This could be a lengthy author's note. Just so you are warned.
My usage of the word "galaxy" in near synonym with "universe" actually reflects statements made by Akira Toriyama. His reality is dissimilar to the physical world we know: his entire universe consists of a large dome, divided into four quarters. It has an edge, and at that point all of existence seems to stop. Hence, there is really only one Dragonball Z "galaxy" which gave me (I felt) the freedom to use the better-nuanced term.
The structural integrity of the current dimension is simply higher than all others. They are, so to speak, merely branches of a trunk, based on infinite probability theory. Hence, if the trunk is removed, the branches die. Also, this seperates my universe from that of Dragonball Z.
Our location has been the general Afterlife for quite a few chapters now. Therefore, the Kioshins were exactly where they normally were (random planets in the Afterlife). At this point there is barely any wall between the two portions of reality.
Regarding Goku and lessons learned: with all due respect to the original Goku and his understandings, the one in this story has gone to far greater lengths than he ever neared. But he was able to die without regret because he had truly and honestly come to the extreme end of his being... that was the most it was possible to do, even bending the realms of possibility.
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Episode LIV: Final SagaiSystem online.
Checking all current functions.
Unit intact.
All functions excluding thought down.
Repair routines initializing./i
Voices? 18 opened her eyes painfully, and found herself staring at the sky. Dark Buu's last attack had been incredibly painful, and then she must have fell unconscious. At least she was awake now, if unable to move. Currently, her system seemed to be in status, repairing itself, according to her internal system's voice. Not the most desirable of situations, but she was alive.
.
Winching one eye open, Piccolo glanced at the cavern around him. So Dark Buu had thought he was dead. Being from Darkness, Piccolo thought he would have been wiser than that. But perhaps because he was also always called the legendary Evil, he was a bit overconfident. More likely, the remnants of his seal had allowed it to make a misjudgement. Either way, it was quite fortunate for him.
The ki around him was very impure, laced with hate. But it'd do. At least until he could get his natural ki flowing. Focusing his thoughts on the area around him, Piccolo began absorbing ki. When he finally maintained a stable state, he began to heal his body. Namekiian healing abilities came in very handy at a time like this. He wasn't sure how long the whole process would take, but the condition wasn't permanent. Good. Piccolo closed his eyes and concentrated on the healing.
.
Licking a bit of blood from his lips, Dai Kioshin watched as Goku lay inside the prism, his true being slowly seeping away into the crystal. At last the process was finished; Dai Kioshin pocketed the crystal. He paused just slightly before slipping it into his coat, however, looking at it again. There was a slight taint in the clear mixture of the soul. Something else was there. Examining it closer, he discovered it was not a taint, but something else. Apparently the saiyan's soul was changing. It was irrelevant to the plan.
Dispersing the bloody prism, Dai Kioshin checked Goku's body. He appeared to be functioning perfectly. When the Legendary One had turned him into a bloody mess, his soul had barely been recovered to the crystal. What remained, a shell of a body, was in perfect health. It had entirely healed, Dai Kioshin noticed, and the clothing had mended on its own. Interesting. All that remained was to wait for Goku to awake, and then he would command him and destroy the galaxy..
A blast shone in from the side, and Dai Kioshin leapt away barely in time to avoid being slaughtered.
"Dai Kioshin," a voice, no greater than a whisper but spreading throughout the entire temple said. "You have been most troublesome indeed. All obstacles will be annihilated. By now you should realize that your plan will be consumed before the onslaught of Darkness."
From the shadows Dark Buu calmly walked. His skin was light grey, his eyes malevolent pools of darkness. A deadly, calculating calm had spread over his face. Power arced around him in dark waves, dangerously destroying the ground where he stepped. Inevitably Dark Buu continued to walk forward, focused upon Dai Kioshin.
"By now you can do no more than delay the inevitable. All your defenses have fallen, your plans lie in rubble. You may not yet realize it; but your role has ended." Briefly Dark Buu glanced to Goku's body. It was no more than a flicker of his eyes, but Dai Kioshin instantly capitalized upon it. Throwing open a portal to his side he dived through it, simultaneously firing a blast in Dark Buu's direction.
Rushing forward and letting the strike bounce off him harmlessly, Dark Buu barely missed the portal. Eyes tightening in mild annoyance, he discovered where the teleportation was linked to. Already Dai Kioshin had teleported again, intended to run as far as he possibly could.
"Run, wretched fool," Dark Buu whispered. "Soon there will be nowhere to run."
