Chapter 14: Reconnection
It had been hours since the sun came up, and I still had no idea where Codie was. I couldn't find any trace of him, I couldn't sense his Ki, find his scent, or make contact with him. I was hoping against all hope that he was still alive. That alone broke my heart.
I flew fast, not letting anything pass by my keen eyesight, even at these high speeds. I sensed someone near, someone familiar. Who ever he was, it was a darkling. The Ki was too dark not to be.
The form took shape ahead of me, and as I got closer I could make out certain features. A tail, armor, a Scouter. It wasn't my darkling, she didn't have a Scouter. It was male as well.
It was Kakorot, and as I got nearer he didn't move. He just stood there, up high above the surface of the planet, waiting for me.
I stopped, and at first he didn't seem to notice me. He was looking the other way, but then his Scouter went off. He turned to face me.
"I can't believe you can't sense Ki." I said.
"Only Emperor Cell, Daimoa, and Empress Katrin can do that. I'm here to deliver a message."
"Really? Kakorot the messenger?" I scoffed.
"The Empress wants to meet with you and your little friends in 2 hours, at Kami's Lookout. We presume you have one in this dimension?"
"Yeah, we do. What's this all about?"
"Just be there and the kid will remain alive."
"Codie… give him back to me. You have sons, you must understand how this feels."
"Goku must be a softy, because I really don't care about that 'love' bullshit you spread. I only love to battle. Be at the Lookout in 2 hours, your friends are all receiving the same messages. Don't try to follow me, or your boy may meet with an accident before our meeting. Then again, maybe he doesn't need both arms to be a warrior." He turned and took off.
Without a second thought I went straight to the Lookout, teleporting. Some of the others were already there.
"So, you know what's up?" Goten asked.
"No… Kakorot just told me to meet here."
"Same with us." Goten said, looking back at Vegeta and Mirai.
I sat down, feeling deflated. Nothing I had done in the past 24 hours had gone right. My son was missing, and I still couldn't keep Baba's warning, Dark Cell, or my darkling off my mind.
Trunks landed after a few minutes. He wanted answers, they all did, but I didn't have them. Finally Gohan showed up, so we were all here, waiting to meet with the darklings.
"How you holding up?" I turned to the voice to see Mirai sitting beside me. I never even noticed him come over and sit as I thought more on the before mentioned things.
"Not so good." I sighed.
"Well, start with the top of the list." He said, smirking.
"You have no idea."
"Try. We're a team." He said, squeezing my shoulder.
"Well, first is Katrin. I can't figure her out."
"She's evil, what's to figure out?"
"The 'why' factor. Why is she evil? That's the question…"
"She just is."
"Everyone is the way they are for a reason."
"She's a Sayjin? That could be a reason." Mirai suggested.
"No, I've been there, remember? Sayjins aren't really evil. No living creature is born evil."
"Yeah, you're right, as usual."
"That's the problem… this time I'm not right. I don't know. Maybe… maybe if we could just talk, I could find out why she's evil."
"She won't let that happen. She wants to fight you, plain and simple."
"I know…"
I looked up to the sky, seeking answer, but I knew the sky couldn't tell me. Pinks and purples still painted the sky in an early morning hue.
"What's next?"
"Hm?" I turned back to Mirai.
"The list, what's next?"
"Why she took Codie. She said she was going to shatter my perfect life."
"What could that mean?" Mirai asked.
I stared at my feet, cold and tired. I wrapped my tail, twitching in the cold air, around my feet as I thought.
"Dear Kami… I think I know. I think I figured it out."
"What is it?" Mirai's tone expressed the way I felt perfectly.
"I met with Baba while looking for some caves. She told me this big long prophecy about all of this. She said one has what one lacks. I think she was referring to us and our darklings."
"And what does that mean?"
"I have kids, and she doesn't. And she wants a child."
"So she took ours!" Mirai said, raising his voice.
"She was raped as a kid… maybe she can't have kids. She said she takes what she wants. Codie is the son of Cell and me. He could be an heir for her."
"Kais…" Mirai looked up at the sky, seeking answers from the fading stars. I knew we'd need more than stars to help us.
"Mirai, she took him for her own. She kept staring at him earlier."
"We'll get him back. Nothing short of death would stop me."
"That's what I'm afraid of." I said, standing. I was tired, but if I sat still for too long my muscles would grow stiff in the cold.
The waiting was unbearable. Vegeta once more paced like a wild animal. I did too as the minutes ticked by slowly.
Then before my eyes could believe me, the darkling of Cell was there.
"Cell, what are you doing here?" I asked, stepping up.
"My Empress doesn't know I'm here, the others think I am feeding."
"Where is my son! Where is Codie?"
"I am already going against my Empress' wishes coming here, I cannot tell you where he is as of now."
"You can't, or won't?" I growled.
"I didn't come to fight, I came to talk."
"I don't believe him." Gohan said.
"Of course you don't, Gohan." Goten said.
"I only want some answers that only you can give me, Katie."
His eyes were wide open, nothing to hide. The red color showed emotions clearer than anyone else's eyes I had ever looked into.
