Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z.
Author's Notes: I realize that this is a rather short chapter. But you've got to admit… it was updated quickly. Action is different from angst. It goes quickly, and I think it's better suited to smaller installments. Don't worry. I'll have the next chapter up quickly.
Soul 44: Panic in the Streets
It was three o'clock in the morning, even earlier than Vegeta got up.
He'd had a restless night, and it seemed like he'd just properly gotten to sleep. Actually, he'd been asleep for two hours, but that didn't make him any more cheerful when he heard the bedside phone ringing… and that Bulma had moved it to his side… again…
"Wake up, woman."
Bulma stayed still, snoring softly.
He jostled her. "The damn phone's ringing."
She mumbled something and rolled over.
Adding to his list of profanities for the day, Vegeta jerked up the still-ringing phone. "This had better be the end of the world," he growled in the raspiness of sleep.
"Good guess, Vegeta," a nervously laughing voice said at the other end.
Vegeta closed his eyes, trying to keep his temper under control as he heard the voice of one of the most annoying people in the world. Then his eyes flew open as he realized that Krillen would only risk his life by calling either Bulma or Vegeta at three in the morning if it actually was the end of the world. Which could only mean…
"What's happened," Vegeta demanded.
He could hear some rustling around after a slight pause. "I… uh… oh right. I found Jiten in my house. I think he was taking Eighteen's energy. I took him by surprise and blew him out of the house, and then he asked if the dragonballs were at Capsule Corp, and then he took off."
Vegeta sighed loudly, trying to collect his thoughts in his lingering drowsiness. I knew it! Kami help me, I knew it! And why am I praying to that useless Namek. Alright, think.
"Krillen," Vegeta barked. "Call the others. I'll prepare for my nephew's… arrival."
"No can do," Krillen said shortly. "I've got to get Eighteen to Korin's for a senzu. I'll get plenty of beans there."
"Fine," Vegeta growled. "I'll get the woman to do it." He hung up without saying goodbye.
"Get me to do what?" Bulma said irritably, having slept through most of the conversation.
Vegeta had no time to argue. He didn't know how much Jiten's speed had been improved. "The leech is here… along with Jiten. Jiten's coming here, and I need you to call everyone. After that, you and Bra barricade yourselves in the underground shelter."
Bulma glared at Vegeta as if to say "like hell we will," but got on the phone anyway. Vegeta began pulling on his clothes.
"I'm getting no answer at Yamcha's," she said after a pause.
"Why are you calling that waste of flesh anyway?" Vegeta barked at her. "Call Kakarrot. Call Gohan. Call the dojo. I'll get the kids up, and then activate the dragonballs."
Bulma began dialing, and then gasped and slammed the receiver down. "Vegeta! The six-star dragonball! It… isn't here, remember?"
Vegeta felt like throttling something, namely a certain Spider student. "Alright, I'll send Trunks over to the dojo. Call Darjili in advance."
"What are you going to do?!" Bulma yelled after him.
"Wait for Jiten!"
.
Goten felt it immediately… like a jolt, which stopped him in his sparring with Olibu. He absent-mindedly blocked a fist and held it, staring toward Enma's place.
"What's wrong, boy?" the heroic-sounding voice intoned.
Goten had almost thought that, by some impossible burst of good fortune, Jita had suddenly come back to life. However, such was not the case. Even from another dimension, he could tell that Jiten had returned to the living world.
"Jiten…" he whispered. "I've got to get King Kai!" He ran towards the North Galaxy compound, leaving Olibu forgotten. Olibu shook his head and then ran after the young Saiyan.
Goten didn't know what to think all the time he was running. For one, it was beginning, even if it was a day early. On the other hand, Jiten was back. He… couldn't decide what to feel.
Jiten was back.
Goten, with his new burst of speed, almost knocked a Goten-shaped hole in the wall of the North Galaxy compound. He quickly veered toward the doorway only to find that King Kai was waiting for him in the threshold. Apparently he'd been asleep because he was in his pajamas, complete with nightcap and candle.
