Warning!: The rating on this fic is currently a PG-13 rating, mostly for language. It may, as a result of further foul language and extreme graphic violence in later chapters, be moved up to a R rating. So please, this fic is for the mature (preferably ages 15 and up). If you cannot take the contents of this fic, or if you have any problems with it whatsoever—take it up with me, KASH, the author—not the FF.net staff.
Author's Note: Ah, you know the drill, folks. Re-editing in progress and all that shiz. Copyrights--I don't own any of the regular characters you'd find in the show or manga Dragon Ball Z. They are copyright of Akira Toriyama, and Funimation Entertainment. Cyris, Laura, Sita, Nayome, Meah, and Valerie are mine, KASH, the author. I am writing this work of fiction purely for the amusement of myself and others, and am gaining no profit off of it what-so-ever. Blah, boring note, ended.
"He-YAYAYAYAYA!"
Goten quickly pulled in both his fists, back-flipped, spun around, and kicking wildly at a spot in the air. He sprung back a step, and began to punch madly at the desert dust that he'd kicked up which hung in the still air.
All of a sudden, Goten stopped in mid-punch, and whipped his head around. An eager smile instantly crept onto his lips. She was here!
Cyris promptly landed a few yards away from him, immediately swinging her backpack off and onto the ground.
"Cyris!" Goten called out happily, and Cyris jerked her head up to stare straight at him.
Smiling like a maniac, Goten hastily bounded over and skid to a halt to stand in front of her. "Hi!" he chirped up at her.
Cyris blinked down at him. "…Hey Goten. You're out here awfully early."
"Heh, you too! I was just getting some extra practice while Mom was out shopping," Goten said with a giggle, and then his smile faltered, and dissolved as he looked up at her.
Her eyes, they looked so...hollow... Not to mention she was still wearing her contacts. And she wasn't wearing her usual training clothes today, either—dark green T-shirt with black along the sleeves, somewhat baggy black jeans, and worn out, flat black sneakers.
"Are you feeling bad again today, Cyris?"
Cyris gave him a smile, which probably looked a touch frailer than she would've liked it to have been. "A little, but nothin' to worry about. I'm fine."
"...OK," Goten said, though something in her voice just didn't seem too convincing.
"Well, since we're both here, why don't we train?" she suggested, changing the subject. "How's your speed coming?"
Goten took a few steps back, and within the blink of an eye, he was standing at her right, then at her left, and finally back to where he'd stood, a playful grin on his lips.
"Very nice," Cyris said, raising her eyebrows. "You've been doing some extra training on the sly, haven't you?"
Goten broke out in a big wholly grin, giving a nod.
"How about the ki techniques I showed you?"
"Eheh, I still can't get the hang of them yet..."
Cyris tucked some of her hair behind her ear. "Hmm, what about just regular ki blasts?"
Goten nodded. "Uh-huh! I can do those!" He lifted up his hand, and formed a glowing ball within his palm. "See?"
Cyris folded her arms over her chest. "OK then, you've got the speed down, and the ki control needs a little work. But all in all I'd say you've made excellent progress."
Goten scratched the back of his head, another childish grin plastered onto his face.
"So..." Cyris unfolded her arms, and stood into a fighting stance, "I think now we should get down to the real training."
The boy gave a quick nod, and got into a stance himself.
For a moment, the two stood silently, not moving the slightest inch from their positions, eyes locked. Then they vanished, their only presence notable being the clouds of dust that swirled up along the desert plain occasionally.
Goten was the first to reappeared, landing back onto the ground with a light tap. He watched the thick dust clouds intently as they slowly swirled in the low wind, beginning to settle...
Cyris quickly lunged forth from them, her fist drawn back. She sped the length of the plain, and made a fast punch at him, but Goten flipped out of the way.
Cyris went after him, and a storm of punches immediately broke out between them, none of them ever hitting their mark, either deflected to the side of blocked by an opposing punch.
Abruptly, the two broke away, skidding on their heels to opposite ends of the plain, almost directly back to where they started.
"Heh, you're getting tough, kid," Cyris commented, smirking.
Goten grinned slyly back, lowering his head. "Hn."
