I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the rights to any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.
Chapter 22: Shadow Hunter
"I remember you," Popo said of Leira, who was busy scowling at me.
"I would hope so. After all, I assisted your previous guardian in trapping that creature. I would have hoped that he would have found a way to destroy her before keeling over, but I guess that would have been too much to ask," she scoffed.
"What was that thing, may I ask?" Dende asked as he finished healing Piccolo and Vegeta.
"Yes you may, she is a dangerous creature that came to power several hundred years ago. Her original origins point to being an Earthling, but…" Leira began.
"There's no way that thing is human!" Vegeta interrupted.
"Ahem, I never said that she was or wasn't. Now mind your tongue for the moment and we will determine such things," Leira snapped at him. To my surprise, Vegeta kept his answer to a mild grumble. As long as I had known him, he had to have either tremendous respect for someone to back off like that, or not a chance in hell at winning the argument. Only one person truly fit into the latter category more than half the time, his wife. Considering the spat we just went through, his self-control must have improved ten fold in the last several minutes.
"Do you have something to add?" Leira asked me, seeing my staring at Vegeta's silence.
"Not right now, continue," I replied as calmly as I could.
She beamed at me for a brief second before moving on, "As Popo said, her name, or at least her name now is Mercurial. She was at one time a warrior like the rest of you, hell bent on protecting human kind and the earth. I believe she was a student that reached these training grounds at one point as well, correct?"
"Yes, very gifted," Popo stuttered notably.
"Her past is irrelevant, what is she now?" Vegeta cut in again.
"Her past has a lot to do with this actually. A unique but tortured soul. She was the daughter of both a highly skilled assassin and the granddaughter of a uniquely talented witch, thus the source of her powers. She was widely known for taking down several warlords in the past, but she went on one mission too many for the former guardian," Leira continued.
"So, Kami had her running chores?" Vegeta asked.
"No, Kami was not guardian yet, this was before his ascension. The former guardian before Kami was in charge then. She was doing jobs for him before Kami reached the lookout," Popo explained.
"That explains when, but what about the rest. You said she went on one mission too many?" I asked.
"Good, you are paying attention for once," Leira remarked with a tiny smirk to my scowl.
"Get to the point, I'm in a bad enough mood," I said.
"Very well. There was one dark lord she had not conquered, one that would eventually rise to compete with Kami for the guardian throne. His name was Garlic," Leira said.
"Great, him again," Piccolo muttered behind me as he got to his feet.
"Not exactly. Garlic had been very discrete about his evil actions around that time, for obvious reasons. The former guardian was busy and sent his apprentice to investigate the murder of a local ruler since traces of dark energy had been left behind. She followed a trail of clues to Garlic himself, but he had been waiting for her, and in true Mayko fashion, banished her to another dimension. Several years followed, and while we do not have the answers to what happened to her, we do have a theory. She eventually found a way to escape, but her time in this particular void had left her with deformities and had broken her will to live. After a time, she had finally snapped and gave in to whatever might try to devour her. I can only guess that a wandering demonic apparition found her and consumed her, granting incredible longevity along with unnatural ability. The near limitless power corrupted her soul once she had been broken, and the good person she once was vanished. She became what I would call, a Shadow Hunter. A creature of darkness with incredible abilities not meant to be seen by mere mortals. When she returned, she was an agent of evil, bent on taking revenge on Garlic, who had just been banished to his own dead zone by the former guardian. Mercurial was enraged by this, and blamed the guardian for robbing her of vengeance. She lured him out by plaguing the other Earthlings with her madness. She found that she could hide from him and everyone else in the shadows, and then she could possess others if she wished, though this would give away her position. She would gain the knowledge, memory and any added abilities of her hosts until she left them, though she usually retained anything important. She started wars on Earth just by possessing others, turning peaceful nations against each other just for her own amusement. Once confronted, the guardian found that her new abilities were far beyond his own, as you might have noticed," Leira explained, pausing for a moment.
