A huge thankyou to Min Farshaw for writing me a beaut summary! I tweaked it a little, (and when I did the elipses didn't fit! Wah!), but she was the original inspiration…
So everyone go read her fic: 'Demons and Disorder' (story id: 1510949)!!!
Chapter 16
Kat stared at the space Gohan had occupied not two seconds before, mind numb with shock. The petulant pop of the vortex closing startled her into running forward a few steps, but she drew to a halt as realisation of the situation dawned.
"No." It was whispered at first, but as thought started rushing back in she found herself repeating the denial over and over again like a mantra. "No! Nonono ohno nonononono."
Dimly she was aware that her breathing was becoming harsh and ragged, so she forced herself to concentrate on taking deep, even breaths. Unfortunately, rather than work to clear her mind, this only caused her to become dizzy as she was a little overenthusiastic in the deep department.
The idea occurred to her at this point that perhaps her eyes had deceived her when they saw Gohan disappear into a swirling door of colour. Looking around frantically she called out, "Gohan?!"
The world tilted alarmingly, and she slowly sank to the ground, reaching out with her hands to anchor herself on the solid floor beneath her. That settled it. He wasn't here. He would've come by now if he was. Feeling a lump rising in her throat she took a shuddering breath to try and force it back down. When this didn't work she also closed her eyes.
The pseudo darkness relieved some of the frenzy of panic and shock clutching her mind, but as her thoughts evened out she was able to more fully understand the implications of what had happened. Separated, there was little chance that they'd be able to bargain with the entire Nightlife Establishment for passage between their worlds. Their main advantage had been in presenting a united front. They'd lost.
The realisation of this defeat was a huge blow, and she found she could not longer prevent the tears from rolling down her face. Helpless to resist, she just heard the first harsh sobs tearing their way from her throat, before the pounding of her heart in her ears became loud enough to drown them out.
They'd lost, and there was nothing she could do. No doubt Gohan would also be expelled from Nightlife after their little rebellion, so there was nothing he could do either. Nothing. Impossible. Nothing.
She didn't know how long she'd been crying, hunched over until she was partially lying on the ground. Eventually she managed to sit up, automatically wiping her teary eyes. But this action only caused her to remember how he had wiped the tears from her cheeks just that morning, and now he was gone. Just like her father. It was no consolation for her that at least Gohan was still alive, unlike her father who'd been assassinated not three months ago.
Through a fresh wave of tears she moaned, "Why is it that everyone I love ends up leaving me forever?"
The sound of mocking laughter reached her ears, accompanied with a scoffed, "Oh please."
Startled, she twisted around to face the source of the voice, and found herself staring at a strange looking man who was seated very self-assuredly on the bench that she had occupied with Gohan not so very long ago.
His skin was a deep midnight blue, made all the more striking by the silver cloak draped over his body, which fastened at his right shoulder. He wore his pure white hair slicked back, and his face was clean-shaven but for the white goatee on his chin. His ears were long, though slender, pointed, and sliver rings adorned both. His eyeballs were a luminous golden yellow, and Kat couldn't help but wonder if they glowed in the dark.
Filled with awe, and a curious sense of longing, she could only stare and gape.
This sensation was shattered in the next moment when the man, no, demon smirked and sneered, "Could you be any less pathetic?"
Instantly her eyebrows snapped together in an affronted frown, and she demanded hotly, "Who the hell-"
"-are you?"
"Hey, no need to be rude. I come in peace, and I'd rather not leave in pieces if it's all the same to you."
Gohan's visage showed no sign of humour as he examined the bandana wearing man before him, waiting for an answer to his question.
"Gee, a tough one eh?" The man said, scratching his head. He then turned slightly, examining the perfect circle of destroyed landscape they currently floated above the centre of. "Or maybe just pissed."
Still glaring at the man who had intruded on his private, er, releasing of frustrations, Gohan crossed his arms to indicate that his patience was wearing thin.
Not ten minutes ago he'd landed rather forcibly back on his own bed, scaring Bulma and his mother out of what looked to have been a screaming argument. Though slightly dazed, it didn't take him long to figure out what had happened, and with that realisation came such a surge of anger that he thought it prudent to leave the house, despite threats from the two women and concerned entreaties from his brother.
"Okay, I guess I can understand why you're feeling a little upset at the moment. In your position, I probably would've had a temper tantrum too."
Gohan clenched his teeth in fury. Was this idiot in sunglasses and a sheet mocking him?
"Whoa hey! Didn't mean it like that. Chill out a little. Sheesh." The man cried, waving his arms around as though that would prevent Gohan's power level skyrocketing again. "Look, we can't waste time playing, 'cause I don't really want to be around when Piccolo arrives to check up on you."