He turned back to the fallen Goku. A slight flicker of amusement passed over the Darkness that surrounded Dark Buu. Had Dai Kioshin saved the saiyan's life only to take it away? Did he really think that this man's soul could even hope to compete with Darkness itself? A worthless effort. Unknowingly he orchestrated the destruction of the entire galaxy, while slaying its only hope. Lifting into the air, Dark Buu vanished over the horizon.
Everyone was gone, and an unnatural stillness settled over the building where Goku lay. Not a leaf fell, not a wisp of dust stirred. From a nearby window, light poured in, seeming just as motionless as the room. Slowly, the light in the window began to fade, as if something were blocking it, eclipsing the source of light. The room became darker and darker, steadily falling into shadow.
Suddenly, Goku's eyes opened. They were a solid black, every bit as dark was those possessed by Darkness. There was something worse about these eyes, however. Somehow, if anyone were to look into the eyes, it seemed that nothing was behind them. All that remained lying on the floor was a husk. There was a horrible feeling of wrongness, as if something that had never been meant to be had occurred.
Getting to his feet, a gi as black as midnight making no noise about him, soulless Goku tightened a fist. A raging inferno of darkness swelled up around him, obliterating the building that could not contain him. Walking through the falling rubble, which disintegrated before it touched him, soulless Goku moved from the dark flames behind him and vanished into the sky.
.
From within his mountain, Piccolo's eyes shot open just as suddenly with a painful gasp. He had decided to remain here as long as it took to get his body, mind and ki in proper working order again. It was at least safe here, inside the mountain, where no one was likely to bother him. The time here had stretched a very long while indeed, but he would rather be patient than dead.
But he could not help but notice that something was horribly wrong. Dai Kioshin's spell had been so unimportant that it escaped his notice; not so its results. Now he sensed that Goku had been turned into something terrible, something that made Piccolo tremble to sense. Only one thing could have created something so horrible: Dai Kioshin must have taken his soul.
i18? /ihe called carefully. There was a moment's pause before he heard a mind in response.
iPiccolo?
Yeah, it's me. Are you alright?
No bones, or whatever I have, broken; my systems are fine. But I won't be in good shape for a while, and if anyone appeared now, I don't think I'd be able to even move. What about you?
Similar. I'm in a protected location, I'm gonna heal. But I have a reason for calling you.
What?
Dai Kioshin stole Goku's soul.
He did what?/i 18's mind sounded incredulous.
iStole his soul. I'm not sure how, but it's something that never should have been done.
What does that mean?
It means that he no longer has any morals. He's not a being of Darkness, but whatever he has become is something never meant to be. There could be other side effects, but I can't be certain. This has never happened before./i Piccolo wasn't even sure about that part. At this point everything was so beyond him he was struggling to keep up, much less look ahead. Beyond anyone.
iSo is he going to start destroying things?
No, he isn't crazy, just entirely self-serving. There's nothing he wouldn't do to get what he wants.
Should we be worried if he comes?/i 18 thought back.
ibWe/b don't need to be. We're his friends.
Why would he care about that anymore?/i 18 asked.
iHe retains his memory of us. Let's face it, love is basically a self-serving emotion. It makes you feel good to make someone else happy. The two of us won't have any problems. It's others that will./i Piccolo returned dryly. If he was even half way right, they would have problems indeed.
iIs he even concerned with them?
A bit. From what I can sense of him, he had four things on his mind. You, me, killing Buu, and killing Dai Kioshin. Those two have a lot more to be worried about./i This, at least, Piccolo was more certain about.
iThanks for the information. Do we just stay until we can get healed, then?
That's about all we can do. As soon as I'm better, I'm going to get Goku's soul back. With luck, he can still be saved.
Alright. See you.
I hope./i
Cutting off the connection, Piccolo sighed deeply. The consequences of this... were anyone's guess.
.
Struggling, 18 managed to move her left hand a few inches. Well, that was an accomplishment. With any luck, some time in the near future she'd be able to sit up. Pain sliced through her for just moving that far. But at this rate, her energy was at least regenerating itself. The infinite energy source inside her couldn't refill her full ki very fast, but at least it would keep working as long as it remained intact.
She wished she had asked Goku how he had used her power supply to heal himself almost instantly. Right now, she could really use a healing. Maybe she could ask him whenever she ran into him again. Then again, maybe she wouldn't want to. No soul. That was a disturbing thought. What did that do to a person? Piccolo had given her the facts, but it wouldn't change what it would look like up close.
