Meanwhile in the stands, the Z senshi were confused at the little girl's words. Goku? She thought Son Goku the most pure hearted gentle giant would stand by and watch as she was killed? And what's up with that? The child was obviously alive. Unless the dragonballs were involved no one could see how the little girl could be telling the truth.
And yet Goku was shaking in his weighted boots. He looked terrified with his eyes glazed over as he was lost in a memory. He was clutching the handrail so hard it bent under strain. He was ashy pale and his lips formed a thin line. Whoever this child was, Goku was frightened of her.
"Goku? What's wrong?" Bulma asked her longtime friend. She reached out to touch his shoulder and was surprised when Goku tensed up before coming out of his flashback. His eyes were still haunted by whatever memory flashed before his eyes. He muttered a few things under his breath and Bulma could only catch a few words of it.
"Sakuya-chan… holes… spider lilies… grandpa…" Bulma didn't know what to make of it, but thinking back to when she first met Goku she remembered there was a lovely garden patch filled with spider lilies in front of the house.
"Oh yeah! Your grandpa had a patch of spider lilies growing in front of your old house right? They were so pretty." Thinking back further, Bulma also remembered she was curious about the spider lilies then too. She asked Goku who planted them and he said,
"Grandpa did. Sakuya-chan helped though. He said Sakuya-chan was feeding the flowers to help them grow and that's why she stopped coming over to play with me." At the time, Bulma thought Goku had lost a close friend or something and was too naïve to realize his grandpa had buried her. She didn't pry any further because it wasn't her business and she didn't want to test the limits of the young boy's naivety. Soon enough she forgot all about the spider lilies and the little girl Goku called Sakuya-chan in a whirlwind of crazy adventure brought on by their hunt for the dragonballs.
Slowly, Bulma put the pieces together and the picture they made was disturbing. The little girl said her name was Sakuya Hanarou… Sakuya-chan. Oh god, were the spider lilies covering up a murdered little girl's grave? Was Sakuya-chan forced to 'feed the flowers' as Goku put it back then?
"Goku… what did you do?" Bulma asked slowly and deliberately. The other Z senshi gasped at Bulma's audacity. Did Bulma honestly think Goku would kill someone? When they turned to look at Goku to see how he was taking the accusation, they were shocked to see Goku had his eyes closed as if blocking out a painful memory. It was unsettling.
"Dad-what?" Gohan couldn't bring himself to voice his query. He didn't even know whether the question he wanted to ask was 'what's going on?' or 'what did you do?'
"Sakuya-chan's favorite flower was a spider lily. Grandpa told me she was busy feeding them and that's why she couldn't come over anymore. I'm such an idiot! I saw grandpa standing over the hole where Sakuya-chan was! I saw the shovel in his hands! I heard him singing a lullaby to her as he buried her alive! I'm so stupid! I believed him and went to take a nap!" Goku broke down. "Why grandpa? Why did you kill Sakuya-chan? And why did I let you?" The Z senshi just stood there shell shocked as they watched Goku's breakdown and his son getting retribution meant for him.
"No! Sakuya-chan don't hurt him!" Goku shouted down to the girl in the ring. The Z senshi flinched back in shock from the suddenness of it. Goku's eyes were wild as he took in the brutal beat down being given to his son.
I heard Goku beg for his son's life, but I didn't care. It was his fault this was happening in the first place. I continued on as if I hadn't heard him. Goku barreled down the stadium steps and stopped just before he entered the ring.
"Stop it, Sakuya-chan! It's me you want! Leave my son out of this! Please, Sakuya-chan!" I paused for a moment and looked at my murderer. I could afford to take my eyes off my 'opponent' because he was near unconsciousness and couldn't even stand without huge amounts of effort. I pinned Goku down with an icy glare.
"You'll get your turn soon enough, Goku-kun. To be honest, I don't care to punish your son, but old man Gohan is off-limits so he'll have to do." I told him this with chilling honesty.
"Wha-? What does that even have to do with anything? Goten's innocent! He didn't do anything to you! Punish me if you have to, but let Goten go!" Goku was growing desperate. You could hear it clearly.
"I told you, Goku-kun. You'll be punished too. But someone precious to me needs you alive for the time being." I looked up at the stands and spotted people who looked like Goku's friends. They certainly looked worried enough. "Do your friends know that you helped kill your best friend when you were little? Or should I tell them?"
I addressed the whole crowd, but mostly the Z senshi when I spoke next. "Did you know the world champ over here stood by and let his grandpa bury me alive as a child? I went up the mountain to play with him, but he took forever to show up. I got bored and decided to explore the side of the mountain I hadn't gotten a chance to yet. I stumbled upon something very strange there. A freaking spaceship! My best friend was an alien! I didn't have a chance to defend myself as old man Gohan snuck up behind me and hit me hard enough to knock me unconscious. When I woke up, old man Gohan stood over me with a shovel in his hand. I was in a child-sized hole bound and gagged. He was going to bury me alive and muffle my screams. I cried in relief when I heard my best friend's voice. I thought he was going to save me. But he only asked his grandpa a few questions and believed a stupid half-baked lie about me helping him plant some flowers! He went back inside to take a nap while his grandpa carried on burying me and singing a lullaby." I ignored the murmuring crowd to address Goku again.