"Oh? And why would that be? Afraid? Perhaps you should worry more about me first." Gohan replied with a confident smirk as a cover while he quickly checked the power level of his opponent. He had to forcibly mask his surprise at what he discovered. Nothing. No ki signature at all.
Laughing, the man answered, "Believe it or not, I'm not here to fight you. I'm here to help you out."
"What would you know, android?" Gohan spat.
That seemed to sincerely catch the intruder by surprise. "Android? But I'm not…oh, I'm just wearing a device that completely masks my ki. I'm no android." When Gohan continued to eye him in suspicion he groaned, and whipped off his glasses to rub at his eyes. "This is so not going according to plan."
Relenting a little, as he realised he probably wasn't acting fair when this man had given him no reason to believe him evil, Gohan suggested, "Why don't we start with who you are, and then I'll decide whether or not I should hear you out."
"Well that kinda blows the purpose of wearing a disguise." The man grinned, twirling his glasses around one finger. Gohan's eyes widened, and a nagging suspicion entered into his mind. "But if what the Boss says is true, you should be able to handle it." With a tug the long bandanna covering his hair fell free, revealing black spiky locks only slightly longer than Gohan's own. "Son Gohan, at your service."
Gohan only took a moment to recover his composure. He then studied the man with much more interest to detail than before. He was wearing a plain navy blue gi, with saiyan style white boots but no gloves, and a white t-shirt underneath. But apart from the two black bottle top sized disks attached to the man's temples, he wasn't wearing anything that would indicate to Gohan what this doppelganger's purpose could be in meeting with him.
"Are you from the future then?"
"Yes, and no. While it's true that I am older than you by about, gosh I suppose ten years now," he grimaced, then laughed at his own whimsy, "I'm from a universe alternate to yours, and therefore there are many differences between our experiences. I was never a Nightlife member myself, and I very much doubt that you'll find yourself running around the galaxy in three or so years."
Gohan could detect no trace of deceit in the other man's countenance, and though he tried to remain objective he couldn't deny that he was naturally inclined to trust this other version of himself. "So what are you doing here then? You said you could help me?"
The older Gohan was relieved to see his counterpart relax, and determined to choose his words more carefully this time around. "It's more that I can help you help yourself. You see, I work for someone who's rather important on the scale of things." He grinned to show his understatement. "Her name is Fate, and she's been keeping an eye on you for a couple of years now."
Gohan raised an eyebrow. "Many would affirm that we create our own fate."
Unfazed, the other evenly replied. "Many do. In fact, most of how you live your life is self-determined. It's only when the repercussions of your decisions extend beyond a safe scope that she steps in, as she has knowledge and resources at her disposal that make her better qualified to decide what's best in the long run for all concerned. That is how I understand things at least. I'm led to believe that the job description is a little more complicated than that."
With a hint of a smile Gohan asked, "What exactly is it that you do?"
Rubbing the back of his head, the visiting Gohan answered with a laugh, "Whatever she tells me. I guess I'm sort of an errand boy. She calls on me whenever she has something that I can do, while she's busy with either other duties, or her own life."
"Sounds like an interesting job."
"Oh it is. I've seen-" He abruptly cut himself off, snapping his head to one side. Extending his own senses the native Gohan realised that Piccolo was heading towards them rather fast, and by his calculations would likely arrive within the next five minutes. The Gohan working for Fate said something that may have been an expletive in a foreign language.
"So, what do I have to do to see Kat again?" Gohan prompted. "Can I make some sort of a deal with Fate? Are there some powers that I could bargain for that would allow me to jump between our dimensions, or…"
Fate's Messenger shook his head to indicate that the other him was thinking in the wrong direction. "All the power you need is already a part of you. In fact through your exposure to various entities at Nightlife you have already started to develop the latent abilities that are present in every version of ourselves."
"You mean Kat? Was I really able to see her Dark energy before?"
He received a non-committal shrug for an answer, and then the other continued in his lecture. "Your body is a focus for The Light, which means that through your good intentions when you train, you draw Light energy to you as you work and increase your body's capacity to control and hold this energy. With this comes natural instincts to oppose and destroy all things Dark."
"But-"
"Listen now, think later." He commanded, with a nervous glance in the direction Piccolo was arriving from. "Now, it is Fate's will that you learn to develop your powers in relation to the Light more fully, as this will be needed in your future. The logistics of receiving this training you will have to work out with Bert. But allow me to give you a bit of personal advice. Think for yourself. Don't take everything your teachers tell you to heart, just because they're 'experienced', or they're 'obviously right'. Understand?"
