And thus continues the Darkness-unleashed chaos within the Afterlife, though by this point it is reaching a focal apex. Also, by this chapter Light and Darkness should be fully explained. I realize this concept is not self evident, and I have done my best in the story itself to explain it, but I suppose I'd be open to specific questions.



To the one in need of specification: weird review (there's a significant amount of tongue in my cheek, here).



Actually, the battle between Pakihaun (yes, I do realize that it should technically be spelled and pronounced Pikkon, but I strongly prefer my version, which is how I originally misheard his name. Consider this an effect of this alternate universe) and Goku will not be as Afterlife-shaking as one might imagine, for a number of reasons:

1) The Afterlife is by large much more powerful. The Kais are stronger, and most of the Kioshins actually still exist. Overall, there's much more power being thrown around, so they stand out less.

2) Pakihaun is a bit weaker, as a result of universal balance, though Darkness somewhat negates this.

3) Goku is far stronger than his cannon counterpart. For one, he has had to go through far more, and for another, he's been sparring with a powerful opponent for quite some time, meaning that his progress is very high. He is actually capable of going to the third level of Super Saiyan, but refuses to do so with the power drain involved. In short, he's in a completely different league.

Actually, you'll see what happens this chapter...



-



King Kai laughed at South's predicament, getting beaten up by someone. He had continued laughing until, suddenly, South's ki had ceased to exist. It served him right, and King Kai would benefit from this, but there was still something wrong. Whoever had killed him meant business.

Waving his antenna and sensing around him, King Kai attempted to search for the killers but found nothing. There was a good possibility they were on their way here. If so, they would get more than they bargained for. Walking outside, he found Bubbles and Gregory. They needed to leave. Gathering a bit of energy, King Kai transported them away from the area. Now all he needed to do was get his car to someplace safe.

Turning to it, King Kai was thrown backward by a blast that seemed to fly from nowhere. His car erupted into bits of shrapnel. Gritting his teeth, King Kai wildly fired at the location the blast had originated from. West Kai was unprepared for a counterattack so soon and was struck in the stomach.

Glancing around him carefully, King Kai identified those fighting him as East and West Kai. Where these really the ones who had killed South Kai? He could sense something was wrong, but it was a presence he had not felt before. Once he had beaten them, he could figure it out. Perhaps some research would be necessary. For now, however, he finally had a legitimate reason to beat on the other Kais.

Rushing forward, King Kai managed to surprise them for a few seconds. That was all he really needed. Grabbing them by the shirt collars, he hurled them both away from his planet. Not that it would actually stop them, or even deal that much damage. What it would do is buy him a bit of time.

Raising his hands to the sky, King Kai began gathering all the surrounding energy that he could. His small planet didn't have a lot of ki, but it had enough to create a decent sized Spirit Bomb. It probably wouldn't require more of that. As he considered his energy, he found himself slightly worried. Normally it was purer than this. Probably a result of the other Kais being here, contaminating his energy. Served them right.

They landed just in time to be struck head on with a large blast. King Kai laughed and shook his head. It was just too easy. The typical rules of the Afterlife stated that no single Kai could defeat two. But with his technique, it had been pretty easy to do so.

Dust faded, and both West and East were still there and intact. Gritting his teeth, King Kai realized something was a lot more wrong than he had thought. There should have been no way for them to survive that blast. Not only did they survive it, now both hurled massive energy blasts in his direction. Raising a shield, King Kai weathered the blast, then fired a few of his own.

East Kai deflected them, and West Kai was already in the air, flying closer. Concerned with breaking East Kai's defenses, King Kai failed to notice him and was struck directly. Falling backward, he fell victim to another set of large blasts from both of them. Things were not going well.

Rolling to his feet, King Kai decided it was time to get serious about the fight.

"Kio-ken!"

Red energy began to rush over King Kai, and both of the other Kais hesitated in their attack. That was a mistake. Attacking with a boosted frenzy, King Kai smashed into them. Blasting West Kai into the stratosphere, King Kai rained down upon East, pummeling her into the ground. Just as he was about to finish her off, a blast from West Kai knocked him off course.

