A/N well this is another chapter up. * Does a happy dance * you reviewed thank you!
Congratulations to happygohangirl for guessing that Marvin the depressed Robot was from The Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy! * Hands her the giant cookie* Thank you! To all of my reviewers!
Today I have a new guest for my disclaimer. I proudly welcome Captain Bayle Domon
Bayle: I do no know why you do be making me do this.
Min: Do the disclaimer Bayle. I have foreseen it….
Bayle: By my aged grandmother I do no.
Min: Just do it.
Bayle: Fine. Min Farshaw does no own Dragon ball Z nor it s characters. And by my aged grandmother the lassie does no own me! She do own Sarah Stromsburg and my entire cargo of ice peppers. Hey wait minute lass! I do no agree to that!
Min: Err thanks Bayle * runs to a safe distance *. On to the fic!
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Chapter 2: A Surprise
Shin was troubled, and deep lines crossed his otherwise smooth purple face. He was walking across the green grasses of his home world, towards an unknown destination, the wreckage of a great battle, aged seven months, surrounding him. Kibito trailed a few steps behind respectful, but he could see that his master was worried, and deeply so.
How much time do I have? He pondered The Demon's prophecy was clear. They would break free when I was supreme Kai! But I have held this position now for over 200 years! Why have they not broken free already? In my negligence did I fail to see them escaping? Am I that blind? The furrow of his brow deepened. How can I deal with this?
Despite his internal monologue he continued to stroll across the lush grassy fields, occasionally stopping to survey the long furrows dug into the grass. Two over there, slightly staggered and parallel, leading into that broken mountain, another that just skimmed the surface, digging up maybe two centimeters of top soil. He saw the craters, large and small, some created by exploding ki, others by falling bodies. No his planet was not a beautiful as it once was.
He stopped by a large, perfectly circular lake, with a tail leading off it at one edge, it's end passing beyond the range of mortal sight. The water was crystal clear, but oddly devoid of any of the life that normally populates the bottom of lakes. Nor were there the tell tale ripples of minnows and larger fish in the water. It was clean, cold, and sterile. Shin thought it ironic that this crater, made from bits of all the life on the planet Earth, would be such a barren hole. A breeze whipped up and sent ripples spreading across the empty lake, ruffling the supreme Kai's clothing and hair. Kibito still stood behind his master, calmly surveying the wreckage of the battle between Majin Buu and Goku.
"Master what is it that we are looking for?" Asked Kibito, as he analyzed the landscape before him, " What could we find in this old battle field?"
"Soft Kibito, we are searching for the Demon Gate" Shin replied, still staring at the smooth water of the lake, and shivered slightly.
"The Gate!" Kibito cried. " But it isn't on this world is it? It can't be" Kibito was shaking visibly now.
"It is Kibito. We have forever guarded this secret, that the gate to the Demons of Sin was part of our planet. Many have gone searching for it in the nether regions of hell, Never to find it, never to return. We guard it here as the last place one would look, and indeed if it was found it, All would be lost. So here it sits. Unguarded, unknown, buried under 100 feet of solid rock." Shin replied calmly, facing the wind that still pushed ripples across the pristine water of the crater. Kibito gasped as realization dawned in his eyes.
"But that would mean…!"
"Yes my friend, yes it does"
****
The rain still pounded on Satan city streets; it's drum like thousands of tiny soldiers going to war. The daughter of the city's namesake however, paid it no mind. She was flying some 50 feet above the rain soaked streets, searching. The precipitation battered her petite form as she made slow methodical sweeps of the city. The few people on the weather beaten streets kept their heads down. Bent under umbrellas or rain ponchos, they scurried from building to building eager to get out of the downpour. However, there was one who did not.
He stood in the rain, unmoving, unaware of the people that jostled him, or of the precipitation that soaked his jean jacket. Black hair was plastered to his forehead, and he looked about as sad as it was possible for a human being to be. Videl decided to check out this sad individual, and make sure he was okay. However upon landing she discovered that she had found the object of her search.
Son Gohan stared and her with unseeing eyes, puffy and red from crying. He was just standing there trembling slightly. His mouth seemed to be working in a wordless horror of despair. Videl approached the demi sayian with caution.
"Gohan?" she asked, quietly imploring him to answer. He did not, but a flash of recognition haunted his obsidian eyes.
"Gohan?" a little louder. He began to rock more fiercely. Videl was getting frustrated.
"Son Gohan answer me right this instant!" She exclaimed, fists on her hips. Gohan's powerful legs gave way from under him and he curled up into a ball sobbing quietly. He seemed to be saying, "I've failed you too". Videl approached him again, crouching down to the cold sidewalk. People began to shy away from the two teens.
