To my reviewers and to all who read this story…I thank you all for your kind words and encouragement. I probably would have passed this story off as not worth the effort without your positive feedback. Thank you. Your reviews are always welcome.
I apologize for the long wait…I injured several fingers while playing basketball, and one of them is still splinted. The typing's kinda rough right now, so please bear with me.
Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or anything of Toriyama's. That's why it's called a FAN fiction.
Chapter Five
Hell
"No, master! I swear it! I never did such a thing! I am loyal only to you!" cried a voice in a demonic tongue. The owner of the voice, of course, spoke no more after those frantically hissed words. Once the intentions of an underling are doubted, their life is forfeit. The screams of the dying demon echoed through the winding corridors of the spire, for there is no mercy in Hell.
"I do not doubt it," the "master" told the corpse. "But you've outlived your usefulness to me."
Hell was home to a host of demons, the souls of whom were blacker than pitch, darker than a moonless night. Of course, it was the final "resting" ground for the souls of the wicked, but a part of the realm was set apart for the most diabolical of them all. These demons preyed upon the living and walked among them, returning home only when the need arose or when they were banished to it.
Piccolo Daimao was one such demon.
The Demon Lord, when defeated by Goku eleven years before, had been sent to Hell by King Yemma, of course, and such was the power of the Keeper of the Dead that Daimao was forbidden to intervene in the mortal realm under penalty of erasure. Once erased, he would simply cease to exist, as was the case of any soul at all. There were many dead demons among the hosts in Hell, but for one specifically to be placed under penalty of erasure was almost an honor. A demon malicious enough to warrant such a punishment was almost certainly worthy of the respect of the demon realm.
And that's just what Daimao got.
Among all the deceased demons of Hell, Daimao was the only one respected and feared enough to stay in the company of the Seer, a winged fiend with the power to see into, and thus affect, the mortal realm. This Seer was humanoid, unlike most other demons, and it kept residence in a cavern in the lower levels of the realm. No being, living or dead, came to visit it save Daimao, who did not fear him. It was whispered in Hell that the Seer consumed the flesh of other demons. Else why would it require bodies?
Daimao didn't believe a word of it. He currently strode along the reddish ground in the demon realm toward the Seer's cavern, not once fearing attack. For one thing, he was a Demon Lord…which entitled him to certain "privileges". For another, the burden he dragged had a purpose which had yet to be fulfilled. He seethed at the thought that he was being used as little more than an errand-boy, and the sole reason preventing him from ramming the corpse down the Seer's throat was his son. He needed the Seer's help in learning why Ma Junior had not yet killed Son Goku. It was beyond him…last time he had heard of his son, the young demon hated the boy with a passion. His passion, to be correct.
The elder demon scowled as he stepped over a pit trap. But the boy had not yet destroyed Son Goku. In fact, he had supposedly teamed up with the damned human in order to defeat his Saiyan brother! Which would make Goku a Saiyan as well. That would explain why he was so difficult to defeat, Daimao mused to himself. The entire Saiyan race was too meddlesome for its own good. It deserved its extinction. Or rather, near-extinction. If the race was still intact…who knows what they could have messed up in our hierarchy.
As Daimao approached the threshold of the cavern, two imps appeared at the entrance. The smaller demons were a mottled red-black in color, with four wings protruding from their backs. They were also equipped with talons and fangs, standard demon features. They hissed their displeasure at being disturbed by an unknown demon, and they readied themselves for an attack, red eyes flashing.
Daimao snorted in amusement. Two imps dare to confront him? A demon lord? They would be no match for him, and he let them know it. The demon dropped his bundle before charging a ki ball in one hand and snarling at the lesser monstrosities. Predictably, they quailed at the sight of the more powerful being, and they vanished in less than a second. Daimao then hefted his cargo over his shoulder and stepped into the cavern.
The Seer's cavern was representative of a demon's paradise. Hot steam wafted from cracks in the ground, which supposedly led to the fires heating the great Furnace, the construct that held the worst of the souls in Hell (plus a few unfortunate others that had fallen from Snake Way). On occasion, one could hear the screams of the tortured souls in the Furnace itself through the same cracks. In other places were pools of stagnant water, the breeding grounds of imps. The Seer either needs the annoying bastards for something, Daimao thought, or has pest control. The predominant color in the cavern was a reddish-brown.