It didn't deal that much damage, but did stun him long enough for West Kai to smash into him again. Something had definitely changed about him, King Kai decided, his blows hurt a lot more than they should have. As he landed, however, King Kai found himself getting to his feet only with difficultly.

"You might have granted yourself a large amount of power," West Kai smirked, "but it's wearing out your body. You can't keep fighting like this."

"Wanna bet?" King Kai smirked back. Throwing back his head, he yelled, "Kio-ken x 2!"

The rush of power forced off the tiredness that had been in his bones before. Fresh with energy, King Kai hammered into West Kai. West attempted to adopt a more defensive style, trying to wear King Kai out, but found it wasn't enough. Now at twice his original power, King Kai could not be stopped.

Just as King Kai dropped to the ground victoriously, a blow smashed into his back. Tumbling, King Kai expected to see East Kai, but was surprised to find that the Great Kai was there instead. Something about him had changed, too. This was shaping up to be a tough fight. His sneak attack had been dishonorable, but in any case it had taken a lot out of him. Combined with the wear and tear of Kio-ken combat, and King Kai wasn't doing too well.

West and East were both unable to fight, but King Kai wasn't sure he could defeat the Great Kai. It was certain, however, that he couldn't do it in his present condition. Before he could better consider his strategy, King Kai realized that Great Kai was charging him, and that he couldn't dodge. In that case, there was only one option left to him.

"Kio-ken x 3!"

A burst of red energy suddenly flared into existence around King Kai, and the Great Kai was blasted backward. Before he could recover, King Kai kicked him then backhanded him. To his horror, the Great Kai only fell back a short distance and attacked again, this time catching King Kai. As he fell back, watching the Great Kai follow him to attack again, King Kai realized he was fighting a losing battle.

Great Kai could take a lot more damage than he could, and hadn't done as much fighting. Plus, the longer things went on, the weaker King Kai would get. He had to finish the fight now, if he was ever going to finish it. Just as Great Kai got to him, King Kai fired the remainder of his energy directly up. Then, he finished his fall, landing hard on the ground and not getting up.

Unfortunately for him, one blast alone was insufficient to bring down the Great Kai. Only a bit weakened, the possessed Great Kai dropped to the ground. Moving to the other fallen Kai's he imparted a bit of his power to them. Then, he slowly moved over to the fallen North Kai, bent down beside him, and began forcing Darkness into him as well.

Before he could get very far, a blur flew from the side and slammed into Great Kai, sending him backward, smashing through King Kai's house. The blur continued, slamming into both East and West, sending them off the planet. When it slowed, King Kai recognized it as North Kioshin.

"Why are you here?" he asked weakly. North Kioshin glanced down at him.

"To stop Darkness. I drew the short straw and had to go help you lowlifes."

No further conversation took place, as all three of the possessed warriors had arrived back, and now faced off with North Kioshin.

"It's three to one," Great Kai told him, "in a battle of powers you cannot possibly win."

North Kioshin flicked back a lock of hair carelessly. "Correction. It is three Kais to one Kioshin. One Kioshin is worth far more than that."

As if to prove him wrong, all three fired a massive blast at once. Their energy combined and was launched together, a beam of black energy that struck North Kioshin directly. King Kai felt the energy as it nearly struck him, and shuddered at the power behind it. He saw, before the others, that North Kioshin made no attempt to dodge, and allowed the blast to sweep over him uselessly.

Silence reigned as the cloud of dust billowed around where North had been struck. Then it was broken by the ominous sound of metal scraping on metal as North drew his sword. Flying from the cloud of dust at top speed, North Kioshin cleaved East in half, and in the same motion, hurled the sword. It struck West directly, finishing him off as well. Great Kai attempted to strike the lone Kioshin warrior, but was batted aside by a backhand. Picking up his sword, North turned to the Great Kai as he charged once again.

King Kai was barely able to follow his movements as North Kioshin swung around Great Kai in a series of slicing sword techniques. When he stopped, the Great Kai fell to the ground, Darkness in his eyes crackling.

"Worthless scum," North Kioshin muttered, replacing his sword. From the ground, Great Kai laughed.

