Better left Beyond Memory
Chapter 1
Kaiobit searched the landscape around him bleakly. What had once been a lively village was now ruin. The townsfolk lay dead in the streets. There were no signs of life.
"I was too late," he hissed to himself.
The destruction of this town was as complete as all the others. Only a few hours ago a strange force had come to this world and began a systematic destruction of all the cities. Normally this would have not have required his presence, the gods were encouraged not to interfere in mortal affairs, but this case was different. The powers growing here were an unsettlingly familiar force that he thought had been banished from the universe.
Magic.
The last person to control this waning power had been Babidi, son of Bibidi, who had used it to resurrect Majin-Buu. Since then Kaiobit had thought, or perhaps hoped, that the ability had been lost by the mortal realms. Unfortunately it seemed at least one person still retained the knowledge of how to harness the energies, and he was here to assess the threat this person posed.
Choosing a random direction he began to search for any clues that might lead him the rogue magician, hopefully before he struck again and another town was destroyed.
The wind howled unnaturally loud in the deserted streets. Whoever had caused such destruction had been either indiscriminant about their targets, or out of control. Buildings and other harmless objects showed the marks of this person's wrath as much as the townsfolk did. But as inanimate objects held a better imprint of the magic than people did Kaiobit was able to find the freshest trail easily. It led him to what appeared to be the center of the town. Bleakly, he realised the people of this planet had tried to make one last stand against the intruder here. They hadn't stood a chance, and their charred remains littered the small square.
Biting back his disgust, he tried to pick up the trail again, carefully stepping over the dead as he made his way around the square. It was hard work with all the residual life energy of the townsfolk still lingering in the air, and at first he thought he had made a mistake. Checking again he realised he hadn't. The trail he was following stopped here, the magician hadn't left.
"So, you finally arrived. I thought I might have had to blow up a few more cities to get your attention," the smug voice startled him.
He whipped his head around, locating the source of the voice. Stepping out of the shadows between two buildings, the magician revealed himself. He was a head taller than Kaiobit, his skin was blue/gray in colour and his dark hair came down to his shoulders. His features were sharp, slitted yellow eyes glared out while the hint of a smirk curled his lips. His most unusual feature was the ram-like horns that sprouted from his temple and curled around the sides of his head.
The Magicians' smirk widened. "You are the caretaker of the universe?" His eyes appraising Kaiobit's appearance, "I thought this would be more of a challenge."
Kaiobit was surprised the creature knew who he was, but reaming silent. He hadn't intended to fight this creature, but now that he was confronted it seemed to be a better alternative to teleporting away and leaving him to destroy what was left of this planet.
The magician was completely unlike Bibidi and his son, both in race and appearance. Both the former magicians had been physically weak, with no ki to speak of, but strong in magic. This creature was an interesting mix of all three attributes, master of none, but skilled in all. He had the height and build of a fighter, and the control he kept over his energy suggested he knew how to channel it properly, but the most worrying was the aura of dark magic that surrounded him. Kaiobit was suddenly unsure of who would win the inevitable fight. Their physical strengths were about even and his opponent was weaker in ki than he was, and not as powerful a mage as Bibidi, but the sheer range of skills he had access to might become a problem.
While he was thinking all this, the Magician had come closer, grinning in anticipation. "Oh how rude of me not to introduce myself. I am Darela," he gave a mocking bow before sliding into a fighting stance. "Shall we begin?"
Without further word he charged, aiming a punch at Kaiobit's face. Surprised by the sudden movement, he only just managed to dodge the blow, allowing the other to sweep past him. Without losing a beat, Darela performed a sharp turn and lunged forward for another attack. This time the Kai powered up his ki and fired a small blast at his oncoming opponent, who jumped aside at the last second.
"So you have some fight in you after all," Darela mused as they faced off again.
"More than enough to get rid of you," Kaiobit hissed in return.
"We shall see."