"There are two sides to every story?"
A wane smile. "Always. I'll try to stop in every now again, but I really have little control over these things." He tapped the device Gohan had noticed before, which was fixed at his temples. A couple of adjustments later a vortex opened up in front of them. "Try to always have faith in yourself, and confidence in your capabilities. Good luck my friend."
"Wait-" Gohan called, but seeing as the other had already jumped into the vortex he guessed that trying for more information was more than a little futile. So instead he shouted a hurried, "Thankyou!" just as the vortex closed over.
Alone once more Gohan took advantage of the time to consider all that had been told to him. He wanted to firmly imprint everything in his memory to make sure he didn't forget any vital pieces of information, or in case the older version of himself had let something slip that could be useful in the future.
Already the sense of strangeness that had permeated his thoughts throughout the meeting was fading, and Gohan found that he was hoping that he would have the opportunity to talk more with this person who looked so similar to him, yet was so different.
Ten years. A little voice in his mind that sounded suspiciously like Kat smugly pointed out that he didn't seem to have aged all that much in ten years. The differences in their physiques seemed to be due to the fact that the other had years more training up his sleeve. Apparently his saiyan blood was going to keep him looking younger, longer.
Gohan quickly wiped the grin off his face as Piccolo flared to a halt a few meters in front of him. Barely glancing at the obliterated environment below, Piccolo asked gruffly,
"What happened?"
The corner of Gohan's lips twitched as his experienced ears caught the note of concern underlying his mentor's deep voice.
"Just felt the need to blow off a little steam." Gohan replied casually. "Sorry for worrying you."
Piccolo gave a dismissive grunt, and swept his intense gaze over his student and friend. Gohan crossed his arms impatiently as he waited for Piccolo to finish his examination; he really wanted to see if he could get to Nightlife and wring some answers out of Bert. He had suspected for a long time that the old man was more than just a watchman. For a while he was even convinced that Bert was in actual fact the creator of the club, but this theory had silently died as he watched Bert's interaction with The Manager of Nightlife. So the question remained, who was Bert?
Restraining his curiosity for now Gohan concentrated on an outward appearance of calm and good humour. Inside he was still churning with vestiges of rage, confusion, and dismay at his own lapse in vigilance that had led him to walk straight into that trap in the first place. But mixed in there was new hope, planted by the Messenger Gohan, that with a little effort things would still work out favourably. He wasn't sure what that 'favourably' meant in detail yet, but it had to start with him and Kat in the same dimension. Now to convince Piccolo to leave him alone.
Piccolo wasn't sure what to make of the situation. Ever since the Cell Games Gohan had worked hard to keep his emotions under tight self-control, not an easy task for any person growing through puberty, let alone one with saiyan blood. Yet it was rare that anyone in his extended family would witness anything even resembling a mood swing; only those who spent most time in his company were able to tell when he was feeling unsociable, and even then he would just laugh it off as fatigue and go to bed early.
This behaviour had long concerned Piccolo, or more precisely the part of Piccolo that still existed as Kami. That part insisted that it was unhealthy to so rigorously be suppressing emotion, particularly negative emotion, as Gohan was. But even when Piccolo made a point to periodically draw Gohan into sparring with him his pupil's barriers never dropped far. The other Z-fighters saw no problem and just accepted it as the way he was. After all, Goku was never grouchy, so Gohan must be the same. And Piccolo wasn't one for deep emotional conversations, so if no one else would do it he would not be the one to broach the subject.
But having said this, here was a clear case of a loss of temper the likes of which hadn't been seen in just over six years. There had to be a reason for it, and unless it was some sort of culmination of reasons something major must have happened. Perhaps if he were to discover what that trigger had been, he could send Gohan to talk to someone more experienced in these sorts of things.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Gohan almost, almost laughed out loud. Piccolo must have seen the amusement dancing in his student's eyes, for the Namekian crossed his arms defensively and fixed him with a penetrating glare. Or it would have been penetrating, on anyone else.
"It's fine Piccolo. Really, it's nothing." Piccolo raised a sceptical eye ridge and glanced pointedly at the mutilated rock below their feet. Gohan gave a sheepish laugh, rubbing the back of his head. He used the familiar action to buy him time to consider what would be the most convincing evasive action to take. The few seconds was all he needed. Who was it that had said that a half-truth was more misleading than an outright lie? Probably Kat, now that he came to think about it.
"All right, if you must know I'm sort of having er…girl troubles."