"This body," he said, barely audible, "is finished. But its work is done. Our power has only increased. All you have done is nothing but an exercise in futility."

Raising a finger, North Kioshin incinerated him. He began to walk off, leaving King Kai to struggle to his feet.



On the far side of the galaxy, in two different locations, Darkness swelled up yet again. Black flames rose from the ground, and two different figures were engulfed. Within seconds, two new drones had been made. Both teleported from their location.



Finally making it to his feet, King Kai noticed two figures appear above North Kioshin. Both fired large energy blasts. Should he warn him to look out? King Kai decided not to. Served him right for acting so high and mighty. The two balls of energy slammed into the Kioshin, sending him into the sky. They also smashed into the planet, and the shockwaves tore it apart. Managing to get enough energy to fly, King Kai avoided the fiery destruction of his planet.

In control of his flight, North Kioshin instantly glanced at his attackers. Both East and South Kioshin flew closer, and North Kioshin saw that their eyes were a solid black.



"Do you understand what we're going to do?"

"More or less," 18 responded. "After I find the possessed people; how do I destroy Darkness?"

"Right. I can't tell you now, but I know the information is on this page. Give me a second and I'll figure it out."

"You won't have that!"

All three of them glanced up in time to see Eclipse above them, and then a bolt of flame shot down. It took Goku a second to realize that the true target was the book, and by then it was too late. Whatever type of flame Eclipse had used, it burnt the book in Piccolo's hands to crisp in a moment.

His work done, Eclipse opened a portal and fled into it. This time, however, he was a bit sloppy about it. Leaping after him, Goku managed to catch hold of his energy trail. Ripping open Eclipse's portal, Goku nodded once to 18 and Piccolo and dived through it.

"Great," Piccolo muttered, dropping the ashes he now held.

"So what are we going to do?"

"Our timetable just got pushed. This is going to be close. First, you go stop the possessed warrior in the upper Afterlife we've been sensing. I'll find Dai Kioshin and deal with the problem there."

"But what about Darkness?"

"You do understand how to imprison it, right?"

"Yeah, I got that part."

"Do that first. I'll try to figure out the rest later. I can contact you psychically when I figure it out."

"Alright."

Piccolo blasted off, and 18 raised two fingers to her forehead. Within seconds, both of them were gone.



Eclipse cursed as he realized Goku was following down the same portal. Now, he needed to somehow take the fight to his home court. Bending the portal slightly, Eclipse aimed them to the lower Afterlife. Then, he slammed out of the portal and into reality again. Glancing around him, Eclipse failed to move in time to avoid Goku, who followed him from the portal in full body-check mode.

Flying through the air, Eclipse waited for Goku to try and follow up his attack, then smashed him in the face. Dodging to the side, Goku managed to only get clipped by the blow. As the force spun him around, he held out a leg, which struck Eclipse on the stomach.

This time, instead of attempting to physically attack again, Goku launched a flare of energy after Eclipse, who raised a shield against the blast. Swiping a hand through the air, Eclipse launched a invisible, cutting line of ki. Sensing something, Goku twisted to the side, avoiding it. In response, he did something with his hands and seemed to separate, but then he was one again. So either his technique failed or it was only meant to confuse, Eclipse determined.

Either way, he was going to pay for it. Swiping the air several more times, Eclipse launched more lines. Goku seemed barely able to keep up with him, and each blast nearly struck him. Grinning savagely, Eclipse put even more energy into his assault. Occasionally a beam managed to hit Goku, but the saiyan shrugged it off and kept dodging.

Suddenly Eclipse felt his arms and legs twisted behind him by some other force. Straining to look, he realized that Goku was somehow behind him. Yet, across the battlefield Goku was still dodging the last of the ki arcs. How was this possible?

The first Goku flew over to where Eclipse was. Struggling, Eclipse tried to escape this other Goku's grasp, but found that he was slightly overpowered. Just slightly, however. Just before Goku struck, Eclipse figured it out. Somehow, Goku had split himself into two different forms, one of which had gotten behind him.

