Legacy of Chaos
Chapter 7
(Dedicated to Nameless Blank for sending in such a pretty picture of Dark Videl! If you wanna see it, go to my profile, then to my web page and it's under fan art! Thanks Nameless Blank!! *Huggles*)
Many teens that Saturday night went home, disappointed that the party had ended so early. But they went nearly as annoyed as they were at Gohan, who was the cause of their abrupt end of fun. Many went home saying 'I can't believe that jerk!', 'What a pervert!', and 'I knew he was bad from the start'. Erasa and Sharpner were the only two not grumbling about Gohan. In fact, they defended him, trying to convince people that he wasn't the type to pull a stunt like that. He was just too much of a coward when it came to girls.
No one listened.
If that wasn't bad enough, Videl had burst through her front door that night in tears, jealous, anger, and emotional pain plaguing her mind. When Mr. Satan asked what was wrong, she simply forced her way past him and to her room. She had made her decision concerning Gohan, and she'd tell him so Monday morning when she saw him.
*~*~*~*
"You let me fall," Videl wept. "You let me die." Gohan looked around. He was dreaming again. He couldn't make it stop. "I warned you before to cherish our friendship. Now it is no more." He couldn't make it stop! "You've lost me." Why won't it stop?! He looked into her eyes. They were fading. "I'll always remember you. I'll always remember our conversations. We always had the best ones." Her smile faded as well. Why couldn't he stop it? Why couldn't he stop the dream from going the way it was? "Will you kiss me one last time?" She tried to smile once more. "Maybe I'll remember more." Gohan nodded, not understanding why he felt so numb inside. He leaned down and was about to gently kiss her when he heard a shriek behind him. He spun around to see where the scream came from, but everything faded to darkness and he awoke.
Lying up in bed, he rubbed his eyes clear. The dream was different this time. It was getting stranger. He couldn't sleep now. It was Sunday night and he had school tomorrow, so he really needed the sleep. He checked his clock and groaned. Scratch that. It was Monday morning and he had to get ready for school in 2 hours. He groaned again and flipped himself off his bed and onto the floor.
After getting ready, he ate breakfast and teased Goten about not being able to beat Ico.
"Gohan," Chi-chi called from the laundry room. "Gohan! Come here." Gohan dragged himself to the laundry room. "Hun, you should take better care of your things!" She handed him a senzu bean. "I found that in your pants pocket."
"Thanks, mom," Gohan gratefully said. "I'll put it in Saiyaman costume pocket."
"Good. Now get ready for school."
*~*~*~*
'Great. So what am I going to say to her? She's gonna kill me. No doubt about that. She'll humiliate me in public and tell me off. She'll never forgive me.' Gohan landed on the roof of the school, moping about the events of Saturday. As he walked through the halls, just as he feared would happen, everyone was staring or glaring at him. He tried to ignore all the evil stares he was receiving and rushed into first period class. What was even stranger than this and the dream he had put together was the fact that Saturday and Sunday night, the GGS club was no where to be found at his house.
Taking his seat, he realized he was actually early today. The class was nearly empty, save a few kids studying. 'At least they're not glaring at me like everyone else.' Moments later, the Armagen sisters walked in, followed closely by Videl, Sharpner and Erasa. He decided it wasn't a good idea to confront Pearl yet. The group stood at the back, talking quietly. He shifted nervously, wondering what they were talking about.
'Wait! I'm a saiya-jin. I can hear better than humans.' He moved slightly closer so he could pick up their conversation without being noticed. Even though he was closer, he only caught bits and pieces, but he did hear his name mentioned more than once. He felt that gnawing feeling the pit of his stomach once again and slumped back into his chair. 'It's official. They hate me and my social life is ruined.' He still didn't understand how it had happened. One minute he was asking her about her flying skills, the next, his face was inches away from hers. He didn't even remember moving.
The bell rang at 8:00, like usual, and everyone got in their seats as Ms. Brady walked in.
"Okay, class," she began her lesson. "We'll be doing a quick unit on Japanese Politics just before the March Break. Please take out your text books and turn to page…" Gohan tuned her out and quietly slammed his head on his desk. He was brought out of his head-slamming when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He looked up to see Erasa looking at him.
