Chapter 15: Through the Looking Glass
"Katie, what was that all about?" Goten asked as I walked over to rejoin the others.
"He was confused. He wanted to know what love is."
"He has never known love?" Vegeta, of all people, asked.
"He thinks he might. He loves the Empress. He wanted to know about the different kinds of love, because he saw that I love all of you."
"That's sad, never knowing love." Mirai said.
"We have to keep this quiet. He'll be killed if the others know."
"We're going to kill him anyway, aren't we?" Vegeta asked.
"No, not if we don't have to. We won't kill any of them if we don't have to, agree?" I said. The others nodded in agreement.
So the waiting began again, and every second felt like an hour. I paced, I sat, and then I'd pace again. When the second hour passed my anxiety shot up higher than ever.
"They're almost here." Gohan said, looking toward the west.
"I can see them, right there." Trunks pointed them out.
"Get ready." I said, standing in front.
They landed, and Dark Cell was carrying Codie, still unconscious. When Dark Cell saw me he turned away. Empress Katrin stood in front. She was the leader of the darklings, and I could tell she wouldn't accept anyone but me as the leader here.
"What have you done to Codie!" Mirai cried. I stuck my hand out in front of him, keeping him in check.
"She's keeping him safe." I said. She seemed surprised at my response.
"Why would I keep him safe? What do I care if he's safe or not?" she asked, smirking and laughing.
"Because I figured out that you can't have children of your own. My son, the son of Cell, is the closest thing you'll ever find."
"How did you…?" her voice was soft, sounding hurt and scared. She shook her head, "No matter, of course you would figure it out."
"So then, why come up here? What do you want?" I asked, keeping my tone low.
"I've decided I really don't need this universe. You can keep it."
"What?" Goten asked, confused.
"Of course, that doesn't mean I'm going to give up so easily. The boy stays with me. We're going home." the others took to the sky, and Empress Katrin rose slowly off the ground, "You're welcome to chase us, but I doubt you'll be able to catch us." she smirked, and in a flash they were heading toward the horizon.
"Don't just stand there, go!" I powered up and literally shot off like a rocket, creating a crater where I had stood a moment earlier. The others were right with me.
"They're heading toward the portal!" Vegeta said, shooting past me. That enticed me to go faster, going SSJ4 as I flew.
I can't lose Codie. I refuse to lose him. I won't lose him to them, especially not to her.
The wind ripped at my clothes and fur, the sky became blurred, but I refused to slow down. Gohan and Mirai were closest to me now, leaving Trunks, Vegeta, and Goten right behind us.
If we're flying this fast with this much effort, how strong are the darklings? How fast can they really go?
The hole in the sky was now very large, filling up a large part of the sky. We could see it very clearly and we were still many miles away.
We were close enough to the darklings now that I could hear them laughing. Heat from anger rose to my face, blocking out the icy wind. My chest hurt, both from my anger and the strain of flying so fast.
I saw a few of the dark shapes ahead of us go into the portal. It started to shrink just from three of them going through.
"If they make it through we'll lose Codie!" I screamed, flying even faster.
Dark Cell, Empress Katrin, and Codie were right in front of the portal. Empress Katrin looked back at me and laughed as Dark Cell stepped through, right as we landed. I started running right to the portal.
"Katie!"
"Farewell, sister. Until we meet again. Don't worry, I'll raise him as though he were my own." She turned and stepped into the portal. It started to shrink even more.
"Codie!" I screamed, still running. The darkness of the portal surrounded me as I jumped through, not hesitating a second.
3rd P.O.V.
Katie jumped through the dark hole in the sky, disappearing from sight.
"Katie!"
"Katrin!"
"Stop!" but the cries were useless. Mirai didn't hesitate; he ran and jumped through the portal. Gohan followed next, disappearing as well.
Vegeta, Goten, and Trunks ran, charging right to the portal, but it was too late. The portal vanished, and they ran right through open sky.
"No…" Goten said, looking back.
"Katie… Mirai… Gohan… where are they?" Trunks asked aloud.
"They're in the other universe now. I can't sense them at all, not even enough to tell if they made it."
"We have to go after them!" Trunks said.
"No, we can't. There isn't any way we can cross through. Only someone who can cross dimensions could get us there." Vegeta said.
With the portal now closed, there was only a slight chance that the hole in the wall was still there. That was only because someone had crossed the portal and was now on the other side, interrupting the balance.
"Father, who can cross dimensions?"
"Roxx, and Katrin when she had the Angel Power. That's it." Vegeta replied, keeping his calm.
"So what can we do?" Goten asked.
"I don't know." Vegeta admitted.
"Let's go back to the Lookout. Dende could contact Supreme Kai for us. We'll go from that, it's all we can do." Trunks said.
AS22: What horrors lie in the Darkling universe? You'll have to read, so you might as well review!