This time Darela attacked with full force. Punches, kicks and the occasional ki blast flew at high speeds towards Kaiobit, who managed each time to duck or block, and even return a few blows of his own which Darela had much less success in avoiding. It seemed as though he was winning, but he was wary of the fact that Darela had yet to use his magic, which would have obviously put the Kai at a disadvantage. It was almost as though he was being tested.
Finally, Darela made a mistake and overbalanced, leaving himself open to the powerful kick Kaiobit aimed at his chest. The Magician was knocked back several meters into a wall, which showered dust and rubble onto the injured fighter. However, he wasn't down for long and quickly staggered to his feet, clutching his chest.
"Not bad," Darela panted, winded from the blow. He was fairly sure the other had managed to break a few of his ribs, and cursed himself for underestimating him. He had hoped to overpower the Kai without resorting to extreme measures, but now it didn't look like he had a choice.
"So be it," he hissed softly and began to chant the words of a spell.
Kaiobit, realizing what he was doing, tried to reach the mage before the spell was complete but he was too late. He felt his limbs become heavy, moving became a challenge, and it was only force of will that kept him standing at all. Taking advantage of his opponents' weakness, Darela suddenly appeared behind the Kai and wound an arm around him to hold him in place. A moment later he could only gasp in pain as Darela plunged a knife into his side and began to chant another spell softly in his ear.
Still immobilized by the first spell, Kaiobit was helpless to the assault. He took a quick glimpse at the knife still in his side, and was horrified by the symbols engraved on its surface. The Magician was using the knife to channel his power, increasing its' potency, and he was beginning to feel the effects of the magic working it's way into his body.
It started as a slight tingling on his skin, but quickly escalated to a fierce burning sensation. It felt as though he was burning alive, with the knife as the source of the flames. The pain increased as Darela's chanting became stronger and louder, and Kaiobit felt an attack on his mind begin as well as that on his body. White-hot power tore through his thoughts and although he attempted to resist, he was unable to concentrate with the fiery heat that enveloped him.
The magic slowly became more focused, and seemed to migrate to an invisible line down the center of his body before increasing in intensity again, and Kaiobit was sure he was going to be split in two. He could feel himself begin to pass out from the pain and absurdly wondered what would happen to the universe if the last of the Kaioshin were eradicated. He distantly heard Darela finish the chant and felt a last surge of power rip through him before the world went black.
***
Friends, family and food. Surrounded by these, Goku could die a happy man.
To keep the ties of friendship strong, Chi-Chi and Bulma delighted in organizing an annual 'get-together' for the Z fighters and their families. Most of the ever-growing clan was present. Piccolo, as always, had refused the invitation, despite Gohan's pleadings, insisting he would not feel comfortable surrounded by so many people. Yamcha had also pleaded a rain check, claiming to have another commitment; one Goku suspected might have something to do with his current girlfriend.
Vegeta had shown up, which was surprising. He'd arrived with Bulma, a mask of irritation on his face. To Goku's surprised scrutiny he had simply said, "Don't give me that look, Kakarot. I'm only here for the food," and had stalked off until said food had been dished out.
And there was a lot of it.
In anticipation of the large number of people they had to feed, not to mention the infamous Saiyan appetite, Bulma and Chi-Chi had spent the last few days preparing for the occasion in the Son houses' kitchen. Chi-Chi had done the cooking while Bulma made the trips into town for the ingredients, cleaned, and fended off the occasional hungry Saiyan from their domain.
But now the fruit of their efforts was displayed in all its' glory across the hastily setup picnic tables. The location for the event was out in the wilderness, away from civilization to protect people from the oddities and general strangeness that seemed to plague the Z fighters.
No sooner had the last plate been set out then the hungry swarm descended on the food, while those with less demanding stomachs hastily got out of their way. Chi-Chi sighed. Her good cooking was entirely wasted on those who only cared about the quantity of food.