"Let me guess, everything he did to her was deflected into others," I said.
"You're spot on today young one. That was one of her favorite tactics. Thus it was also why I was called in. The guardian needed an expert in the use of raw spirit power in order to both contain her and destroy her. Containment was a slight problem, and destroying her is a lot harder to do than normal. I think I have you to thank for that," she pointed at Piccolo.
"Why me?" he frowned.
"Technically, Kami. You might be having trouble with your memory of that particular event, as it was very painful for Kami. I'm not sure which set of dragonballs it was, first or second, but whichever had given her eternal life," Leira said with a very deep frown. Vegeta and I both turned to Piccolo, who looked stunned to say the least.
"I have no memory of such an occurrence," he said simply. I detected no lie from him, but that didn't mean anything at this point.
"Wait a second, another set of dragonballs?" Vegeta interrupted as he stared at Piccolo. The elder Namek only grimaced and remained silent.
"Most likely a flawed set that has hopefully been disposed of. Anyway, as I may have said, Mercurial can possess people. She has to expend a great deal of energy and willpower over those who are strong willed and thus she usually chose weaker minded targets. So while Kami was either under her influence, or being affected by someone else she controlled, she got a hold of those balls and made the wish. Her power was considerably effective against all comers, but her age was beginning to catch up with her, thus why she did it. It took a long amount of time before the guardian and I were able to lure her back up to this platform and trap her in that chamber. Obviously you will need to find a different location if you are to trap her again, or you will have to destroy her. Shadow Hunters are notorious for being able to bend shadows to their will, and use dark, evil energy to redirect the forces of light. That is why your attack didn't work. Their presence alone is a drain on the life around them, and their weapons are usually coated with a spectral energy designed to drain her victim's life force while they suffer from nightmares. Luckily for you Namek, she didn't leave it in long enough. Be cautious, and good luck!" Leira said with another unnerving smirk.
"That's it? Good luck, try to stop an all-powerful being that can't be killed? Don't you have some sort of suggestion on how to accomplish this?" I asked.
"Yes, move swiftly. The longer Mercurial goes unchallenged, the stronger she will be. She has the ability to build up her power by taking energy and matter from humans. I estimate that she had to use most of her energy to escape once you breached her prison, but it will not take long for her to regain it. Once that is done, her more, advanced, abilities will return," Leira said, pausing to get the point across.
"Okay, let's try this again. How do you suggest we contain her if we can't kill her?" I asked again.
"There are a few ways that this can be done without my help. One of them he knows," she pointed to Piccolo, "The other is to get her back in that time chamber and destroy the door to trap her for all time. I don't suggest the latter since you may need that chamber again. And there are ways to destroy an immortal being, if you look hard enough," she explained vaguely as she gave me a slight nod.
"And that would be what?" Vegeta asked.
"That would be thankfully out of your hands, Saiyan prince," she said as she turned away.
"Argh! Just give me a reason!" Vegeta threatened, but made no move towards her past a shaking fist. As usual, he hadn't missed what she said, but she already knew how to clear it from his mind with just the right insult. That must have been some sort of signal to me, but what the hell could I do to kill an immortal being?
"I don't suppose you could clue me in on what I would know about trapping this particular creature?" Piccolo asked.
"Let's put it this way, you were once trapped in such a way before," Leira noted.
Piccolo's eyes widened for the briefest second, "Oh, that way. Just what I wanted to do, honor his legacy!"
"Will you two stop speaking in riddles and tell me what the hell you're talking about?" Vegeta demanded.
"The Evil Containment Wave. Roshi's former master Mutaito developed it. It was used to contain, me, or in this case, my father, for as long as the jar I was trapped in wasn't breached. He died by using the wave, but probably because he couldn't handle its power output. At a previous world's martial arts tournament, Kami used it on me, though I succeeded in reversing it and trapping him instead. It's a very effective move if it is done correctly, but the timing has to be flawless," Piccolo explained.