Quickly, he vaulted himself forward toward the teen, and made another punch at her, but Cyris quickly side-stepped his attack with ease. In one smooth, fluid motion, she rammed her knee right into his perfectly exposed ribs.
Goten was sent flying, spinning head over heels through the air along the field. Scrambling, his hands managed to grab at the dirt, and he clawed at it, but only succeeded in pulling himself closer to the ground. He tumbled roughly through the dry dirt a few feet, and finally came to a stop.
Cyris lowered her leg back down, watching his still form with his face down in the dirt.
He wasn't moving... Maybe she'd overdone it on that last one--
Slowly, Goten got back to his feet. His orange and blue gi was torn in few places, and he was covered with small scratches and dust, clumps of the desert earth in his spiky black hair.
A snarl, which seemed incredibly uncharacteristic of him, curled his lips as he looked back toward Cyris, and his hands balled into shaking fists.
Cyris furrowed her brows as she watched him, laxing out of her stance a little. "What's he...doing?"
Suddenly, Goten reared back his head, and an ear-shattering cry rang out from his throat. Golden light erupted around him, consumed him, and the ground domed out and splitting beneath his feet.
Cyris's eyes went wide, and the next second a wave of ki slammed into her, which she wasn't at all prepared for, and she was knocked forcefully off her feet back onto the ground. Hastily she sat up, and her eyes were immediately drawn back to the light.
But the light had died down greatly. Now, there was a figure within it...the golden glow radiated from him.
He's a Super Saiyan....
But he wasn't just any Super Saiyan... The way his hair stood straight in the air, his bangs parted at the side. And the eyes....the same fiery green, merciless and cold...
The air caught in Cyris's throat, and the hair on the back of her neck prickled, feeling a cold chill slink up her spine.
It was him...
'Goku...'
The golden aura flickered, and in a flash it dispersed. Goten let out a shocked gasp, and fell to his knees and hands. Sweat dripped from his face, and he panted heavily.
"C...Cyris..." He lifted his head, still breathing heavily. "What...what just...happened...?"
Her eyes remained transfixed on him, wide and terror stricken. She didn't make the slightest movement, almost like an animal trying to evade a predator by not drawing attention to itself, hoping not to be seen...
"...Cyris...?" He unsteadily got to his feet, and began to take a step forward towards her--
"Goku!! That's who you are!!" Cyris abruptly exclaimed, almost accusingly; the words spilled out of her mouth before she had the chance to really comprehend what she was saying.
Goten blinked at her, and stopped short. "Cyris…what are you talking about?"
"Don't act like I'm stupid!!" she yelled. That angry pang had begun to rise in her chest, the same one that had when she first met Gohan. "I know you're Goku!! You have to be!!"
Goten looked hurt. "...Goku was my Dad..."
Cyris's mouth dropped open, her expression going blank. "Your...your Dad...?"
Blinding phosphorescent green swept over her eyes, clouded every inch of her vision. She felt as though she were floating, unattached...paralyzed.
What is this...?
Then it came, almost on a queue--the voice. It had a lifeless, metallic droll mixed within it... But she knew this voice, all too well…
'You are my Ultimate achievement... You are completely superior too all of your preceding models... You are the Perfect Weapon...'
It switched back. Goten was again trying to slowly making his way over to her now, a worried look on his face.
"Cyris? What are you—"
'Your soul purpose is to destroy... Destroy all existing life on this planet, and any other...'
Goten was still walking closer to her, he was only a few feet away...
"NO!" Cyris yelled, swiping her hand through the air. "St-Stay away from me!!"
"But...Cyris..." Goten whimpered, stopping and taking a small step back.
'Your soul purpose is to destroy...Destroy all life...'
Cyris could feel the darkness edging ever closer; it was consuming her.
No! She couldn't let herself be taken...not again...
But...it was calling out to her from the dark depths...soothingly…temptingly…and she wanted it...
'You must destroy him...Destroy him...'
Cyris was shaking with terror and confusion; she could feel it. Every nerve ending in her body was screaming not to fight it—for her to give into the cold darkness...to the commands…
It felt…suddenly, natural to her.