Videl, still new to the strangeness that was the Z fighters watched the Saiyans and Human-hybrids with a look of awe. Between them, Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Goten and Trunks were devouring enough food to feed an army. It was a fascinating, yet unsettling sight.
Seeing her stunned expression, Krillin slyly nudged her with his elbow. "Amazing isn't it?" he remarked.
She nodded distractedly, eyes still on the spectacle, "I don't think I'm ever going to get used to this."
"You will. It just takes time," he reassured her before going to sit with his family.
Finally tearing her eyes off the ravenous Saiyans, she took a seat between Bulma and Master Roshi, deciding it was safer than sitting with Gohan who was currently fighting with his brother over a bowl of rice. Instead she tried to concentrate on her own food, when it suddenly shifted under her gaze. Blinking, she looked again, and realised that it was not only the food, but everything around her seemed to loose its' solidity for a moment. The world rippled and distorted, as if she were viewing it underwater.
A brief glance around showed she was not the only one affected. Krillin and Eighteen had paused over their meals, masks of concentration on their faces while Maron looked about in confusion, searching for something that wasn't there. Chi-Chi, Bulma and Ox-King slowly became quiet, conversation dying in the face of this strange phenomenon. Most noticeably, the Saiyans had paused in their feeding frenzy, heads tilted as if listening to a far away noise. Suddenly she realised she could hear something in the unnatural silence that had fallen over the group. A far off cry of pain that seemed to increase in intensity, then as abruptly as it had started, it stopped.
With an abrupt jerk, reality reasserted itself and objects became solid again. The sound of birds chirping in the woods seemed overloud after the bizarre quiet.
"What was that?" Goten was the first to find his voice. The small boy looked around as though the answer would suddenly present itself.
Goku was frowning, an uncharacteristic look of seriousness on his features, "I don't know son."
Videl didn't know whether to be relieved or worried that nobody else knew what had happened either.
"It was probably nothing," Bulma's tone was light, but she looked unconvinced.
"Anyway, whatever it was can probably wait until after lunch," Chi-Chi confirmed with more conviction than she felt, but the ice was broken as the Saiyans, reminded of the feast before them, continued where they left off. Slowly, the rest of the group relaxed and conversation returned.
Videl, however, remained uncertain, "Shouldn't somebody go and check it out? It might be serious," She said quietly to Master Roshi, not confident enough to announce her thoughts to the rest of the group.
The old man gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder, "Don't you worry my dear. Whatever it is, if it's serious enough, it'll come to us."
Frowning, she let the matter be. Trouble had a way of gravitating to the strange group of fighters around her. She only hoped they could handle it when it did.
***
The air was still hazy with residual magic when Darela could once again focus on his surroundings. He hadn't expected such a backlash from the spell's conclusion, and the explosion had separated him and his opponent. Scrambling to his feet he quickly located his foe, and stared in amazement at his handiwork.
"I did it," he murmured, amazed.
The spell had been an ambitious one, considering his relative lack of experience of using the high level spells. He doubted he could have done it without the aid of the knife to focus his powers. Reminded, he picked up the instrument that had flown from his grasp during the explosion. It was streaked in soot, but otherwise unharmed.
A muffled groan caught his attention. The Kai was lying a few feet away, curled protectively around the wound in his side. He's recovering fast, Darela thought to himself. He walked over to him, admiring the changes his spell had wrought.
The god blinked groggily, trying to remember what had happened. His whole body ached, and he was struck by the nagging feeling that something was wrong. Moving stiffly, he tried to sit up, but weakness prevented him from doing so. A mere trickle of energy was all he had left.
Approaching footsteps captured his hazy attention, and a moment later Darela was looming over him. Memory of the spell returned to him, and he tried to force his tired body to stand, or at least back away from the Mage, to no effect. One large step brought the mage back into striking range, though he didn't attack. Is it just me, the Kai thought, or does he seem bigger than before?
