing to me?!!!" he screamed. Here in the afterlife, no amount of screaming to alleviate the pain. Without a body with hormones to surpress the pain, the Firebird was living through the true meaning of suffering. "AAARRGGGHHH!!!"
Another voice eventually joined his chorus of pain, the voice of a young child; the voice of the brat that he'd posessed. Now he understood where the pain was coming from. Their souls had merged, and now that they were in the afterlife, their souls were being seperated. A condemning voice spoke in his head.
"Your fate has been decided, Firebird. Hell awaits you."
The Firebird saw a red light start to envelope him. He looked towards Goken's soul, seeing a white light lift him from the pits of the underworld. He reached up with the strength he had left and snatched Goken's ankle and refused to let go. The flames pulled the Firebird downward, but he would take Goken with him before he went. The struggle between the flames and the divine light pulling began. The Firebird managed to kick free somehow, and the next thing he remebered was flying through a tunnel of white light. He remembered turning to his left and seeing an unconscious Goken travelling through the same tunnel.
But what he saw confused him. Everyone talks about the light at the end of the tunnel, but what he saw contradicted that. There wasn't one light at the end, but two. To the left, where Goken was headed, was a bright green planet. He could see flashes of a house, friends, a family gathered around in front of a fireplace on a cold night and lots of food.
To the right was a dark castle in the middle of a vast sea of buildings and technology. He could see slaves working and being punished, hauling blocks and building material to construct more buildings to add to the growing empire, while a corrupt monarch bathed in wealth and whom were never satisfied with what they had. That was the path the Firebird was headed towards.
***
"The only reason Emperor Doale came into being is because you were able to join Goken in reincarnation," Buu explained. "But with your memories fully restored, you can stop this sharade as Doale and join me in conquering this world. Whatever your answer now we still have a common enemy; the Z soldiers. We have to deal with them first and we can't do it without working together."
There was an awkward moment of silence as Doale stood there contemplating Buu's offer. He was right. His whole life only came to be because the Firebird was able to escape Hell. The entire identity of Doale had no relevance to the power he had right now. He could afford to leave the title behind. After all, just like Goken, the Firebird too had been given a second chance at life, but he could take this as an opportunity to continue his hunt for power despite being killed by Gohan. Ah yes, Gohan. The Firebird wanted revenge on Gohan for killing him.
"First of all," he said to Buu, "Doale is not my name. I am the Firebird."