Presenting!  The long awaited for… *drum roll*  Decently Sized Chapter!  Woot!  Everybody celebrate. 

(p.s. sorry about the wait – this was ready on Saturday, but Lexi was too busy to post, and on Sunday ff was being screwy and didn't let her on the account – sorry!)

(p.p.s. since we're bothering with a beginning A/N anyways, we at DemonKat studios would like to reassert that fact that – no, we don't own dragonball z, because if we did the episodes would have a lot less grunting and screaming, and a lot more plot and badass Gohan.)

~Chapter 12~

The First Mission

Three months working with the Faceless Ones, and Gohan was just another one of the crew.  He acted and bantered like every other member of the crew - everyone seemed to treat him like they did each other.  For the first time ever, Gohan felt important and useful, 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 suppose that in and of itself is a form of acceptance and fitting in, but it doesn't negate the parts about important and useful…  I mean, sure, I've been an important aspect in most of the battles, but still - it was just to give daddy and the others more time to defeat our opponents.  This… this is different.  I feel as if, in a battle, I would be able to be right there, doing my part.  I like this feeling…  It's really too bad that I can't stay with them.

"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!"

Gohan snickered into his hands at the obviously ticked-off Sassy.  He knew that most of the others were asleep, but he'd found (to his surprise) that he didn't seem to need all that much sleep.  He could make due with 5 hours rather than the 9 the others seemed to prefer…  Granted, he still enjoyed sleeping in sometimes, but he had been too restless lately - damn stored up energy.  This morning's announcement found him sitting on his bed, deep in meditation.  Well, alright, maybe it was more like 'deep in thought:' he'd given up trying to meditate twenty minutes ago.

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.  When a mercenary referred to their paycheck as "a bundle," it was sure as hell a lot of money.  Everyone was gathered in the Room within 10 minutes, Gohan included.  He figured that if they didn't want him there, they could tell him to leave - it's not like they would have any reticence about upsetting him.

Hali frowned at Dae as the others entered the room at various speeds.  To no one's surprise, Xe was the first one in.  Although he did things on his own time and answered to no one, if it came to an activity involving killing people, he was first to show his face.  Kitten came next, followed by the Saiya-jin boy.  Good.  I was afraid he wouldn't show up… this might be the perfect time to see how well he actually performs.   If he holds back, or gets squeamish about killing things, I won't even bother inviting him to join us.  Ryl entered the room with a half-asleep Sassy slung over his shoulder - too tired to even protest against the indignity of the situation, though no one was really surprised - Sassy was adamant about getting enough sleep.

"Alright, Dae, everyone is here.  Tell us what the message says."

Dae gave her a deferential nod as he began to speak.  "Well, I think it'll be easiest if I just read the actual text, ok?

"Most Honorable Warriors of Those With No Face,

            My name is Lord Qui'ado Philan of Giiyrasi-sei, and I humbly request that you might listen to my people's woes.  We are beset by a warrior race from Ried-sei, and we are merely merchants and artisans, unable to protect ourselves.  I have received information that the Ried-jins plan to attack us within the next three days and I wish to prevent this.  I know that they are after the wealth that my people's planet has to offer - we are one of the Universe's major suppliers of gold, silver, and jewelry.  But, my lords, I am certain with your excellent knowledge and information, you already know of this.  I tell you because I wish you to understand the direness of our situation, as well as our ability to pay you well for your help.  Please respond to my plea as soon as you can, my lords, for otherwise my people will perish.
"And that's all he had to say,"  Dae concluded with a sigh. 

Hali nodded slowly, serious.  Her crew all seemed to be similarly deep in thought, and she had no doubt that they were in favor of responding to Lord Qui'ado's request.  It was her duty to ask them, though, and she raised her eyes to meet each of the crewmembers' in turn.  "Will we accept this mission?"

"I think we should."  Hali nodded in acknowledgement of Xe's opinion, ignoring his maniacal grin.  She hadn't even needed to ask to know what he would have to say about killing people…

"I've been in favor of it since it first came through the computers." Dae said quietly, brushing a stray lock of fiery hair out of his eyes.

"It's a good cause, to say the least - and we'll get good money out of it… maybe enough to buy one of those model Au-24 computer chips!"  Oh Kais, no…  Not with the computer chips again… doesn't she know that there are far better uses for money?  "Or maybe we could use it to go to Chikuu-sei and buy all of their toasters!"  Even Hali had to resist the urge to sweatdrop, and she noted that the Saiya-jin boy looked highly exasperated as well, though he didn't say anything.

"Aye, chief.  I speak for both my sister and myself, for though she is too asleep to respond to your question, I am confident that we are of one mind on this issue." 

