Her Return

Chapter Seventeen

"I'll finish you all right here! And right now!"

Areiko's eyes widened at the sound of Kira's voice. She glanced around the darkness that has engulfed her. She turned around trying to find a way out of this in which she was trapped in.

"I need to get out of here!" Areiko bellowed out completely overlooking the fact that she was within her mind.

"You can't escape this place," the woman started with a smirk on her face. "You're inside your mind. Or did you forget that part?"

Areiko looked at the darker version of herself. She approached her grabbing onto her black cloak and lifting her up a little. "Tell me how to get out!"

The woman grabbed onto Areiko's wrist. She winced putting her darker side down. "I just told you that you can't escape," the woman replied. "You're inside your mind. The only way you can get out is if you wake up." She smirked. "And I don't think you'll be able to get out any time soon."

"Damnmit." Areiko cussed under her breathe.

Ping.

Areiko's eyes blinked as she listened to the formation of two ki balls. She had to wake up. And she had to get out of here. She turned her head looking at her darker side. She then turned her head upwards looking up into the darkness where that strange animal like woman had fallen from.

"You feel from up there…" Areiko said keeping her eyes locked up above her. The woman looked up. She then sighed.

"If you think that's going to help you, you better start thinking of another way." The woman told her, "the only reason why I fell from there was because you were calling me. You would fall from that height too."

Areiko looked at her counterpart growling. Areiko knew that this creepy animal like woman knew how to get out of here. And she needed to get it out of her if she was going to rescue everyone. Because there was no doubt in her mind that after Kira kills Aya, Vegeta, and Goku; that she was going to go up to the lookout and kill Dende getting rid of the dragonballs and then killing Goten and Trunks. Possibly even Pan, Bulla, Videl, Chichi, and Bulma since she's ruthless like that.

"Tell me how to get the fuck out!" Areiko shouted approaching. "I know that you know how to get out!"

Her counterpart crossed her arms over her breasts. "What makes you think that I'm going to tell you?" she asked. Areiko started growling. "And don't think that that's going to scare me into telling you. I can rip you to shreds right now."

"Then why don't you?"

"Because I need you to survive," the woman answered circling Areiko. She kept her arms crossed over her chest as Areiko kept her eyes locked on her. "And you need me to survive. Without each other, we would die. We would crumble in this sick twisted world."

"The only thing that's sick and twisted in this world is you!" Areiko countered.

"Me?" the woman let out a loud chuckle. "I'm sick and twisted in this world? My dear Areiko, you have no right to talk. You're a disgrace to everything that is living."

Areiko stayed silent. "No come back I see. Is that because I'm right?"

Areiko still stayed silent.

"Ah, I must've hit a nerve." Her counterpart continued to walk around her. "Why don't you talk Areiko?" the woman continued taunting her. "You have nothing to say?"

Areiko looked down. Suddenly she was shoved back by her counterpart. She stumbled a few times but stayed on her feet. Areiko looked at her. Into the crimson red eyes of her counterpart as she continued.

"You killed just as many people as I did." She continued. "Nothing between us has changed. Your still that created monster."

Areiko clasped her hands over her ears.

"You're still that freak."

Areiko pressed them harder against her ears trying to drown out the woman's scratching and piercing voice.

"You're that sick twisted thing in this world. You killed more people then I can count." The woman bent down in front of Areiko's face. "Including Aya."

Areiko's eyes snapped open, extremely wide. The thought of her killing Aya was horrifying. Even though Aya was wished back, it still horrified her. All the blood that escaped Aya's chest. The pain that it caused Vegeta. And out of that pain… hatred towards Areiko started to grow forming the relationship that they have now.

"See Areiko?" the woman asked placing a smirk onto her face revealing her fangs to Areiko. "You're more of a monster then I am."

Areiko stared down into the darkness beneath her, her eyes still completely wide. Her hands started to shake as she looked at them. Suddenly her hands were covered in blood, Aya's blood. She could smell her best friend's scent in her hands.

The woman smirked watching as Areiko stood up and backed away. She started to wipe the blood off onto her white robe, but there was a problem. It wasn't coming off. Areiko began to scream as she literally stayed to tear away at the blood with her long nails. But it still wasn't coming off.