"Listen Gohan it's okay," She said, taking hid head in her hands, and stroking his black hair, smoothing it away from his forehead. She began to rack him back and forth like a baby, whispering comforting words into his ear. "It's alright, I'm here now," She whispered. Sobs continued to wrack the teen's body, but he seemed to be getting more responsive. As his tears began to die down, he looked up into Videl's concerned face, and threw himself into her arms, a fresh volley of tears erupting from him.
" You were dead," He whispered, "you were gone and I couldn't save you. Just like the others. Just like my father. I'm a worthless wretch, Videl, you shouldn't spend your time with such a failure." This statement shocked Videl. Him? A failure? Something had happened. Someone did something to him. This is not my Gohan. She reached a decision.
"I'm taking you to get help." Videl said as she shifted his weight so it rested on one shoulder instead of both. " But I can't get you there all by myself. You," she added, " are as heavy as a couple of bulls," She said sarcastically, hoping the humor would pull up his spirits. It did not, and he still sagged like a big sac of wet sand, and seemed to weigh as much. She did however manage to coax him into the air. However once there he had to pull him towards their destination.
Looking down Videl saw a long ribbon of backed up cars, mostly centering on the Satan city bridge. Down below two hunched figures seemed to be blocking the flow of cars. There also seemed to be some kind of accident at one end. Videl gave a guilty shrug when she remembered her excuse for actually coming out in the rain. But Gohan was more important.
As they briefly passed over the strange duo, Gohan began to sag on her shoulder, and Videl could tell why. Waves of despair and lost hope emanated from the two like an awful stink. Videl quickened her pace so as to get out of their influence as quickly as possible. As soon as they finished passing Videl felt a weight come off her shoulders, physically and mentally.
"Come on Gohan, you can do it!" She whispered encouragingly to the limp teen beside her." She wondered if maybe Gohan had run into one of those two sitting on the bridge. She shuddered at the thought. Any amount of time with time of them was enough to make anyone depressed. Gohan's weight was beginning to sag on her shoulders. He is as heavy as couple of bulls. Videl thought as she struggled to distribute his weight more evenly on her back. Gohan was getting worse. She picked up her speed, silently praying that they would get there in time, before her strength ran out.
"We'll get you there Gohan. We'll get you help."
****
Down on the streets of Satan City, a chase was in progress. A Silver BMW tore around a rain soaked corner, and squealed down the street. Shortly after, four police squad cars screamed after it. The Beamer held two people, one with the shady look of a convict; the other appeared to be a twelve-year-old boy. The car whipped its way around another corner, sliding slightly in the rain; taking out a mailbox with it's back bumper. The police cars quickly followed. One ran the curb, and the panicked officer quickly slammed on the brakes, sending the car spinning out of control. Due to some freak accident the car smashed into the side of another car, and flipped onto it's hood. The second was sent swerving out of control, forcing a third into a light post. The second car finally came to rest inside the front doors of the Satan City Bank. Only One car was left, however it was still on the trail of the runaway beamer. The Officer, One Sarah Stromsburg quickly radioed the station
" This is officer Sarah Stromsburg. We have three cars down, I repeat, three cars down, Request backup" The officer called into her radio, speeding down the city streets, siren on full blast.
"Copy that Sarah. No back up is available. Repeat, no backup available," Replied a disembodied voice from her speaker. " All available cars have been requisitioned into traffic control," The voice added.
"Traffic??" Sarah Cried, "are the regulars so inept that they can handle a stupid traffic jam on their own? Come on Caleb get me some backup. This guy is crazy!" She said, swerving to avoid another smashed mailbox. "Shit!" She exclaimed under her breath.
" Sarah, you know you've had reprimands about your language! Tone it down!" The Entirely absent Caleb called from the speaker.
"This is not the time," replied Sarah, pulling the car around a sharp turn in a spray of water, still in pursuit of the beamer, "To talk about my fucking language!" Abruptly the badly beaten up silver car in front of her came to a shuddering halt. Sarah slammed down the brakes of her squad car, but she was too late.
Suddenly the world seemed to be swimming in slow motion for her. She almost felt the tires of her car loosing their grip on the slick rain soaked pavement. Caleb's voice on the speakers seemed one million miles away. She saw the faces of the two convicts she was chasing as they turned around to see where the noise was coming from. IConvict and hostage she reminded herself seeing how young one of the faces was/I. The squealing of her tires was a distant sound to her ears, When suddenly abruptly, the rest of the world caught up with her, and decided to make up for lost time.
In an instant Sarah's car slammed into the back of the silver BMW. Her windshield shattered and she was thrown through it, in another of those freak coincidences. She had forgotten to do up her seat belt when she had jumped into her squad car at that gas station, when she first saw the beamer fly by. As she was flung over the car, she temporarily blacked out. She was shaken into consciousness when she hit the cold hard asphalt of the road, and slid for a few meters.