So why was she still fighting it?
'Destroy him...Destroy him...'
"N...no, I..."
'DESTROY HIM...'
"SHUT UUUUPPP!!!!" Cyris screamed at the top of her lungs, trying to drown out the echoing voices in her mind. She gripped the sides of her head, hunching forward. "JUST SHUT THE HELL UP!!!!"
Cyris's head snapped up, and she looked over toward Goten. He looked…literally terrified. A small whimper crept over his lips, and he put his hands behind him, ready to begin to back away from her.
G...Goten...!
Cyris quickly, but shakily brought her first two fingers pointed to the center of her forehead, and in a flicker of light, she disappeared completely from the spot, and her ki signature vanished.
Goten continued to stare, motionless, at the spot where Cyris was only a moment ago. His mouth twitched, and a shaky breath escaped him, tears spilling out of his eyes and down his cheeks.
"But why? You still haven't said why, Aunt Laura!"
Her aunt turned to her, her arms bulging with hastily packed suitcases, loose garments hanging over them. "Cyris, I told you, we have to go! Get the rest of your stuff now!"
"It's already in the car, Laura," Cyris said promptly, putting her hand on her hip.
Laura stuffed the load in her arms into the trunk of the old, rusted blue Saturn, and looked over at her almost nine year old niece. "OK then. You, get into the car. I'll be back. If you see anything, anything that doesn't look...human, I want you to get under the car and stay there, got it?"
Cyris blinked. "What? But Aunt Laura—"
Her aunt rushed past her up the front steps, and ran down the hall into the kitchen.
Cyris sighed, rolling her eyes. "This whole thing's some sorta prank. Monsters eating up whole cities, pah."
She went down the steps, mumbling something closely resembling, "There's no such thing as monsters," and opened up the side passenger door, took a seat, and closed it. She let out another frustrated sigh, and loosely crossed her arms across her chest, staring out the driver's side window.
Across the street, a man and a woman were frantically stuffing household belongings into the back seat of an SUV, and scurrying back into their apartment to grab more.
Cyris looked through the front window. Two men jumped into a black Toyota truck, a couch, a couple tables and chairs, and sleeping bags in the back, and drove madly down the street.
Cyris raised her eyebrows, and got up in her seat. Down the street, several other cars were being packed, and immediately driving off.
"This whole 'Nikkeitown Monster' thing...it's not really real..." She got onto her knees, and swerved around in her seat to look through the back window. And, as to be expected, dozens of other cars and trucks lined the streets, packing up, and shipping out.
"...Is it?"
SLAM!
Cyris jumped, turning jerkily back in her seat, and saw her aunt pulling the strap of her seat belt, and, with fumbling hands, buckling it.
Cyris breathed a sigh, and sat down, buckling her seat belt as well.
As soon as the latch clicked, her aunt floored it, and took off like a bat out of Purgatory down the street.
Cyris shifted uncomfortably, groaning sleepily. The rough, scrapping texture on her face and on her shoulder—it was beginning to bother her.
She sluggishly forced her arm out from under her, and pushed herself up with it, moving her head—
Ow ow! Headache!
Her hands instantly flew to her temples, wincing. "Aaaah, man..." Cyris moaned irritably, cracking her eyes open, sniffing. "Where...where am I?"
A strong blast of cold wind blew into her face and bare arms, snaking its way up her short sleeves and up her pants legs.
She clamped her eyes shut, gritting her teeth. Man, it's cold!
Cyris tediously got to her feet, and crossed her arms across her chest, rubbing them. She turned to get her front out of the wind...
...and saw that the ground was over 100 feet below her.
"Holy—!" she gasped, so taken aback that she tripped over her own two feet, and fell onto the rough concrete ground on her rear.
After a moment that she was able to regain her composure, she got back to her feet, and timidly walked over to the edge, and peaked down.
"Hm... I'm on topuva building, then," she said to herself, and scoffed at herself for being frightened by only being a couple feet off the ground.
"But, how'd I get up here?"
The last thing Cyris remembered...was when she was with Goten. Something had happened... He'd gone Super Saiyan, that was it.