In a moment of clarity, he realised why. Darela was not larger, but he was now smaller. A quick brush of his hand through his hair revealed, not the long white tresses he had become used to, but a spiky mohawk. His vest had also become blue, just as it had been before he had fused.
Seeing the confusion on his face, Darela smirked. "I hope you enjoy the effects of my little spell. You see I think you'll be much easier to handle in that form."
No longer Kaiobit, Kaioshin realised he was right. In his fused form he may have stood a chance against this monster, but now he was in his previous form he didn't have a hope, even if he were at his best, which he wasn't. Grinning savagely, the Magician reached for him, but was distracted by a sudden blow to his shoulder.
"Don't touch him," a voice hissed. Turning around, Darela faced his attacker.
"Kibito," Kaioshin whispered, looking at his bodyguard and former fusion partner. The larger Kai had thrown a rock at the mage to distract him, and was attempting to stand with as little success as Kaioshin had. The god could see his friend was as weakened as he himself was.
"Well, well. The loyal guard dog," Darela snarled, glaring. He had forgotten that as a result of reversing the fusion, he would be facing another opponent. However, this one would be no trouble. "Unfortunately," the Magician said, his features reverting back to their more normal smirk, "I have no use for you. You will die here."
A look of horror betrayed Kaioshin's face, but Kibito only glared defiantly at the mage, before his eyes slid to meet the Gods'. Anger flared in the smaller being as he realised Kibito was going to try and stand against Darela, even if it meant his own death.
You will not do this, he told Kibito telepathically. The other gave no indication that he was listening, but Kaioshin knew he had heard. Frowning at his friend's stubbornness he gathered all the energy he could spare and shoved it at Kibito, forcing him to take it.
Leave! Now! And although the bodyguard struggled against it, he was unable to refuse a direct command from the highest of the Gods. His face twisted in anger and despair, he teleported away from danger.
Sighing in relief that at least Kibito was safe, he found himself under the harsh glare of Darela. "You helped him escape!" the Magician hissed, eyes dark with fury. A vicious kick sent Kaioshin sprawling in pain, having re-ignited the agony in his side. Stalking over to the prone form, he wrapped his hand around the much shorter Kai's throat and lifted him up to eye level.
Kaioshin could only struggle weakly, having given the last of his energy to Kibito, but as a last resort he stabbed at his enemies mind with a weak telepathic blast. Surprisingly, the Magician wasn't expecting it and stumbled, almost dropping Kaioshin. The attack hadn't done much damage but a wave of unfamiliar memories had leaked out, and the God was surprised by what he read in them.
Darela recovered quickly, and quickly erected his magic as a shield over his mind. "Not a bad effort, but not good enough." Chanting a quick spell, Kaioshin slumped unconscious in his grasp by a magically induced sleep.
Frowning at the unexpected complications and delays in his plan, Darela then chanted the spell that would transport them both back to his tower so he could initiate the next step of his plan.
***
An unfamiliar presence had appeared on the watchtower. Dende frowned, as if today hadn't been strange enough. Warily, he began to make his way to the outer platform where the energy originated. It was only a faint signal, and he was so absorbed in following it, he didn't notice a much closer and more familiar presence until said person put a hand on his arm, startling him.
"Piccolo," the smaller Namek yelped, "Don't sneak up on me like that."
"Sorry," Piccolo replied, removing his hand now he had gotten the Guardian's attention.
Dende had figured Piccolo would come to the tower looking for an explanation to the odd disturbance that had taken place not long ago. Unfortunately, he had no answers to give, as it had not originated on Earth, but from a greater source. Instead he turned to more immediate matters.
Indicating the entrance to the outer platform he said, "There's someone out there." He hoped the warrior would accompany him, just in case the visitor turned out to be less than friendly. Nodding grimly, Piccolo led the way with Dende on his heels. He too had noticed the presence on the upper floor. In fact it felt sort of familiar, but his normally good memory was drawing a blank as to who it might be.