"Cute," the demon lord snarled a few minutes later. He had walked through the cavern and scouted out its perimeter, but the Seer's abode had disappeared. It had been just to the left of the jutting rock formation near the center of the cavern… its space was now vacant. "I do not have to put up with this. Seer!" he bellowed. "Come out before I blast the whole damn place apart!"
Daimao did not have to wait long.
"Temper, temper," a quiet voice echoed through the cavern. "There's no need to shout, Daimao. You'd see it if you opened your eyes." Startled, the demon lord flinched imperceptibly and blinked.
The hut was there, as it had always been.
Muttering obscenities to himself, the irritated demon stalked up to the door. He had to duck to avoid hitting his head on the doorframe. "Seer," he growled as he spotted a figure hunched over the hearth.
"Daimao," the Seer acknowledged. "Did you bring me what I have requested?"
In response, the demon flung the body of the underling at the Seer. It stopped well short of its intended target, though. The Seer's ki shield was always in place, and the type of shield enacted had only one purpose: to keep out the unwelcome. In this instance, the "unwelcome" was the unfortunate lesser demon. "Did you erase it, Daimao?" the Seer asked into the fire. "We can't have witnesses to this."
"I already know that, Seer," Piccolo Daimao grumbled. "And you do not have to remind me of the implications. I have pondered them myself. Now get this over with…I have other matters to attend to."
"A bit nervous, are we?" the Seer asked, mildly amused. It turned its body completely toward Daimao, giving him a good look at its face.
The Seer had facial features much like that of a human, with high cheekbones and a sharply pointed nose, as if it had been the result of a bizarre cross between a human and a Namek. Its skin was a dull brown, and the firelight gave it an eerie glow. Its pointed ears were half-hidden by a mass of greasy black hair. Two large, leathery wings protruded from its back, the coloring dark enough to be considered black. Those wings ended in sharp claws capable of rending flesh in two with a single swipe. "There is no reason to be nervous, Piccolo Daimao," the Seer chuckled, revealing a row of very white, very sharp fangs. "The Keeper of the Dead cannot find you in here. I have made sure of it."
"Then that's one thing you've done right."
"You still did not answer my question, Daimao," the Seer asked. "Was it erased? Or did you let the soul escape?"
Daimao growled. "Yes, it was erased. Get on with it, now."
The Seer stood up straight and stretched out its wings. It yawned before stalking over to a large polished rock. After careful inspection, the demon sighed and flicked its slender tail out of the way before sitting on it. "There is no reason to hurry, Daimao. Matters such as this are best thought out carefully beforehand. Especially after your last mishap. Uranai Baba had to be called in from the mortal realm, oh mighty Demon Lord."
"I accomplished my purpose, Seer!" Daimao growled. "The Earthlings were stalled. They have lost valuable time. And unless Son Goku manages to return to Earth within the next week, Kami and the other weaklings will be pulverized by the hybrids."
The Seer reached out its hand to the corpse of the lesser demon, and it slid across the floor toward the rock. "And what of your son, Daimao? Are you not worried that he will be killed in the battle as well?" it asked as it lifted one of the corpse's arms. It scrutinized the hand for half a minute before slicing off a finger with its talons. Then it narrowed its eyes in concentration, and the rest of the corpse exploded.
Daimao weathered the explosion without so much as blinking an eye. "Seer, that's what you are for. But I know for a fact that my son was able to face off against the second transformation of Frieza, and that is no small amount of strength."
"Daimao, you could do the same. You realize this, do you not?" The other demon then produced a small piece of flawed quartz from a small pouch on his belt. He fingered the crystal gently before jamming it through the finger and causing a small amount of yellow blood to bubble up around it.