"What is it, Goten?! You're loud enough to wake the dead!" he said, and then started his snorting laughter. "Wake the dead! Get it?! 'Cause we're all… and I'm…"
When he got no response other than Goten staring at him wide-eyed, practically bursting to tell him something, King Kai sobered.
"What is it, Goten?" the kai asked a bit more calmly.
"It's started, King Kai! Jiten is here! And I guess the leech is too, even though I haven't felt him yet, but my son is back!" he said all in one breath."
King Kai paused, trying to make out the jumbled mess. "You've been to the beach, and you've got a sunburn on your back?" he asked tentatively.
"No!" Goten yelled in frustration. "End of year! Leech! Jiten! Big fight! Remember now?"
King Kai's sunglasses flashed. "Ah, yes. So it seems that you're going to be wished back any time soon. Let's see… isn't it nighttime on your part of Earth right now?"
Goten was jumping from one foot to the other. "I don't know! Let me see!"
Goten grabbed King Kai, pulled him out of the doorway, and gripped him by the back of his pajamas.
"All right! Put me down, already!" King Kai yelled in protest. "I'll show you what's on Earth, but you better be glad you're coming back to life," King Kai grumbled, focusing on the familiar planet.
.
Trunks threw a pillow toward the doorway, where someone was flicking the light switch on and off. The pillow immediately came flying back at him, knocking him off the bed and onto the floor.
"Wha…?!" Trunks yelled, both annoyed and slightly incoherent.
"Out of bed, brat!" came his father's caustic reply. "Battle's starting a day early. Now get over to the Spider dojo and get that last dragonball!"
Trunks stared at the seething prince dumbly. "Battle… early?"
Vegeta started stalking toward Trunks, looking like he was going to bodily throw the man out of the house.
Trunks jumped up and began pulling on his pants. "Fine! I'm going!"
Vegeta stopped. "Good. Jiten will be here any minute, and who knows how much energy he's already stolen."
Trunks finally pulled his black tank top on. "Wait… what am I supposed to do again?"
Vegeta looked like he was going to bust the little vein standing out on forehead. "Dragonball. Spider dojo. Now," he said with a calm that contradicted his fury… and would have calmed Trunks if he didn't know his father's temper so well.
Trunks was out of his bedroom window into the sky before anyone could draw another breath.
.
Jiten wasn't sure what to think about the sudden chaos.
He was definitely worried about the fiasco at the Kame House. Who would have thought that Krillen was such a light sleeper? Or would blast him out of the house like that?
Jiten shook his head. He'd also screwed up when he mentioned Capsule Corp. He knew that they were expecting him there already. He could sense Vegeta, and Trunks was flying away from the house, obviously to warn other fighters.
Not that they needed it. Power signals were flaring up all over the globe, like little dots on a war room map in old movies.
Darn it! Master told me to keep a low profile! Now I can't get any more easy energy… oh well, he sighed. I just hope Master can handle most of it from here. I'm good at stealing energy when people let me or aren't aware of it, but not from adult fighters!
Jiten stopped in midair, thinking fast. They know I'm going to Capsule Corp, but as far as I know, they can't sense me. So all their strong warriors will be at Capsule Corp, but that doesn't mean that I have to be there. It'll take them a while to get the other dragonball anyway.
Jiten smirked, feeling the hard weight in his pocket. It had been pure chance that he'd walked down the very street where Darjili had dropped the six-star dragonball.
.
"AUGH! Where is it?!"
Darjili was literally ripping open the sofa cushions, halfway concerned over whether or not Goten would forgive her for destroying his house to find the thing that would bring him back to life.
"Did you check the dojo?!" Pecon yelled from upstairs.
"Twice!" Darjili yelled back. "Even Jita's office!"
Pecon flashed down the stairs at a dead run. Krianan and Danton, who'd stayed over for the past few nights, could be heard tearing up the kitchen. Darjili ducked just in time to avoid a flying pot.
Pecon was running out to the dojo again when he almost collided with a certain purple-haired Saiyan.