They emerged onto the wide balcony of the tower, blinking in the brightness. The intruder was making no effort to hide himself, and was sitting, eyes shut, in a meditative pose in the center of the platform.
"Kibito?" Piccolo exclaimed, shocked.
"You know him?" Dende whispered back, but the stranger had heard Piccolo quiet comment and opened his eyes to regard the two Nameks.
He inclined his head in acknowledgement, "Piccolo."
"B-but you were...?" It surprised Dende to see his mentor lose his composure.
Kibito shook his head, a deep pain in his eyes. "Not anymore," he said, reflexively clutching the wound in his side, identical to the one Shin had retained after their fusion had dissolved.
Seeing this, Dende lost any reservations he had for this character. He needed healing, and this Dende could provide. Coming out of hiding from behind Piccolo's cape, he strode forward to meet the large being.
"I could heal that for you, if you like," he offered shyly. Kibito's stern expression melted into one of gratitude. Lifting his arm out of the way, he allowed the small guardian access to the wound as Piccolo looked on, trying to reorganize his thoughts. The instant Dende placed a hand on the wound, he could feel something was wrong. The wound was not made by any normal weapon, but by a much darker force he had hoped never to see again.
"Magic?" he gasped, startling Piccolo from his musings. The older Namek looked at the bodyguard searchingly for confirmation.
Kibito nodded tiredly, "Yes. Magic is present in the universe again." With a determined look, Dende resolutely began to heal the wound, although the taint of magic made the process much more difficult than usual.
Kibito held Piccolo's gaze. "Perhaps it would be best if you were to summon Goku and the other fighters," he suggested to the warrior. "I believe we will need their help in dealing with this new threat." The Kai's eyes drifted close as he finally succumbed to exhaustion.
Brow furrowed in thought, Piccolo considered this new information. Even if this new magician wasn't backed by the power of Majin-Buu, if he could overpower the Supreme Kai so easily he was a potential threat to the Earth, and the universe.
Apparently he would have a reunion with the Son family after all.
***
Videl immediately picked up on the subtle change in Gohan's body language. The last of the food had been devoured in a surprisingly short amount of time, and everyone had more or less forgotten about the strange occurrence during lunch and had settled down to laze in the midday sun.
The peace was not destined to last, however, as Videl noticed her boyfriend stiffen slightly in response to something she was unaware of. At the same time Goku and Vegeta also seemed to tense. A few seconds later, the reaction seemed to pass.
"Well," Goku said brightly, sitting up from where he had been lying in the grass. "Looks like we get to save the world again."
Vegeta nodded, coming out of his usual indifference to join the other Saiyan. Gohan had a huge anticipatory grin on his face, looking exited at the prospect of a challenge... Whatever it was.
"Just where do you think you're going," Chi-Chi growled at her husband.
"Sorry honey, this is important," and he quickly kissed her goodbye and flew off before se could get another word in, knowing it was the best way to deal with her. Vegeta powered up and followed a moment later, but Gohan was compelled to stay a moment at Videl's confused look.
"What's going on?" she asked, capturing his hand with her own and squeezing it briefly. Obviously, wherever he was going she wouldn't be able to keep up, otherwise he would have invited her to join him.
"Dende asked us to come to the Watchtower," he tapped his forehead to indicate a telepathic instruction. "He says it's important," he looked at her regretfully, but she could see deep down he was exited by the prospect of trouble.
She managed to conjure an understanding look to hide her disappointment that they wouldn't be spending the day together. "Of course. Have fun!" She playfully punched his arm.
He smiled, "I will." He glanced over her shoulder at Krillin who had been listening in nearby. "Take care of them Krillin."
The small fighter nodded, but his face was tinged with regret. He wouldn't be coming with them this time. "Just don't blow up the universe or anything," he said as a parting shot to the Saiyan, who saluted playfully before racing off to catch up with the others.
Videl sighed, hoping she would see him, safe and whole, again soon.
***