The demon lord scowled again. "I could defeat this Frieza creature down here in my own realm because I would have all the evils of Hell behind me, empowering me. I may even defeat him in the Hell set aside for the souls of the deceased. But on Namek, there would have been little to no chance for a victory, and you know that, Seer. My power lies here, in Hell, in my own world. And that is why I must find my son. He has not yet fully tapped into his heritage yet…he has trained for years and become strong without most of the benefits of our race, Seer. He can accomplish what I could not because of that simple oversight, and to remedy that I must find him."
The Seer glanced sideways at the elder demon while curling the finger around the crystal. Daimao had always been an independent being, part of the reason he had ascended so quickly in the ranks of the Underworld. He needed no one to aid him in any of his undertakings until now. Now he needed the Seer's help in locating his wayward son, and he needed his son to create the Hell-On-Earth he so longed for. It barely contained a laugh at the thought of the mighty demon so humbled…Daimao was not known for his patience, and it had already tried his patience too many times today for its own comfort. "So you can create your Hell-On-Earth, Daimao? So you can plunder the wealth of the realm of the living on the planet Earth?"
"Must I make myself any clearer, Seer?" the demon snapped. "With Son Goku out of the way, Ma Junior and I are free to take over that world. I will be able to deal with the hybrids myself, then, and my power will be absolute." He paused for an instant to regain his composure; he had unknowingly begun to power up, and he needed to remain calm, nonchalant, in front of the Seer. He needn't destroy his image over a small incident. "All you need to do is be my eyes into the mortal realm."
"That is acceptable, Daimao. In return, I wish to be left in peace once this realm merges with that of the mortals."
"When I reap my rewards, and only if you have proved your usefulness to me."
The Seer sighed, thankful that the demon lord had not chosen to destroy him for such words. Then he looked into the piece of crystal. "Give me but a moment, Daimao, and I shall reveal the mortal realm to you."
North Quadrant, Planet Earth
Piccolo was the first to touch down next to the sole tree in the field. "Chiaotzu, are you sure this is where Kami said she'd meet us?" he growled, crossing his arms over his chest, as always. "We were supposed to meet at her little hide-away."
"I'm positive, Piccolo," the emperor said quickly as he, too, dropped to the ground. "He gave me the image of this place, and I've never known him to be wrong. She must have changed her mind."
The derisive snort that came from the Namek led Chiaotzu to believe that Piccolo thought otherwise. Not that he blamed him. The emperor had gone through both Kami's and Piccolo's minds several times before Piccolo had learned how to shield himself, and from what he had seen Piccolo's hatred of Kami wasn't wholly unfounded. Kami had his own share of misdeeds as well, such as never confronting Piccolo as a child. In Chiaotzu's opinion, had Kami actually approached the younger Namek at that time in his life, he very well might have been able to change him from the dark being he was to the side of good. The Earth Guardian, who supposedly gave all life on his planet equal standing, never gave Piccolo a chance to see life as it should have been, and it was the younger Namek who had suffered because of it. Chiaotzu would have felt pity for him had he thought Piccolo would accept it, but Piccolo was never one to ask for such a thing, and ever since he had passed Chiaotzu in telepathic abilities the emperor had kept up mental shielding, lest he discover the sympathy.
Tien landed next to Chiaotzu, followed by Krillin, Gohan, and Yamcha with Bulma. "Piccolo, is Uranai Baba going to be here soon? Mom still has homework for me to do," Gohan said. "I have to finish my lesson on logarithmic functions and their graphing." The young demi-Saiyan sat down at the base of the tree and looked up through the leaves at the sky.
"If the old hag isn't here in three minutes, I'm leaving," Piccolo muttered. "I have better things to do with my time than to sit and wait for a witch riding a crystal ball."
"You should learn to be more patient, Ma Junior," came a rough voice. "When I say I will come, I will come!" With a bright flash of light, the witch known as Uranai Baba, sister to Master Roshi, appeared. The old woman sat on top of a crystal scrying ball, which hovered several feet above the ground. She wore black robes and a tall, pointed hat. Her magenta-colored hair poked out from beneath the hat. "Now, what can I do for you?" she asked.
Krillin opened his mouth to speak, but Piccolo cut him off before he had a chance to say anything. "Cut the crap, witch," Piccolo growled. "You know why we are here and what we need done. Get on with it!"