"What are you doing?" she asked softly.
"Hurting myself," he replied simply. "You?" Erasa smiled weakly.
"Is…is it true what they're saying?" she timidly asked. "Y'know…the whole Pearl thing?" Gohan's shoulders drooped as did his spirit.
"I…don't know…" he answered sadly.
"Why…?"
"I'm not sure…it just happened."
"Not Pearl. Videl." Gohan stared, confused.
"Videl?"
"Yeah…you left her in the middle of the party." This confused him further.
"I was told she left before I did."
"Gohan, Erasa!" Ms. Brady called from the front. "Please stop talking."
"Sorry!" they said in unison.
Now Gohan was confused. So Videl was still at the party. Pearl told him otherwise. Of course, she also lied about his mom calling. What if she was the one who tried to kiss him, but made it look like he was at fault? He needed to be sure if that was truly her plan.
*~*~*~*
Lunch time came around and instead of going to the usual bleachers, Gohan went to the tree where the Armagen sisters were sitting. Upon seeing him coming, Dune stood in his path.
"Stay away from my sister, you sick bastard!" she ordered.
"Pearl!" Gohan yelled, ignoring Dune's threat. "You lied to me twice Saturday night." Pearl pulled Dune back and walked up to Gohan.
"Yeah?" she sneered. "Is that so?"
"Yeah. My mom didn't call and Videl didn't leave the party before me."
"So what are you gonna do about it, Saiyaman?" She let out a scoff. "Nothing! You know why? It's too late! She hates you! Just try talking to her. Who's she gonna believe? Me, the victim in this whole ordeal, or you, a sleazy pervert trying to get laid?" Gohan clenched his fist in rage, knowing Pearl was talking about Videl.
"You won't get away with this!" he yelled.
"I already have! I have witnesses that say you forced yourself on me!"
"Who?"
"The ever faithful GGS club. They've been surrounding your house for quite some time, haven't they?" Gohan blinked. "Yes, they have. And they saw what happened."
"I'll just have a chat with Dende. He'll clear this up."
"Don't be absurd!" Pearl laughed. "God can't help you either because he saw what everyone else saw." Gohan was beginning to get blinded by rage and couldn't take anymore of this, so he left the smug sisters.
Returning to bleachers, he found Erasa, Videl, and Sharpner eating lunch without him.
"Hey guys!" he called, getting their attention. "I need to talk to you." Videl looked at him with fury and promptly got up to leave. "Wait Videl!" She stormed off anyway, but Gohan wasn't about to let her leave when he was so close to the truth of what happened Saturday. He grasped her arm gently. "Videl, please, hear me out." Videl paused.
"It's starting," Pearl whispered to Dune from under the tree. "Get ready." Dune nodded slowly and extended her hands, preparing for a spell.
"I didn't know you were still at the party on Saturday," Gohan pleaded to Videl, who was deadly silent, her back to him. "Pearl told me you had left." When she didn't say anything, he continued. "She said I had to leave because my mother had called and demanded me to come home. So I did, and she tagged along." He paused, wondering if she was truly listening. "Look, I'm sorry! I would have never left without you if I knew…" Then, without warning, she whirled around and slapped him as hard as she could, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"You bastard!" she screamed in fury and misery. "I don't care why you left! The fact of the matter is that you left anyway!! And if that's bad enough, you were DRUNK!! You left with another girl and you tried to kiss her without her consent! What of that had been me…?" Her voice began to crack as Gohan held his cheek, confused and emotionally hurt. "I really thought…we could make something work out…but then you backstab me and you…hurt me so much…I feel like I'm dead to you!" Her words were striking painful chords in Gohan's heart. "You know what?! Keep her! I'm through with your shit! I never want to see your face again!" Videl took a deep breath. "I hate you!"
"Now!" Christy hissed to her older sister. Dune's eyes flared white as her power began to rise and she was engulfed by a white aura. She sent out a pulse of telekinetic power, one of her most powerful spells.
"Rage unleash," she chanted. "Wrath underneath, you have potential of evil beneath." She cast the spell and waited for results.
Videl suddenly became soundless and silent as her body began to shake violently.