Inwardly, 18 smiled as she realized the familiarity of her thoughts. How many of the people she had killed thought the same about her? For all it had been worth, she might as well have been soulless. A noise bit into her thoughts, and she inclined her eyes upward to see what had caused it.
A portal opened in the air, and Dai Kioshin stepped out. He glanced around coldly, then made a gesture. Perhaps a dozen more warriors stepped from the portal after him, and it closed. Looking down, Dai Kioshin's eyes lit up when he saw her. Dropping to the ground, he smirked and bent over her.
"So, the mighty 18 has been laid low? How fortunate I happened by."
Unable to speak, 18 merely wished for enough strength to hit him. He wasn't really that strong; one shot at even half her power should have been enough to send his head into the nearby lake. Right now, however, the best she could do was close her eyes and refuse to look at him. And even that hurt.
"I must capitalize on this," Dai Kioshin said, now talking to himself. This was a wonderful stroke of luck. If he got enough time, perhaps he could try removing her soul as well. Then he could actually finish the procedure. Whenever Goku came, Dai Kioshin could control him. With both under his control, Buu couldn't possibly win. After that, it'd be a simple matter to finish his mastery over the galaxy.
But if he waited too long, she'd be sure to recover, and that wouldn't be a pretty situation. No, he had to keep her in check somehow until he had time to do his work. He had just the thing to do it too, since he had caught her at such a weak moment. Apparently fate was smiling upon him.
Flicking a finger, Dai created three rings of energy. They circled around 18, then contracted. Moving his finger again, Dai jerked her into an upright position. While that did something, it wouldn't hold her if she ever got a chance to use any ki, however. Rooting around in a pocket, Dai searched for what he needed. Eventually his hand pulled out two silvery circlets. 18 was unable to protest as he slipped them on her wrists.
Instantly she felt them snap around her, contracting to her exact wrist size. Her ki, and energy, was suddenly cut off from her entirely. Great. Just when she had thought the situation couldn't get any worse. Now it would take her even longer to get her ki back up to full power. Still, he hadn't stopped her system's self-repairing function, so at least she'd recover from the physical damage. A bit disgusted, 18 realized she'd merely have to wait.
"You!" Dai Kioshin commanded, pointing at the nearest warrior. He snapped to attention, slightly nervous.
"Sir!"
"All of you soldiers, head back to the base and guard what we have there. Get all the others."
"Sir!" All ten of the warriors saluted briefly, then jumped into a portal that the first one opened. In seconds, they were gone. Dai Kioshin didn't give them a second glance, immediately turning back to the rest of his plans. There were a few more plans to be made, and then all would be stable again.
"You two servants," he pointed to the two who had remained, "stay here and guard with me."
"Yes, Master," they replied. While they stood at attention, focused outward into the empty planet, Dai Kioshin turned toward 18. She was hanging limply in the energy bands, of course; she could do nothing else. Stepping closer, Dai Kioshin slowly caressed the side of her face idly wondering how much a soulless being could be commanded to do. Enough, probably.
At the same time, 18 pondered trying to bit his hand. The movement would hurt her terribly and probably set her recovery back, but it would be worth it. If she had even a bit more energy she could probably lung to his fingers. Assuming she could get there she knew she could bite them off. It was not his right to touch her. Just as she was beginning to contemplate the action, Dai Kioshin moved away.
Looking far into the horizon, the mastermind smiled slightly. With this lucky break, all the other disasters might not matter after all. Things could still be repaired, everything would work out. Nothing, after all, could stop destiny. The inevitable would eventually come to be; he would be the Master of Existence. It was the only dream he had not yet realized, and it could not be stopped.
.
Without wavering even slightly, the body that had been Goku continued to streak across the afterlife, no more than a black blur and shock wave behind him A small planet appeared in the distance, directly in his path, and quickly was before the saiyan. Tightening a fist, Goku caused the planet to implode on itself. Shortly after, a massive explosion expanded, far larger than the planet had been. Goku flew on through the blast, ignoring it completely. His dark eyes betrayed no emotion, if, indeed, they were capable of any.
The location was near. Goku continued flying at a constant speed, now slowly arcing down to the planet. A few things had been altered, and the scenario around the object had changed. That was irrelevant.
.
Falling from where he had been imbedded in the rock and hitting the ground heavily, Piccolo slowly gained his footing. His body, at least, had recovered. He wouldn't be at max power for quite a while, but he was probably strong enough to fly or deal with any of the lower beings that might come his way.
