Chapter 37: Begging for Forgiveness, and Learning the Truth
(Opening Theme: Animal I Have Become by Three Days Grace)
I can't escape this Hell…
So many times I've tried…
But I'm still caged inside…
Somebody get me through this nightmare!
I can't control myself!
So what if you can see the darkest side of me!?
No one will ever change this animal I have become!
Help me believe it's not the real me,
Somebody help me tame this animal!
(This animal!)
(This animal!)
I can't escape myself,
(I can't escape myself)
So many times I've lied,
(So many times I've lied)
But there's still rage inside…
Somebody get me through this nightmare!
I can't control myself!
So what if you can see the darkest side of me?!
No one will ever change this animal I have become!
Help me believe it's not the real me,
Somebody help me tame this animal I have become!
Help me believe it's not the real me!
Somebody help me tame this animal!
Somebody help me through this nightmare!
I can't control myself!
Somebody wake me from this nightmare!
I can't escape this Hell!
(This animal, this animal, this animal this animal, this animal, this animal, this animal…)
So what if you can see the darkest side of me!?
No one will ever change this animal I have become!
Help me believe it's not the real me!
Somebody help me tame this animal I have become!
Help me believe it's not the real me!
Somebody help me tame this animal!
This animal I have become!
Hospital in Parsnip City
Rachel didn't know what happened, all she knew was what she felt. She felt like she was surrounded by liquid warmth. Then she felt the mask over her mouth and opened her eyes. Everything was blurry as if she was underwater, though the fact she didn't have her glasses on didn't help either. She heard the voice then, "You're finally awake. You had us worried, it's been three days since you and your friend were found in Central Park." "Where am I?" Rachel asked, hearing her voice through a microphone in the mask. "You're in Parsnip City Memorial Hospital," the voice said, "I am Doctor Gerald. What's your name?" "Rachel Impala," Rachel answered, "Where's Beate?" "Is that your friend?" Doctor Gerald asked. "My girlfriend, yes," Rachel said. "She is in the Healing Pod next to you. You both sustained severe internal and external injuries, your right arm and leg were broken along with three ribs, a hairline skull fracture, and a concussion, while Beate sustained seven fractured ribs, fractured skull, both shoulder blades broken, and severe damage to her liver, kidneys, and large intestine. You also showed signs of extreme ki burns. Can you tell me what happened?" said Doctor Gerald.
Rachel considered her options, and decided to tell a half-truth, "We're Time Patrollers. On a mission we got beat up bad, and barely escaped." "I understand," Doctor Gerald said, "I will get in touch with Conton City and tell them that you've been found." "Can I come out soon?" Rachel asked. There was a minute of silence from Doctor Gerald before he said, "According to your chart you should be fully healed within another half-hour." "Okay, I'll wait," Rachel said. As she waited, she thought back to her disastrous fight against her Father, Yuu Lupei. I let him distract me. I could have beaten him, if I hadn't let him distract me. We were winning! Rachel took a deep breath and let Hamon energy flow through her at the thought, if she had only ignored him, he would be dead right now. Instead, she and Beate were lucky to be alive. Rachel focused her mind and meditated for the next half-hour before Doctor Gerald returned.
"Alright Rachel, your muscles haven't been used in three days, and you've been floating in our Healing Pod during that time. Don't push yourself too hard, too fast," Doctor Gerald warned as the Healing Pod drained out. Rachel let her body slowly fall to the floor, and felt hands help her up. "Where are my glasses…and my clothes?" Rachel said quickly covering herself. "Your clothes were heavily damaged, and were covered in blood, we had to dispose of them for hygienic reasons, but we do have a hospital gown and a pair of fresh underwear for you," Doctor Gerald said as Rachel was handed underwear and the gown. Rachel quickly put them on, and then was handed a pair of thick rimmed glasses. "Thank you," Rachel said as she put them on, to see the face of a short Frost Demon with brown skin with short horns jutting from the side of his head, wearing glasses and scrubs with a lab coat on. "Your welcome," the Frost Demon said, and Rachel realized this was Doctor Gerald.
"How much longer for Beate?" Rachel asked as she looked at the Saiyan through her Healing Pod. "According to her stats, she'll be fully recovered in another four hours," Doctor Gerald said. Doctor Gerald reached up and put a comforting hand on Rachel's shoulder, "There's nothing more you can do for her right now. I'm sure that you must be hungry after three days with no food. We're awaiting word from Conton City, in the meantime, I'll have some food brought up for you." "Thank you," Rachel said as she looked at Beate's face. Doctor Gerald left, and Rachel focused with her Warper's Will, trying to connect her mind with Beate's. Beate…
Yeah? Where are we? Beate asked as their minds connected.
