Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z.
Author's Notes: Wow, I've been on a writing binge lately. I don't even care if I don't get reviews any more. (Really, I don't. Doesn't bother me a bit. Nope. sniffle WAAHHHH!!!!) Ok, I'm done with that. Anyway, I'm really enjoying writing the action sequences. I feel more like writing now. It sort of breaks up the angst-fest a little. Not too much, though. I'm allowed to have angst-filled battles. I'm also allowed to have cliffhangers, so you're not to complain. Just be glad I'm writing, and enjoy the ride.
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Chapter 45: Look Out
The sky was just starting to lighten, and birds were chirping, even in the middle of West Capital City.
The collected Saiyans, however, were none too cheered by promise of a new day.
Gohan and Trunks were both in the doorway quickly chugging black coffee in thermoses, compliments of one of the robot servants. They were watching as Vegeta was pacing the front lawn, drumming his fingers nervously. No matter how old he got, he never lost his impatience for a battle to begin.
Bulma pushed past the two demi-Saiyans. "Well," she said, looking around, "where is he?"
Vegeta's eyes flashed in anger. "Didn't I tell you to get to the underground lab, woman? Do you enjoy the risk of imminent death?"
Bulma laughed easily, yet lit up a cigarette, something she only did when she was really nervous. "Imminent death? Come on, Vegeta. Lighten up. You've prepared too hard, and, besides, this is Jiten we're talking about. You remember? The little boy who wouldn't hurt anyone?"
Trunks nearly choked on his coffee. "I don't remember that kid. I do remember a little kid who got into a lot of trouble, though."
Bulma whirled at him. "You got into a lot of trouble as a child, and I don't see you killing anyone while giving evil laughs."
"I wasn't raised for a year by a psychopath, either," Trunks retorted. "Well… not really…" He noticed the looks both Bulma and Vegeta were giving him. "Uh… of course not."
"Who knows how Jiten is going to turn out," Gohan said.
"That won't matter," Bulma sniffed. "No one can have that much influence over a person in a year. There's no way he can be evil."
There was definite comfort in Bulma's logic, and it was attractive to keep believing that.
"I was destroying planets within a year of Frieza's… tutelage," Vegeta said quietly.
The others paused in the tense moment, but Bulma was not to be put off. She pressed forward.
"Yeah, but you were destroying planets before then. It was how you were raised."
Vegeta gave a sharp laugh. "What do you take my parents for? I mean, I was a child, for kami's sake. Sure, I trained, and occasionally I would kill the sub-sentient creatures that passed for training drones… but I never killed a fully sentient being before then, much less purge an entire planet." He looked at Bulma, his expression wry. "I have Frieza to thank for that."
Bulma knew she had lost that little battle. "What are you saying, Vegeta?"
Vegeta rolled his eyes and looked away. "I'm simply saying that a lot can happen in a year… and a psychopath can have a lot of influence."
The group was quiet for a minute.
"Not necessarily," Gohan said hesitantly.
Vegeta raised an eyebrow. "You questioning me, boy?"
Gohan smiled. No matter how old he got, he'd still be 'boy' to Vegeta. "I didn't realize it at the time, but Piccolo was a degree short of a psychopath when he was raising me for a year. Who else would plop a four-year-old in the wilderness and leave him for most of a year? I mean, I was scared for life, obviously, but I don't think I've ever been considered evil."
The group was silent. This time, they knew that the conversation was over when Vegeta said, "Where is he?!"
Trunks shifted. "Well, it may take him a little while to get here. Maybe he doesn't know the way from the Kame House. He is a little kid, after all."
Gohan shrugged. "Maybe he decided to attack someplace else."
Vegeta snorted. "Preposterous."
Then they gasped as one, feeling the spike of the looked-for ki.
"What? What is it?" Bulma said, hating the fact that she couldn't sense energy like the others.
"Crap!" Vegeta growled under his breath. "That's Kami's Lookout!" He took off in the sky like a shot.
"Trunks, you stay here… just in case," Gohan barked before taking off after Vegeta.
Trunks glared impotently from the ground. "Why do I always have to do the boring jobs?"