For now, there was only one thing on his mind. Goku's soul had to be found, and as quickly as possible. As Piccolo made his way to the edge of the cave, he swayed and had to catch himself on the mouth of the cavern. He wasn't in as good of shape as he had thought he was. But there simply wasn't time.
.
Dai Kioshin suddenly froze in mid step. He turned to consider what he felt more closely. There was something terrifying coming, but it wasn't Buu. This was a different sort of terror, not like Buu's pure malice. After a while, he identified it - a lack of anything. In the next moment, he realized it was Goku.
What had gone wrong? This being, whatever he had become, was not something that Dai could control. Thinking about it made him shudder. Something had gone wrong, and now Goku was coming to this location. Why? Closing his eyes, Dai carefully thought. With any luck, he wasn't trying to kill him. More likely, he was following 18. If so, perhaps there was a bit of hope. A portal was too dangerous, but he could use a general teleport.
"Excuse me," he said to the nearest Kai, attempting to hide his nervousness, "I have business to attend to elsewhere. I must be leaving you."
From the servant's expression, Dai knew he had failed to hide it. "Is everything alright, sir?"
"No, there are matters elsewhere that could still prove problematic and I must confess that I still worry over them. Listen, if you stay here everything should be alright. When this blows over, I'll make sure you get promoted. Alright?"
"Yes sir!"
"Good man. We need more of your type around here."
Stepping back, Dai Kioshin suddenly seemed to dissolve and flew up into the sky. Half teleported, flying into the sky, Dai looked down once more. Stupid fool.
.
Raising her head with some difficulty, 18 extended her senses out a bit further. Why had Dai left? Nothing seemed to be appearing, but then something entered her range and she vaguely sensed it. Her instincts flared up instantly. On one side, she recognized it as Goku, but another side screamed for self defense. His power had changed, quite different from the comfortable energy signature she knew so well.
First, there was a horrible darkness about him. Like Piccolo had said, he seemed stripped of something. Something that truly defined him. What it left was nothing but a shell of what Goku once was. Looking deeper, however, 18 realized that something else had changed. She couldn't really define it, but something seemed better. It was buried, and unused under the darkness, but it was there.
Whatever the anomaly was, it didn't stay in her mind long as she involuntarily shivered. By now it was obvious that Goku was headed their way. He hadn't shifted course when Dai had left, which meant he was coming for her. In a way, that was good. At least she'd be saved.
Whatever else had changed, Goku was no less powerful. More powerful, even. He was already nearing them, and in a few seconds he alighted just a few yards away. The Kai that was closer to him stared in shock. Goku's blank gaze looking past him as if he did not exist. Overcoming his fear, the Kai turned and ran in the opposite direction. Instantly, Goku reacted, his arm raising, a bolt of ki slicing out, destroying the fleeing servant completely.
Walking past the remains without a backward glance, Goku continued moving forward. The Kai who had been closer to 18 still stood in terrified horror. As Goku drew nearer, the Kai began a teleport, and starting fading up into the sky. Goku's hand shot up, and the Kai suddenly halted. He was slowly pulled back out of his teleport and into reality. Not a flicker of anything crossed Goku's face as he clenched one hand. Black flames leapt up around the Kai, engulfing him in flames for one horrible instant. Nothing remained.
Shifting his focus, Goku turned to 18. She fought the urge to shudder. Something about how he had done that scared her, deeper than it should have. In the past, she'd seen worse. But never like this. Never with such a completely lack of even caring. No malice, no evil; he had just destroyed them. Both depthless eyes glanced into her own, as if asking a question.
"I'm fine," she told him weakly. "Dai just captured me after Buu nearly killed me."
Moving closer, Goku glanced down at the rings surrounding her, and at the silver bands on her wrists. Again he looked up, questioningly.
"I think they somehow block off my ki completely. Dai put them on." At least she hoped that was what he had been intending to ask. Glancing carefully at the rings, Goku was still a moment. Then he touched each one, lightly, and they shattered to dust. Instantly 18 felt a warm flood of ki rush back into her again.
Waving a hand, Goku dismissed the rings. Without their support, 18 dropped to the ground. Goku bent down beside her, his eyes asking a question again.
"You really can't talk, can you?" 18 realized slowly. Goku made no reaction; his expression seemed completely unable to communicate anything.
"I'll be fine," she told him, "but Buu took a lot out of me. I'd be in better condition if not for Dai's meddling. But being separated from my ki so long weakened me quite a bit."