In Parsnip City Memorial Hospital. I think we're back home in our Universe, Rachel telepathically told her.
We lost, bad, Beate said.
I know, it's all my fault. I'm sorry I got you into this…Rachel said.
Beate's eyes opened and she reached out a hand to the window of the Healing Pod, and Rachel touched where Beate's hand was, I signed up for this. Besides, on the bright side, I'm pretty sure Zenkai will boost me up good.
The food arrived and Rachel ate, and then sat telepathically talking with Beate while her body healed. I wonder how everyone's doing. A lot of shit happened to us, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot happened to them too, Beate wondered as Doctor Gerald came in. "Ah, I see that she's finally recovered," Doctor Gerald said as he spoke into a speaker on the Healing Pod, "Can you hear me, Beate?" "Loud and clear," Beate said. "I'm draining the Healing Pod now. Don't push yourself too hard, I hear that someone from Conton City will be coming to pick you two up shortly," Doctor Gerald said as Beate's Healing Pod drained. Doctor Gerald helped Beate up and gave her a pair of underwear and a hospital gown to wear, and then some food came up for Beate. Beate was quiet as she ate, she was only half through the food when Trunks arrived. "How are they, Doctor?" Trunks asked. "They're fully recovered, and we have their personal items waiting for them at the Front Desk. Their clothes were damaged and bloodstained, so they needed to be disposed of for sanitary purposes. I hope you brought some spare clothes for them," Doctor Gerald said.
"I did," Trunks said as he pulled out two Capsules. "Well, I'm sure you have things to discuss, I'll leave you to your Time Patrol business," Doctor Gerald said as he shut the door behind him. Trunks tossed the Capsules to Rachel and Beate and said, "Things have gotten pretty bad since you left." "What happened?!" Rachel asked. Trunks turned around, so she could get dressed before answering, "Pearl's gone missing. According to reports, her boyfriend Kenshiro proposed to her, but later that night, about two days ago, him, Pearl's sister Jade, and their roommate Barit caught her in Jade's boyfriend, Brocc's, apartment. Kenshiro flew off, and later so did Pearl. They're both concealing their Power Levels, so we're having a hard time tracking them down. The Supreme Kai of Time is sensing some disruptions in the Timeline are close at hand, we need to get Pearl back into Conton City."
"That's impossible!" Beate said through a mouthful of food, "Her and Kenshiro are the most love-sick lovey-dovey love-birds to ever live! She'd never cheat on him!" "Barit and Jade both confirm what happened, and Brocc doesn't deny it either," Trunks said, "However, he says that things were blurry, your friends went out on some Guys and Girls Night Out thing. The last thing he remembered was being in a bar in Satan City with the other guys, then things became blurry. The next thing he knew, he was in his apartment with Pearl. Something serious is going on, the Supreme Kai of Time thinks that Warpers might be involved." "Warpers? She's sure?" Rachel asked. "Not entirely. She wants you, Rachel, to get Bage, Amaya, and Hirohito and find Pearl, and maybe figure out what happened, if Warpers are involved, and bring her back to Conton City," Trunks told her. Beate finished eating and got dressed, she and Rachel were both wearing matching blue and red gi's. "Alright, let's go," Rachel said.
A Hotel in South Town
The Voices finally were silent. For two whole days, Pearl had kept herself curled as tightly as she could in a ball, afraid to move. The Voices were terrible, telling her that everyone hated her, that no one trusted her, telling her to hurt people. She groaned as she finally uncurled herself, if she had bones they would have all popped like bubble wrap. Pearl checked and saw her phone was almost dead and plugged it in to charge and saw eight text messages from her parents.
Papa: Pearl, what happened?
Mama: Where are you?
Papa: Please, answer your phone.
Mama: Jade told us what happened. We're not angry with you, but you need to talk to your sister.
Papa: Pearl, please, answer the phone. We're worried about you.
Papa: Jade is coming back home with us. We can't find Jasper. If you see him, tell him to come home.
Mama: Pearl, we're worried about you. You need to answer us, we want to help you.
Mama: We're all waiting for you at home. Please, if you can't answer your phone, at least come home so we can talk.
