(an early update cause I'll be gone over the weekend ^___^. I'm sure you all don't mind, though…)
~~~~Chapter 11~~~~
Traveling With The Faceless Ones
(aka Why The Hell Does Space Have To Go On Forever?)
Space. The endless void stretching on forever - empty of everything, yet teeming with life forms. A paradox, an infinite paradox… I should write a book when I get home - The Paradox of Space, The Official Handbook for Surviving Space Travel.
Gohan snorted derisively as he turned his attention away from the window and back toward the books he had spread across his desk. These books are only a few years old, but they seem so ancient! he thought with a sigh as he read yet again that space travel was impossible and that there was no life on any planet other than Earth. I really should write my own book, and update these tedious monuments to the arrogance of mankind while I'm at it. I'm actually a bit surprised that Bulma-san hasn't done it… I mean, she's in the perfect position to be creditable, and she's been out in space… but then again, I'm sure if I ever told someone that I'd spent over a year of my life in space, visited three alien planets, and met more alien species than I could name, they would not only laugh at me, they would throw me in a loony bin.
"Hmm… Chikuu-sei seems such an inviting place. Full of doubters… I don't s'pose you would care to explain the concept of a "loony bin" to me? From the cynicism of your mind voice, I assume it's something bad and/or stupid."
Gohan rolled his eyes, but didn't even bother turning around in his spot. He had become used to various people strolling into the small room that had been designated his. two weeks out with the Faceless Ones, and already they felt like some sort of hodge-podge family. Or maybe a fraternity is a better word, he mused to himself as he continued shuffling papers.
"And fraternity? What's a fraternity? Your thoughts are always so sarcastic… it really makes one curious about you."
"Dae," replied a rather tired Gohan, "would you please stop it with the mind reading thing? It's annoying."
"Hey, I can't help it! That's like telling a small child that they can't reach out and pet the large shiny object, or telling Kitten to stop obsessing about the toaster!"
"Alright, I suppose you have a point… And to answer your question, a loony bin is where they stick people like you - the off-your-rocker insane, danger-to-the-health-of-everyone-around-them type people. I'm not even going to try and explain fraternities to you - it's just not worth it."
"Hmmm… Alright then, kid."
There was a moment or two of silence, as Dae stood in the doorway whistling cheerfully and Gohan stared down at his books, feeling a massive headache coming on. Closing his eyes for a moment, Gohan slowly turned around to face the redhead. Dae jumped slightly at the glare of irritation radiating from the face of the small child - Saiya-jin heritage had its benefits - and looked around sheepishly.
"That's my cue to go, isn't it?"
"Yes, yes I suppose it is."
Dae grinned cheekily and gave Gohan a flimsy salute as he headed back down the hall, headed who knew where. Gohan sighed and rolled his eyes, once again settling down to the papers in front of him. Now where is that book about nano technology?
It was dinner time aboard the ship of the Faceless Ones, and they were all gathering around that same circular room that seemed to be the only setting the authors were willing to write the entire group into. Each was being served the same nameless goop, a thick porridge-type meal - well, an excuse for a meal, anyway. The only variation between the bowls was the amount of nutrients and the density. For example - Dae, whose species needed little sustenance except glucose, had goop the consistency of water, with a high sugar count; Gohan, on the other hand, had goop that was more like eating tuna from a can, if slightly more tasteless. The food that Gohan had brought aboard had gone very, very fast - as did all real food to enter the ship. It was a very rare treat, one that they looked forward to even more than a chance to kill people, and that was saying something.
"Sooo… I noticed that Saeoli-sei is only slightly off course from Chikuu-sei - I don't suppose we might hop off and pick up more supplies, ne?" Kitten inquired hopefully from the cross-legged position she had taken up on the floor in front of Gohan's chair.
"Kitten, you have no perseverance! Can't you even last more than 2 weeks? Kais…"
Kitten glared at Dae in response, sticking her dark blue tongue out at him. "You're just jealous because the Chief might let me visit home while we get stuff!"