"And you think this will work on that creature?" Vegeta asked.
"Only if we can both hit her and then trap her inside some sort of sealed container. I should be able to materialize what we need," Piccolo said.
"Fine, let's go do some hunting!" Vegeta grumbled. I didn't move as I locked eyes with Leira.
"Well?" I started.
"Well what?" Leira asked with an odd grin displayed.
"Come on boy! It's obvious she won't be up to the challenge!" Vegeta shouted from the edge of the lookout.
"I still want to know why you are here, and why you keep coming into my life! And I know that you were referring to me in the book of Killing Immortals for dummies," I said sharply.
"Killing Immortals for dummies? I can't say I've ever read that book," she said, feigning ignorance.
"You know what I meant! Out with it!"
"Well, promise me that you will only use it as a last resort. That attack is dangerous to both you and the victim. There is a reason it is forbidden. But always remember this, sometimes the best way to fight evil, is with another kind of evil," she said with a scornful glance. I stopped and stared at her in slight disbelief.
"What the devil are you two talking about? The Namek can use that containment whatever wave since he is the only one of us who knows how to use it! A chance to prove his worth past being a bystander for the last several years," Vegeta growled as he pulled me by the arm. I followed him, but looked back briefly. Judging by the look Leira had been giving me, she wasn't talking about that at all. I glanced down at my right palm, specifically at the light scarring that had appeared not long ago.
I sensed Leira's concern flood through my mind all the way off the lookout, leaving me with one simple statement: "Things are not as they seem, be careful!"
Gohan had noticed a slight change in Videl when he visited her after seeing Verto the previous night. It wasn't much, and while her attitude and energy appeared normal enough, he couldn't hear any of her thoughts. As sporadic and random as that was at times, it was odd to hear silence. She denied it completely even when he brought it up, but while he wanted to believe her, his gut feeling just didn't go away. One hardened stare at him when he was leaving was enough to warn him of something amiss. He went home wondering what had happened during her outing, feeling guilty that he hadn't gone along to at least witness it. His feeling didn't go away during the night, if anything it intensified. The flight to school the following morning was one of his longer flights, despite arriving in town in significantly less time than usual. He did not immediately sense Videl's presence, which was extremely unusual since next to Buu she stuck out the most. Not to mention he could always feel her through their bond. He flew towards Satan mansion with haste to make sure that nothing was seriously wrong.
"Sorry Gohan, Videl has already left for school, I'm surprised you didn't see her on the way. She only left a few minutes ago," the maid reported.
"Was she acting a little strange overnight? I have this feeling that something is terribly wrong," he mentioned.
"No, nothing unusual for her, which isn't saying a lot. She isn't like most girls after all," she said.
"No need to remind me of that. Thanks anyway, I'll have to catch up with her at school then," he said before leaving.
-
Gohan cautiously entered his classroom and spotted Videl almost immediately, sitting in her usual spot. Rather than getting a cheerful hello, he received only a deep glare.
"Was it something I did?" he asked. Videl didn't answer, and kept her glowering glance going as he took his seat. Behind Videl, he spotted Ranso Teziwari again, seated right next to her with a bright grin on her face as she stared forward.
"Videl, what's wrong?" Gohan tried again.
"Shut up! You make me sick!" she spat. Though Gohan had no idea what to expect, he certainly didn't see that response coming.
"Ranso, what did you do to her?" Gohan asked directly this time.
Ranso turned in her seat, "Why Gohan, what makes you think I did anything to your precious girlfriend?"
"Because she doesn't act this way. And she's been different every since yesterday, I know you have something to do with it," Gohan replied with a serious tone, one that drew a few whispers.
