Better left Beyond Memory

Chapter 2

"Hey! Dende! We're here!" Goku called out cheerfully as the Saiyans touched down of the outer platform of the Watchtower.

"We noticed," a low voice growled from nearby. Goku turned to find Piccolo leaning statue still against a wall.

"Piccolo! What are you doing here?" Gohan asked, happy to see his mentor.

"I came here to find out what that strange disturbance was earlier," he pinned the Saiyans with an intense look, "I'm rather surprised you didn't."

"Uh..." Gohan squirmed under the Nameks' gaze while Goku scratched his head in self-deprecation, confirming the green warrior's suspicion that they had been eating. Food was one of the only things that could distract a Saiyan from a potential challenge.

"So what's up?" Gohan asked.

Piccolo gestured to a nearby doorway from which Dende was emerging onto the platform; along with the last person they had expected to see.

"Kibito?" Goku and his son exclaimed, almost in unison, and even Vegeta registered surprise.

The large man nodded. He had managed to recover some of his strength while waiting for the fighters to arrive with the help of Dende, but he was still far below what he would normally be, even before he had been Kaiobit. At least, he thought with relief, the wound in his side was closed, and he had materialized himself a new uniform to replace the one that had been torn and stained with blood. Although he looked and felt better, he was still troubled by the lingering emptiness that had existed within him since he had unfused. He also was not looking forward to swallowing his pride and asking for help from these mortals.

"What's this all about? What happened to Shin?" Gohan asked in confusion, not noticing Kibito wince briefly at the mention of Shin. Piccolo, who had heard parts of the story already, deferred to Kibito.

Taking a breath, the large man told him all he knew of the incident. He retained the shared memories of his time as Kaiobit, though his voice faltered when he spoke of the spell that had broken the fusion. It had been a strange experience, to lose the greater part of yourself, but at the same time to find himself the sole director of his actions again. Though they had been one person, Shin had been the dominant personality in the fusion.

"I don't get it. Why unfuse you in the first place?" Goku frowned in thought.

Kibito shrugged, "I assume it was to weaken Kaioshin enough to take him prisoner."

"But why?" The Saiyan asked again, "I mean I know he's the Supreme Kai and all but other than that… I mean he's strong, but not the strongest fighter there is. Nor does he have any particular techniques that a magician would find useful… that I know of anyway."

Piccolo snorted in either amusement or disbelief, while Kibito regarded him with surprise.

"Being the Supreme Kai is more than just a title," He spluttered, amazed that the Saiyan knew so little. "Kaioshin's energy is tied in to the universe itself! He alone has the power to direct the course the future and maintain the balance between good and evil. I'd imagine anyone with a lust for power would seek to covert this ability."

Goku processed this thought, "Oh. So that ripple thing earlier…"

Kibito nodded, Piccolo had described the strange disturbance to him earlier, "Was caused by the dramatic weakening of Kaioshin's power when we were unfused."

"Well if this ability is as special as you say it is, why couldn't it have been used to prevent Buu from rising in the first place," Vegeta spoke up for the first time.

"It's not as simple as that. Back when all five Kaioshin were alive, they were encouraged to interfere with mortals as little as possible. The minute adjustments they made to keep the universe in balance went unnoticed, and they never had to directly interfere and eventually their presence faded back into myth," Kibito sighed before continuing, "When Bibidi created Majin-Buu, the Kaioshin assumed that soon his reign would end, and the balance would be restored, as it always had been. However, they underestimated the destructive power of Buu, and the fact that Bibidi somehow knew of their continued existence and would seek to destroy them."

Making sure the Saiyans were still following him he continued, "After that disaster, Shin was the only one left alive, and has since been required to watch the entire universe, not just one quadrant. Obviously he cannot be everywhere at once, and certain details managed to escape him, such as Babidi's existence and his intention to resurrect Buu. By the time we realised what was happening here, it was too late to try and prevent the events from taking place with passive adjustments to the future. Our only hope was to come here and change this worlds fate ourselves," he fell silent; the Saiyans knew how the rest of that story unfolded.

While the others digested the information, Piccolo asked the next obvious question, "So what are we going to do about it?"

Kibito looked briefly at each warrior, "I was hoping you would accompany me on a rescue." His eyes unfocused for a moment as he directed his concentration inward, "I can take us to where he is, though I can only make one trip at this time. If you decide to come with me you cannot change your mind and come back. However, you must not take too long to think about it, I don't want to leave Kaioshin with that monster any longer than necessary."

"You don't even need to ask. I'm in!" Goku proclaimed.

"Me too," added Gohan, and Piccolo nodded his affirmation.

Kibito turned his attention to Vegeta, who snorted and said, "Well I can hardly let Kakarot have all the fun," his lips curling into a sinister smile.

"Then it is settled," Kibito smiled in relief. He did not believe he could have succeeded on his own.