Gohan rolled his eyes and exchanged a glance with Hali as the two began bickering. Those two… a miniscule lifting of an eyebrow from Hali elicited an answering smirk from the young demi-Saiya-jin, and he gently nudged the back of Kitten's head with his foot. Well, ok, maybe it wasn't so gentle…
Kitten went bobbing forward, and it was only luck that prevented her goop from splattering all over Ryl's precious boots - which were on the table, of course. When she turned backwards to glare at him he was resolutely looking the other way, innocent as only a Son can be. Dae snickered at her openly, as did the Twins, and even Xe had an amused type of smirk on his face. Hali's amusement was a lot harder to read, and most people called her expressionless - even her own crew and oldest friends often threw down the towel when it came to trying to read her. But Gohan could see it loud and clear in the slight crinkling around the eyes, and the tiniest of twitches at the corner of her mouth. She might be a master at hiding emotions, but she was nothing to Piccolo - and Gohan had been reading his "nonexpressions" for half his life. Needless to say, Hali was an open book to skill and close scrutiny.
"I'm afraid we cannot afford to stop, Kitten."
Kitten's head shot around, and she stared at Hali in open disappointment. "Why not? Why is going to Chikuu-sei so urgent? It's not like -"
"Kitten, that's enough." Xe glared down at the girl darkly, and that was all there was to it. Yes, Kitten pouted through the rest of dinner and on into the next day, and yes, she made her disappointment very apparent - but no more questions were asked, and no more classified conversations were brought up.
"AAAH! Damnit! Be careful where you point that thing, you idiot!"
"Why? What is it exactly? I've never seen anything quite like it before…"
"Give that here! You idiot, this is a Gx6 - my special model of ki gun. It's capable of shooting with a force equal to the ki blast of a creature with a ki of 7,000!"
"Is that all? Why not just use normal blasts?"
"I'm surrounded by primitive idiots... Just my luck. Look retard, the Gx6 is for people with low kis or no fighting ability. If you hadn't already noticed, very few people have a ki over a few thousand, and that's including the really excellent fighters! If I'm lucky I can sell them for a high profit, and make lots of money." Kitten gave Gohan her patented "no-shit" look, and Gohan was forced to merely shake his head in acquiesce. Everyone had their own quirks, and if Kitten's was making weak weapons, who was he to say anything?
"Weak weapons? Uh-oh Kitten, the kid's thinking condescending thoughts about your weaponry!" cried a new voice by the door.
The glare that Gohan sent Dae would've killed a lesser being, but lucky for Dae it only sent him stumbling back into the wall. Kitten, of course, was seeing the world in shades of red. One could literally see the smoke pouring from her ears as she turned a sickening bluish purple. The Gx6 being the weapon in her hands, she didn't even think about what she was doing - the shot was fired before 3 milliseconds had passed.
Time moves in slow motion: Dae stumbles back, groping for the door as he stares at the two. Gohan advances with a glare that surpasses even Vegeta's Death Glare™. Two steps forward, tiny hands reach for the redhead's exposed neck… A blast hits a back, disintegrating the back panel of the purple gi… Exposed flesh scorches, Gohan stops… Turns his head to stare at Kitten's shocked face… Turns back towards Dae…
Time speeds up again: Gohan growled deep in his throat as his hands settled around Dae's neck, and he proceeded to throttle the poor alien. He wasn't used to having to keep a shield on his thoughts all the time – sure he knew how to do it, but that didn't mean it didn't take effort! And did Dae really have to say that with Kitten standing right there? At the least it was bound to hurt her feelings, and, as anyone who knew the girl would tell you, Kitten was never an "at the least" type of girl. With a weapon in her hands she could be quite aggressive with her vengeance, as his ruined gi bore testament to. Thank the Kais the weapon wasn't strong enough to do any more than ruin his clothes and give him minor burns…
"G-Gohan! Are you ok? I'm so sorry, I wasn't thinking… did I hurt you?"
Gohan half-turned to the anxious Kitten and gave her a ghost of a smile, absentmindedly continuing to bash Dae's head into the wall. "Oh, it's nothing Kitten. Just a minor burn… the gi is ruined though. Luckily I have spares, and I was outgrowing it anyways… Don't worry about me." His smile warmed a trifle before falling completely away, leaving a scowl in its place. "Now, if you'll excuse me… I have a Withea-jin to seriously maim."