"Videl?" Gohan asked cautiously, attempting to forget her early words, though the pain still lingered. "Are you okay?" Videl didn't answer. Her skin was becoming deathly pale as her eyes grew dull and emotionless. Suddenly, she let out a blood-curding scream, shocking everyone in a five mile radius. She grabbed her head, as if she were in pain, and recoiled into a protective stance, still screaming.
"What happened?" Erasa cried, jumping to the scene from the bleachers.
"I don't know!" Gohan said innocently, though very concerned for Videl, who wouldn't stop crying. "She was yelling at me, then she froze and started screaming all of a sudden."
"Videl!" Erasa called, shaking her friend. "VIDEL!! Someone call the nurse!" Sharpner leapt off the bleachers and straight into the school to fetch the school nurse. "Videl! Snap out of it!"
"This is all my fault!" Gohan moped.
"Don't beat yourself up!" Erasa soothed. "I'm sure it's something else." Way off to the side, under the lone tree, the Armagen sisters watched on, unsure weather the results were good or not.
"Is…she supposed to be screaming like that?" Pearl asked slowly. Dune shrugged.
"I'm…not sure…" she replied honestly. "This had never happened before…" They watched as three nurses came out and rushed to Videl's aid. At the simple touch of them trying to revive her from whatever trauma she was going through, Videl flung two of the nurse into the bleachers. The third nurse backed away, frightened. Dune raised a brow. "I think it's safe to say the spell worked." Dune smirked. "We've got her now! And in good timing too! Next week on Wednesday, we'll have her standing on the Altar of Orin, resurrecting Apocolypse! This is just too perfect!"
"And what's great is none of these stupid humans have a clue what we're doing!" Christy agreed, equally happy. "They'll never know what hit 'em until it's too late."
"Unless the old Supreme Kai warns them!" Pearl added, laughing. The other two stopped and glared at her. "W…what?"
"Wrong answer!" Christy snarled, raising her fist.
"Stop it," Dune sighed. "She's right. The Supreme Kai is supposed to awaken when we find the statue. No doubt she's on to us by now. I wouldn't be surprised if she's told this planet's guardian already."
*~*~*~*
"You've gotta be kidding!" Dende exclaimed. "It's HERE?!"
"What's wrong?" Mr. Popo's asked, pausing his usually flower-watering. Piccolo, who had never seen the young god so worried, also paused in his meditation to see what was up. Dende looked a little shaken.
"I've just been contacted by the 10, 000 Earth B.C.E. Supreme Kai," he explained. "She tells me there's something important on this planet."
"She?" Mr. Popo asked, curious.
"Yes. Her name is Sukoshin. She told me that Earth is harbouring a statue that contains the essence of evil in the form of a woman named Apocolypse, the Grand Sister, she referred to her as. Unfortunately, a few followers, almost blood sisters, have come looking for her. They're called the Armageddon Sisters." Dende paused. "And she says that the statue is in the shape of a lion, apparently the most untameable animal of the 10, 000 B.C.E. era." Dende shook his head. "I fear it's the Great Sphinx of Egypt." Piccolo let out a strained groan.
"Here we go again," he muttered.
*~*~*~*
She had long fallen unconscious, probably from lack of oxygen from screaming so long. The nurses, after recovering, had taken her inside to the infirmary with the help of Gohan. They still didn't know what was wrong with her. Nurse Benson, the one who hadn't been thrown into the bleachers, speculated that Videl had simply gone into a psychological shock by unknown means.
Gohan knew better.
At least he thought he knew better. He was guessing it was because she had been screaming at him. He blamed himself. He currently sat by her motionless side, waiting for her to wake up. He overheard the nurses saying that if she did regain consciousness within the hour, they were going to send her to the hospital.
Gohan clasp her hand tenderly. He was beyond worried. It was the helpless feeling that he couldn't really help her that was bugging him. A knock on the door drove him out of his thoughts. He quietly opened the door and Mr. Satan walked in.
"How is she?" he whispered so not to wake her. Gohan shrugged mildly.