Sarah's mind was running on adrenalin now and she barely took two minutes to take an inventory of her wounds: Left wrist- broken. A horrible pain on her left side. Probably a couple of ribs gone too. Blood. Hers smeared on the road surface from multiple wounds on her left side. Only the reinforced ribbing of her uniform had stopped her leg from breaking. Wincing she pushed her self up with her right hand and got to her torn and bloody knees. Staggering to her feet she drew her gun from its holster (On her right side thankfully) She stood on the road surface trembling, her weapon pointed at the criminal in the beamer.
"You are under arrest" She said, voice shaking, still pumped with adrenalin. " For evading police, theft, and vandalism," She continued, "you have the right to….. To….." she began, but before she could finish her sentence the thug, and his supposed hostage stepped out of the vehicle. She blinked a few times and wobbled on her feet and reached out to a near by car to steady herself. IWait, Car?/I She thought, and then took an inventory of her surroundings. She was in the traffic jam at the Satan city bridge! That's why the suspect had stopped so quickly. She sized him up again.
The man was small and lithe, and appeared to have a black robber's mask on, like those in cartoons. She looked closer. No not a mask, black markings, like they were part of the skin. He had a dishonest look about him too. His companion appeared to be a twelve-year-old boy, complete with a backwards-black baseball cap. But on closer inspection she saw he was much older. His eyes twinkled with mischief, and an age-old intelligence that no twelve year old had. The one with the black 'robber' markings began cleaning his finger nails with a knife.
"Continue," Said the 'convict', waving his hand. "You were saying, miss Stromsburg?" He had a voice like a salesman about to offer you the deal of your life, (all you had to do is send five dollars to the person at the top of the list, and we'll all become millionaires!)
"Right. You have the right to remain…" she began to say again, the realized " How did you know my name?" She asked suddenly suspicious. The con shrugged.
"I also know that you have Six previous reprimands for foul language, you cheated on a test in grade eleven, stole fifty dollars from your parents in Grade ten, Snuck out twice in jr high… Shall I continue? Sarah?" The con said mockingly, staring intently into The Cop's eyes. She reeled with this information. How could he have known? She thought. Suddenly the after effects of being flung through a car window, and receiving the biggest shock of her adult life caught up with her and she collapsed on the ground in a dead faint.
The supposed twelve-year-old smiled mischievously and began to nudge the unconscious cop towards the great river. But his companion held him back.
"You know the rules mischief!" He hissed in his ear, " I don't want to put you up for another reprimand!" The 'con' added. The boy looked up at him with disgust.
"But crime! Aren't you supposed to break the rules?" Whined mischief, " Isn't that what you exist for?" he said, the innocent look of a little kid clear on his face.
"Don't give me that crap kid. We don't break this rule. Not ever. It's like gravity. It holds you down. Sure you can cheat it for a while but it always brings you back." He said. " Always. Now let's go light fire to some trash cans. This place is dead boring". The grin instantly appeared back on mischief' face, as they walked away from the limp form of Sarah Stromsburg.
****
There was a sound like a stampede of rhinos. Then there was a whoosh. A rather disappointing pop followed. Then a relatively small creature, about the size of a cat, fell from 50 feet in the air into the roof of a car, stuck in a traffic jam.
Needless to say, it left a sizeable dent. The owner of the car, who was previously stuck in a depressive stupor, was snapped out of it by a new lump in his head and the interesting problem of a dent in his new roof. Swearing loudly, He got out of his car, slammed the door shut, and went to inspect the damage to his roof. What he found was not what he expected.
There was a creature, embedded in his roof. It was, as mentioned before, about the size of a small cat, and covered in an ugly puce skin. It had two arms and two legs, a huge head, and large watery pink eyes. It clambered out of the dent in the man's roof and gazed wonderingly around. The man couldn't help himself when he exclaimed:
"What the hell is that? It's Hideous!" The words spoken he backed away from the creature. It turned its eyes on him.
"It? It is a promise, yes. A promise not fulfilled. Broken" The thing crooned slightly, a lisping rasp to its voice. It hunched over and tuned its eyes to the sky. " You are not its creator. No. The promise breaker lies upward." The thing turned. The man stared in a combination of fascination and horror as it slowly launched its elf into the air. It seemed to mould it's self, flesh twisting, until it had the shape of a hideous puce bat like creature.
Other prisoners jerked out of their stupor exclaimed at the hideous creature, but only the man had seen the words of fire in its eyes. He began to shake and tremble before the depression took him again, but he would never forget what he saw. Not for the rest of his life.
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A/N so How was it? YAY foreshadows! Please review! The first reviewer (Except you 'not telling' I know you know but you're not getting anything until you tell me your name) Anyway the first reviewer to tell me which book Bayle Domon comes from wins a plate of Gohan cookies. The person who tells me the country he comes from wins a whole tray! And if you're a really obsessed dork (like me) and you can tell me at least one of the secret items in his hold wins the ice peppers and a choice of demons featured in chapter 3!
Please Review!