"Where the dragonball?" Trunks asked breathlessly, without preamble.
"Question of the day," Krianan bit out, storming out of the kitchen. She glared daggers at Darjili.
"Hey!" Darjili said, a little louder than necessary. "It's not my fault! I wasn't even supposed to be the one to bring the dragonballs over to Capsule Corp. That was Vegeta's job!"
"You gonna tell him that?!" Trunks asked incredulously.
Darjili looked a bit cowed. "Well…"
"It's not here," Danton said hotly. "Darjili must have dropped it."
"So where's a radar?" Pecon asked reasonably. "Where the one we used to find them in the first place?"
Darjili blushed. "I took it over to Capsule Corp with the other dragonballs. Didn't think we'd need it anymore."
"So why didn't you take it back when you realized that you didn't have one of them?" Krianan's voice cracked in anger and panic.
"I thought it'd be right here!" Darjili yelled. "Trunks-san? Did you bring it?"
Trunks shifted sheepishly under the gazes of the four humans. "Um… no? Didn't think of it."
"Why not?!" they said collectively.
Trunks flared back. "You try thinking of everything when my dad is kicking you out of the house!"
The four backed off, well aware of the potency of Vegeta's persuasion.
Pecon stepped to the forefront. "Alright, we'll just retrace Darjili's steps from earlier, while you get the dragon radar, Trunks-san. It'll be found, one way or another."
Not waiting for anything else, Trunks took off.
"Wait," Danton said as the four walked out of the house. "What about Pan?"
Krianan dismissed it with a wave of her hand. "Apparently someone called her already, cuz she's up. I feel her ki. She'll either go to Capsule Corp, or find us. Either way, there's no need to call her."
.
Pan was asleep.
She was having a strange dream, though. She was still asleep, but it seemed like she wasn't. The dream was just so real.
It was back at the Budoukai, almost exactly a year before. She was walking through the tournament compound, trying to see signs that it was actually a monastery that she was walking through. There seemed to be no indication. Apparently the monks had long ago capitalized on the marketability of the tournament, while ignoring the spirituality and honor.
Jiten had run away, evading even Vegeta's keep senses. Pan was a little sick of baby-sitting for her little cousin, but there was no way of getting around it.
She walked down the corridors, getting weaker and weaker, when she heard a soft thud as she turned the corner, and there was…
.
The leech stood over the little Saiyan girl, draining the last of her power, leaving only the tiniest spark that kept her alive. He was barred from taking that. He considered bashing her over the head to finish the job, but that seemed so childish, like stepping on a frog. She'd die anyway.
The leech looked out the apartment window and tracked the movements of his little chess pieces. Jiten had messed up a bit when he'd woken up the monk. Although it was a little bit his own fault. He hadn't warned Jiten enough taking from that particular couple. They were the only two trained powerful warriors who slept in the same bed, so there was much more of a risk in taking from them.
What was done was done. It was a little early for the true battle to begin, but at least everyone was so disoriented in the unexpected timing, as well as the earliness of the hour, that all carefully-laid plans had gone to shambles.
Well, thought the leech, we're on slightly more equal footing now.
No, they weren't. The leech started doing careful ki gauges of all the warriors zipping around from one place to another. All the Saiyans except for the girl he'd just drained were at full power. The leech frowned. Jiten had only targeted humans… No, it wasn't just that, for there were no humans where Jiten was now going.
Jiten hadn't targeted anyone in his family.
The leech supposed it was to be expected. Jiten was young, and he'd only had a year to build the bond between them. Most of the bond had been sleep-bonding, the shallowest form of bonding, and Jiten's impetus for bonding with him had been that he had nowhere else to go, and he couldn't leave the dimension.
For the first time since he'd scouted the planet, the leech began to doubt.
In almost a panic, the leech sent reassuring vibes to Jiten via their link. Don't worry, Jiten. Everything is still going fine. We're going to win this, and you're going to make me proud.
What he got back from Jiten was a sort of panicked confidence, as well as an eagerness to please. However, Jiten was reassured, and still strongly attached to him. As long as they could keep his parents from being wished back, all would be fine.