"Are you sure you will be all right," Dende, who had faded into the background during the earlier discussions, asked the bodyguard quietly. He alone seemed to realise how deeply Kibito's weakness really lay.

"I will be fine, young one," he answered back, but was touched by the small Nameks' concern. He didn't bother to mention that, regardless of whether he really was fine or not, he had to go, for Shin's sake.

"Lets go!" Goku enthused, having missed the short exchange. Nodding briefly to the Guardian of Earth, Kibito called upon the power that would take them to Kaioshin. In a brief flash of light, they vanished from the watchtower.

***

Darela looked up from the ancient tome he was reading to glare at the servant who had entered the chamber, disturbing his concentration.

"Master," the servant bowed meekly, "The others have returned with the energy you requested."

"Excellent. Have them bring it here immediately," He waved a dismissive hand at the servant who bowed again, and left.

He turned back to the book he was reading and tried to focus on the words. The fading text depicted the ancient ceremony he was going to attempt. The one that would allow him to absorb the power from Kaioshin, and allow him to inherit all the abilities the small god possessed. The ritual would require perfect timing and concentration, unfortunately in his growing anticipation he was unable to concentrate on the instructions and with a grunt of disgust, he tossed the book back onto his desk.

It didn't matter, he had already memorized its' pages. He just wanted to be absolutely sure there was nothing he had forgotten. One mispronounced word or wrong gesture meant not only the failure of the spell, but its' power reflected onto himself with messy and fatal consequences.

A hesitant knock on the door preceded the entrance of one of his minions. Carrying the strange syringe-like container that housed the energy they had stolen, he was slightly short of breath from the exertion of carrying it quickly up the long winding staircase that lead to Darela's study at the top of the tower. The minion placed the container gently on the floor before quickly retreating from sight. His Masters' temper had been more unpredictable of late, and it was far safer to stay out of his path as much as possible.

Gleefully, the Magician retrieved the strange device and, positioning the end with the thin tube against his skin, began to replace the energy he had lost during the battle with Kaiobit. He needed to be at full strength when the ceremony began, and he admittedly had lost more energy in the fight then he had meant to.

He pulled the device away and flexed his power experimentally. It was back to full strength, with the exception of one tiny trickle of power he used to maintain the sleep spell over Kaioshin. The god lay peacefully on an altar in the center of the room, almost as though he was truly at rest. The only hint of his true affliction was the occasional furrowing of his brow as his unconscious mind fought against the spell.

Darela idly wandered over to the altar, peering down at the purple being. Truly, it was strange that such a harmless looking being was considered one of the most powerful in the universe. One with powerful allies too, the Magician mused, remembering all he had heard of the Majin-Buu disaster. The powerful monster had apparently been defeated by an unexpected and unknown group of powerful fighters from a backwater planet occupied with relatively weak creatures, after listening to the Kai's plea for help.

He wondered if these fighters were on their way here now, remembering how Kaioshin's fusion partner had escaped. Perhaps he had managed to make it to their planet to enlist their assistance once again. For a moment he was paralyzed by a terrible imagined future of their arrival, before he shook it off as silly. This planet had a few surprises of its' own that would slow down any invaders, and he had gathered enough guards, weak as they were, to defend his tower until the ritual was complete.

He had only to wait for the planet to be in correct alignment, when the latent magic of this world to be at it's strongest, before he could begin. And then it would be too late for anyone to stop him.

***

The sudden cold was the first indication of their arrival. Gohan wrapped his arms around himself, wishing their enemy had chosen a warmer place to hide. He looked around briefly, taking in the barren landscape. It was dark, and a wall of clouds obscured the sky, rumbling menacingly overhead. The ground underfoot was some sort of obsidian rock, and there was no sign of either vegetation or animals. In fact it was barren of any life at all, which made the young Saiyan frown.

"Hey, I thought we were going to where Shin was."

Kibito looked around, equally bewildered. He had thought he had calculated their position correctly, but was it possible in he weakened state he had made an error? He stretched out his senses, but was surprised to encounter some kind of barrier that prevented him from detecting anything that was more than a few meters away.

"There is… some sort of energy field here that must have interfered with my teleportation," he said slowly, "However, I do believe we are on the right planet."

"Is it magic?" Piccolo asked, having encountered the barrier himself.

Kibito thought about it for a moment. "No. It appeared to be a natural phenomenon, generated by the planet itself. It will make our search more difficult though."

"Then I suggest we start over there," Goku pointed. The others followed his gaze to see a collection of lights some distance away, the only signs of habitation.

"It does seem the most likely course of action," Piccolo agreed, and Vegeta merely shrugged his indifference.

"Then lets go," Gohan said, readying himself to take flight, then, a moment of confusion later he straightened. "I can't fly," he said, surprised.