That achieved the desired effect. Immediately, though he didn't physically move a muscle, Piccolo retreated. Gohan kept a firm grip on the snicker that wanted to escape as he sensed the apprehension in the other warrior. No, this was not the person you come to for relationship advice.
"In that case perhaps you should talk with your mother."
Urg! Even the thought of discussing Kat with his mother was enough to make him cringe in anticipated pain. But he really wanted to get Piccolo off his case, so instead of going with his first instinct and shouting 'No way in hell!' he replied, "Yes, I was just about to head home now."
With an inward sigh Gohan realised that now he would have to follow through with this claim. It was what he ought to do anyway, as his mother would be getting worried, and now that he'd told Piccolo he was going home that would have to be the case. It would arouse suspicion otherwise. But dammit all, he really wanted to go interrogate answers from Bert to the multitude of questions spinning around in the back of his conscious mind.
"Very well. But if you want a more effective way to unleash your anger, you know where to find me."
Gohan returned Piccolo's friendly smirk and nodded a farewell, before heading off in the direction of his home.
Kat paced back and forth in front of the park bench, assimilating the information that had been given to her. The pacing helped her to concentrate through the headache pounding behind her eyeballs - an irritating side effect of bawling your eyes out whilst 'in the flesh', as opposed to at Nightlife where physical discomfort was generally a non-issue.
"Let me get this straight. You own this, what would you call it? A school?"
"If you like."
That was another thing irritating her. The demon man hardly ever gave straight answers. Though she supposed she should've been used to it by now.
"Right, this school, and you're offering me a place in your school where I will be taught to harness my Dark powers. Why?"
"My dear, you have great potential. I just couldn't bear it if that potential were left to go to waste."
Kat paused in her pacing to regard the blue demon with suspicious eyes. His face was a calm mask of sincerity, but she was not fooled. If he were anything like her…hell, if he was even anything like Hercule, there'd have to be something in it for him. Speaking of Sons of The Devil, there was something about this man, something in his facial features perhaps, that planted a sneaking suspicion in her mind.
"What did you say your name was again?"
Some emotion akin to unease flickered across the demon's eyes, and Kat could barely repress a gasp. How many times had Hercule regarded her with that exact expression on his face?
The demon in question was currently fighting a quick internal battle between his natural instinct to protect his identity, and the reasoning of logic that stated that as a spawn of The Satan he had extensive protection from things as petty as name-binding magics.
Logic won out. She was an un-trained kid for hellion's sake. And the desire to prevent her from spouting his name across her mortal universe would give him an added incentive to convince her to return with him to the Dark Realms.
He approved of her suspicion of course, but knew that a little flattery coupled with promises of power would easily sway the young darkling. Not that he was exactly lying when it came to her potential, but her exposure to that Light boy could not be overlooked. While her power was untainted as yet, who knew how badly her mind had been corrupted. Even if she did turn out to be a higher-level demon, she would very likely not be entrusted with important work for their cause.
All because of that 'phenomena' that had become famous through the case of his youngest brother. An attack so insidious that it could neutralise even the most pure Dark darkling. Certain Citizens of The Light had found the ability to sever the ties between the spirit and the Dark Energy at a demon's core, leaving them vulnerable to suggestion from the enemy. Potential traitors.
But despite this threat it was still better for her to be persuaded into living in the Dark Realms, where at the very least the core Dark energy oozing from her in rivers could be soaked up into his storehouses of reserve power. Besides, perhaps his title would encourage ambitious ideas in her pretty little head, which could at most provide him with some entertainment.
With a superior smirk the demon answered her question. "I am named Darius, Fourth Son of The Satan." He expected awe. He expected terror. He could even expect confusion if her schooling was so drastically lacking as to prevent recognition on her part. He did not expect her to say, in extremely sarcastic tones,
"The Fourth? Heh, looks like I'm moving up on the scale of things. Yay for me."
The shock of this unexpected reply was the only reason Darius was yet to become unspeakably angry. Who did this runt of a demoness think she was?
Kat though, had just had an idea. "Hang on, if I did consent to go with you, would I be likely to run into any of your other brothers?"
Curious to see where this was going, he answered, "If you proved yourself, you may come into contact with most of them." Of course the odds varied greatly on this, but he didn't see that she needed to know that.
With a wicked grin born from delightful thoughts of revenge, she replied, "Excellent. I have a score to settle with a certain recruitment officer." After all, by Kat's reasoning it was really that charming man's fault she was in this mess to start with.
Despite himself Darius smirked, re-evaluating his previous assessment of her. Anyone who'd been screwed over by Damon had to be worth training up, even if only to give his brother a little surprise later down the track.