The leech looked back at the little Saiyan girl, sleeping so peacefully in bed, inches away from death. If nothing happened to her now, she could be revived easily, or recover her strength in time. But the leech could not protect her, nor did he want to. A risk was always there when one possessed great power, and the girl was just finding that out now, as would the rest of them. The leech pushed away his regret and waited. No matter if Jiten had begun the battle early. It was not his time yet.
.
Pecon's head jerked up to see Pan's mother land neatly in front of their little search party. She had obviously just gotten out of bed, and looked all the more haggard without makeup. Pecon pretended not to notice.
"What's everyone doing here?!" she asked in a commanding voice, belying her panic and already-encroaching fatigue. It had been too long since she'd done anything like this.
Pecon bowed slightly, not really familiar with the mother of Pan and the daughter of Satan-san. "Videl-san. We are looking for the dragonball."
Videl stared at him for a couple of beats before screaming, "What?! You mean you don't have it?! I thought you and Pan had found all of them months ago!"
"Darjili dropped it," Danton commented from one side, still searching the ground.
Pecon saw that Darjili was hanging in the shadows, trying not to attract any attention.
"Trunks-san is supposed to be here any second now with the dragon radar," Pecon continued. "That should help."
Videl crossed her arms. "One more question. Where's Pan?"
Everyone looked up sharply at that. "I thought she was going to Capsule Corp," Krianan said weakly.
"I can't even sense her," Darjili said in hushed panic.
Just then Trunks touched down alongside the group, holding out the dragonball. Darjili grabbed it from him, forgetting her manners, and began to fiddle with the settings. "It's not anywhere near here," Darjili said under her breath. "How can that be?"
"Trunks-san," Pecon said in a rush, though with a little more respect than Darjili. "Was Pan at Capsule Corp?"
Trunks shook his head. His eyes looked like he was already searching for Pan's ki, and drawing a blank. "No," he said. "Only Dad and Gohan are there now. I've got to get back there pretty soon."
The others felt a rush behind them, and turned around. Videl was gone.
Pecon waved away the others' worries. "She'll check on Pan. In the meantime, we need to find that dragonball. Darjili, any luck tracking it."
They turned to see Darjili staring at the radar in confusion.
"What is it, Darjili?" Danton said impatiently.
Darjili looked up, incredulously visage still in place. "The dragonball is… headed for Kami's Lookout."
Pecon nodded, not showing his confusion at all. "Trunks-san, if you go back to Capsule Corp, then we'll go to Kami's Lookout and see who's gotten the dragonball."
Trunks nodded. "If it's either Jiten or the leech, then I think I sense both Krillen and Piccolo in the area. They'll back you up."
The four humans took off toward the Lookout, knowing Trunks hidden meaning. They'll do the actual fighting.
.
Krillen was already running toward the middle of the room as soon as he set foot on Korin's Tower. Korin was waiting for him. He could hear Yajirobe cooking below.
"Master Korin!" Krillen exclaimed, heart hammering so hard that he could barely catch his breath. "Eighteen, she…"
Korin nodded calmly. "I already know," he said in his raspy voice. "Here's a senzu. Quick, I feel her fading."
Krillen grabbed the senzu and force-fed Eighteen. Her ki stabilized, but she didn't get up just yet.
"Give her a minute," Korin said when Krillen continued to look panicked. "Even a cyborg can't survive without ki, and she was one spark away from death."
Krillen didn't look all that relieved. Even though he had accomplished his goal, he couldn't come down from the panicked high.
"Master Korin," he said in a rush, in complete contrast to the collected cat in front of him, "You've been looking in those magic water jugs, haven't you? What's going on on Earth?"
Yajirobe was uncharacteristically quiet as he mounted the stairs and handed Korin a cup of tea. Of course, he could have just been extra drowsy and grouchy from his early wake-up call. As usual, he was too rude to offer Krillen anything. Krillen didn't care.
Korin laughed. "You want to hear the present or the future?"