"Do us all a favor and beat some life into her later this morning, will you Ryl?"

"Sure thing Chief!  With pleasure…"

"Good.  Gohan, what is your opinion on this?"

The child looked like a deer caught in headlights - his eyes were round and he looked nervous, most likely feeling out of place in this situation.  But, as she had known he would, he finally gave his answer. 

"I'm not sure, Hali-san.  I'm not a mercenary, and I can't say that I'm completely familiar with your way of thinking - however, I know what my father would do in this situation, as well as my Sensei.  I've always sought to emulate them, and I would follow in their footsteps.  I believe that the right course is to help these people, as they cannot help themselves."

Well, well, well… a thoughtful answer, one that explains why he thinks the way he does…  I do believe he is both anxious to fully fit in and understand us, as well as help us try to understand him.  Very interesting.  Hali nodded once and stood.  "We are unanimous on this subject.  We will be reaching Ried-sei in 4 hours.  Be ready."

And so we begin the second stage of the boy's testing period.

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.

Ried-sei was a fairly large planet, with yellowish grasses and ferns, a rosy pink sky, and a stream of red liquid off to the side of the landing site.  There were very few trees, and the ones that were there were strange shades of yellow.   All in all, to Gohan's eyes the planet was definitely more hospitable than Keman-sei, though nowhere near the standards of Chikuu.

The Faceless Ones stood around him, looking very serious.  In a uniform black, their everyday clothes were traded for tougher, stronger versions of similar outfits.  At first Kitten had expressed worry that he might choose to wear what she called the "blinding orange thing," and had asked if he wanted to wear something of Dae's again.  Remembering the uncomfortable tightness of the leather, Gohan refused. 

Instead, he pulled out his Saiya-jin ensemble.  Having battled in it before, he knew that he would be comfortable and unhindered.  Although he loved his father's colors for simply being his father's, he had to admit that Kitten was right in one aspect – the blindingly orange outfit did tend to stand out. 

As he'd come out of his room and joined them, he had to smile at their looks of complete surprise.  None of them had ever seen him in anything but the two variations of Chikuu-jin gis that made up the greater portion of his wardrobe.  Seeing him in long sleeved black spandex and classic Saiya-jin armor must have come as a bit of a shock for them.  He'd also set aside his normal boots in favor of the supple fighting boots that were a trademark of Vegeta's outfit, though his own were a dark red.  The only part of the outfit he was really missing was the gloves.  He could never quite understand why Vegeta always fought with gloves on – to Gohan it felt like his hands couldn't breath, and he lost some of the delicateness that was a trademark of his fighting style. 

To the Faceless Ones, the change in outfits was a culture shock.  They had seen his gentle, Chikuu-jin side often, And though he'd had Saiya-jin moodswings more than once, the outward face he presented had still been that of a Chikuu-jin.  In this outfit he looked every inch the Saiya-jin warrior.  To say the least, he looked much more like a Faceless One now.  Hell, he'd even pulled his now waist-length mass of hair into a thick excuse for a braid - easier to keep out of the way.

Now, standing on the alien planet, Gohan was glad for the outward reminder of his Saiya-jin heritage.  In his gi, he would be too reminded of his human nature, the side of him that said he was still a child - let the adults do the killing.  And hey, isn't killing bad?  Go back to your books, the human whispered, you're only a coward.  But he would be strong, insisted the Saiya-jin warrior.  He would fight, and he would win.

Hali's voice broke into the 9-year-old's thoughts, and he jerked his head slightly to listen. 

"Alright.  Kitten, what's the strength reading of these people, and the population count?"

"Ki rating is anywhere from 600 to 60,000, with most in the thousands.  The population count is about 700 million - an extremely small population count on such a large planet.  I believe it's because they're short on natural resources, making a selective society necessary.  Reports I've read say that they kill children who don't hold warrior potential, and everything my scans have shown me point to this as being truth."

The faces of everyone assembled grew stormy.  Sure they were sometimes forced to kill children too, but to terminate the life of your own offspring?  It was barbaric!  Gohan's glare intensified, and he pushed out any and all reservations he'd held.  These creatures were evil, and even if he wasn't fighting for Chikuu, he was still fighting for a defenseless planet.  He must fight and kill them, and he must do it without hesitation.

I made a vow…  I will never hesitate again.

The purge was to be swift and brutal.  Hali sent them out with orders to find all pockets of civilization and destroy all life forms: nothing fancy, just kill them.  Together with Kitten, Gohan headed straight north to where he could feel a clump of several thousand kis.  He hovered for a moment on the outskirts of the run-down city, observing the creatures as he waited for Kitten to catch up. 