"Katrin, you can't-"
"I believe him." I said.
"Katie! That isn't Cell, remember?" Mirai said.
"I know! It isn't that, Mirai." I said, turning to face him, "Can't you see it in his eyes? He isn't lying." I turned back to Dark Cell.
"You'll answer my questions?" he asked, surprised.
"Maybe, it'll depend on the questions." I retorted.
"Katie!" Trunks hissed.
"Shut up! Can't you guys just trust me?" I asked.
"You've never given us any reason not to." Vegeta said, "Let's give them some privacy." The others looked to me, and I nodded. They left with Vegeta.
"Thanks, Vegeta." I said, knowing he couldn't hear me.
"Well?" Dark Cell asked, making me turn to face him.
"I'll answer you best I can if you do the same for me. Deal?"
"… Deal." He replied.
"Fine, go ahead."
"To you, this first question may prove difficult. What is love?"
"Love? Well… love is… it's a… it's complicated." I said, sheepishly scratching the back of my head.
"You and my counterpart had love, yet you never mated with him or-"
"I get it, you don't have to go into detail."
"And yet, you also love your mate, Vegeta, Goku, your son, even people who don't care about you. What is love?"
"Its strong feelings toward a friend or family member. A good feeling, it can heal you when you're hurting, but it can also hurt."
"Love can hurt and heal?"
"Yeah, it's like… when a person you love gets hurt or dies, love makes you feel bad."
"Who do you know that died?" he scoffed.
"I can't tell you."
"Why not?" he asked.
"I promised not to."
"Either you tell me, or I'll take the information I seek." Dark Cell said, raising his tail above his head.
"Guys, I'm going to tell Cell about the Dragonballs."
"You can't!" Gohan responded.
"If I don't tell him, he'll rip the info out with his tail. At least this way I can tell him that earth doesn't have any Dragonballs and leave out Namek."
"Go ahead Katrin, I trust your judgment." Vegeta responded.
"Well?" Dark Cell asked, waving his tail.
"Everyone I know has died once, except my son. Even I have died once."
"How can that be!" he asked, retracting his tail.
"Earth use to have Dragonballs. When Piccolo died, they were lost. Dragonballs can grant wishes, even bring the dead back to life. But with our Piccolo dead, they died too."
"It's too fantastic to believe… but it makes sense." He said, turning away in thought.
"What?"
"I went to the Cell Games battle site. You had claimed my double lived, but from the damage I saw I couldn't believe that. You lied." He turned back to face me.
"Only because I was afraid you and your family would try to find the Dragonballs and hurt many innocent people along the way."
"We would, you're right."
"I've died… I've been to HFIL."
"HFIL is the same here as well? A place where the evil dead go for eternal torment?"
"Yeah, at least that's the same."
"Why did you go to HFIL?" he asked, lowering his arms.
"I… I killed many innocent people. I was under a spell, but it was still me." I sighed, trying to push those images away. So much blood and hate.
"You were like my mate." He said, finishing my thought, "You fear that part of you. But you do not fear my mate. Odd…"
"We're not the same person." I said.
"My mate is not evil… but you could not understand her methods."
"Try me." I dared.
"She took over the universe, but not for power or greed. At least, not in the beginning. She set out to make the universe a better place. With her in power, no one would have to suffer like she did as a child. Our world, our universe has no crime. If there is crime, Empress Katrin takes care of it as a one-person judge, jury, and executioner. She's fair, but not lax."
"Now I have a question. The Empress can't have children, can she?"
"… You figured it out. That's why she took your son. But we'll raise him as if he were our own."
"That isn't what I want. I want him back."
"I can't hurt her again! I can't!"
"Hurt her?"
"I can't explain." He said, turning again. I walked around to face him.
"You don't have to. But can't you see? You do love her, for more than… mating or appearance. And I believe she loves you too, she just doesn't know how to explain or show it."
"I will tell you the hurt, but only because I think it might help her. She was pregnant once. I had never seen her so happy. She'd sing to the child, even thought it was in the womb. She glowed. Her voice made sirens grow envious. But the damage that damn monster did to her as a child made it impossible for her to truly have a child. It was stillborn. She cried for weeks. Then… then she tried to kill herself."
"She did what?"
"Only the two of us know. If you say anything--"
"No, I won't say anything, Cell." He stopped, shocked I guessed.
"Good. You're right, I never knew what to call it before, but I love her. It is my duty to keep this secret."
"Then why tell me?"
"She's going to kill you anyway."
"If it comes to that, I won't hesitate to kill her, or you. I hope you understand that. If you get in my way when I go after Codie, I'll kill you."
"I wouldn't expect anything less from my mate's counterpart. I must go, they're almost here." he turned to go, but he stopped. He turned his head to face me, "And if you try to take your son back, I won't hesitate to kill you. My loyalties are to my mate." then he disappeared.
AS22: That Cell…
Cell: what about me?
AS22: Ahh! Oh, its just you.
Cell: just me? I'm one of your favorite characters!
Vegeta: no, I am!
Cell: no, me!
(fighting, AS22 sweats)
AS22: R&R, I'll try to separate these two.