"Come now, what could a little girl like me do to her?" Ranso asked as she gestured to herself. Gohan considered his answer, after all he didn't want to frighten his classmates. At the same time, if Ranso could control Videl in any way, that meant she had access to Videl's strength and power. He wouldn't be affected by it, but that put all the other students in danger.
"What do you want?" he asked instead.
"Come now, I know you're incredibly smart. What would any girl my age want? Fame, money, power, and love. As you can probably tell, I can get the first three on my own. Guess which one I want from you?" she smiled slyly. That all but confirms it now, how do I disrupt her control?
Gohan cleared his throat, "You can't make people love you Ranso. That isn't love, that's just control. Now let Videl go!"
"I'll let her go, if you agree to be my boyfriend. And of course eventual husband!" she replied. Gohan stared at her like she was crazy, Even if I wanted her, I couldn't live with myself. Videl would never want me to do that. Gohan considered his options if he accepted and then backed out later, once Videl was released from her spell. A lot less people could be hurt that way, and considering the anger radiating off Videl at the moment, the offer was tempting. Her ki was swelling with hatred, and it looked like she could go off at any second. As he was weighing his options, Ranso got to her feet and stepped towards him. Gohan jumped up and away, landing on the top table in front of several stunned students.
"You really shouldn't bother running, you won't be able to get away!" Ranso declared as her grin suddenly turned much darker. All of a sudden, three students grabbed Gohan's legs, all three trying to drag him downwards. Gohan shook them off carefully, but turned back into a direct fist from Videl. Gohan went flying into the wall, but got up quickly, staring down Videl. All around them, more and more students moved towards him, all of them with that same glassy-eyed look that clearly stated they were not in control of themselves.
"I don't want to hurt you, but I will defend myself!" Gohan warned as he released some of his power. Several students were blown backwards by this, a few being strung out across desks and chairs, as they never knew what hit them. Videl was unaffected, but had started to power up a ki blast in her hands.
"No Videl, don't!" Gohan shouted.
"Masenko, HA!" she fired point blank. The bright golden flash exploded off the wall once Gohan dodged, taking the corner of the room with it. Gohan had quickly repositioned himself to shield everyone from the blast, but that didn't keep the entire room from suffering damage. Once the dust and smoke cleared, the classroom now had a new skylight, and Gohan's school clothes were in tatters, but he was otherwise unaffected.
"Be careful! That could have hit me you know!" Ranso shouted into Videl's ear. Gohan's eyebrow went up in realization, Well, she doesn't have as much control as I thought. Still, with Videl so enraged, she's not likely to be in much control of herself. Must be a passive thing once she cast her spell on her. I've got to reverse this and disrupt her control, but how? If only Verto were here, then he could use that feedback move. Wait a sec, that's it! Videl's fist connected with Gohan's face while he was lost in thought, and even as he left another hole in the wall, he still didn't show many signs of being hurt. Ranso stepped closer to get a better view, trying to figure out why Gohan wasn't moving even though he looked fine.
"Come on, get through," he grumbled.
"Are you giving up finally or what?" Ranso asked.
"Damnit, why did they have to fight today?" Gohan mumbled again, ignoring her.
"Get him!" Ranso ordered. The mob of students led by Videl then rushed towards Gohan, who leapt out of the wall and landed in the front of the classroom, forcing everyone to turn around to give chase.
"Okay, let's see here, very low energy, Psi power only, I got it!" he said, drawing one hand back as a small blue ball filled it.
"Surely you wouldn't fire on your classmates, you might kill them if you do!" Ranso warned as a drop of sweat went down her cheek.
"Feedback!" Gohan shouted as he fired his blue blast right at Videl, who went flying backwards and crashed through a table.
"Huh, that wasn't supposed to happen. Maybe it was too strong," Gohan noted.
"Why you!" Videl growled as she crawled out of the table debris. Gohan frowned; I should have learned this one properly from the Protoss. Verto and Vegeta have got to be out of that time chamber by now, unless they beat each other up so badly that they're both unconscious. No, that can't be right, I feel them flying around west of here. Then why isn't Verto responding…unless he's so focused on something else that he's blocking any telepathic contact without realizing it. Well, its probably very important if they're flying that fast. Great, that means I'll have to figure this one out on my own.