The woman smirked wickedly enjoying this moment. She watched as her good counterpart started to tear away at the flesh of her hands just to get blood off that really wasn't even there. She was enjoying this, maybe a little to much.

Suddenly a bright light flashed onto Areiko and her counterpart. The woman screamed from so much light, and Areiko she just covered her face. Suddenly she felt herself being thrown backwards.

Areiko started groan. Her eyes fluttered open. When she lifted her head off of the ground her face instantly came in contact with the heat waves of the fire that blazed out of burning building. She coughed breathing in allowing smog to enter her lungs. She slowly pushed herself up onto her knees then back onto her heels.

She got a good look at the city. Everything was on fire. Her eyes widened as the gazed across the horizon of what she used to call West City. Everything was dead, absolutely everything. Nothing was breathing, but herself. She started to hyperventilate when she realized what Kira has done to her home within the matter of minutes. She was able to turn once a thriving city, tip it upside, turning it into ashes.

Areiko stood up onto her feet placing her hand over her mouth coughing. But the taste of blood entered her mouth and caused her to gag. She pulled her hand away from her mouth looking at her palm. It was all carved and scratched up to the point where it bled badly. Blood dripped off of the sides of her hands and onto the ground. She limped forward; she began to realize that she was out for quite sometime as she entered another part of the city to see that the fire was dying down.

The wind blew furiously. Areiko covered her face blocking the dust from getting into her face. She peeked through a small hole between her arms. She squinted her eyes a bit from some dust that managed to get through the hole. She spotted a lump on the ground. It was covered in dust and ashes from the burning buildings around it. As Areiko got closer, she began to realize what, or who, that lump was.

Son Goku. Her eyes widened as she bolted forward causing pain to rush through her leg. She collapsed to the ground from her bad leg giving out on her. She then quickly grabbed onto her sliced open side holding it trying to get the pain to disappear. She clenched her eyes shut gritting her teeth a little. Once the pain had disappeared, she quickly got back onto her feet and took off running towards Goku once more.

"Goku!" Areiko bellowed out, her voice being carried by the whipping wind. She dropped down by Goku's side placing her hands onto his shoulders. She began to shake him violently, afraid that he was dead. She didn't want to repeat what happened in New York City.

"Goku! Goku! Oh, Goku! Please wake up! Wake up!" she began to plead with an unconscious saiyan who seemed to refuse to wake up.

Areiko bit her lip. She turned her head scanning the area around him. But she didn't pick up on any other signs of life, which scared her. Because she still needed to find Vegeta and Aya. She looked down at Goku picking him up by his arms. She pulled him off of the ground then threw him over her shoulder. She wrapped her right arm around his side balancing him evenly as she limped off looking for Vegeta and Aya.

"Aya! Vegeta!" She cried out. She stopped for a minute adjusting Goku on her shoulder. "AYA! VEGETA!"

Cough. Cough. Cough.

Areiko turned her head quickly hearing someone coughing. She gently placed Goku down and ran over to a rather large piece rubble. She grabbed onto the edge of it then started to lift it up. There resting in the rubble with a heavy support beam over his stomach was Vegeta. He was trying his hardest to move it, but the saiyan prince was beat up. Claw marks, bite marks, burns, cuts, gashes, bruises, and blood was found everywhere on the saiyan prince. He continued to cough from the smog in the air and the heavy beam laying straight across his stomach.

"Don't move Vegeta." Areiko said slowly climbing into the hole next to him. "I'll help you."

Vegeta closed one eye in pain looking at Areiko. She looked just as bad as he did. Blood ran down the middle of her face and around her eyes from her beating her head with a sharp rock. He noticed the claw marks all over the palm of her hands. The gash in her side was still bleeding. Her nose looked broken and was slipping a lot of blood. Blood also escaped the side of her mouth. Her bottom lip was cut open and already scabbing. Her left leg was burned badly, probably making it difficult for her to walk or even run.

He watched her closely as she set herself against some rubble that surrounded them. She began to push upwards with all of her might. The beam was much heavier then the piece of rubble. She was having a hard time for some odd reason. Vegeta decided to help her since he was having a hard time breathing with the beam resting on him. With the two of them pushing upwards; both of them managed to get the beam up to over throwing it to the other side.