As he turned back to the task of hurting the small red haired male, he noticed the presence of yet another figure in the doorway. He smiled brightly at Ryl, and indicated that he was welcome to come in with a jerk of his head. Ryl stayed where he was, but raised an eyeridge in amusement.
"You're having a bash-fest without me? Why wasn't I invited? I'm the life of a party!"
"Well, a party might not be complete without you, Ryl, but this is more of a venting-type thing. You know – I take out all the instinctual anger building up at his intrusion of my personal thoughts…" Gohan turned back to Dae, who was looking quite pathetic. "Don't you know that Saiya-jins react violently to invasion? You're just lucky I'm half-Chikuu-jin and unwilling to kill a friend." He dropped Dae with a sneer, walking out of the room without so much as a backward glance, though he did smile and wave at the two still standing.
Damn, these people are rubbing off on me… I'm starting to act like them!
Lexi: *smiles proudly* wee! And so Gohan continues to undergo a transformation never seen while he was on Earth.
Kat: *rubs temple* I'm sure you all can pick up Lexi's ideas in this chapter…
Lexi: *big grin* heeeh…
Kat: *rolls eyes* Well, to explain the whole "food" thing… When I first presented this idea, Lexi's first reaction was –
Lexi: *butts in to say her lines* what the hell are they doing with all their money???
Kat: *flashes a strained smile at lexi* yes. Like that. Anyways, my answer was that with so many different metabolisms and dietary requirements of the different species, it's way easier to do it this way. It also takes less room, and come on – they're penny pinchers! ^___^
Lexi: *grins* why spend money on food when you can spend it on weapons of mass destruction?
Kat: *nods* exactly.
Response to Reviews: (Kat's Reply)
Alright, everybody is talking about the Videl issue. When I first began to plan this story out, I did a basic outline of how I wanted things to go – so far I've stuck to it. Lexi and I divided it up into three "books", with three different "sections" of Gohan's life. This first Book is about Gohan coming into space, meeting the faceless ones, and really integrating himself into their group. The second Book will just be a selection of different missions he goes on. There will be at least ten different missions, and there will be a lot of humor and action in those sections. The third Book will be about his return to earth – enter the Videl issue. I don't want to spoil anything for you guys, so I don't really want to say anything about this – except: by this time in the story, if a single plot device will make you stop reading, then Lexi really hasn't been doing her job. (Lexi: *looks shocked* wha!? You're blaming me??? *cries*) The two of us will continue pondering the issue and you guys can just ignore it for now – the story has a long way to go before we even think about introducing Videl!
Oh yeah, and Lexi insists that it's Videl or nothing – she doesn't hold well with original character romances. ^__^n
Second Point: Someone (can't remember who, sorry!) was pondering what Chichi might be thinking about all this back on Earth… Don't worry, we know!
Lexi: but do they?
Well, no, but…
Lexi: we want you guys to vote: do you want a "Chikuu-jin Interlude" within the next few chapters, or do you guys want us to wait until a later date, or do you not care at all?
Third Point: Hey! Look! It's a decently long chapter! Not as long as the pending "chapter 12", but still… ^_____^ Shout out to AAS for reviewing every chapter! And no one figured out what the planet name meant… *pouts*
Next On: Dance Among the StarsFor the first time ever, Gohan felt important and useful, he felt as though he fit in perfectly. Among his father's friends, he was just that - the son of their best friend. He wasn't "my friend Gohan;" he was "my friend Goku's son."
I feel as if, in a battle, I would be able to be right there, doing my part. I like this feeling…
"Calling all members of our elite and happy group!"
"You might be happy, Dae, but that doesn't mean the rest of us are: it's two in the bloody morning!"
Dae's wince was evident, even from across the ship. "I, uh, know that Sass. But it's important that we meet in the Room ASAP - someone in the area wants to hire us."
"Good for them. They can wait until after I've finished with my beauty sleep."
"But Sassy! They're going to pay us a bundle if we can do it within 48 hours…"
That certainly got everyone up.
Gohan was extremely nervous, to say the very least. He had, of course, been in life or death battles where people had died - but he had never actually killed something with his own two hands. Well, as Krillin always used to say, there's a first time for everything. With a deep breath, Gohan followed the others out of the ship.
And that's all that can be revealed without ruining the chapter. ^_____^ See you next time, for Gohan's First Mission!