A/n: Not much to say here except for a little shameless self-promotion. Skip over the following paragraph if you feel that shameless self-promotion is well, shameless and bad, with no relevance to the story whatsoever.
Check out a new Dragon Ball Z fiction by Min Farshaw called: A Dragon Ball Odyssey
Follow the adventures of Goku when he is separated from his family by supernatural forces that conspire to bar his way home. But wait; there is trouble afoot in the Son Household. Suitors come from all over to court the lovely Chichi, who in her husband's absence has inherited a great fortune. Eating the Sons out of house and home, what can Gohan do to stop them? * Based on Homer's Odyssey *
All right now that that's done with lets move on to the disclaimer. I would like to thank Happygohangirl for her suggestion for today. Unfortunately no one guessed where Gimpy comes from. The answer is: Undergrads. (If you've ever stayed up watching teletoon you'll know what I'm talking about)
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Disclaimer today done by Gollum.
Min: AH HA! I finally caught you, you sniveling creature!
Gollum: You are trying to take it from us aren't you!
Min: Um no, actually I want you to do my disclaimer!
Gollum: We don't want your nasty disclaimer! We wants you to go away and never come back!
Min: Well that's not very nice! I'll give you a nice fresh fish if you do it!
Gollum: Not cooked?
Min: not cooked. Raw, and freshly killed.
Gollum: Fines. You don't owns anything! Nothing! now give us the fish!
Min: He's right… * sob * here's your fish
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Chapter 10: Meetings
She struggled to her feet and wrapped the thin hospital blanket around her. She ran her fingers through her dirty and disheveled hair as she gently pushed herself up from the hospital bed, clutching at her aching head.
But that wasn't important. What she really needed to know was where in this damn hospital she could get something to eat. Real food. She scratched at the irritation IV's that were attached to her arm, then decided to just rip them off and get out of this hellhole called a hospital.
Cautiously she peeked out of the curtains that surrounded her bed. Seeing only one nurse who was rushing by with a trolley covered in medication. Silently Sarah thanked Caleb for bringing her clothes, so that she didn't have to run around in that damn hospital gown all the time. As soon as the nurse passed, Sarah crept out into the hall and began walking, casually, as if she had every right in the world to be in that hospital.
That was until she saw Her.
Yes her, the mistress of the hospital. Nurse Beti.
" Sarah Stromsburg!" Rang the voice of the formidable Beti, "You are not supposed to be out of bed! What did I tell you about sneaking out of the hospital!"
" Never to do it again Miss." Sarah said glaring at her shoes. She was so close! So close.
"Exactly. Now go back to you r bed like a good girl and I'll send someone down with some food. You do still like raspberry pudding?" The nurse commanded. Even the comment about pudding was an order of a sort.
" Yes Nurse Beti." The nurse turned her formidable bulk and strode down the hall way, confident that her orders would be obeyed. Sarah glared blue murder at her back.
" I Hate Raspberry pudding." She mumbled as a last act of defiance, before heading back to her little curtained room to sulk.
" Damn nurse . . ."
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" Damn Demon" Muttered Videl as she crept through the filth of the streets, trying to get a fix on her target. It seemed that every time she caught a glimpse of him, something stupid would happen. Like some kid would push a trashcan in front of a car and he would disappear!
She stared vainly into a group of people, trying to spot any one or anything for that matter that looked out of place. The problem was that they all looked like the normal residents of the city. Minding their own business, until
" AHHHHIIEEEEE MY SKIRT. GET AWAY FROM HERE YOU LITTLE PUNK!" sounded a woman's voice from the center of the group. There was immature laughter and a kid, who at first glance looked to be around 12, darted out, snickering.
Videl took this as her opportunity to question the kid about anything odd he might have seen. She darted out of her hiding spot and tacked the kid to the ground.
At least that was her original plan. What really happened was that she darted out of her hiding spot and then ran into what felt like a vibrating steel wall. She landed with an undignified thump, while the kid turned to look at her with shock.
Their Eyes met.
Videl could instantly tell that she wasn't looking at a twelve year old kid. Those eyes looked to be thousands upon thousands of years old. There was about a 3 second pause, long enough for her heart to pound at least 10 times.
" Demon" came her breathless voice.
He ran.