The Ried-jins were yellow and dun-colored, much like their planet, and they were probably the ugliest creatures Gohan had yet seen.  Large and lumbering, they reminded the child of gigantic beetles.  They had four legs, armored shells, and three sets of arms.  Their faces were otherwise humanoid, but it only served to make them look uglier and more uncanny.

"Ugly little buggers, aren't they?" came Kitten's scornful remark from his right side.

"Yeah.  They don't look like they'll be very agile, and I doubt they can fly.  They're well muscled, though; so watch out for their punches, I'd say."

"Sure, sure - now let's get cracking!" 

With a startlingly loud war cry, Kitten dived down into the swarm of Ried-jins.  Gohan rolled his eyes and followed silently.  He engaged the first beetle and was slightly startled by its agility.  Hmm… might be a bit tougher than I thought.  He powered up and sent a punch careening into its face. 

Death was instantaneous. 

Or maybe not.  Granted, that one did only have a ki of 3000, and Kitten said that they got into the 60,000s… but there was no time to think.  Two of the creatures were coming at an angle from each other - and with 6 arms each that could be very painful.  He dispatched them both with a series of swift kicks, and without a pause rounded on the next that approached him.

Within ten minutes, he and Kitten had destroyed their pocket and were heading toward another nest slightly off to the west.  This one was slightly larger, and had a slightly different variety of beetle-creatures.  These were smaller, and appeared more agile - and considering the surprising agility of the last batch, that might spell trouble, as Gohan warned Kitten - who blew him off again, of course.  She's going to get in trouble one of these days, and it'll be her own fault…

Again, it was Kitten who attacked first, yelling a war cry and shooting one of her guns with extreme accuracy.  Five were dead before she even reached the ground.  Gohan followed silently once again, saving his breath for the fight.  He shot a few well-placed ki blasts and landed on the top of one, crushing it.  Just like an insect back home… 

The fight was bloody, and had Gohan been a little less battle-crazed at the time, he would probably have been sick.  He was killing the creatures - sentient beings! - left and right, and he wasn't thinking anymore of it than the comparison to insects.  When this is over, I should probably find some time alone to be good and properly sick…

He and Kitten worked up a good sweat, and both sustained scratches and bruises this time around, but no serious injuries.  When the fight was done, Kitten walked over and smiled, breathing heavily.

"You're doing well, kid.  Keep up the good work.  Ready for another?"

"Yes."  Because if you give me time to think about what we're doing…

But they were already on their way again, this time headed for a slightly smaller hive of them.  This variety was the same as the first one had been, and the fight was easier.  Kitten boasted at the end that they hadn't touched her once - to which Gohan replied that the reason was because she was floating above them shooting them down - they never stood a chance.  She stuck her tongue out at him and flounced away.

The fourth city was different.  The creatures were more humanoid, with only one pair of legs and two pairs of arms.  Their ki readings were much higher - all were in the 40,000-60,000 thousand range, and all exhibited the ability to fly.  Gohan was immediately worried that Kitten wasn't paying enough attention - she didn't even stop to register her adversaries this time, she just attacked with a loud cry.  Their numbers, too, were enormous.  Gohan knew right away that these were probably the elite warriors on the planet - probably one of only a few settlements, in fact, judging by the sheer numbers.

Aaah, crap.  But the battle was on.  This one was significantly more difficult, and several times Gohan was afraid that he would lose - even with a significantly higher ki, with so many of them it would be easy to get overwhelmed. He fought on doggedly, refusing to hesitate and let them gain an advantage. A sick feeling in his heart told him that several of the creatures that he killed had been children, for all that they were attacking him with all the zeal of the adults.

"I'm at 30,952!"  The unexpected cry startled Gohan for a minute, and let one of the creatures land a decent punch.  It was almost without thinking that Gohan fired a ki blast through its heart.  She'd been counting?  She was proud of the number?

"I'm at 52,341 er, make that 2."  He realized, then, that he had been counting too.  For a different reason, his human side said sadly.  Our nightmares will start again, and this is your way of torturing yourself.  You want to know how many you're responsible for.  I wonder…  When you're 20, 40, 100 – will you still remember this number?  Probably.

He was jerked back to reality when he heard an indistinct cry that sounded rather similar to 'unfair!' and he allowed a tiny smile to crack across his face.  His Saiya-jin side grabbed control of his thoughts again, and urged him to let himself get lost in the fight.  Feel the flow, the rhythm… 

From the sounds coming to the left of him, Kitten had redoubled her efforts to outclass him.  Not gonna happen!  He thought with a grin, as he upped his own effort level.  Yes, the warrior was in charge, and the scholar was left to do the counting and the record keeping. 