"They don't know what's wrong…" he replied to the older man. "She just…starting shrieking and then she collapsed." Mr. Satan down in the chair next to Videl's bed and took her hand. Gohan had to admit, when you got right down to it, past all the glitz and fame, Mr. Satan really did care about his little girl. She was all he had.
A slight twitch of Videl's eyelids sent Gohan and Mr. Satan into frantic hope.
"Videl?" Mr. Satan called softly. She squinted her eyes open and focused them on the first thing she saw: Gohan. Letting out a primal cry, she jumped out of bed and pinned Gohan to the ground, seizing his throat between her hands.
"You son of a bitch!" she shrieked. Gohan struggled to get the young woman off him, but surprisingly, her strength seemed to have increased dramatically. As the nurse walked in, she cried out loud by the sight and attempted to remove Videl's hands from Gohan's neck. Ignoring Mr. Satan's calls for her to stop, Videl strangled the young demi-saiya-jin, forcing all the air out of him. It wasn't until Dune walked in the room did Videl loosen her grip.
"Videl!" Dune yelled. "Off!" Videl obeyed and stood up straight. Dune looked at Gohan, disgusted, as he tried to catch his breath, rubbing his neck.
"What's…" he coughed. "What's gotten into her?!" Dune didn't answer, still glaring at Gohan. Once he had finally caught his breath, he got a good glimpse at Videl. She looked different…colder. Even darker, though her skin had become considerably pale. He wasn't able to see her shadow-covered face, though. "Videl?" She responded with a deathly glare, chilling enough to cause him to gulp.
"Videl!" Mr. Satan exclaimed. "What's wrong with you? I was so worried-" He froze in mid-sentence when she shot him a glance. It was almost terrifying.
"Let's go," Dune commanded Videl. She turned to Gohan. "Tell the nurse I picked Videl up." The girls left the room, leaving the bewildered guys behind.
*~*~*~*
"It's done…" Sukoshin whispered. She clenched her eyes shut. "I failed!" Kaioshin gave a look of panic.
"That's not true," he tried to calm Sukoshin. "Trust me! Even when the odds are stacked against them, the Z Warriors always pull through! It's not over till it's over!" Sukoshin tilted her chin up.
"You're right," she agreed. "I have to be strong. This is the universe's most important week, right down to the hour. Although it's not in my nature, if we need to, we must kill the hostess before she can release Apocolypse. It's a sad reality, but it's necessary." She stood up, picking up her crystal ball. "Pack your things. We're paying Earth and their warriors a visit."
*~*~*~*
Back on the ship of the Armageddon Sisters, the whole crew was assembled and prepared for the long adventure before them, taking place on the back-water planet of Earth.
"Congratulations!" Doom praised. "I welcome you as the newest member of the Armageddon Sisters. You may not be a blood sister, but you will fit in just right. After that rather amusing scene you displayed back in the infirmary, I just know you'll do fine."
"You understand your assignment, right?" Crisis asked. "It's fairly simple. All you have to do is be at the right place at the right time."
"Leave the rest to us," Peril explained. "We just need you to channel Apocolypse's powers. And your old name is too plain. We'll have to pick a new one." Peril gave it some thought. "How does…Devil sound?" Videl smirked cruelly.
"Sounds perfect," she murmured.
"And so it begins," Dune said with a grin.
*~*~*~*
Vegeta tapped his finger on the mouse key every three seconds, staring at the screen of information concerning recorded logs of various generals under Freeza's command. He had managed to recover some of the data from his belongings found while he had spent that 6 months looking for Goku before Mirai Trunks had appeared. The information he had acquired included planet's religion, myths, ceremonies, and other various culture related topics. So far, nothing on an 'Armagen' anywhere. Then again, he took into consideration that these frauds were using fake names on Earth.
Continuing his rhythmic tapping of the mouse, he found himself blanking out at times. It was until he heard the computer give an affirmative beep that it had found something did he snap back to reality. He typed in random codes to enter the password-encoded archive and bypassed the shield. A document came up on the screen, labelled "Armageddon".
Skimming through its contents, Vegeta turned significantly pale, considering that he rarely ever went pale from fear. He gradually clicked the print button and waited for the computer to print the document.
"I need to tell that brat about this," he said slowly.
*~*~*~*