She jumped up and followed his panicked chase through the streets of the city. He darted into a side alley and pulled down three loaded trashcans. Videl followed and dodged the cans by ditching the street and launching her self off the wall. The Demon grabbed hold of an old fire escape and pulled himself up. He ran on the rickety stairs and dived through an open window. Videl jumped up the escape and followed the kid through the window, rolling on the carpet inside before jumping up tearing after the kid again.
The inhabitant of that apartment was an elderly lady. She quietly put down her tea and fainted.
Meanwhile Videl was struggling with the dead bolt on the woman's door. Somehow that creature had locked it behind him. She growled and ripped It out and flung open the door, only to find. . . Nothing. The kid/demon was gone, but written on the wall in spray paint was "HA HA HA can't catch me sucker!" The dot that formed the bottom of the exclamation mark was a simple Polaroid of the kid's bare bottom.
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It was so close.
It could feel her
Her filthy promise breaking energy.
It swooped down on the city on malformed wings, narrowing down to it's target. She was in some kind of building. Peh, no barrier to it. The keeper dived and as it did, its body seemed to twist and bend, until its head was shaped more like a drill than anything.
CRASH
It went through the roof
CRASH
CRASH
Two more floors were breached.
It rolled on the ground to conserve its energy. It turned its eyes to stare at her his target. The promise breaker Videl.
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CRASH
CRASH
CRASH
Videl turned from examining the picture and wall before her to see this thing ugly, deformed. Puce and disgusting, its body began to melt and meld until it stood on two legs, an oversized head, large pink watery eyes, and sharp teeth.
And of course the words. Its eyes were burning with them. On each eye was written 'SATAN CITY POLICE'
'STROMSBURG'
She stared with a kind of morbid fascination as the creature advanced towards her with a sickening lurch.
"You!" It hissed spittle dribbling down its mouth
"What?" Asked Videl nervously as she backed away slowly.
"The promise breaker. A promise made is always to be kept. Promise broken must be avenged. Then I can go in peace yes? But you broke an oath. An oath to help them always. And when they cry for aid, what do you do? You abandon them for another. Some one who did not need your help as much as they. And now? One sits injured, almost dead. The rest are scrabbling to make up for your mistake, your foolishness. Now for that sin, you will die."
Videl found her self backing away from this horrible creature even faster now. A mad gleam had entered its eye. She continued to back up until she felt the gentle thud of the wall. Her breath caught in her throat. She wasn't sure if she should be screaming in panic, or just plain horrified. She looked franticly for any way out of the building. There was an open door to her right, with the sounds of a television inside.
" A man was found dead today in his apartment building, bled to death from multiple lacerations to the face and body. The only suspect to this crime is the man's former girlfriend, who claims that he kicked her out of the home after promising her that she could stay. IF you have any information about this crime please call. . ."
Videl looked at the claws on the demon's arms, the inhumanly sharp teeth. She gulped and fought the urge to panic.
" You see? We are every where." It said
" What are you?"
" Keepers of the word, the balance, the contract. We revenge the voiceless. We are the glue that holds words together. We bond a promise to its creator with glue more powerful than anything physical. Words that hold people together. Words that break them apart. You broke a bond of words. These bonds are more sacred to us than anything, and their desecration means death."
Vide; couldn't take it any more. Just as the creature began to lunge she jumped out of its way and flew with a speed that she didn't know she had out the opposite window. The glass shattered and she skidded to a halt in order not to hit the building next to her. She took to the sky, frequently glancing behind her for any sign of that thing. It too leaped out the window, its body growing wings again, and it began to fly towards her.
Panicked she flew away from the city drawing the demon with her until she got to open fields. It somehow managed to keep pace with her, and it came up, drooling and mad. Gnashing its teeth waiting to sink them into her throat.
Videl turned around and yelled
"MASENKO"
The beam of her energy caught the demon square on and enveloped it. Videl let the beam continue until it struck the earth leaving a sizeable crater. She just floated there, breathing heavily. :: Thank you Gohan for teaching me that What was that thing? The second I saw it all I wanted to do was run or blast the hell out of it:: She looked around with dismay to find that she was completely lost. She was somewhere in the mountains.
Suddenly the idea came into her head to find Gohan. He would know what to do. Blindly she searched for his KI and found it, and with out a thought for the demon's following him, blasted off.
" Let the games begin"
****
This was so frustrating. She had been probing the Namek's mind for hours and she still couldn't find an ounce of desire in it. He didn't eat, only drank water, so the best that she could do there was make him lust over a better quality of water. Pathetic. The thing was even A Sexual so that meant no romantic interest either. He didn't want money or power in the slightest. He had no need or use for them. Also he was plenty powerful physically, so that wouldn't even work. {1}
She wanted to scream.