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Piccolo stared expressionlessly at the little boy, who looked like he was suddenly daunted by carrying out well-thought-out plans.
"Hey, kid," was his simple greeting.
Jiten clenched his fists, unsure of what move to make. At first glance, Piccolo appeared to be resting against a pillar, perfectly relaxed. However, Jiten could not find an opening to attack him. Yet he needed to get the Namek's energy quickly. Otherwise, the others would be there soon. And serious firepower was heading for him.
For the first time, Jiten began to doubt the plans. He understood the need and the logic for them. It was the only way to truly break his ties with his old life. Besides, it wasn't like they were killing anybody.
No, he was doubting if the plans could be carried off at all.
"Is that all you got to say to me?" he growled, buying a little time until he could think of something.
Piccolo smirked. "If I know your mother, she'd be appalled at your grammar."
Yeah, he thought, that's something Mom would say.
Jiten smirked. "Well, I won't have to worry about that anymore. Master doesn't care about my grammar."
Piccolo raised an eyeridge. "Master, is it? Would that be the leech?"
Jiten frowned. He'd hoped that his declaration of loyalty would cause more of a reaction. However, he remembered that it was very hard to faze the Namek. "Yeah…" he said slowly. He inched forward in a crouched position, ever wary.
Piccolo was not perturbed. "Aren't you a little young to be going into service for someone else?"
Jiten snorted. "Mom and Uncle Vegeta were…"
"Are you really going to use that example?" Piccolo interrupted.
Jiten frowned. Of course he knew all about Frieza. Alright, maybe he didn't know every single detail, as some had been deemed too graphic for his age. But he knew enough that Frieza was evil, and had made his mother and Uncle Vegeta do some pretty horrible things.
Just like me, the thought came unbidden to Jiten.
What was he doing anyway? He had to go to this extent just to break his old ties to his life? Wasn't this… overkill? He remembered the still forms of Yamcha… Tien… Chaotzu… Eighteen… all his…
… victims…
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The leech felt the change immediately – the simple wavering in the boy's faith and confidence. The leech didn't truly understand what was happening, but he knew that he was slowly coming close to losing Jiten. In an almost-panic, the leech sent waves of reassurance through the link. This was one part of the battle he could not concede. In some ways, this was the battle.
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Jiten's eyes widened. What was he thinking? It wasn't like he was killing anyone or anything. Once they got enough power, they would leave his family and Earth forever. It wasn't like he was actually doing any permanent damage.
And even if he did kill someone, or if Hoja killed someone, they could just be wished back with the dragonballs. His grandfather could easily transport to the Planet Namek and use the dragonballs to restore everyone. They'd done it so many times before. Why would it be a problem then?
"You trying to trick me, Piccolo," Jiten growled. "It won't work."
"Shouldn't that be Piccolo-san?" Piccolo asked commandingly.
With a short scream of rage, Jiten powered up and lunged at Piccolo. Fortunately, Piccolo had been expecting it. Piccolo side-stepped the lunge, easily using his foot to trip Jiten. Jiten went over the side, tumbling head over feet until he could gather his wits to fly. Piccolo was waiting for him, staring at him.
He's not even taking this fight seriously, like he would if any of the other Saiyans were fighting him. Is it because I'm not a Super Saiyan, or because I'm young. He's treating me like a child… that must be it.
Jiten was a little more careful with his next attack, wanting to prove that he was far more than a child. To his credit, Piccolo had a far more difficult time dodging these controlled attacks. However, he didn't lay a finger on the child. Piccolo knew that he could outlast the boy at this rate, and then put him out of commission without as much trouble on the boy.
For a while, Piccolo was confident in his superior endurance. Until…
He began to tire. It was only a little at first, hardly noticeable, but definitely there. Piccolo was confused at first. He was used to the environment and thin air, something that he had over the boy. And he was older and stronger, even with the stolen energy that Jiten was utilizing.
Stolen energy…
Jiten finally saw the look that he'd been waiting for in the Namek – the slow look of realization. He began speeding up his attacks, aiming for the small expenditure of energy that each of Piccolo's dodges emitted, drawing them into himself… with a tiny bit more he was able to leech.