"What?" Vegeta barked, and tried it himself, as did the others.

"He's right," Goku said, staring at his feet, which by all rights should have been floating above the ground.

Vegeta snarled, "This is ridiculous," before transforming to his Super Saiyan form. He managed to levitate only a few feet before he realised it wasn't worth the energy he was wasting, and dropped lightly back to the ground, returning to his usual self.

"It appears it is not just our senses this energy field blocks," Kibito said gravely.

"Looks like we have to walk," Goku added ruefully.

The distance they had to cover, normally a 2-minute flight, took much longer to cover on the ground, even at the fast pace they set. It was impossible to run as they soon discovered the ground was a myriad of shallow holes, hidden by the darkness and the rocks' own black colouring. The strange field quickly absorbed any form of light they tried to produce, and the group was forced to make their way as quickly as possible in the dark.

Finally they reached their destination, and crouched low to the ground they crept closer for a better look. A large tower made from the same dark rock of the ground had been painstakingly built to loom above the landscape. A low wall was raised around it as a meager offering of defense, and guards of many different species were posted around it, though many seemed bored and inattentive. Unfortunately, to reach the tower they had to cross a large space of open ground where they would surely be noticed by even the most distracted guards.

A wisp of recognition nagged at Kibito, and he searched his memories for it's meaning. Something… something connected with Majin-Buu. Then he realised why it seemed so familiar.

"Bibidi's tower," he gasped quietly to himself.

He had never seen it, but Kaioshin had, and somehow he retained the others' memories of a time even before they had fused. The god had come here alone after he had killed Bibidi, to destroy any record of Buu's creation so there could never be another like him. Although he had managed to destroy those records, he had not been able to find any of Bibidi's other works. In particular, his tomes of the ancient art of magic had been notoriously absent, and these had apparently found their way into his sons' possession.

Kaioshin had also realised that the strange field was a side effect of the increased magical energies that existed on that planet, and guessed that was why Bibidi had chosen this planet on which to conduct his experiments. Kibito was unsure whether this information would be useful or not, though it did explain why Darela had chosen to come here.

The group withdrew a short distance away so as not to worry about being seen or overheard.

"So what's the plan?" Gohan asked, itching to get started.

"There's no way we can hope to get past them undetected. We should just launch a frontal assault and take as many of them out as possible," Vegeta said, just as eager for some action, even against unworthy opponents, after the frustratingly slow journey across the empty landscape.

"I agree," Goku put in, "We'll get past them as quickly as possible and into the tower to find Shin."

"Assuming he's in there," Piccolo muttered, but didn't object.

"There are sure to be reinforcements inside," Kibito rumbled, not liking the plan, but knowing there were no alternatives.

"Too bad you won't get that far," a new voice hissed.

The fighters turned in surprise to regard the new arrival that had somehow managed to sneak up on them. So used to simple sensing for the presence of others, they had forgotten to keep watch for any patrolling guards.

There were eight of them in all, and looked like nothing more than large lizards that managed to walk upright. Their scales ranged in hues of green and brown, and were equipped with an assortment of mismatched armor and weapons.

The leader, identified by a decorative helmet, brandished his spear at them threateningly. "You will come with us," he said, confident that the motley group of fighters would give in as he had the advantage of numbers.

He wasn't expecting the snort of contempt from the shorter specimen with spiky black hair, or the two who looked alike enough to be family to role their eyes at each other and groan. Apparently they didn't take him seriously.

"Alright, you asked for it! Attack!" The Lizardmen charged forward eagerly.

"Oh please. You think you can take us on?" Gohan focused his energy into a ball in his hand. The small ball cast an eerie glow on their surroundings, and caused the Lizardmen to pause in uncertainty. Gathering enough energy to eliminate the entire troop in one blast, Gohan uttered a war cry and fired the ball at them.

Unfortunately, the results were less than spectacular, as the Saiyan had forgotten to take the energy barrier in to account. The energy ball made it only a few feet before it puffed and spluttered out of existence.

"Uh… Oops," Gohan muttered, trying to ignore the amused grin on his Dad's face and Vegeta's whispered, "Idiot," remark.

The Lizardmen, who had been cowering in fear a moment before, laughed at this apparent failure.

"Get them," the leader hissed, and his men resumed their attack, only to be met with a flurry of punches from Gohan. Energy attacks may not work, but the Saiyan still had his super speed, and all the Lizardmen were quickly dealt with.

Piccolo pinned his former student with a stern look, "It might be better if you didn't use any energy attacks again. The light will give away our position."

"Yeah, yeah," the young Saiyan mumbled.

"If we are finished here, it is probably best that we keep moving, just in case somebody comes to investigate the flash," Kibito said, watching their surroundings for any further patrols.

Nodding in acknowledgement, the fighters headed back towards the castle under the cover of darkness.

***