Chapter 2: Reluctant Lazarus.
The Check-In station, as it had been affectionately dubbed, was quite possibly the most important spot in the entire expanse of the afterlife. It was here where a deceased soul would be assigned where they would spend the rest of eternity, and whether or not they would be allowed to keep their physical body. It somewhat resembled a Japanese Shinto temple, and it was here where Enma Daiou meted out his judgement. After one month of near constant travel, Bardock and Fionn had arrived at this fateful location.
"I hope he'll grant us an audience", Fionn mumbled. Both he and Bardock were waiting in line with a crowd of newly arrived souls from the living world. In their natural forms, the souls resembled small puffs of smoke, somewhat ethereal in appearance.
"He better" Bardock grumbled from beside him. "I didn't fly 50,000 miles to be turned away".
"Let's just hope he's in a good mood", Fionn replied. "I've heard he can be quite temperamental at times."
"Look Fionn, I really don't give a shit whether he's temperamental or not. I came here to ask about my son, and he's damn well gonna give me an answer."
Fionn was surprised at Bardock's harsh response, but he understood it. He raised his head and surveyed the line ahead of them. It was moving unusually slow, and the amount of time it was taking them to reach Enma Daiou was largely responsible for Bardock's bad mood. To pass the time, he decided to bring up a subject which had been bothering them both since Fionn had met up with the Shamo-jin 2 weeks ago.
"Listen, I know we've been over this before, but are you absolutely sure you've never heard of this Saiya-jin Son Goku?"
Bardock responded in a tone which let Fionn know that he had obviously given the matter some thought.
"Positive. Honestly, I'm beginning to think that the Shamo-jin you talked to was only having you on. Son Goku isn't even a Saiya-jin name. The fact that he didn't have a tail doesn't exactly inspire confidence that the guy was Saiya-jin either."
"Maybe. But think about it logically. You Saiya-jin are nearly always fighting, so it's conceivable that he could simply have lost it in battle. He might even have had it removed willingly…"
Bardock cocked an eyebrow, and looked at Fionn quizzically.
"Why would he do that? Our tail is the source of all our power. Without it he couldn't transform at the full moon. He'd be giving up the majority of his strength".
"Fair enough", Fionn conceded. "But this Shamo was absolutely positive that this Goku was Saiya-jin. Just as he was positive that he didn't have a tail."
"Yeah well, I'll believe it when I see it".
3 hours later, the unlikely pairing of the Saiya-jin and Kanassa-jin stood before the King of the Afterlife, Enma Daiou. He was a massive entity with blood red skin and two sharpened horns protruding from his head. His demonic image was somewhat softened by the fact that he wore a suit, and was sitting behind a desk as big as he was, just like any regular businessman.
He didn't seem to mind the fact that Fionn and Bardock had already been judged once before, and surprisingly, he seemed only too happy to help them out.
"Heh, it's been a slow day. Honestly, I'm bored half to death, so this'll be a worthwhile distraction. Tell me, what can I do for you two?"
A slow day? Fionn looked back along the ever-growing line of souls gathering to be judged. If this was a slow day, he never wanted to be here if it ever got busy…
"I want some information about my son", Bardock stated brazenly. " I want to know if he has died yet".
Enma Daiou's face fell.
"That's all, huh? I was hoping for something more interesting. Ah screw it, it doesn't matter". He reached into a drawer in his desk, took out a thick leather bound book, and laid it out in front of him, kicking up a massive cloud of dust. "Name and race, please".
"Kakarotto. He's a Saiya-jin".
Enma Daiou began rifling through the pages in his book, muttering to himself all the way. "Saiya-jin, Saiya-jin, uh, now where are the "K's". Ah, here we go. Kaltachor. Kenerot..."
He continued browsing through the pages for quite a while, then shut the book with a tremendous bang.
"According to my records, there is no Saiya-jin named Kakarotto in the afterlife. It looks like your son is still alive."