Then she remembered green, radiant green... And that voice...
…Who was that?
She let out an aggravated sort of growl. She really didn't like all of this. Not in the least.
Cyris squinted down at the street below, trying to make out the seemingly microscopic letters written on the signs on top of the tiny stores along the sidewalk.
"Wait a second..." She narrowed her eyes to the point that they were merely thin slits, and then she blinked, an almost amused smirk sneaking onto her lips. "I'll be... It's Daidaiiro
Boulevard."
Daidaiiro Boulevard, conveniently enough, was only five blocks away from her aunt's apartment. She, Meah, and Valerie would almost always walk around here after school and on the weekends when they hung out—the best stores and shops were always located here. And, having Meah the Shopaholic as a best friend, you'd know where all the best places to go to shop were, regardless if you needed the information or not.
Another blast of wind hit Cyris in the face, and the cold finally got the better of her.
Shivering, Cyris moved away from the ledge, picking up her backpack that was near where she laid a moment ago, and walked toward the back corner of the roof. She peered down the side, and after making sure the area below was deserted, hopped off.
She landed a second or so later on the sidewalk, and, nonchalantly, shifting her backpack on her shoulder, began to head toward home.
Her eyes practically glued to her sneakers scuffing along the rough, gray pavement of the sidewalk, Cyris could only keep thinking back to the past week's events.
She'd always had those weird visions, for as long as she could remember... Ever since the accident.
But, this week definitely topped the cake. The visions becoming so vivid in her mind, beginning to really know who all those "mystery fighters" were at the Cell Games—social and hereditary background—well, all but Son Gohan, anyway.
Though, that only covered the visions.
Four times she'd found herself doing something she had no idea why or what possessed her to suddenly act upon it. And all four of those times were acts of violence... On people she didn't even know—that Jessica Jazawitz girl, that kid Gohan from her class, and Goten...
Goten...Goku's son. Why hadn't she thought of that? It was so obvious! But Gohan was Goku's only son. Where'd Goten come into the picture? Not to mention he was a Super Saiyan already, too.
But that all was irrelevant. That didn't really have anything to do with her setting off...did it?
No, that made no sense.
But why would she have gone off on him? On Jessica, and Gohan? She didn't know them either.
But... What would happen if something like this happened to someone she did care about? Taree, Valerie, Meah—any of them could be susceptible to her sudden spurts of rage.
Would she really loose herself so much into her rage that she would end up harming someone she was so close to?
"Meah! Look out!"
Cyris jerked her head up just in time to have a giant wave of white packages and bags engulf her, and, dumbfounded, she toppled backwards with all the bags and boxes to the ground, hitting the pavement roughly.
Cyris was just about ready to strangle whoever had just ran into her, when their voices came to ear.
"Shit! I'm sooo sorry!"
"Jesus, Meah! It would help if you'd watch what you're doing! Runnin' into people with all yer friggen stuff!"
Cyris quickly craned her head up, and her eyebrows raised.
"You a'ight down there?" Valerie turned down to her. She blinked, and a surprised expression came over her features. "Cyris!"
Cyris smiled meekly up at the two teens, a pair of poofy pink handcuffs dangling over her ear. "Nice to see you too, Val." She plucked the handcuffs off of her ear, and held them out in front of her, quirking an eyebrow. "Handcuffs…?"
"Those would be mine…" Meah giggled, cocking her head to the side. "I couldn't resist! They were just too cute!"
"…." Cyris shook her head, sighing an upside-down mushroom cloud.
There was an uncomfortable silence as the three girls sat together at a small table in La Marie's Caf. Since they'd all gotten their drinks—frapachinos, cappichinos, the mix—none of them had uttered a word, which was beginning to grind on Meah's sensitive nerves.
So, being the one who usually always started up the conversations, she, well, started one.
"So...Cy-Chan, what's up?" she questioned, taking a small sip of her frapachino.
"Heh… That's sortuva loaded question," Cyris replied, staring down into her capachino, watching the light brown liquid slowly swirl within its paper cup imprisonment.
Valerie took a swig of her own drink, and looked over the brim of the cup at Cyris's direction. "How's that?"