Piccolo gave a startled look and began to retreat, but Jiten pressed the attack. He knew that Piccolo's only option would be to fight, and that just made it easier to leech… whether with physical or energy attacks. Jiten was more than ready to use either against the Namek.
Sure enough, Piccolo began to block and counterblow each attack. Jiten began blocking as well, his energy-gathering abilities turned on full throttle. Piccolo definitely noticed the difference then. However, Jiten was so intent on gathering energy that he failed to see the knee to his gut until it connected.
Jiten was thrown backwards through the air. He clutched his stomach reflexively, trying to gain purchase of his senses. When he finally did, it was just in time to see a huge energy blast heading his way.
Idiot.
With a smirk, Jiten concentrated on the energy, looking at it as if he were ready to swallow it. In fact, that was just the feeling that he needed before he sucked it into himself, integrating it with his own ki.
Piccolo was not one to stare at the boy in shock. Instead, he was already flying in for the attack.
Jiten also saw that coming. In fact, he was expecting it. It was one of those strategies that Hoja had trained him against. Yet he didn't back off. He merely stuck his hands straight out, and…
Piccolo didn't notice it immediately. The boy hadn't moved. He thought for a second that Jiten had frozen up in fear, much like Gohan had in their battle against Nappa.
Then he felt the sharp pain in his midsection, as well as the sudden nauseas feeling of energy being taken forcefully from his body, like he was getting beat up real fast with shallow punches.
He looked down. First he saw the boy's smirking, yet elated, face. He followed the boy's arms down to his own stomach, and saw that the fingers were imbedded in his abdomen, purplish blood slowly darkening his gi.
Before he gathered his thoughts enough to think that he needed to back away from the boy, the Namek had passed out.
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Gohan gasped in shock, drawing the attention of the older Saiyan. He suddenly gritted his teeth and surged forward with a burst of power.
"Hang on, Piccolo!" he yelled.
After that, Vegeta felt it too. Piccolo's ki had dropped to almost nonexistent. Vegeta glared and flew faster as well. If that was what he thought it was, Bulma may have been wrong about the boy.
Vegeta just hoped it wasn't too late.
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Eighteen approached the boy quietly. Her mind raced. The fight had been over too quickly for her to actually do anything. Same as everyone else. She knew that everyone had felt the fight, and they were probably currently rushing to the scene.
But they would take a while, and Eighteen was left to face the child now.
Jiten turned slowly to face her, still in the throws of the high that so much power gave him. Inwardly, Eighteen winced. She had scene the same reaction from adult fighters when they ascended or whatever, but they were mature enough to keep it under control. Jiten was not. He could easily become an addict to that power, and quickly become a dangerous monster because of it.
Eighteen flinched as Jiten frowned. "I thought I took care of you," he said calmly.
Eighteen pressed her lips together in a white line. "Apparently not," she said.
Jiten shrugged. "I guess you really did get to those senzu beans in time. Got some on you? He may need some," he snickered, pointing to the bleeding green form.
Eighteen forced herself not to look at Piccolo. It would have given Jiten the perfect opportunity to attack her, and she wasn't going to let that happen, not when she'd just gotten back on her feet. Instead, she studied the boy's movements and stance.
True to his heritage, Jiten was standing proudly, crossing his arms in the most arrogant way possible. He had a bored look on his face while facing Eighteen, as if she really weren't worth his time. He had defeated his already, albeit in her sleep, so he must have felt he had grounds to feel that way.
However…
Eighteen couldn't help but notice after a moment that Jiten was sagging slightly. It confused her. Jiten had just won a battle without expending any energy. In fact, he was fairly crackling with the stolen ki, which had been added to his own. With so much ki, his endurance shouldn't have been overtaxed, or even affected. Of course, she didn't use ki all that much. She needed it to survive, the same as any other living thing, but it was undetectable and hidden within her real power source – the never-ending supply that Dr. Gero had "gifted" her with at her birth as a cyborg.
As such, she couldn't tell what was going on with Jiten. All she knew was that she needed to stall until the Saiyans got there. With that stolen ki, Jiten was easily her match and beyond.