The creatures around them also began to fight harder after hearing the numbers quoted, and Gohan wondered idly if that meant they could understand universal, or if it just meant that they were trying to keep up with their opponents' new intensity.

Suddenly he whirled as a scream came from directly behind him.  His ki flared as he watched in horror as three of the Ried-jins took Kitten down together.  His eyes widened as he heard her scream cut of abruptly, and her head flop awkwardly to the side – her neck was broken.  She was still alive, and her ki was still there, but she was completely defenseless. All he could do was watch in horror from across the battlefield as they moved for the kill, laughing grittily.

He wasn't aware that he was moving or that he was screaming, but suddenly he was there, and they were dead.  They were all dead - every single bug within the area was dead, and he couldn't even remember killing them.  All he saw was blood and all he felt was rage.  The overwhelming anger startled him, and threw him out of the blood lust as abruptly as he had gone into it.  What had happened?  He stood there for a minute, mouth gaping slightly as dark orange blood ran down his face.  He was covered in the orange Ried-jin blood – bathed in it, in fact.  There were more bodies than he could count, and a rather curious blank where his short-term memory was failing to keep him up to date.

What had happened?

But the sight of a familiar body strewn among the bodies of his enemies jerked him out of his shock-induced reverie.  He rushed over to Kitten's side, thanking all the Kais that she was still alive despite his momentary memory blank.  She wouldn't live for long, though, if he didn't do something for her – she was bleeding profusely and it wasn't just her neck that was broken… And to the extent of his knowledge, the regen tank had yet to be completely fixed. 

I can't let her stay like this until we fix the regen tank…  I know what it feels like, and I wouldn't wish that on anybody.  But the memory of his own broken-neck incident reminded him of the senzu bean he'd hastily stuffed into his armor before they left - Piccolo-sensei warned him never to go into a battle without at least one, no matter how easy you think the battle might be.  There is no excuse for being unprepared.  With a tiny grin, Gohan tipped her head back and forced the bean down. 

A minute passed, then Kitten sat up slowly, cracking her neck and feeling utterly amazed.  How had she gotten better?  She'd had her neck broken… hadn't she?  In wonder, she gazed down at her empty hands.  How? I'm positive that my neck was broken…

"How?  What? Gohan?" 

She turned her head towards the young boy and was slightly startled at his appearance.  Going in to battle, his hair had been neatly, albeit thickly, braided down his back - now it hung loose, flyaway spikes going every which way.  And his eyes… As she watched, she could've sworn they had gone from green to black.  But that's not possible.  I know Chikku-jin and Saiya-jin anatomy pretty well considering, and I know that their eyes don't change into pupil-less aqua.  Whatever it was, trick of the light or something else, it was gone now, and he was looking at her with concern.

"Are you okay, nee-chan?"

"Yeah, amazingly enough I feel perky and not at all as if I'd just spent the day killing things!"  She smiled slowly, relishing the feeling.  And it was true – all of the hurts, scratches, and growing fatigue were gone.  Suddenly her eyes narrowed suspiciously as she stood up.  "You didn't do anything screwy to me, did you?"

Gohan laughed lightly at her, adopting the excruciatingly innocent look that betrayed the fact that yes, he had done something, but he was way too cute to be berated for it.  Besides, what kind of weirdo punishes their savior?  Smiling cheerfully at him, she stretched again.

"Well kid, whatever it was that you did, you should bottle it or something - cause that's one hell of a miracle cure!"

The smile he gave her in return was slightly haunted, and caught her more than a bit off guard.  What had happened while she'd been out of it?  Because, as the piles of dead Ried-jins attested, something had happened involving massive enemy casualties.  But Gohan was turning now, and calling for her to hurry up.  With a shrug she took off after him, heading towards the next settlement of Ried-jins.  She would ponder that eerie smile later - right now there were bugs to exterminate and revenge to extricate!

Gohan turned away from Kitten and took off for yet another settlement.  He hoped that she wouldn't see his confusion and worry.  What had happened back there?  What had he done while the rage was controlling him?  The bugs in this area were the weaker variety, and only half his mind was occupied with fighting them - the other half gnawed on the various possibilities of his mental blank.

He was suddenly and rudely pulled out of his thoughts when one of the creatures, desperate to live, attacked him from behind and got a good grip on his massive quantity of hair.  Gohan growled - he hadn't realized that it'd come undone!  He gave the creature a sharp kick, sending it spiraling away, then proceeded to massage his aching scalp.