Breaking her gaze from the swirling liquid, Cyris took a sip, and set it back down on the table, leaning back in her seat. "To be perfectly honest, I think I'm either schizophrenic or I've completely lost my mind."
Meah blinked her brilliant green eyes at her, cocking her head to the side a little bit. "Umn, wouldn't that be the same thing though?"
Valerie rolled her eyes, and gazed back toward Cyris. "Like, you mean you're hearing voices and stuff like that?"
"Sometimes," Cyris said, sipping on her capachino. "I'm seeing things too. I think it's stuff from the Cell Games. Stuff with that kid and Cell, when they were fighting."
Meah blinked. "But, didn't you say you never saw the Cell Games?" she inquired, quirking a thin blue eyebrow.
"Uh-huh," Cyris answered, curling some hair back behind her ear nonchalantly. "I didn't."
"There anything else?" Valerie said, furrowing her brows.
"Yeah. Sometimes it's like, one minute I'm doing one thing, and next second I'm pinning somebody up against a wall or something."
Valerie's expression darkened. "Pinning people up into walls…? Why? Did they get you mad or something?"
"Hell if I know," she snorted. "And not to forget what happened Monday..."
Meah nodding, remembering all too well what had happened. She straightened, looking worriedly over at her friend. "So you think it might have something to do with...what happened, maybe? Like, a mental lapse, or something like that?"
Cyris shot Meah a look, taking another gulp from the paper cup. "Wish I knew. I'm seriously beginning to think I'm, like, possessed or something..."
"Aww, how very sad. Sounds to me like poor widdle Cywis is having a widdle mental bweak down."
Cyris jumped in her seat, and her head instantly whipped up.
Looming like a vulture over Valerie's shoulder stood a tall, cocky looking teenage boy with slicked forward, light blue hair almost the same shade as Meah's, and dark, forest green eyes. An antagonistic smirk was plastered onto his face, and his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket.
Yukio Mizuiro, Meah's older brother.
Cyris immediately glared up into his eyes, a sneer curling her lips. "Back off, Yukio. I'm warning you, I'm seriously not in the mood."
Yukio raised his arms in the air in a fake defensive gesture. "Oh oh! I'm so sorry! Gonna go all mental on me now?"
The corner of Cyris's eye twitched, and her hands balled into tight fists.
"Stop it, Yukio!" Meah said warningly over to him, getting to her feet. "I mean it!"
"Oohhh, and what are you going to do about it?" Yukio retorted, narrowing his eyes at his little sister.
Meah let out a huff, narrowing her own eyes at him.
But Yukio's smirk only broadened, and he looked back down at Cyris. "Not that that's much of a surprise anyway. Maybe she's just giving into the family roots, huuh? I mean your mother from what I understand was a pretty crazy bitch herself, wasn't she? Or was that just stupid?"
Cyris was out of her chair and up in his face in the blink of an eye, her nose not even an inch from his. "You better watch your goddamn mouth, you bastard," she hissed into his face through clenched teeth.
"Geheheh…should I now?" Yukio raised his eyebrows a little bit, lowering his eyelids only slightly to give him a more mischievous sort of appearance. "I'm not exactly the kid of a prostitute, now am I? Hm? So who exactly is the bastard now?"
The only thing keeping her in her spot and not grinding Yukio's dumb grinning face into the floor was Valerie and Meah's grips on her arms. Not that it did any good strength-wise, but it wasn't worth flinging them clear into another continent just to beat in that blue-haired Neanderthal's face.
"Cyris! Don't! Just don't listen to him! Sit down!" Meah pleaded. "Please don't listen to him! You know he's just a prick." Meah shot her brother a look, and he simply flashed an even wider grin onto his cheeks.
Cyris, fuming, forced herself to be seated. She kept her eyes on him from her low seat, grinding her teeth behind closed lips.
"Heh..that's right. Just be a good lil girl and listen to the sane ones, right? They know what they're actually talking about—well…more than you do apparently."
"Why don't you just piss off already?" Valerie sneered, narrowing her deep ultramarine eyes up at him.
