--- Disturbance, Book 1: Convergence ---
Chapter C08 - God of the Mind
Disclaimer: The fun about this sentence is that by the time you realise it doesn't say anything, it's too late to stop reading it. Also: See first chapter.
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-Na Ha-nha-
"Kami, doesn't he ever stop..." Kaen grunted sourly, banging his head lightly against the wall behind him. Over five minutes had passed since Hercule had won his match against Jewel, and he was still out there showboating to the crowd, roaring in victory, and generally making a spectacle of himself. Fortunately for Kaen's continued sanity - and the safety of the people out in the stadium - Pi was still lying against his chest, taking a short nap; or, at the very least, feigning one.
"I have to agree with him Vi," Gohan commented, asking, "How do you live with him? Is he always on like this?"
-Get in, get in, get in, get into now-
Grinning wryly, Videl replied, "To answer your second question: yes, he is always on. But as for the first question, the answer is I don't, for the most part; dad's gone more often than not, so I generally don't really have to 'live' with him. I think I only see him, on average, two weeks out of every month at the most, and even then, he tends to use that time to either remind me that 'he's the champ', or to bitch me out about something in my life, because, Kami forbid I ruin his reputation..."
Seeing how worked up she was getting, Gohan walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her from behind, remarking soothingly, "It's okay Videl. I guarantee you that things will change for the better after this tournament, one way or another."
-Get in, get into, come take over me-
Before anyone could comment at the moving scene - and Krillin was practically frothing at the mouth to do so - the announcer finally called time on Hercule's antics, shouting, "And now for the fourth elimination match. Can we have Number Eighteen and Mighty Mask to the arena?"
As the two mentioned competitors exited the fighters lounge, the mock-sleeping Pi commented telepathically to her mate, "How long do you think it'll take her to figure out Mighty Mask is Goten and Trunks?"
-Get in, get in, get in, get into now-
The corner of his mouth twitched, as he fought a grin. "Five minutes. At least."
Pi had to fight a grin of her own. "I'll take that bet."
-Get in, get into, come take over me-
Casting her eye over her opponent, as the pair awaited the gong, Eighteen thought to herself 'There's something unusual about this guy. I can't get an accurate reading on him. It's almost like-'
Whatever it was 'almost like' would have to wait, as the second the gong was struck Mighty Mask charged towards her, and, for such a skinny, clumsy, and uncoordinated person, his punches were surprisingly strong, fast, and accurate. She quickly brought her arms up to block, with only one punch having made contact, but she was thrown on the defensive instantly.
-Get in, get in, get in, get into now-
This didn't sit well with her. Deciding to make best use of the fact she had a longer reach than he did, she leapt back a bit as he threw his next punch, forcing him to overextend himself, and leaving him wide open. Pressing the advantage, Eighteen spun around and struck him on the side of the head with a back kick; surprisingly, he didn't start staggering around, although his torso did waver from side to side. Before he could recover, she sped forward and leapt into a back flip, kicking him under the chin with both feet, and sending him sailing into the air.
With a burst of ki, Eighteen followed her opponent skyward, striking him a few times around the chest while he was dazed, before, sending him back down to terra firma with an elbow to the back of the head. Rather than follow him down, however, she chose to remain in the air, to see what her opponent would do next.
-Get in, get into, come take over me-
"Ow..." Trunks whined, rubbing the back of his head, "That hurt..."
"Are you okay Trunks?" Goten asked; he vaguely realised they should try getting up, but Trunks seemed too distracted to mention it right now.
-Get in, get in, get in, get into now-
"Yeah I'm fine. She sure packs a mean punch though" Trunks replied, before turning angry, "And how come I'm doing all the work huh?"
Ever innocent, Goten just replied, "Coz I can't reach?"
-Get on, get into like me-
As the two levered themselves upright, Trunks muttered, "Well if you can land a kick I'll buy you a new toy or something..." Looking up at the floating Eighteen, he added, "You ready?"
Goten nodded, "Ready."
Trunks grinned behind the mask, "Then let's take this battle to the skies!"
-Time, not having an easy time-
Part of Eighteen was a little surprised when her opponent took to the skies after her - after all, the Z-Fighters tended to keep a short leash on anyone who could channel ki - but not too surprised to react. What did surprise her though, as she blocked the flurry of blows, was that his arms and legs seemed to attack independently. Grimacing, she thought to herself, 'This is impossible! Even with the best training around, you can't move your arms and legs completely independently to attack; there's always some sort of predictability. It's almost like-' Her earlier thought returned, although this time it was given the chance to finish, 'It's almost like he's two people.'