Pearl swallowed back tears and saw she had twenty unanswered voice messages, no doubt from her worried sick family. Pearl never heard it, the Voices were constantly hounding her, she couldn't focus on anything else but the Voices. She went and took a shower, washing herself off thoroughly before putting on her purple and grey Light Heart Suit, then stretched out her mind, looking for Jade's ki signature. She found her after two minutes, Jade was all alone at their house. Pearl was certain that her parents and siblings were out looking for her. Pearl focused and Instant Transmitted to her family's house. She looked up at the grand mansion her parent's success, and the good advice of their financial managers, had helped them build.
It was a large three-story house styled like an old Japanese castle on the outside. Pearl went to the door and saw it was unlocked and she went inside. She passed the many pictures and awards her parents earned through their careers, up to the third floor where she and her siblings' rooms were. She went to Jade's room and knocked on the door. Jade answered the door, dressed in her blue pajamas. She looked like she had been crying. The two sisters just looked at each other, waiting for the other to speak. "Where is everyone?" Pearl finally asked after two tense minutes. "Looking for you," Jade told her, then looked at her angrily, "Why are you here?" "Jade, I'm sorry. It was weeks since me and Kenny had slept together, I was drunk, I can barely remember how it happened. I'm so sorry," Pearl said, wrapping her sister in a hug. Jade pushed her off her, making Pearl stumble back five steps as she walked up to her.
"You…goddamn…hypocritical…skank! All that talk about 'waiting for the right one', about how you have no room in your heart for more than one boyfriend, telling me to slow down with Brocc, and you're fucking him on the side!" Jade yelled at her. "No, it was-" Pearl tried to speak, but Jade wouldn't listen, "SHUT UP! The first boyfriend I ever have, the one I gave my virginity to, who I fought beside; and you stole him from me!" Jade yelled at her. Pearl wrapped Jade in a hug again and held on tighter as Jade tried to push her off. "I'm so so sorry, Jade! It wasn't like that, I swear! I was drunk, and I didn't know what I was doing. I love you, I never meant to hurt you," Pearl told her. Jade's white eyes turned red as rage surged through her and she pulled her fist back. "I HATE YOU!" Jade yelled back as she punched Pearl's stomach hard enough for an impression of her fist to jut out of Pearl's back.
"I'm sorry!" Pearl yelled, holding on as Jade kept on punching her. "I! HATE! YOU! I! HATE! YOU! I! HATE! YOU! I HATE YOU! IHATEYOUIHATEYOUIHATEYOUIHATEYOUIHATEYOU!" Jade kept on screaming, enraged tears filling her eyes, every word punctuated with a powerful punch to Pearl's stomach, with every blow Pearl had tears streaming down her face as she kept on saying, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" No physical blows could possibly hurt Pearl more than the thought of her little sister hating her. Finally, Jade threw a punch into Pearl's stomach stronger than she ever had before. Blood shot out of Pearl's mouth like a burst dam as she let go of Jade and fell to the ground. Jade's eyes returned to their normal color as she turned pale and felt the blood that was on her back. "Pearl…" Jade said, and Pearl coughed up more blood. "No! No! I'm sorry! I'M SORRY! PLEASE DON'T DIE!" Jade yelled as tears of rage turned remorseful as she used Majin Magic to heal her older sister.
"I'm sorry," Jade said as Pearl sat up and they hugged again, "I didn't mean it! I don't really hate you." "I know," Pearl said, "I love you, sis." "I love you too, Sis," Jade said as she held each other close. They lost track of time, only letting each other go when they heard a knock on the door. They got up and went downstairs and answered the door. They saw Rachel, Beate, Amaya, Hirohito, and Bage outside. "Rachel! Beate!? You're back!?" Pearl exclaimed in shock, "Where've you been!?" "We don't have time for that," Rachel said, "Pearl, you need to tell us what happened. Everyone we talked to said that you screwed Brocc, then ran away. Kenshiro is gone too, we can't sense his ki signature. The Supreme Kai of Time is expecting another change in the Timeline soon, we need to know what happened and we need you back."
Pearl's face fell as she said, "That's what happened. We were drunk, and it had been so long, I didn't know what I was doing. I…came here to apologize to Jade." "No way," Bage and Beate said, and Beate said, "There's no way you'd abandon Kenshiro that easily. Something else is going on." "May we come in?" Amaya then said. Jade and Pearl let them all in and went to the living room. "Pearl, before all this happened," Amaya asked, "What changed? Did you have dreams, or visions?" "I did…" Pearl said, "I'd have sex dreams about…every guy I know practically, sometimes one, sometimes more, the night before I dreamed I was with…all of them at once." "Nasty," Rachel commented, "Yeah, that's not normal." "When did this start?" Amaya asked. "After I gained the Pure Majin Form. Majin Buu warned me that my Inner Darkness could take over me if I wasn't careful. I tried not to use it too much, but I had to fight so many tough fights that I had to, and every time I did it got harder to turn back to normal… Could that be what made me do it?" Pearl asked. "I think so. Warpers can change people, make them do things they otherwise would never do. Most of the time it's blunt, completely obvious, but this has been going on for a while. That bitch, Shadlyn, must be behind this," Amaya said, "But I need to look in your mind to make sure."