The old witch scowled up at the emerald-colored warrior. "I would watch my mouth if I was you, child," Baba warned. "Your name is already spreading like a wildfire in the Afterlife, and quite frankly, you don't need the publicity. Now, if someone would care to ask me nicely, I might be able to help you."
The group of warriors and the scientist exchanged glances.
"Umm, Miss Baba?" Gohan nervously asked after half a minute. "Can you help me find out where my dad is, please?"
The witch chuckled at the boy. "Well, young Gohan, I would be most delighted to help you. Especially since you were polite about it." She glanced accusingly at Piccolo, who scowled back at her. Then Baba slid off her crystal ball and landed on the ground next to Krillin. She dusted off her robes, muttering about dirt and insects, before turning back around and placing her hands on the ball.
"Show me the one known as Son Goku!" she commanded, narrowing her eyes in concentration. The normally transparent ball suddenly turned a milky-white in color, forming half-images of stars and lightning as it tracked its target. The whole while she hummed a meaningless tune, and Piccolo had to cover his ears after the fifth time through the melody.
The crystal ball worked fast.
"I…I don't believe it!" Bulma exclaimed in amazement as the outline of a space pod began to form in the ball. "There's no logical explanation for this, but it's happening anyway? How is this even possible?" She blinked several times in rapid succession to be sure that she was not imagining this, that the image of a ship was appearing out of an unexplainable mist inside a floating crystal ball. To her astonishment, the ship only became more visible to her the more she blinked.
"Bulma, it's magic," Krillin stated. "Pure and simple, you can't explain it."
"But…" the scientist pleaded briefly.
"Bulma, there really are no buts," Yamcha told her. "Trust me, I know. There's a lot of stuff in the Afterlife that's possible only because someone used magic to make it real. I've seen it…it's just, well, magic."
In less than three minutes, Goku was visible inside the spaceship. The Saiyan's eyes were closed and he was relatively motionless, but other than that, to all outward appearances he was unharmed. "Why isn't he doing anything, Piccolo?" Gohan asked anxiously. "He's not moving or anything!"
Bulma, still wary of the crystal ball, crept forward slowly and peered at the image. "That idiot…he's locked himself into stasis!" she exclaimed angrily, clenching her hands into fists by her thighs.
"What?" Krillin asked. "How did he manage to do that?"
The blue-haired woman began to stomp around in a circle. "The dummy was probably panicking when the planet exploded, and knowing him, he started hitting random buttons in the spaceship without even bothering to read what they did in the manual!"
"Um, Bulma," Krillin said, "I don't think alien space pods come with manuals."
Bulma froze completely.
"I think he's got you there, Bulma," Yamcha joked.
For a few seconds more the woman remained motionless. Then she practically exploded. "How do you know those ships don't come with manuals?" she shrieked. "All ships come with manuals so people can read what they're supposed to be doing! It's practically a law!"
Piccolo and Gohan rolled their eyes as the now-enraged woman began tearing her hair out. "Piccolo?" Gohan asked as he approached his mentor. "Do you think she's going to realize that my dad can't read anyway? Much less that aliens don't have to follow Earth laws?"
"Don't bet on it, kid," the Namek told him.
"Can we get back to business?" Baba snapped. "I don't have all day, you know. My time is every bit as important as yours!" The five Earthlings and the Namek refocused their attention on the ball…Bulma was still ranting about the injustice of not having a manual in a foreign space pod and therefore not paying any attention to the group. "Where was I?" she muttered. "Ah, that's right. Goku is in the eastern part of the North Quadrant, although how he got that far is beyond me. He's in pretty good health despite this whole stasis thing, though it shouldn't be beyond Shenlong's power to bring him out of it."
"Is that all there is, Baba?" Tien asked, watching out of the corner of his eyes as Piccolo stiffened suddenly. "All we have to do is wish him awake?"
"It should be."
Gohan also noticed the sudden change in Piccolo. "Piccolo? What's wrong?" he asked.