-Never gonna have an easy time-
Grinning to herself with this revelation, her sharp eyes began taking in details she'd missed before; a flash of lavender hair underneath the mask, the now-obvious eye holes around the stomach of the white costume. Breaking away, and floating back a few feet, Eighteen called out, "This has been fun, but I think it's time you let me win now, Trunks and Goten."
-Given the run around to me-
"Oh man," Trunks cried out, "She sussed us out!"
"Whadda we do now Trunks?" Goten asked.
"Um... I..." Trunks stumbled to come up with a solution.
-I can feel it coming around again-
Taking advantage of their confusion, Eighteen charged forward again, charging ki in her hand and throwing her arm forward, releasing her version of her husband's Destructo Disk technique. In their panic, Trunks tried to go one way, and Goten tried to go the other. The result: the razor-sharp ki disk severed cleanly through the costume, cutting it in half, and revealing the two boys.
The two boys cast a glance at each other with wide-eyed surprise, letting out a simultaneous, "Busted!" Then, to the shouts of the announcer about how they were 'disqualified for being two people', the two troublemakers shot off, leaving the arena in the direction of the fighters resort and waiting area.
-Time, a changing a wasting-
"Damn," Kaen commented, surprising the group that had assembled in the entrance; they'd thought he and Pi were still resting against the wall. "I thought it'd take her longer than that to figure it out."
"Wait; you knew?" Vegeta barked. When Kaen just snorted, as if to say 'yeah, didn't you?' he added "Why in blazes didn't you say anything?"
-Come and get up in my face again, yes-
Kaen just smirked, "I told you before Vegeta, because I'm an asshole."
"How the hell did you not notice Vegeta? He's your own son," Pi remarked teasingly.
-Time, given the run around to me-
"Someone should probably go round those two up before they cause any more trouble," Gohan commented.
Kaen just nodded, "Leave it to me."
-And I'm not having an easy time-
"Aw man, this totally sucks!" Trunks grumbled, pacing back and forth.
Goten just watched him lazily, leaning backwards against a nearby tree. The two kids were hiding in the foliage on the edge of the fighters waiting arena. "What's the big deal anyway Trunks?"
-Never having an easy-
The boy turned to stare at him like he'd grown three heads and seven tentacles. "What's the big idea? You're the one that said you wanted to fight in the Adult Division."
"No I'm not, you did," Goten corrected, "I just went along for the ride."
-You know this time it has never gone easy-
Before Trunks could comment on that, an authoritative voice declared, "Aha! There you two are."
Purely on reflex, the older boy started to take off, shouting, "Run Goten!"
-Time never having an easy-
"Freeze!" The voice, revealed to be Kaen, demanded, and the pair of them halted mid-step. As they turned to face him, he folded his arms across his chest, he barked, "Right brats, haul in. Since you two clearly can't be left alone for five minutes without causing trouble, you're coming with me back to the fighter's lounge; you obviously need adult supervision."
-You'll never meet another like me-
Trying to put up a rebellious front, Trunks huffed, "And if we refuse?"
Kaen just smirked evilly, unfolding his arms, as he charged a ki ball in one hand. "You're coming with me, conscious or otherwise."
-Get in, get into, like me, like me-
"How long do you think it'll take him to get the kids?" Krillin asked rhetorically. The group of fighters stood around idly as they waited for the flame-haired young man to return. To help alleviate problems with the crowd, the tournament was set up with a series of strategic half-hour interludes every four rounds, to allow people time to visit the facilities or purchase snacks, so they had nothing but time until that was over.
"I think the real question is, how roughed up will they be when he brings them back?" Gohan corrected with a grin.
-Get in, get into, like me, like me-
A mild smirk on his face, Vegeta replied, "Boy needs to knock the brats out. That'll keep them out of trouble."
"Why Veggie," an incoming voice declared, "I do believe that's child abuse."
-Get in, get into, lie to me, like me-
Vegeta scowled as the voice revealed itself to be Kaen, the two boys walking calmly in front of him, looking completely unharmed; the pair had decided that cooperating was in their best interest. A vein bulging in his forehead, he growled out, "First of all, it's not abuse in our country, they're Saiyan children, they should know better than to misbehave. Secondly, if they can't take it, then they aren't fit to live. Thirdly, and most importantly, you will show me proper respect in public view; you may be my ambassador, but I am the Prince of all Saiyans, and you will remember."