"I knew you were naïve, Goku-kun, but I didn't think you were stupid." With those cutting words, I walked back over to Goten. I picked him up by his throat and squeezed. I ignored all attempts to stop me.
"This is getting out of control! Shinigami is killing Goten! Excessive force is against the rules! Security, get her off of him and escort her out of the ring fast!" The announcer called out to security, only to find them unconscious! Not good, he thought.
Shin watched sadly from out of the public view. He would not let anyone interfere. This was retribution. He put all capable of interference to sleep before the match started and they wouldn't wake up until it was done.
Goku leapt onto the stage and tried to tackle me in a desperate attempt to get me off of Goten. I would have none of that and used a barrier field to force him away. No interference.
Gohan had enough of sitting around. His little brother was getting killed and his father wasn't any help right now. He didn't know what was going on, but his little brother was not dying on his watch! He sprinted down the stairs and faced this 'Sakuya-chan' character head on.
"Hey! Let my brother go right now!" I looked over my shoulder to see a teenager with the same eyes as Goku. His resemblance to Goku was striking and I assumed him to be Goten's big brother Gohan.
"And if I refuse?" I challenged him. Gohan grit his teeth and snarled at me. He didn't dare come near; he saw what my barrier field did to his father and wasn't stupid enough to repeat the mistake. So he tried to bargain with me.
"I don't know what's going on, but you want revenge right? Goten didn't do anything to you, let him go. Take me instead." I raised my brow in interest.
"Why would I do that? What could you possibly offer me in return that this boy can't?" Gohan raised his chin in defiance.
"You have a score to settle with Gohan. My name's Gohan, so your fight is with me." I smirked at Gohan. He's good. I looked down to the struggling boy in my grip and said to him.
"You sure are lucky Goten-kun. You have someone who loves you enough to take your place to save you. I wish I was that lucky." my grin turned evil. "Too bad that just makes me want to kill you more!" and with that, I jerked my wrist in a way that snapped Goten's neck. A tense silence brought on by disbelief shattered into an uproar of screams. The crowd was terrified of this killer child who just snapped another child's neck like it was nothing!
Goku and Gohan could only stare in shocked disbelief at the body of young Goten. Goku lamented the son he never knew but loved so much anyway. Gohan mourned the little brother he helped raise like a son. Their grief turned to rage as they set their sights on me. I smiled peacefully as I took Goten's soul from his body and held it in my arms.
"Goten's soul belongs to me now. You will join him soon, Goku. Make no mistake." I vanished before the enraged family could swoop in and steal what's mine.
...OUCH. i hurt MYSELF writing that. xDD;; poor Goten! popped joints alone make me queasy, but a snapped neck... *shivers* eww. (even though i pop my joints all the time... .;;; XDD) MAKE NO MISTAKE! THIS IS NOT THE LAST CHAPTER! there's one more to go before it's done! i think you guys will like it more than this one.. XD;;
Notes about the chapter:
repressed memories are a bitch aren't they? Goku's naivety hurt more than helped this time around. . Goku's repressed memory of Sakuya's murder caused him to go into shock and then the realization that his SON was in danger because of it caused the shock to turn into full-on panic. that's why he was so easy to be flung away by the barrier field. at least that's how it is in my mind. XD;; i don't think Goku was thinking straight enough to think of turning Super Saiyan...
the announcer dude actually tried to stop the match this time? NO WAY! lol it always bugged me how the rules clearly say that excessive force is a big no-no and yet the announcer dude just lets life and death matches continue la-dee-da. i mean for fucks sake Goku vs Piccolo back in dragonball was CLEARLY excessive force, and yet the announcer was just like '... okay. you can beat him Goku! i believe in you~'
you may have noticed i made Sakuya refer to Goku as her 'murderer.' make no mistake, Goku didn't actually BURY her, but in her mind, Goku is just as guilty. she knows Goku never actually picked up a shovel to do the deed, but say someone was drowning and you happened to pass by. you just kinda stare at the drowning person, shrug, and walk away. you didn't call out for help, you didn't help the drowning victim yourself, you just walked off. did you murder someone? yes. it's called negligent homicide. that's Sakuya's mentality right now.
PLEASE DON'T HATE ME! I DON'T LIKE THIS NOTION OF 'AN EYE FOR AN EYE' ANY MORE THAN YOU DO! i just know how to get into a character's mind even if i don't share the sentiment... that's what a writer DOES.
Now to answer reviews:
BrokenSilence47: i hate the prologue too don't worry. XD it seemed a bit too... impersonal for what was going on you know? like there wasn't any actual character interaction going on. but i like to think Sakuya was just remembering it with a detached indifference. this IS a first person story after all. this is SAKUYA telling the story. so my thought process needed to take a backseat for what SAKUYA would think. i hope that makes sense... XD;; BUT THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR NOT GIVING UP ON ME! i feel giddy inside that you like it now! and i'm sorry, but unfortunately Goten died. XD;; I'M SORRY. i love goten too and i want to break the 4th wall just to go inside the tv and cuddle him! but there's one more chapter left, so maybe you'll be satisfied with the ending? ;v;
Chimera prime: uh... hehehe... he died. XD;; SORRY! and i don't think Goku's gonna 'spar' her as much as he's gonna open up a can of righteous fury and whoopass on her. but one more chapter, we'll see. :3 THERE IS A METHOD TO MY MADNESS I SWEAR~