The Namek warrior looked unusually unsettled. "There's something not right here…" he muttered, his voice trailing off as his eyes darted from person to person. "I can't place it, but something is watching us."
Chiaotzu then gasped as he, too, locked in on the feeling. "You're right. I can feel it, too."
"You're not kidding!" Tien exclaimed as he massaged his temples. "Do either of you know where it's coming from?"
"Not a…" Piccolo's voice again trailed off as he turned his head sharply towards Baba. "There," he growled.
The three telepaths locked their eyes on Uranai Baba's crystal ball. Bulma stopped ranting as all noise from the rest of the group stopped.
"What's there?" Bulma asked, pushing past Krillin so she could stand next to Yamcha, who was equally confused. Gohan followed behind her and helped Krillin back onto his feet.
Baba followed the gazes of the telepathic warriors to the ball. "What do you think you're trying to pull, Piccolo? There's nothing wrong with the ball. I just had it fixed! You're not fooling anyone," she snapped. Then the witch yelped and tore her hands off the ball. Piccolo was the only one able to see the palms of her hands before she withdrew them into her robes.
Baba's hands were red and blistering.
What the hell? "Get away from the ball," Piccolo growled, backing away so fast that it took the humans and demi-Saiyan a few seconds to locate him. I don't like this at all, he thought. Then he contacted Tien.
Tien, her hands are burned. Tell me, a crystal ball always obeys its creator, true? he asked.
The triclops glanced over at him and nodded, a somewhat concerned expression apparent on his face. Yeah, that's right. You don't like what's happening either, I take it.
"There's something wrong with…what the – " Piccolo began cursing in his native tongue as the image of Goku was replaced with a swirling red and gold mass of plasma, streaked heavily with black.
"What did you do to my ball, demon?" Baba screeched, causing the sensitive Namek to wince. The group took another step away from the ball as it began to glow red. The pulsating light seemed to draw them to it, and only Baba's yelling kept most of them in touch with reality.
"I did nothing to it, witch!" he shouted as the wind began to howl around them. Suddenly, the light seemed to cave in on itself. "Take cover!" someone shouted. Then the light burst free of the ball, leaving a swirling vortex of red and black inside of it.
Piccolo dropped to his knees and screamed in pain, clutching at his head. The pain! It felt like someone had driven a hot blade through his mind, leaving it scorched and unable to function. He could not understand exactly what had happened, but he did know that someone had attacked him mentally. When he was able to open his eyes once again, he noticed that nearly everyone else had been affected as well. Chiaotzu was unconscious, and Tien was curled into a ball on the ground and moaning. Gohan was massaging his temples and leaning on Krillin, who seemed unfazed by the attack. Baba was covering her ears and shouting in a language Piccolo did not recognize. Yamcha was trying to calm Bulma down…she had gone into a fit of hysterics when she saw three of the warriors drop as if they were flies. Neither of them seemed affected as well.
The Namek rose up on one knee, grimacing. Whoever it was took out the telepaths first…which is why Chiaotzu and Tien dropped, and Gohan and Baba were affected, yet the other three were left alone. What the hell is going on? Piccolo then pushed himself off the ground and stood up. As he did, the winds howling from the corrupted ball pushed him back, but he held his ground, determined to uncover and kill whoever had dared to search through his mind.
Then he felt something calling to him, beckoning to him from inside the unknown vortex. He refused to answer the call for a moment only, before it began forcefully drawing him into it. Again, he felt the same stab of pain in his mind, and he collapsed mere feet in front of Uranai Baba's crystal ball. He thought he heard someone frantically calling his name from somewhere behind him, but he could not find the strength to speak. The same something that had beckoned to him now wanted him to join it, and he felt himself being drawn into the depths of the corrupted magical artifact. And his world slowly went black.
* * * * *
How's that for an evil cliffhanger? I apologize if Daimao or Uranai Baba were out-of-character…I have yet to see Daimao on TV or read about him in the manga, and I've seen Baba a whopping two times.
Ah, well. Thanks for bearing with me for the last two weeks of no updating, and thanks for reading this chapter. Please review and let me know if it just got interesting or if the formatting is starting to bug you.
~Dreamwraith