Kaen simply shook his head with a short grunt, muttering, "As you wish, my Prince," semi-sarcastically, and even going so far as to give a slightly formal, if not stiff bow, which as proper as it seemed, also radiated enough mockery to be obvious. This of course did little for Vegeta's mood, but then nothing really could appease the prince to begin with...
-Get into like me, like-
"Uh, excuse me," Videl's confused voice cut in, "Country? Saiyan? What are you guys talking about?" When no-one answered her, and in fact everyone seemed to be avoiding eye contact with her, she turned to Gohan, demanding, "Gohan, tell me what's going on! This isn't the first time I've heard the word 'Saiyan'; what exactly are Saiyans?"
With a glare and a sour "Great job" in Vegeta's direction, Gohan took a deep breath, before sighing and saying, "Saiyans are a race of warriors that, until about ten years ago, were believed to be on the verge of extinction, after a galactic dictator wiped out their planet. However, the remnants of the race were gathered in secret and relocated here, where they've settled in to their own country."
-Time, not having an easy time-
Digesting this, Videl stated slowly, "So... These Saiyans are aliens?"
"In the sense that they came from a planet other than Earth, yes," Gohan replied, before adding, "But appearance wise they don't look much different from you and me." That got a round of snickers from Kaen, Pi, Goku, and Krillin; even Vegeta and Piccolo smirked a bit at that line.
-Never gonna have an easy time-
The gears turning in her head, Videl started, "So... Obviously Vegeta is a Saiyan, because he's the prince, right?" When Vegeta nodded, she moved on. "And he said Kaen was his ambassador, so I assume Kaen is a Saiyan too." Another nod, this time from the younger of the two flame-haired men. "This logically means Pi's one as well." The girl in question grinned. Returning her attention to Gohan, she finished, "So, Gohan; are you a Saiyan? And what makes Saiyans different from humans, if they don't look 'much' different?"
-Given the run around to me-
Clearing his throat, Gohan replied, "Well, to answer your second question, Saiyans vary in appearance almost as much as humans do, but there are some similarities between them. All Saiyans have dark hair, usually black, that stands up on end, like it's had an entire jar of gel run through it. Note, as in the case of Pi, it doesn't always stand straight, but there's still spikes. Also, for the most part their hair doesn't change from birth, except to grow with them; obviously this is a generalisation, but at most, within six months they've got a full head of hair, and a haircut that lasts them a lifetime. A less noticeable feature is that Saiyans generally have pure black eyes, or near enough to. Lastly, unless they've had it removed for whatever reason, all Saiyans have a furry brown prehensile tail."
-I can feel it coming around again-
Videl nodded to herself as the points processed, but her brain ground to a screeching halt at the last one. "Wait; tail?" Spinning around to face the three known Saiyans, she noticed Kaen and Pi's tails revealing themselves from their hiding positions: underneath their belts; Vegeta, however, had no need to reveal his, so she spun back to Gohan and asked, "How come I've never noticed their tails before?"
-Time, a changing a wasting-
Gohan shrugged, "Two reasons. One, Kaen and Pi tend to keep their tails hidden for the most part, seeing as how they have quite a bit of contact with human society. Two, humans - or should I say Earthlings, because there are humans on other planets - have lead a sheltered upbringing, with little to no contact with non-humans. This has lead to an almost genetic selective vision, where they can't notice things they don't expect to see unless it's expressly brought to their attention. Once they know it's there, however, it's hard to miss."
-Come and get up in my face again, yes-
She nodded again, "Alright Gohan, I can accept that, but you still didn't answer my first question; are you a Saiyan?"
Gohan just shrugged again, grinned, and replied flippantly, "Kinda."
Videl stomped her foot angrily, shouting, "'Kinda'? You can't 'kinda' be a different race Gohan; you're either human or Saiyan. It's black or white."
-Time, given the run around to me-
"Actually Vi, I'm a shade of grey," Gohan replied calmly, "I am the first Demi-Saiyan; half human, half Saiyan."
"Oh." That comment mollified Videl a bit.
"Yup. My father was Saiyan - although he didn't know that until I was four - but my mother is human."