"Argh! How the blazes are we supposed to find that bitch if we can't sense her?" Vegeta growled as we flew through the air. I shook my head slightly, his patience had run out a long time ago and it had basically turned into a meltdown, without the usual explosion. It still amazed me that it hadn't run out on Leira, but that appeared to be just a one time thing now. Piccolo grumbled a bit, he was sick of Vegeta's complaining as well.
"Well, if we can't sense her out, then we'll have to find her with our other senses, just like the androids!" Piccolo suggested.
"Don't lecture me Namek!" Vegeta barked back. I rolled my eyes and declined to jump in. I focused instead on what Leira had been saying, specifically what Vegeta and Piccolo hadn't heard. Things are not what they seem, what the hell could she be talking about? And is she speaking of this shadow creature, or me? God I really hate not knowing things ahead of time anymore, it sure made things easier. Not that a vague speech is any better. Guess I better get used to both. I felt Piccolo's gaze shift to me, and I stared back with an eyebrow raised, wondering what was going through that head of his. As Vegeta took the lead and kept mumbling incoherently, Piccolo spoke silently.
"So, what was she talking about?" he asked.
"What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean, she basically told us that you had some sort of new attack that is forbidden. Does this have something to do with why you got into trouble a few weeks ago? When you broke into the afterlife after I warned you not to?" I gazed downward for a brief moment with a twinge of regret.
"Come on Piccolo, you know I had to do it. That prick wouldn't have stopped murdering people in that town," I said, not making eye contact.
"Well that's all in the past. Whether it was the right thing or not is up to someone else to decide. I want to know what she is talking about, what attack is forbidden?" His question stumped me for a moment as I looked him in the eye. I had figured he was going to chew me out eventually for going against his word, but that didn't appear to be what he was after.
"Is it necessary to do this now?" I asked as I glanced at Vegeta for a brief moment.
"Stop stalling kid, I know you better than you think. If you have something that is dangerous to those around you, you had better tell me now! I already know about the strange mutations!" he shouted over the airwaves.
I grimaced at his words, but complied, "It's something that Dabura taught me in case I needed it. Maybe it's just a demon thing; the Kais certainly didn't approve of it. It's a very specific way of attacking that should only be used as a last resort when death alone will not do, or isn't possible. I had already killed that bastard Freddy and thanks to Babidi, he kept coming back for more. I was just so angry that I couldn't think of using anything else. Probably should have finished the wizard off while I was at it," I said, glancing at my right hand for a moment. The light scar tissue seemed to catch Piccolo's attention even more so.
"So, what does it do?" Piccolo asked, his tone much lighter. I eyed him again, though judging by the way he looking at my hand; he was probably wondering what I had felt at that time.
"Something terrible. He may have deserved every bit of it at the time, but I don't ever want to use it again if I can help it. He's gone forever now, I doubt even the dragon could bring him back, to the afterlife," I thought angrily. Piccolo nearly lost focus on his flight, but recovered before Vegeta noticed.
"So he no longer exists, in any form?" he asked.
I nodded as I pushed my anger aside, "But that isn't the worst. Deep down, somewhere, I think I liked it." Piccolo's nervous stare bore through me for a long time after that.
-
We flew around for nearly an hour before we first sensed it. In a desert town near Baba's place, Mercurial had either struck, or had used her power to possess someone. Piccolo and I had locked on to it right away, but Vegeta was still trying to pinpoint her shadow energy trail.
"We shouldn't split up unless necessary for this. I don't think we want to be caught off guard and without help," I suggested as we approached.