"Do it," Pearl said as she got closer to Amaya. "Rachel, Hirohito, Bage, put your hands on my shoulders and focus on joining your minds with mine," Amaya ordered. They did as she said and bowed their heads, their minds coming together as Amaya's mind led them into Pearl's mind. All of them saw flashes of Pearl's memories. They saw as her parents raised her, how Pearl excelled in school but was always ostracized, smarter than her fellow Majins, but also weaker than them as well. They saw her struggles to grow stronger, how she came to Conton City, befriended Kenshiro and Barit, how she fell in love with Kenshiro, watched as their love grew and how he helped her grow stronger and found purpose. "Found you," Amaya said. They all saw the dark sigil of some kind of magic. "Focus, together!" Amaya yelled as the four warpers focused their combined power and dispelled the dark sigil. Amaya, Rachel, Bage, and Hirohito left Pearl's mind. "It's gone," Amaya said, "And it was definitely Shadlyn's doing. Her Dark Magic was written all over this."
"Then…am I safe now?" Pearl asked. Amaya shook her head, "No, the spell only strengthened the Darkness already inside you, the Pure Majin Form was like a door that she could go inside. That might be why Jade hasn't been affected, since she doesn't have it." "So…to make sure she can't use me again, I need to get rid of it," Pearl said seriously. "You can do that?" Bage asked. Pearl nodded grimly, "Yes, I can. It's something all Majins can do, but it's dangerous. You should know what will happen if it goes wrong…" Everyone then thought about Majin Buu, and how Super Buu emerged. "Isn't there some other way!?" Bage asked, "Can't we do something less drastic!? We're warpers for crying out loud!" Amaya and Hirohito shook their heads. "There's one thing I want to know," Pearl asked, "Can you erase me?" "Pearl! NO!" Jade, Rachel, and Beate yelled. "Yes, I'm serious. I need to do this. Just…let me get ready," Pearl said. Jade stopped her then, "Pearl, please, there's got to be another way! I'm sorry for hitting you, I was wrong! Don't do this!" Pearl hugged her little sister tight and told her, "Jade, I have to do this. If I succeed, then I'll be that much stronger, which is what we need right now." "And if you fail, you'll turn into Super Buu! But with your big brain! Or, you'll force our friends to erase you from existence!" Jade responded.
"Jade… Trust me. I know what I'm doing," Pearl told her. Pearl went upstairs to change her clothes, and to make preparations for the worst.
(Ending Theme: Bring Me to Life by Evanescence)
How can you see into my eyes like open doors?
Leading you down into my core where I've become so numb…
Without a Soul,
(Without)
My spirit's sleeping somewhere cold,
Until you find it there and lead. Me. Home.
(Wake me up!)
Wake me up inside!
(I can't wake up!)
Wake me up inside!
(Save me!)
Call my name and save me from the dark
(Wake me up!)
Bid my blood to run!
(I can't wake up!)
Before I come undone!
(Save me!)
Save me from the nothing I've become!
Now that I know what I'm without,
You can't just leave me
Breathe into me and make me real
Bring. Me. To life…
(Wake me up!)
Wake me up inside!
(I can't wake up!)
Wake me up inside!
(Save me!)
Call my name and save me from the dark!
(Wake me up!)
Bid my blood to run!
(I can't wake up!)
Before I come undone!
(Save me!)
Save me from the nothing I've become!
Bring me to life…
(I've been living a lie! There's nothing inside!)
Bring me to life…
Frozen inside without your touch,
Without your love, darling,
Only you are the life among the dead!
All this time I can't believe I couldn't see,
Kept in the dark, but you were there in front of me!
I've been sleeping a thousand years it seems,
Got to open my eyes to everything!
Without a thought, without a voice, without a soul,
Don't let me die here!
There must be something more!
Bring me to Life!
(Wake me up!)
Wake me up inside!
(I can't wake up!)
Wake me up inside!
(Save me!)
Call my name and save me from the dark!
(Wake me up!)
Bid my blood to run!
(I can't wake up!)
Before I come undone!
(Save me!)
Save me from the nothing I've become!
Bring me to life…
(I've been living a lie! There's nothing inside!)
Bring me to Life!