The closest thing that she even remotely recognized was that he had fused with two other Nameks. But she knew that it disgusted him and there was only one other of the species on the planet.
Scratch that she would scream. She was about to open her mouth when she saw a very distraught girl fly into her valley. Her hair was disheveled and she was breathing heavily. She looked around as if lost.
Lust smiled. Now here was something that she could work with! Quickly she probed the girls mind for possible romantic connections. When she found one, her smile grew so wide that it threatened to chop her head in half.
The girl was in love with a sayian.
She didn't even know! She was denying all of her feelings for the boy as well. They were friends. Frankly Lust wondered how they had kept a relationship at bay. Sayians were one of her favorite species. They were just so passionate . . .
Lust untied the knot in the girls head that contained her feelings for the boy, then inserted some * cough * Ideas * cough * that would never have occurred to her. She then sent her off looking for her Sayian boyfriend.
"Let the games begin"
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The voices came in fits and starts now. Every once in a while they would start up again, accusing, tell him that he was a failure and a nobody. He could fight them off, but he didn't know for how much longer. His resolve was slipping, and it was only a matter of time until one got through.
Only a matter of time.
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Piccolo sighed in relief as the annoying buzzing left his head. He wasn't sure what it was that was making his head feel like that, but it wasn't pleasant. During his flight while the buzzing was going on he felt himself going through his long and troubled past in his head, something that rarely ever happened.
His relief was short lived however, as the buzzing commenced once more. He tried to push it out of his head and away from his thoughts, and for some strange reason, they did. He just shrugged it off and continued on his journey.
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" Oh my gosh, It's all burning!"
" Ah Paris. . ."
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" SIR the test came back Negative SIR"
" Impossible! Do it again. That man had to have been hoped up on something"
" With all due respect SIR! We have performed the test 7 times! It is unlikely that we would find anything now."
The sergeant appeared to make a decision. He marched out of his ready room with the accompaniment of an unseen force.
" Men we are up against an unknown force. . ."
It wasn't a particularly good speech, by they were spell bound. These men would have died on their sergeant command.
It was just how war liked it.
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Hey! GOKU ole' buddy was uh, kind of wondering if you could do me a teensy weensy favor?
" King Kai?" Goku cried out stopping in mid air. Chichi and Goten also stopped and looked at him strangely. " what do you need?"
If it's not too much trouble do you think thatyoucouldgatherearthsdragonballsandwishSuianbacktolifesoshedoesn'tkillme?{2}
" Sure King kai! Anything. But who is this Suian? New girlfriend?" Asked Goku. If he could he'd probably wink and nudge too, but as they were both on separate planes on existence, this was quite impossible so he didn't.
NO! No! Nothing like that just gather them to wish her back! Remember that's the Former supreme Kai Suian! I'll talk to you later . . . Goku assumed that the transmission was over when he heard:
I've done what you asked don't hurt me! Then a different voice you think that I'm that ugly then? Well we'll have to see about this not hurting thing. These dragon balls better pan out or you're going to be in a world of hurt. The voice changed again. yes Suian. They will Suian. Then the transmission finally cut out.
" What was that all about Goku?" asked Chichi, comfortably seated on Nimbus.
" Oh King Kai wants me to gather the dragon balls to wish his girlfriend back to life." He frowned. "I think that she's his girlfriend. But she did sound kind of mean."
" I'm sure that king kai has a good reason dear" replied Chichi.
" Hey Dad?"
" Yah Goten"
" Whose king kai?"
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{1} Just a note: Lust is still where we first met her, on her ledge in the mountain. She has really long reach when it comes to probing minds ^_~
{2} Translation: That you could gather earths dragon balls and wish Suian back to life so she doesn't kill me?
End A/n: I fixed my formatting YAY!
If you don't know where Gollum comes from, then I shall be surprised. But if you can tell me what Frodo makes him swear upon then you could win a better and more complete explanation to what the keepers really are, why they are created and such. (if you are anonymous, then leave an Email address)
And instead of begging ya'll for reviews, I'm going to try some Reverse Psychology on you:
DON'T press the little button that says ' Submit review' then don't enter any text whatsoever. And then, whatever you do, don't press the button again that says: submit review. Thank you.