-And I'm not having an easy time-
When Videl failed to respond to his last statement, Gohan figured the conversation was over, but before he could turn away from her, she asked, "Um, Gohan, you're a half-breed right?" When he nodded, she continued, "Uh... Well, can you still... I mean, is it possible... Damn, this is so hard..." Looking up, and seeing his encouraging face, she blurted out, "Aren't half-breeds usually sterile?"
-Never having an easy-
Gohan froze; he had never considered that possibility, and given his mother's zealous desire for grandchildren, it could prove to be a massive problem. Before true panic could settle in, however, Kaen cleared his throat and declared, "I'll field this question." Stepping forward, and turning to face the human girl, he continued in a lecturing tone, "While usually you would be quite correct, Demi-Saiyans are a very unique case genetically for two reasons. The first is that, for reasons unknown, the birth rate of males to females tends to average out at three-to-one; that is, on average three males are born for every female. This, obviously, presents a problem."
-You know this time it has never gone easy-
He paused, turning to stare at Vegeta, before continuing, "Now, while some elitists believed in strict bloodline control, regulated such that only the strongest won the rite to breed, many of the lower class were less picky, choosing to find partners with other races. When the child was born, it, like all Saiyan children, would be tested for potential, and if the child's potential was good, the family was allowed to live and raise their child; if not, the lot of them tended to be killed on sight. The exception to this was if the child was female, at which point the child would be allowed to live, but would rank as the lowest class for life. To put it bluntly, beggars can't be choosers."
-Time never having an easy-
"What does this have to do with anything?" Videl interrupted.
Kaen just gave her a level stare, "I'm getting to that. Long story short, Saiyan genes are just as strong as we are, and a Saiyan having a child with pretty much any race produces a Saiyan. Additionally, half-breed Saiyans are often stronger initially than pure breeds, depending on species; while some species weaken the bloodline, others seem to remove the power limiters, occasionally resulting in vast wells of strength and/or stamina. On the flip side, human DNA is remarkably weak. If we relate cross species pairings as multiplication, human DNA is equal to one; that is, you cross anything with human DNA, and you get what you started with. Two times one equals two.
-You'll never meet another like me-
He paused, thinking it through, before amending, "Well, that's not entirely true. I guess a better analogy would be using addition, where human DNA is equal to a fraction; the sum changes the final result, but not by much."
Taking a moment to digest this, Videl asked, "So, basically, Saiyans always produce Saiyans, and humans produce whatever they breed with?"
"Exactly."
-Get in, get into, like me, like me-
"How do you know all this?" Videl asked, amazed, "I mean, no offence, but you don't exactly strike me as the academic type."
"None taken," Kaen shrugged, "I know someone in the City who's doing research into genetics and biochemistry." This, Vegeta knew, was bullshit, because he always kept himself up-to-date on all research going on in the City; after all, he funded a great deal of research projects. How Kaen knew, exactly, was something he obviously didn't want anyone to know.
-Get in, get into, like me, like me-
Casting an eye over the two kids, he added, "Now, obviously some genetic lines are stronger than others. Goku's lineage appears to contain remarkably dominant genes, at least as far as appearance goes, as Gohan and Goten look very much like their father, as Goku himself did his own father." Giving a shit-eating grin to Vegeta, he finished, "Vegeta's lineage, however, seems to have very recessive genes for appearance, as Trunks looks like his mother. Must be due to all the inbreeding..."
-Get in, get into, lie to me, like me-
Videl gaped, as Vegeta fumed. Snapping her jaw shut, Videl asked weakly, "Inbreeding?"
Kaen just kept grinning, "Royal family. 'Nuff said."
-Get into like me, like-
Before the situation could turn violent, and judging by the vein bulging in Vegeta's forehead is was only a hair's breadth away from happening, the announcer declared, "Welcome back ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for your patience. And now, for the next match, can we have Kibito and Gohan?"
A competitive smirk settling onto his face, Gohan commented, "Well, looks like I'm up." With that, he headed towards the entrance and waited for Kibito to get there.
-Get Ready-
"You know what to do Kibito," Shin muttered quietly.
"Yes," the red-skinned man replied, walking off, "It shall be done."
-Time never gonna die-
Gohan cast a critical eye over his opponent as he awaited the sound of the gong. Up to this point Kibito had not said a word, as far as he knew. 'Gotta be careful around the strong, silent types,' He mused to himself, remembering some of Piccolo's old advice, 'They're either really weak but overconfident, or really strong. Either way, they're dangerous.'