"So you consent to travel with me to the Dark Realms, there to stay until it is judged that you have come into the full array of your vast power?"
"Sure, why not." She replied casually, so as to not look too eager. Inside she surged with triumph, satisfaction, and not a little excitement. Full array of power? There was more? She felt determined to learn everything there was to know about her abilities. Bert and Herc had danced around the subject ever since it became a subject. Now, she would finally be able to find some straight answers. Boy was Gohan going to be surprised!
Darius too was concealing the true nature of his thoughts. The satanic prince also felt smug satisfaction. Through her freely given consent the young demoness was now bound by oath to the Dark Realm, and wouldn't be able to leave until his say so. The girl had promise, but she was so inexperienced that really, it was no challenge to capture her at all.
"In that case deary, we shall away." He stood up with a dramatic flourish, and Kat had to firmly press her lips together to keep from laughing out loud.
With an unmistakably royal air he held out his hand to her, and she eagerly took it. Not once did her thoughts touch on the family she was leaving behind, nor for the world in which she'd grown up. When she did think of them later, her only regret would be that she hadn't thought to take some of her more valuable items with her, as they would've come in handy as bribery and bargaining material.
And so it occurred that she left her universe in a plume of black smoke, without so much as a backwards glance. She didn't even care that no one was around to see her triumphant exit. She thought of only two things, in no particular order.
Power.
Gohan.
Gohan sighed in relief as his head hit his pillow, tremendously glad for some peace at long last. Upon arriving home and hence allaying Piccolo's suspicions, he'd been treated to an eardrum-devastating rant from his mother, during which she'd used every trick in the 'Mother's Book of Guilt Trips' on him for making her worry.
Then he'd been subjected to another scolding from Bulma, before being grilled for information on the logistics of the Nightlife realm. Luckily he truly wasn't aware of much of the way the whole deal worked, but he didn't share any of his theories with her either. The reason for this was not because he didn't want her to know, but because he knew that should he start her on an essentially theological discussion at that point in time, then they'd have been there for the rest of the day and into the night.
So finally Bulma had left, promising (or threatening, depending on your point of view) to do some research into the topic, leaving Gohan once more at the mercies of his mother. By this time she was calm, but unfortunately deadly serious, as she point blank forbade him from entering into Nightlife ever again.
He liked to think he'd raised some solid arguments and defended his case rather well, but in the end the frying pan had come out, and he found himself promising not to go back into the club. Silently he amended that this did not mean he couldn't stand on the front step and talk to Bert, as technically that wasn't in the club, it was outside.
Once this had been dealt with things seemed to settle down in the Son family once more. He was easily able to reassure Goten that he wasn't angry with him for spilling the secret, but the look on his little brother's face as he told him how scared he'd been when Gohan's body had disappeared served to inspire more guilt than two hours of ranting from Chichi.
It was for this reason he'd promised Goten to tell him everything that had transpired in detail the next morning while he chopped wood as punishment for ruining his shirt. He'd forgotten all about the hole that'd been burnt into the back of his clothes, which turned out to be a fatal error in trying to pacify his mother and escape being grounded.
With a second soft sigh Gohan stretched out on his back, before forcing his tense muscles to relax. He spared a few seconds to consider the levels of fatigue in his body in order to gauge how out of shape he was. He'd blown off a lot of energy today, but hadn't really engaged in any real combat, (those weakling guards didn't count in his opinion), so from the way his body was aching noticeably right now he had indeed lost stamina over the past few years. With a twinge he remembered the days when he'd been able to sustain the first level of super saiyan for months on end. Though he'd never say it to the man's face, Vegeta was probably right. He'd gotten pathetically rusty.
But not for much longer. With a frown of determination Gohan cleared his mind, pushing away all the frivolous details his senses kept trying to make him notice. Slowly he tuned out the sounds of the forest outside, Goten's steady breathing beside him, his mother moving in the next room, until only his own heartbeat remained. Not long after achieving this his grasp on consciousness faded, only to reappear standing on a non-descript path and surrounded by white mist.
Thus endeth chapter 16! So, was anyone confused??? – peers quizzically at readers -
Know the really awful thing? Now that I know the ending, I've gone and lost my pep to write! I ask you, how could anyone be more careless?
So pray to the Gods of Writing Pep for me people, coz I wanna finish this baby before giving you the story that answers all those fun questions on Fate and Time and so on (and so forth)…
Thankyou to all who reviewed, especially to those who consoled me on the sufferings of exams…
And a special thankyou to Silver Spoon, who has the honour of being my 99th reviewer, and Kaye, who was the 101st.
Cya next time…(and it will be soon, I promise!)