"So are we just gonna stand here?" Jiten broke into her thoughts. "Because I've got things to do."
Eighteen quirked an eyebrow up. "Since when did you get so disrespectful? I know Jita didn't raise you to be like this."
Jiten frowned. Eighteen had apparently struck a nerve.
Then he gritted his teeth. "She didn't raise me… not at all. Mom and Dad hid things from me, admit it. They were just holding me back. I learned more under my master than Mom would ever teach me. She was too busy thinking up punishments to actually teach me, anyway."
Eighteen couldn't think of a thing to respond to his nonsense. She wanted to scream at him that he was being foolish, and that his mother and father loved him more than he could ever dream. She couldn't imagine how their child could think any differently, just as she couldn't imagine that Marron would think any differently of her, despite the fact that she wasn't the most affectionate mother on the planet. She and Jita were alike in that respect. They didn't show the traditional maternal love, but it was there, and it was strong.
Yet Eighteen knew about doubting a parent's love, and how easily it can sway the young. Eighteen had no illusions that her own pseudo-father, Dr. Gero, ever had any feeling for her and her brother other than as tools for his own personal revenge. He proved his regard for them enough with his design of Cell. However, though they didn't really show it, the knowledge of that lack of love drove her and Seventeen to the heights of rage… even to the point of murdering the man.
The leech had obviously held powerful sway over the young Saiyan, feeding the impressionable child with those doubts, as well as being the dream guardian. Jiten only knew that the leech never punished him and never taught him anything that Jiten didn't want to deal with.
Eighteen knew that Jiten's heart had been won.
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The two gods looked cautiously at the Saiyan woman, who was sitting silently from her vantage point around the crystal ball. Jita had been silent all through Jiten's attacks. Occasionally she would shake her head, as if do deny that it was her child she was seeing.
And the fact that her name being invoked was not enough to sway the boy.
"Don't worry," Kaioshin said quietly. "It isn't over yet. The leech cannot have gained that much control over Jiten. There's still hope that he'll come around."
Jita didn't look like she was going to say anything. She was too busy worrying.
Was there anything I could have done differently?
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"I'll show you what my master taught me!" Jiten growled.
It looked like Eighteen couldn't stall any more. She dodged as the boy lunged, and tried a counterblow. She didn't know that Piccolo had done the same thing, so Jiten was ready this time. He flipped around and planted a leg in her midsection, pushing Eighteen back a few yards.
Eighteen was on the move as soon as she lost her momentum. She continued back, wanting to get out of reach of that attack that Jiten had used against Piccolo. From there she found herself dodging energy attacks.
The energy attacks were small, designed to beat down a person's ki just enough that someone could get within their defenses, but not enough that a person lost a significant amount of ki. Eighteen guessed that the style was economical, considering the strategy of a leech. However, they were slightly erratic and unpracticed, easily avoidable for someone who was used to ki-intensive fights. In fact, it slightly reminded her of fighting with Vegeta when he got extremely angry.
But she began to get bored with dodging, as well as with waiting for reinforcements. With a child this unfocused, she could definitely put a dent in him, if not finish him off before the Saiyans got there. Her face went cold as she steeled herself for attacking a child, automatically becoming more machine-like in the face of doing something that went against the morals that she'd learned from her family.
She saw Jiten smirk, and knew that he could tell that she was going to start blasting him in turn. She ignored it. She knew that Jiten could suck energy right from the air, but she had to at least try. Palm-out, she carefully aimed, noting that Jiten was making no movement to dodge the attack, and was in fact concentrating on her attack. Smoothly and mechanically, she let loose the attack.
It hit.
Jiten was thrown down to the floor of the Lookout, creating a shallow indenture in the marble tiles. He made no move to get up, obviously astounded that the attack could have hit him. It was obvious that he'd tried his best to leech it, and he'd failed.
Eighteen smiled coldly in triumph. She had been right. Over the past year, she had trained herself out of the habit of using her human ki as well as her internal android power. She'd already known that the leech could take ki, but she didn't know about any other kind of energy. So she'd trained herself in attacks that only used her internal energy. Apparently, she'd been right to do so.