"Agreed," Piccolo replied while Vegeta snorted and looked away. It was a small town thankfully, but a few of the buildings were very narrow, providing plenty of shadows to hide in. Predictably, that was where her energy trail was coming from. But when we arrived, we saw only a slumped figure leaning against the wall. He was normal enough for a human, very broad size build, but his face didn't match. I felt his life fading even as we landed; his face was rapidly wrinkling up as his hair starting to turn gray before falling out.
"What's happening to him?" Piccolo asked first. I rushed over and saw some sort of imprint around his face and neck in the shape of a hand, outlined in purple.
"He's aging, much too fast. He'll die if we don't do something," I said.
"Go ahead and try to save him, see if it matters," a voice said from behind. We spun to see Mercurial's shadow aura vanishing around the darkened alley walls. In the blink of an eye, her signal was gone, and so was the man on the ground. His skin merely deteriorated into dust and his bones fell apart, leaving only clothes on a pile of dirt.
"Where'd she go this time?" Vegeta asked as he approached the spot where she had just been. I scanned around the immediate area, but found nothing. I broadened the search, and suddenly found it quite a ways away.
"No way," I muttered.
"What is it boy?" Vegeta barked as he turned.
Piccolo had found it too, "She can teleport great distances it seems!"
"And suck the life out of people," I said as I stared at the remains.
"Just like Cell could. This might be a very difficult hunt, and we may have to suppress our powers," Piccolo suggested. Miles away, I sensed more lives fading, and very quickly.
"I'm not doing that blasted hiding crap, we won't be able to move fast enough to do anything about that witch!" Vegeta roared.
"I do agree with you Piccolo, but Vegeta's right. We've already seen what that creature can do, we can't delay in stopping her," I said.
"So be it, let's go," he replied.
-
About five minutes later, we came close to Mercurial signal again in another town. It was larger in size than the previous one, and also more chaotic. To say that a full panic was in order, didn't do it justice. People were running around in circles. Police were running around in circles trying to contain them. A few riots had even broken out; it was just full chaos in a nutshell. How this had broken down already made me wonder what we were truly up against.
"What the devil happened here?" Vegeta asked, intrigued as we floated several hundred feet above. I scanned and found Mercurial's shadow signal inside another human, one that was throwing objects at police. Whether that human was tasered or just knocked down by a nightstick, I wasn't sure, but he did go down. I sensed Mercurial's signal suddenly jump again, to one of the cops. This cop pulled his gun and started shooting into the crowd, dropping several of them. If the place wasn't going nuts before, it did then. Other police were trying to stop the possessed cop, while rioters were either running, or charging the police again in anger. The fighting suddenly stalled though when Mercurial's next apparent victim ran through the streets, wearing only a birthday suit and emitting that same energy signal. It resumed again once every man in the area tried to take advantage of the alleged victim and ended up starting another riot for a different reason.
"She's toying with them," I said, fist shaking slightly. The signal finally stopped, and a new figure appeared on a rooftop, laughing her head off. I swooped down and landed on the same roof, staring her down. Her image had changed though, now she was slim, young and athletic, with flowing black hair and a matching figure to the one who had just streaked through the area. The only difference was that she was now clothed in a light black top with cut off sleeves and matching pants. Both her weapons were attached around a utility belt that was barely tight enough to stay on.
"Now that was fun, I haven't done that in years!" she laughed, in a younger but identical voice.
"Why have you done this?" I asked, seething.
"Because I wanted to. Sorry to say, but you three are a bit slow. I've already drained enough to restore my youth, looks and power! I was just having some fun with the crowd while I was waiting. I'm ready to pick up where we left off if you wish," she said with a slight bow.
Her statement confused me, "I thought you wished for eternal life, how would youth be a problem?" I asked.
"Oh, you know about that do you? Well it is a very good question, but its kind of intimate knowledge," she said with a dark grin.
"How ironic boy, you're very intimate with the ladies. But I will take care of that myself," Vegeta said as he landed, though it didn't quite sound like a joke.