Struggling to stand, 18 managed to prop herself up on both arms a while before she collapsed again. Soundlessly Goku was hovering beside her, watching, questioning.
"Sorry; I can't manage. If you give me a few minutes I'll be able to fly again."
Apparently they didn't have that long. Goku bent down and picked her up in his arms, then blasted off. It was odd, 18 realized, his touch didn't feel any different, unlike his ki. His arms were gentle, though they moved slightly stiffly. Still, she preferred it to Dai Kioshin. Being in close proximity to Goku, she realized that ki was steadily radiating from his body, probably intentionally. When it seeped into her, it caused no harm. Something about it was horribly dark, but for now, she didn't care. Energy was energy.
Goku put on another burst of speed, reaching his maximum velocity. Looking into the biting winds, 18 put both arms around Goku's neck and went along for the ride.
.
Hovering above the planet that expanded before him, Piccolo carefully considered. He could not sense Goku's soul, because apparently it had no direct ki. Still, he knew that it would not be here; that much he could discern from other factors. Dai Kioshin had been the one who had taken it; Piccolo was certain of that fact now. If he were Dai Kioshin, where would he hide a soul?
It might be with him. That was certainly a possibility. But right now it was difficult to find Dai, since he was doing so much portal hopping. Plus, Dark Buu was looking for him too, and that was the last thing Piccolo needed. The first place he should check, he decided, was Dai Kioshin's planet. Flying slowly enough to conserve his energy, Piccolo made his way toward it.
He was almost a mile from the planet when he was suddenly attacked by some warrior popping out of nowhere. Ducking, Piccolo easily evaded him. What was this? Sensing around, Piccolo found a near blanket of ki around the planet, in the form of thousands of warriors. Probably every single being under his command that could be brought to the planet. Well, if Goku's soul wasn't here, he didn't know where it was.
Diving forward at a higher speed, Piccolo raced past a wave or two of them before they noted his presence. A warrior slanted directly toward, him; whirling, Piccolo evaded him. At the speeds they were flying, he had only to avoid them for a brief amount of time and he'd be past them. Another attacked from the side, Piccolo merely slowed, allowed him to hurtle on past, then picked up speed again.
Up ahead a large ship floated in space. Warriors began launching from it, coming toward him. This situation would be a bit more problematic. Gathering ki around himself, Piccolo rushed forward, stopping for nothing. As he got closer, Piccolo modified the ki surrounding him so it would be as sharp as possible. With any luck, none of the warriors would be smart enough to figure out how to stop him.
They weren't. He broke through the group of warriors like a wave, most barely managed to make it out of the way. Reaching the ship, Piccolo sliced directly through it, and continued on, dropping his ki aura as soon as possible. Not bad, he'd made it through most of the warriors without using too much ki. Not that he had a whole lot of it to spare.
While Dai was trying to protect Goku's soul, or whatever it was, he was doing a poor job of it. Even though he had a massive concentration of troops surrounding it, he also could not have been more obvious about its location than if he had used neon signs. Finding the densest concentration of warriors, Piccolo swooped to that place. As he neared it, a whole set of warriors came flying at him at full speed.
It was almost like dodging ki blasts, Piccolo realized. They charged at him at full speed; he just had to dodge and they went hurtling on. Soon, he could see the site up ahead. A temple, surrounding by warriors. Breathing deeply and gathering whatever ki he had, Piccolo went in.
.
Despite the biting wind, 18 distinctly felt Piccolo's battle, and figured out what he was trying to do. If she felt well enough, she would have helped him, but as the situation was, she couldn't. Soulless Goku was still going somewhere, and it appeared to be relatively important. Not that he could explain anything about it.
"I think I can fly now," she told him. Goku set her down in midair, then blasted off again. 18 quickly followed suit. He was moving a bit fast, but it wouldn't be too much trouble to keep up with him. The flight didn't last a whole lot longer, anyway. In less than a minute, amidst a bunch of rock pillars, Goku stopped flying and decelerated in a single second. Merely hovering, he moved to one rock pillar and sat down on a side, merely waiting.
Shrugging, 18 sat down on the opposite side. So, now, they merely had to wait, for something. It felt like they were there for a reason, but she wasn't sure what it was. Further examination of the surrounding area showed her that it was a nexus of magical energy. Most likely that was the reason Goku had chose this spot... but what was he waiting for? She had no idea what his motivations were. That was alright, though. She could wait.
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One...