"Need a haircut, lad?" called an unexpected drawl above and to the left of him.  Gohan looked up in surprise and smiled at Ryl.

"Yeah, I think I do.  All this hair is getting to me!"

"It's getting to me too"

"Oh shut up, Sassy - my hair is none of your business!"

"Is too!  It makes you look like some sort of undignified savage - the type of person that I dislike being associated with."

"I'm curious how you can say that with the brother you have."

"Good point, lad," came the musing reply, and Gohan grinned at Ryl's mock horror.

"Hey!  Low blow!"

Gohan laughed slightly as he argued good-naturedly with the Twins, alternating zings with kills.   This is what battle ought to be like, the Saiya-jin corner of his mind purred with contentment: Camaraderie and death in equal measures…

For now, at least, he would push away the gnawing questions.  For now, he would wear the mask that had first donned at four, out in the wilderness with Piccolo.  For now, he would let his friends concentrate on the battle, and for now he would convince himself that he was all right. 

They all returned to the ship within the hour, bloody and exhausted, but in high spirits.  After the Twins had joined up with Kitten and Gohan, they had met up with Dae and Hali, with Xe meeting them at the ship.  Everyone was smiling, and they all congratulated Gohan on his spectacular first show.

"He was magnificent, Chief!  He was fast, and kept up with me when it came to numbers." Kitten boasted with a proud grin.

"What're you talking about, 'kept up'?  I surpassed you by far!"

"Whatever, kid."

They both grinned at each other, and Hali nodded solemnly at Gohan in congratulations.  Kitten had picked up a while ago that Gohan didn't want to have 'the incident' mentioned, so she kept her mouth shut about it, even though she was still dying of curiosity about what had really happened back there.  She wouldn't mention it to Hali unless Gohan brought it up first.  She was still curious about that strange smile from earlier – so unlike the easy grin he was sending her now.

In fact, they were so busy grinning at each other that they completely missed Sassy approaching the child from behind, a mischievous smirk plastered on her face.  A quiet 'snip snip' was all it took to alert the advanced senses of the Saiya-jin that something was happening, and Sassy was on her back twenty feet away nano-seconds later. 

The damage had already been done, however - to Gohan's acute chagrin, she had in her possession an embarrassingly large quantity of black hair.  Kitten burst into hysterics at the sight of a now shorthaired Gohan, who looked slightly befuddled and was rubbing the back of his head in bemusement.  Though I have to admit, the short hair looks better on him…  I wonder why he never cut it before?

With a halfhearted vow to avenge his lost locks, Gohan joined the Faceless Ones boarding the ship once again, heading back out in to space.

For a first mission he did very well.  Very well indeed…

AN: Lexi: *sighs explosively* You know, I've come to the startling conclusion that there is no such thing as free time.

Kat: *laughs* You're just learning this now, Lexi-chan?

Lexi: *glares, rolls her eyes*

Kat: *laughs*  Well, there it was – the much awaited LONG chapter! ^__^  This chapter actually took research (*gasp*) into how strong we needed to make Gohan and the others.  Please remember that Saiya-jins get stronger each time they get hurt – and Gohan got very, very hurt on planet Keman.  Also keep in mind that he was almost constantly training while in space, unlike on Earth where he spent a lot of time studying.

Lexi: *inserts herself into the explanation*  In case you're wondering about the source of his outfit in this chapter – remember the capsule case?  "There were his orange gis, his purple gis, his special set of Saiya-jin spandex and armor (courtesy of Vegeta)…" (chptr 10).  Therefore I prove that spandex doesn't fall from the sky!

Kat: *sweatdrops*  Ugh.

Lexi: Oh yeah!  And he has dark red boots because they look cooler, and Vegeta would never allow Gohan to have an outfit too close to his own. ^____^

Vegeta: damn straight!

Kat: Get out of my story, Vegeta!

Vegeta: *grumbles, leaves*

Anyways, thank you all for your continuing support!  This chapter was a lot of fun, and we're nearing the end the first section – one more chapter, then the real action starts!  The chapter production rate might slow down a tad, too, because we're also nearing the end of the mostly prewritten chapters. .  We're keeping this story on the top of our priority list, though, so don't worry – it wont fall into neglect like some of Lexi's other stories.

Next time on Dance Among the Stars:

You've all been wondering, I'm sure, why this story has such an odd title.  Well, contrary to popular opinion, it isn't just because Lexi and I have a taste for the poetic: The title is what it is for a reason.  Why is this relevant, you ask?  Because the next chapter will not only be exploring Gohan's psyche (what fun!) and relationship to the Faceless Ones, it will also give an explanation for the title.  Tune in next week for chapter 13: Dance Among the Stars.