"Kinky, but I'm afraid I have no interest in little men who don't know when to give up. I'll make this quick since you let me out of my prison," she said as her hands started to spark with dark, purple energy. I could sense Vegeta tense up, his power was already dangerously close to exploding outwards, but her latest statement pushed him over.
"It's time you learned who you're dealing with little girl," he said as his blue aura turned gold once again.
"Please little man, enlighten me," she dared. The roof around us started to shake and crumble as Vegeta powered back up, shattering it when he reached his goal.
"I'll show you!" Vegeta shouted, transforming to Super Saiyan and charging in immediately.
"Vegeta, don't!" Piccolo called, far too late. Mercurial stood ready, energy gathering in her palms. She's going to counter him with some sort of blast. Vegeta flew in and punched, hitting nothing but air, sending all that air rushing through the streets with just the force of it. People screamed as the wind knocked them down, and even sent a few tumbling painfully away. I didn't see her actually move, but could sense her reappear just to the right, far enough to not even be affected by Vegeta's energy. Her attack finished, and Vegeta barely had time to turn in realization.
"Bye!" she said. Her attack rushed out of her hands, a small comet-like blast of purple. It didn't feel strong enough to even scratch Vegeta, but it did feel like very focused energy. Vegeta had turned to face it, but was sent flying into the mesh of buildings nearby, smashing through them. Mercurial slowly stepped towards the edge and peered over. I sensed Vegeta was alive, but was stunned and disoriented. Yeah, its obvious that she doesn't need extreme power to be effective, she has enough of it.
"Not bad, very few creatures can withstand one of my Shadow Bolts and still be alive, never mind moving after getting hit," she admitted.
"Try it on me then," I challenged. I already had my power ready to either cancel it out, or deflect it with my sword, but I didn't want to reveal that just yet.
"That would be cruel. That strong man might have withstood it, but a child couldn't survive it," she turned away. I took the chance and rushed forward, blocking her path by phasing in and out.
"Becoming young again must have warped your brain. You clearly forget, I'm stronger than him," I warned as I stared up at her tall form.
"And just as stubborn apparently, very well boy. Since you don't know when to leave well enough alone, I'll show you something very special," she said, spreading her arms wide. She brought them together above her head as I powered up, though staying in normal form this time. Mercurial began to concentrate her power again, this time into a larger ball of purple that began to catch fire. I stared at it wide eyed as she laughed crazily, her purple fireball literally melting away the rooftops and super heating the air around us. Great, what is that going to do?
"Shadow and Flame!" she shouted. Her ball of flames and power soared into the air, swirling and pulsing as it rotated around. Suddenly, below me and all around the city, bright yellow flames shot out from the dark nooks and crannies, incinerating everything in the way. Every little spot of shadow or darkness had suddenly come alive and caught fire. She can turn shadows into fire? The flames soared into the air, coming in contact with the ball and combining with it, creating a bright yellow and black sphere of death that didn't look like it would tickle. I didn't bother wondering what would happen next, and raised both hands to charge up my Psi shield.
"Good luck, you'll need it!" she laughed as her ball dropped towards me. Great, how the hell do I stop this one? Whether I can take on the attack directly is clearly unknown, and I can't let it detonate right here either. The shadow-fire ball struck my energy shield, spinning its way forward. I could hear Mercurial laughing nearby as it grinded towards me from less than ten feet away. I cringed and hunkered down, adding energy as I did in hopes to somehow deflect this thing before it went boom. The fireball suddenly stopped all forward momentum, and spun opposite my shield's own direction, sitting there and flashing dangerously.