"Who needs the Saiyans?" she said under her breath as she prepared another attack.
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Jiten pulled himself from the broken marble. He was not having a good time now.
He moved fast, dodging the next attack this time. He didn't know what was going on. All he knew was that he suddenly couldn't leech energy, and therefore had lost his main advantage.
Not only that, he'd lost the ability to do the job with which Hoja had entrusted him. He was sent out to get as much energy as possible so that both he and Hoja could be super-powerful. He'd already screwed up by waking everyone up and starting the battle too early. Now he was in danger of completely screwing up his mission.
He grimaced. He couldn't fail Hoja like that. Not the only man who'd ever understood him. He couldn't fail him, not now.
Jiten winced as one of the blasts tore at his arm, ripping the cloth and leaving a tiny cut. He knew that he could dodge better than that, but his new limitation was worrying him to distraction. He just couldn't focus. Besides that, he had no idea how to beat her.
Jiten's eyes widened suddenly. The Saiyans were within a few miles.
Jiten began to get frantic, knowing that he was trapped. I've got to get back to master. He'll tell me what's wrong, and it may be that I need to give some of this power to him. Piccolo-san had more ki than I could handle.
Without warning, he turned one of his dodges into a leap, bounding off the Lookout in the opposite direction of the approaching Saiyans. He flew as fast as he could, intent only on putting as much distance between him and the other fighters as possible.
He was so intent on that that he didn't notice the energy attack until it was too late. Eighteen's blast hit him squarely in the back, and he went plummeting through the miles down, finally smashing into the forest below.
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Pecon and the other Spider students were flying low when they saw it happen. They'd felt the battle high above in the Lookout, and knew that the cautious approach would be best. Besides, it looked like Eighteen was holding her own.
As such, they were only minimally surprised when they saw Jiten crash down with monumental force – force that made a small clearing in the forest.
Pecon almost felt a surge of indignity at the android. Did you have to hit him so hard? He's only a child!
A child that's been leeching energy off everyone, that now serves the man who killed his parents, and, if it was his way, who would prevent them from wishing his father back to life.
Pecon knew all this, but he couldn't help the surge of protectiveness at the memory of the falling child.
"Come on! He may be hurt!" he heard Darjili yell. He was glad she'd said it. He almost didn't feel right in saying it. He was the enemy, wasn't he?
No. The child of Goten and Jita could never be the enemy.
The four landed in the clearing. In the middle of the opening trees was a small smoking crater, deeper than it was wide. And there was no sign of Jiten.
"He must be in that hole," Krianan whispered.
Pecon edged forward cautiously, aware of any attacks that Jiten may be planning. He couldn't feel the boy's ki, but, as shown before, Jiten could hide his ki extremely effectively, even while flying. He could be planning anything.
After a few moments of nothing happening, and feeling nothing, Pecon felt bold enough to peer down in the hole that Jiten had made. He flinched, hoping not to feel the burn of a ki-blast in his face, as he scanned the hole.
The hole was so dark, he could barely see. Considering that Jiten had been wearing all black, and that his hair was black, then he might still have been in the hole. Pecon, steeling himself, reached in and felt around. He grabbed one thing, noting the smooth and hard texture of it, and threw it over his shoulder.
He could find nothing else.
Pecon pulled himself out of the hole, only to stare at what the other three Spider students had been staring at the whole time.
There, on the ground, was the six-star dragonball.
And Jiten was nowhere to be seen.
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Reviewer thanks:
Dark Wolf: Yay!! You're alive! By the time you get here, you'll have probably left another review. Anyway, whatever. I'm glad you've had a busy summer, what with Mrs. Wolf and football and all. Yeah, I had fun with the twisted gay Trunks dream thing. You know me with my weird vision scenes. I'm glad to see you back. Oh, and Howler says, "Aroo?"