Fionn was quite surprised at that, and out of the corner of his eye he could see that Bardock wasn't taking the news very well; he could virtually feel the frustration emanating from all around him. Fionn could only guess that Bardock had been placing all his hopes on finding Kakarotto here in the afterlife.
Suddenly, a bizarre thought entered the Kanassa-jin's mind, and he blurted out…
"What about Son Goku?"
Bardock turned and shot him a curious look, as did Enma Daiou.
"Son Goku?", the massive demon said, before leaning back in his chair and letting out a deafening roar of laughter. "Goku!?" He continued his painfully loud belly laugh.
"What the hell is this guys' problem?", Bardock muttered under his breath to Fionn.
Enma Daiou wiped a tear of laughter from his eye. "Heh, I don't even have to look him up. That guy's been through here more times than anyone else I can remember. Honestly, It's kinda become a running joke around here. I'm even told that some of the ogres down in Hell have started placing bets as to when he'll get killed again. God, it must have been 3 times by now".
Bardock and Fionn stared in amazement.
"3 times!?", they uttered in unison. "How is that even possible?".
Enma Daiou cleared his throat in an attempt to regain his composure.
"Well, we don't like to make this public knowledge, but if there are extenuating circumstances, a soul may be allowed to return to the living world. For instance, Goku was once allowed to return to life for a period of 24 hours. He was still technically dead of course, and he had to return to the afterlife once the day was up, but, well, you get the idea. He obviously found some way to return to life permanently after that, but I have no idea how. I'm just in charge of judging souls up here. What they do after that is beyond my authority."
Bardock and Fionn continued to stare blankly. They had no idea such a thing was possible.
Bardock was the first to shake himself from the daze.
"This Goku, was he a Saiya-jin?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure he was, all right. I must admit I found it quite hard to believe at first, since he sure as hell didn't act like any Saiya-jin, and, of course, he didn't have a tail. But from what Kaio-sama tells me, he was a Saiya-jin all right."
Bardock's mind was working frantically.
"Tell me, what planet was he from?"
"The planet Earth, in the Northern Galaxy. Why?"
Bardock almost felt his heart stop.
Impossible? A Saiya-jin from the planet Earth? Could it be…Kakarotto? Earth was a frontier planet; its native species had below-average strength. No other Saiya-jin would have been sent to conquer such a pathetic planet. It must be…it must be Kakarotto!
"You said he found a way to return to life. Is he still alive now?", Bardock shouted at Enma Daiou.
"Uh", Enma Daiou scratched the back of his head uncomfortably. "I don't really know. I gave up keeping track of Goku a long time ago".
"Fuck", Bardock cursed. "Dammit, I really need to know. Isn't there any way you can check?"
"Hmmm," Enma Daiou stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Let me see…"
Leaning over, he reached into a drawer in his desk and pulled out yet another massive leather-bound book. After a few minutes of rifling, he raised his head with a triumphant grin on his face.
"Right, well, I can't tell you if this Son character is actually still dead or not, but I can tell you someone who can. One of Goku's allies in life has recently arrived here in the afterlife. If anyone here knows, it'll be him."
"Excellent", Bardock exclaimed with a smile. "Where can we find this guy?"
"That way". Enma Daiou pointed to his right. "Exit the Check-In station, then continue in that direction for about 450 miles. That was his last known location, near the Atropos mountain range. He tends to stick to the wilderness areas quite a lot while he trains. Less distractions that way".
"We can relate", Fionn replied. He faced Bardock. "Well, shall we be off?"
Bardock nodded, then turned towards the exit of the Station. Before Fionn followed, he spoke to Enma Daiou one last time…
"Oh yeah, if we're going to try and find this guy we should really know his name…"
"Of course", the Demon King opened the book once more. "Ah yes, here we go. His name is Tenshinhan".
Notes:
Firstly, thanks for all the positive comments, people. They're really appreciated.
Secondly, I normally wouldn't update with a brand new chapter during the week, but I had this one already written, so I thought I may as well post it up. Unfortunately, I have next to no time for writing on weekdays, what with school and everything, so it'll be the weekend by the time the next chapter is up…
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