"Come on," Areiko held out her hand. Vegeta glanced at it and began to sit upwards. Areiko grabbed onto his arm to help lift him up, but Vegeta tore it away from her.

"I don't need your help." He said weakly to her climbing out of the hole. Areiko watched him till he reached the top and limped off down the hill of rubble. She then climbed out after him. When she reached the top of the mountain of rubble she looked down at Vegeta who was sliding down the rubble trying not to fall over.

"What happened?" Areiko asked him. Vegeta turned his head looking over his shoulder.

"Kira blasted two powerful attacks, something that she calls Double Death Ball…" Vegeta coughed, "you can see the damage it did."

Areiko nodded.

"Where's Aya?"

Areiko looked down then shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know… I haven't found her yet." She answered looking up at Vegeta. Vegeta seated himself down onto a piece of rubble breathing heavily.

"Vegeta, we need to settle our differences." Areiko said suddenly limping down the hill of rubble. "I know that you hurt when Aya was killed. And obviously out of that pain came hatred towards me. I hate myself for what had happened that day three years ago just as much as you do. But right now, don't you think that you can just put that behind you and let me help you?"

Vegeta looked up at her silent for a minute, "come on Vegeta," Areiko pleaded. "After this fight, I really don't give a shit about what you do to me. You can hate me forever. You can kill me—"

"Why do you think that I would do something like that?" Vegeta asked raising his eyebrow at Areiko.

She shrugged, "just a thought."

"Well, that wouldn't happen." He corrected her. "You're Aya's best friend, even after you've been a cold-hearted bitch to her since you returned."

Areiko sighed, "Vegeta, you gotta understand my reasoning for that." She said to him. "I was so cold-hearted because I didn't want anyone getting close. I knew that something bad was going to happen."

"If you knew then why did you come back?" He asked looking up at her stretching his right leg from the pain.

"Because… originally I was looking for help. Seeking shelter." Areiko answered softly. "But when I realized that I couldn't really find that here… that I was only going to cause more pain and suffering… I knew that I had to leave or be so damn cold-hearted that you guys would force me too leave."

"We weren't going to force you." Vegeta answered standing up but nearly falling over till Areiko caught him by his arm. "Kakkarot loves you to damn much for anyone of us to push you away."

Areiko looked down at an unconscious Goku. "Even… after… everything?"

"Even after everything." Vegeta repeated looking at her. "You may have not realized this but; Kakkarot loves you like a daughter. He was completely destroyed for those three years when you left. He became depressed, and barely trained. All he did all day was house work, and help the harpy."

Areiko looked at him. "But," he continued. "I will put Aya's death behind me… for now." He smirked a little.

Areiko smirked back, knowing that he was technically forgiving her, but it was still going to take a long time for him to actually forgive her.

"Let's go find the Punk."

Kira was flying up towards the lookout. She knew that she didn't kill the others. She was actually going to save them for a tasty meal after she was finished with her business at the lookout. She was going to take care of that little Namekian and possibly eat the anyone who's up there.

She hovered above the building looking around. No one was outside; they must've known that she was coming. She landed on the concrete of the platform. She lowered her hands to her sides and proceeded forward into the building.

Everything was silent; they definitely knew that she was coming. She growled lightly glancing around and scanning everywhere. Something caught to her attention. Two large doors that stood to her right. One was cracked open a bit as if someone was peeking out. Then it started to slowly shut. Kira acted as if she saw nothing and proceeded onwards down the hall.

The door to the Time Chamber opened; revealing a Trunks and a Goten peeking out into the hallway. They glanced around before they fully stepped out and shut the door again.

"Hopefully Mom and the others will be safe in there." Trunks said still standing in front of the doors to the Time Chamber.

"I think they will be." Goten said turning to look at his best friend. "She can't get in right?"

"Wrong."

Trunks and Goten jumped turning around to face the corner where Kira had disappeared too. There she was, standing there glaring at the two boys. She placed a smirked onto her face baring her fangs at the young teenagers.

Kira licked her fangs. "Time to feed."