Krillen glared at Korin. "You can't fool me with that again. I know the future isn't written down in detail. But the present is. I need to know what's going on… and if I can help."
"Of course you can't help," Yajirobe mumbled. "You're not even an alien. Those are the only important people around anymore."
Yajirobe casually dodged a hit from Korin's staff, as if it were a daily occurrence. However, he could not dodge Krillen glare.
"I know humans aren't as strong as Saiyan or Nameks," Krillen sneered. "Or cyborgs or leeches or buu-monsters or whatever decides to kill us. But we're not complete write-offs. Take those students of Goten's and Jita's. They're human, and they survive Saiyan training every day. You can't write them off."
"What, you mean those kids who're falling all over themselves right now trying to find a stupid dragonball?" Yajirobe snorted. "And the other humans are doing a lot of good, too."
Krillen's head jerked over to look at Korin. "What does that mean?"
Korin shook his head, hating his new position of information-teller. "Those Spider students think they've lost that dragonball, and they have. Jiten's got it, and he's… well, he's here. He's been hiding his ki… best job I've seen of that in a long time."
Krillen's eyes widened. "Where?!" He whipped around, scanning the pillars to see if Jiten was hiding somewhere.
Korin pointed upward. "Up there… at Kami's. Don't worry, Dende saw it coming."
"Worry," a deep female voice came from beside Krillen. Eighteen was standing up, dusting herself off. "We don't know what Jiten's capable of. We know he can suck energy… at least while people are asleep. And he doesn't have a source for this ability, like Gero had."
Something finally clicked in Krillen's mind. "Wait… what did Yajirobe mean about the other humans."
Korin looked hesitant to answer that question. "Well… Kame House wasn't the first of Jiten's stops."
Krillen's ki-sense immediately went broad-band. He eschewed the obvious grouping of power – the Saiyans at Capsule Corp – and figured the small group of humans heading for their general direction would be the Spider students. That left…
"Yamcha! Tien… Chaotzu… I can barely feel them!"
Korin nodded. "They seem to have only the tiniest spark of ki left… which makes me wonder if the leech and Jiten can only take ki up to that point… hmmm…" the cat looked down in thought.
Krillen didn't have time for it. For one thing, there was a sudden surge in power right above them. The fight had begun.
Eighteen felt it too. "Krillen, take some senzu and help the others. Then go to Capsule Corp and leave some senzu there. I'll go up and help against Jiten."
Krillen shook his head. "But, Eighteen, you've just recovered. You're still…"
"I'm fine," Eighteen barked. "You know how effective senzu is. And if I really get in trouble, Dende's there."
Eighteen was about to head up to Kami's Lookout when she looked back at Krillen. "Stay and fight if you need to," she said evenly, "but don't get yourself killed. You can't imagine how much of a pain it would be to wish you back to life."
Krillen grinned as she departed.
"Here," Yajirobe shoved a couple of bags into Krillen's hands. "This is the stash we've been stockpiling. Meant to give it to you tomorrow… or today… but you've got it anyway."
Krillen quickly tied the bag securely to his belt. "No harm no foul, then. See ya!"
Korin took a sip of his tea as the monk left. "I hope those future visions were wrong," he said quietly.
.
Reviewer thanks:
ClassicDrogn: Wow, your review gave me a lot to think about. The problem with the leech came in my adjustments to his character. I'd originally planned a "har-har-har" villain, but then someone pointed out that I'd made the leech into a slightly sympathetic character. That's where I came up with the whole Redyei chapter. Now I'm going to have to adapt a little more, because you gave some valid points. I think I'm going with the leech's motivation for the huge attack as being the only way he knows to do things, if that makes sense. Anyway, I'll think of something. Thanks for the readership and the review-y goodness.
zara m: ha-ha. I'll take the hint about Sarie Mue. If only I can get with my co-author more often… but of course that's a perpetual wish.
Of course, there weren't many reviews this time, because I updated so quickly. sniff I do miss reviews, though. Especially from my old readers… Where are you, Dark Wolf!!!