Yukio ignored her completely, and focused his attentions back on Cyris. "Hey, just wondering, but, y'know, aren't you due back to the mental institute right about now?" He turned, and pointed his thumb to the street. "I thought I saw one of their trucks drive by looking for--"
They didn't know. None of them knew what it was like. It had been almost five years since she got out of that insane asylum…and quite frankly, it was one of the few places that Cyris never ever wanted to be stuck in again. Stuck behind that enprisoning glass, in that cold steril room… Being able to see out…to see freedom, but yet it was so far out of reach. That in itself was enough to drive someone mad.
The voice swept back up into her head, her consciousness, flooding out all other sounds around her, bellowing one, simple command…
'KILL!!'
Then something deep, deep down inside of her…snapped.
"I'M NOT GOING CCRRAAZZYY!!!"
With a backhanded slam, the table was sent flying across the café at blinding speed, a complete blur, and it smashed into the back wall, shattering itself and the bricks it made contact with into dust; an explosion of splinters and bits of brick.
With a yell of rage escaping her throat, Cyris bolted forward, slamming hard into Yukio, and in the blink of an eye ran him up into the corner of the café near the door. She drew back her fist, a ball of energy immediately forming in her palm, and without a moment's hesitation she thrust it forward, right toward his face...
Suddenly, Meah's high pitched scream rang out in Cyris's ears. Immediately her arm lurched to a stop. The ki ball remained only the slightest inch away from the tip of Yukio's nose.
Yukio stared cross-eyed down his nose at the ki ball, and his mouth line drooped. His complexion instantly paled, and eyes rolled up into the back of his head.
Cyris quickly recoiled her hands, and the teenage boy slid down the wall to the floor, out cold.
"I..." Cyris tried to choke out, but the air kept catching in the back of her throat. "I...I didn't..."
She whipped her head around to look at Meah, who had an expression conveying no less than horror. Slowly, shakily, Cyris rotated her head back around, and gazed down at Yukio's unmoving body, slumped up on the floor.
What did I just do…? I...I almost killed him... And I really wanted to…This...it's not real... None of this can be real... It can't be... It can't be...
This time, the darkness would not take refuge over her. She was left there, in the silent café, every frightful eye glued to her, wallowing in her own twisted misfortune.
No outside force had intervened this time. This time, it had been her own rage that had let fly, and almost caused death. Death to someone whom she'd known for years, that she wouldn't have dreamed to raise a fist to, even if she hated him as much as she did. She never ever had any desire to kill anyone. Never…
Run.
Cyris thrust herself forward and smashed through the glass doors of the café, sending down a storm of clear shards to rain down onto the gray ground. She swerved herself around, and sprinted down the street as if the devil himself were on her heels.
No turning back now. She had to get out of here. Had to get away, from everything. Escape everything, everyone.
She vaulted herself into the air, sending herself soaring upward into the orange painted sky. And then, she vanished.
"H...Holy Christ in Heaven..." the clerk behind the counter stuttered, his eyes still plastered to the spot where the teenage girl had smashed through the doors, glass littered all over the ground.
Suddenly, Meah snapped out of her shock, and remembering her unconscious brother in the corner ran over to his side. She put her hands on his shoulders and began to shake him. "Yukio! Yukio wake up!"
Yukio didn't respond in the least. He continued to fall back limply into the wall, the same flat, swirl-eyed expression on his face.
"Yukio…" Meah quickly swerved around, looking over her shoulder. "Valerie! Call—"
She stopped, and blinked. "Valerie?" she said in a small, questioning voice.
But Valerie was nowhere to be seen.
Ahh, well there's the re-edited version of Chapter 9. More glimpses into Cyris's dark past have been added into this, if you haven't picked up on them. They're there. Mmhm… And yes, I know it seems like this whole thing with revising the entire fic is sort of--how you say--"beating a dead horse, in attempt to get it to move", but hey, at least it's some sort of progress. And besides, I've started writing down parts for future chapters here and there…So perhaps if the fic still seems to be getting anywhere after I finish going through and fixing, then I plan on working harder on its completion. So again, for all of you who have stuck through it all for this fic, I thank you.
-KASH