Striking as fast as he could, Goku hammered away on the now defenseless Eclipse. His blows were only half as powerful, but he needed his other form strong enough to hold off Eclipse. But it was irrelevant, he could still deal plenty of damage this way. Then, Eclipse let out a yell, and a blast exploded from him. Falling back, Goku called his other form to him and fused once again.

Jumping with all of his power and speed once more, Goku caught the overconfident Eclipse and sent him hurtling through the sky again. Catching himself, Eclipse zoomed back toward Goku, who charged in return. Both became locked into a close-quarters fight.



Pakihaun suddenly reigned in his flight as a form materialized in front of him. Whatever it was, he sensed no Darkness, so therefore it had to die. Firing a massive sheet of energy, he smirked and began to fly on, assuming nothing could have survived his attack. He hadn't realized that 18 had ducked under his attack, and now slammed him with a kick to the jaw. As Pakihaun fell back, he left himself open for a hard jab to the rips that sent him flying.

As 18 rushed to attack again, Pakihaun let loose his full power. The blast struck 18 just as she reached him and sent her blasting backward and to the ground. Dropping to the ground, surrounded by his ki aura, Pakihaun smirked at her as she made it to her feet.

"This body was the greatest of the Celestial Fighters. Who are you to try and stop me?"

18 didn't respond, except with a concentrated bolt of energy that nearly took Pakihaun's head off. Sliding along the ground a little bit, he attacked again, but found himself easily evaded. A foot struck him on the back of the head, sending him for the ground. Turning his fall into a roll, Pakihaun regained his feet, and fired a ki blast backward. Leaning to the left, 18 let it pass harmlessly by.

Sliding back further and into the air, Pakihaun began launching a flurry of blasts toward where she stood. Dodging a few, 18 waited for a sufficient dust cloud to rise, then teleported out and behind Pakihaun. She patiently waited for him to waste his energy. Still believing he was dealing damage, Pakihaun continued to blast the ground beneath him. He fired blast after blast, but eventually he realized something wasn't right.

He couldn't feel 18's presence, but he did sense a slight disruption in the air currents behind him. There was a good bet she was there. If it wasn't her there, it hardly mattered who he killed. Continuing to fire pointlessly at the spot of ground, Pakihaun began gathering energy. When he had enough, he suddenly whirled and launched all of it in a blast that struck 18 directly.

When the light faded, however, 18 still stood there, now surrounded by a faintly visible shield. She raised an eyebrow, then slammed a fist into his chest. Falling back, Pakihaun struck the ground, and barely made it to his feet. Now, however, 18 recognized that he was beaten.

Moving her hands into the position Piccolo had shown her, 18 felt the pressure of energy rise, then clenched her hands tightly. The technique worked, a wall of crystal suddenly shot up around Pakihaun, then collapsed inward. In the end, however, a glittering sphere of crystal hovered over Pakihaun, who was still on his knees. Inside the crystal writhed whatever Darkness had been in Pakihaun. Exactly as Piccolo said it would be.

Walking to the crystal and taking it, 18 glanced inside thoughtfully. There seemed to have been quite a bit of Darkness inside Pakihaun, more than Piccolo had guessed. The only side effect that could have, however, was hurting Darkness more than normal. For now, she'd have to wait until Piccolo figured out how to destroy the Darkness.

"Die!"

Pakihaun, taking strength from somewhere, attacked. 18 glanced to see if she had missed some Darkness, but realized there was none there. Which mean that he was attacking of his own free will. Without moving from her spot, she effortlessly deflected his attacks.

Gather a bit of ki, 18 formed it into a long string, which instantly snapped around Pakihaun. It wrapped around him, then tightened and hardened. Unable to move any of his limbs, or stand properly, the warrior unceremoniously fell. Struggling, Pakihaun found that the ki rope bound him completely, and he was unable to break it. It had taken him off guard, too; he was very well bound.

"Stay there," 18 told him needlessly, still considering the crystal containing Darkness.

"Do you think you can get away with this? The Great Kai will here of it! All of the hosts of the Afterlife will descend upon- mumph!"

Flicking a finger, 18 formed an energy gag around his mouth. Unable to make himself heard at all, Pakihaun merely fumed in silence.