Classicdrog: Believe, I know Krillen's worth. When I fight Howler in Budoukai 2, he always plays as Krillen and beats me into the ground. Of course, it could be that he's just better at video games than I am… Anyway, I'm not discounting Krillen's fighting ability. He has some of the best designed attacks ever. But he's just not the type to jump in the fray like… well… any of the Saiyans. He'd be more likely to run around and make sure everyone of the sidelines doesn't die… like I'm having him now. Now, will he get to Pan while someone is still in her apartment, I wonder?
Engar: Nice to finally meet you! I'm glad you've been enjoying my story. Has it been two years?! Yeah… I guess it has. Ha-ha. Anyway, about Goten. He annoys me too. I guess that's why I have him smacked around so much. But, of course, not everyone's going to be cool. I need someone truly annoying in there, and then actually point out that they're wrong… or something like that. I feel sorry for Goku sometimes too. I just don't think he's the family type of guy. He's also the type to step on peoples' feelings without even realizing it. I guess I'm trying to catch that dynamic. Whatever. Hope to hear from you more around the end of the story. I'll be trying to update quicker, though the chapters will be slightly smaller.
Ilex9: I am always glad to see a new reader… and be expecting a review from me for your own story. It looks to be an interesting premise… at least more interesting than the initial premise of "The Soul." Ha-ha. Of course, when I came up with the idea for the story, I didn't know it was overused. Heck, I was still reading Bulma/Vegeta romances. (Yes, I really was that far gone. Hasn't everyone at some point? It does seem that we have a similar sense of humor. Those that you mentioned were my favorite parts as well. I do blush at your criticisms of Jita's characterization, though, because they're things I've done that are a little strange. I guess I injected a little of myself into Jita's character with the love of reading. It was an early idea that stuck. The only other reader in the bunch is Gohan, and he's just not much of a character in my story. And I wanted to stick little literary jokes in, just for my own sanity. (By the way, I was wondering if anyone would catch the reference to Proust. I read Swann's Way last year, and it's just one of those books that you don't really like until you've finished with it. Sort of like an accomplishment just to finish it. Maybe I should have Vegeta read Faulkner as well… nah, I wouldn't be that evil.) And, yes, I did screw up with Jita's cleanliness… although I could explain it as the passage of time. Jita could have started out trying to prove that she could be a good wife and mother, no matter what her past was like. Prove it to other people as well as herself. But then obligations to Jiten and the dojo got in the way of cleaning and stuff. Unlike Chichi, Jita is a working mother with little time on her hands and a lot of people living at her house. Anyway, enough of my shoddy explanations. Let's see… "Reign of Fire was a movie I'd seen just before writing the chapter, and me and my boyfriend made fun of the movie through the whole thing. I was trying to think of a bad movie that was fairly recent, and that just came to mind. Especially since I like dragons and had such high hopes for it. I never thought of the Seinfeld-ish quality of "Hello Vegeta," but it's certainly making me laugh right now. Trunks pulling pranks in the library… have you ever seen that British show on Comedy Central from a couple of years ago called Trigger Happy TV? That's where that came from. I guess with "face-faulting" and stuff I'm just denting the fourth wall a bit. You should read Sarie Mue. (heh-heh) I'm glad you like the chapter about the Spider students, because I worked hard on it and wasn't really all that satisfied with it. You've put my mind to rest. Yes, I think that original Dragonball characters are awesome, especially since I've read the manga. I've always thought Taopiepie rocked, as well as people like Uranai Baba and Korin. I'm just glad I could download some of the later uncut Dragonball episodes. They're so much better than, say, those first two episodes. (Master Roshi wanting Bulma to… um… fix him up with… um… one of her mother's older friends. Yeah…) Anyway, I think I've rambled on enough. (Marquez is the man.) If you're wanting a little less of a heavy read, though, look into Peter David. Especially with the pop culture references and the wry humor. Some of his books are Knight Life and Sir Apropos of Nothing (with the sequel The Woad to Wuin.) He's also written the Spider-man movie novelizations, which are excellent, and several Star Trek books. Sorry… I just had to plug him, since he's become my favorite humor writer. Hope to be hearing more from you.
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Ha-ha-ha. Is Jiten dead? You know I won't hesitate to kill people… in fanfiction. (clears throat and edges away).
Until next time.