-You want a Deity like me-
Bowing to his opponent as the gong was struck, Gohan fell into a fairly loose stance, but Kibito remained as he was, merely standing there looking a strange combination of serious and bored. Clenching his fists, Gohan shouted, "Did you come here to fight, or to waste time?"
-Never gonna give into me-
Kibito didn't answer the question, at least not right away. After a few moments of tense silence, he spoke, in a fairly deep, booming voice, "Gohan, I am curious about your Super Saiyan powers. Show them to me; we may be able to use them."
"What!" A shocked Gohan shouted.
-You want a God-
"I knew it!" Kaen crowed, "I knew we couldn't trust them."
"But how do they know so much about Gohan?" Goku asked quizzically.
Pi answered for him, "We're not sure yet. All we know for certain is that Shin and Kibito are up to something."
-But you're never gonna give into me-
Gritting his teeth, Gohan shouted, "What do you mean 'we may be able to use them'?"
"You'll know more in time. Show me your Super Saiyan powers now!" Kibito demanded.
-Want a Deity like me-
"So, you want to see my Super Saiyan powers do you?" Gohan mock-asked. When Kibito nodded, the Demi-Saiyan teen disappeared, reappearing directly in front of the red giant of a man. Taking not-so-secret delight in the look of shock on Kibito's face, Gohan slammed his fist into his opponent's chest, sending him flying out of the ring, before giving chase and sending him into the grass with an elbow drop. Landing effortlessly on the edge of the ring, Gohan commented, "Sorry Kibito, I don't transform for weaklings. I need to save my strength for the semi-finals." The match won, he calmly walked off to rejoin his friends, giving no more attention to Kibito.
-Time, get it, get it-
"So what's the deal with Kibito and Shin?" Gohan asked, sounding a lot calmer than he was. "I mean, not just anyone would know I'm a Super Saiyan."
-Time, is just another God Of The Mind-
"Honestly, Gohan, I have no idea what their deal is," Kaen sighed, "I know I've seen beings something like them before, but can't think for the life of me where. All I know are three things: one, they're not from anywhere in this galaxy; two, they've got an agenda, and whatever they're here for, it doesn't bode well; and three, they can't be trusted."
-Time, get it, get it-
"And how do you know this?" Vegeta asked mockingly; he was still fuming about the 'inbreeding' crack, plus the fact Kaen was hiding his sources.
-Time, is just another God Of The Mind-
Kaen just gave him a level stare, "Because I've met them before, or if not them in particular, someone very much like them. Unfortunately, my memory is a little scrambled from a near-death experience a while ago, so you'll forgive me for not knowing where."
-Time, never having an easy-
"What happened Kibito?" Shin asked calmly.
Kibito just grunted, "The boy refused to co-operate."
Shin nodded, like he'd expected that. "No matter. I am confident I will be the one to fight him in the semi-finals. We will get our chance then."
-You know this time it has never gone easy-
"So what are we going to do?" Videl asked; this was a new world for her, and she wasn't planning on missing a moment of it.
Hearing the announcer's cry for the next contestants, Gohan grinned, replying, "Right now, you have a match against Spopovich."
-Time, never having an easy-
"As for those two, for now, we wait," Pi added gravely, before grinning, "Good luck in your match."
Videl took a deep breath, turned towards the arena, and began walking. "Okay Videl. Showtime."
-You'll never meet another like me-
To be continued...
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Author's notes:
And here we have chapter 8, the second chapter to be written without a song in mind. I realised, as I was uploading this chapter, that I hadn't yet explained my reasoning for the first half of the tournament, and why I wasn't satisfied with the line-up.
The toughest parts of deciding who fought who were finding opponents for Vegeta and Goku. For reasons that, if they aren't obvious now, will become very obvious later, I couldn't have the pair fight each other, which meant either one of them had to be eliminated in the first round. Now, there are only three fighters - well, four at a stretch - that could have eliminated either of them: Gohan, Kaen, Pi, and maybe Piccolo.
Now, pretty much the entire second half of the line-up was already decided, again for reasons that should or will become obvious, so that left Pi being the one to knock them from the competition. From there, I figured Goku would be the easier one to eliminate first, seeing as how there had been a lot of food involved earlier. Pairing Vegeta and 18 would have been a complete disaster, and I wanted Hercule to get past at least one round, so that left Vegeta fighting Krillin.
Well, there you have it. Next chapter, Videl squares off against Spopovich. Don't miss it; the tournament is finally getting good.
EDIT (8/4/07): I found a song suitable for this chapter, so I added it in.