Only a few seconds left, gotta send it upwards, otherwise it could take out the whole town and everything in it! I sent out a carefully powered push of Psi, aimed at pushing the fireball into the atmosphere. By pure good luck it cooperated, and blocked out the sun with its bright flashes as it soared into the air, darkening the skies. As I expected, it broke down and began to explode, but the reaction was something completely different. As the fireball blew up, nearly a hundred smaller bolts of yellow and black rained out from it in different directions, several directed right at me. I quickly formed my shield again, deflecting them off easily. As they bounced off, they prompted exploded, tearing apart the building I was on and blinding me. I sensed the other ones doing the same, and kept my shield up as I shut my eyes. I felt the heat increase, and also felt the life leaving the town as screams of terror surrounded me. I opened my eyes once the screaming stopped, and found myself floating above ground zero. All around, the remaining buildings were on fire, and several spots of ash dotted the streets, all with traces of life leaving them. Piccolo was down nearby, not moving and in tatters, but still alive. Vegeta was still buried under rubble, but also alive. The skies remained dark, and Mercurial was floating where she had been before, dark grin plastered all over her face, and eyes blacker then night were staring me down.
"That, was a real demonstration of power kid. I suggest you leave me be if you don't want to join those pathetic worms I just stamped out!" she warned. I was still so shocked and stunned from the attack that I couldn't manage more than a quiver of the lip. It had been awhile since I had seen such an evil act laid out in front of me. Gruesome murders were one thing, genocide was another. Mercurial blew me a kiss and vanished promptly, reappearing far away once again. The screams echoed through my head a few more times before I finally gave in to them.
"You fucking bitch!" I whispered as my energy lashed out at the air. I kept myself from transforming on the spot, but the air and nearby ground wasn't spared from any lightning strikes, not that there was anything left to destroy. I heard Piccolo and Vegeta stirring, but didn't bother to wait. I had to catch her, and quickly figure out how to kill her. Piccolo's plan with the Evil Containment Wave wasn't an option anymore. I quickly locked onto Mercurial's power signal far to the north and blasted off in pursuit. I'll get you for this! I'll use all the power I have if I have to!
"Feedback!" Gohan shouted, plowing Videl down again with another blue Psi blast. The effect was stunning, but not enough to do more than that, and Gohan was frustrated again.
"What are you doing?" Ranso asked, confused. Gohan didn't answer, but at the very least she hadn't figured it out either. He had been running around the school, being chased by hordes of controlled, crazy students and constantly attacked by his own girlfriend in the process. Needless to say, there was a lot of property damage going around. Gohan knew he could end it all easily by powering up, but that just wouldn't be right in his eyes. In the back of his head he also realized that trying to knock Ranso out brought the risk of coming in contact with her. He knew nothing of her control ability, and decided it best not to try it. The entire time he had been trying to figure out the Feedback technique that Verto was so good at. He silently cursed himself for not learning it from the Protoss when he had the chance. He had settled for training with his father and grandfather while Verto seemed to do almost nothing besides meditate. He remembered the results all too well; it usually involved him being sidelined. It wasn't entirely his fault, the Dark Templar Zeratul didn't think he would be able to handle the same focus and training that Verto had gotten through, but Gohan had doubted that very much. When they had first unlocked their Psi energy, Gohan couldn't do much more than fire a blast and move faster, giving him instant transmission. He had treated it as a resource for more power and speed, and it had granted just that. It augmented his already extreme power, but it didn't provide him with anything he didn't have before. He couldn't even try to focus it into a sword without burning up a room beforehand. Maybe Verto just had a natural talent for it, he wasn't sure, but he knew that it couldn't be that simple. Things had changed since then, anything Verto could do, he could do, he was certain. Viro had demonstrated that to him, he had to have the capability the whole time and just wasn't aware for it.
Damnit, I can do this. Now what did Verto do in our fight that was so different? Gohan asked himself as he dodged students and ran for the door. He recalled Verto summoning two smaller versions of the Spirit bomb during that fight, but they had been Chi powered. Why did he do that though? Another memory flashed through him, one where he and Verto were dueling with energy swords, and one of the bombs had gone right through Verto and turned his sword white for a brief moment. That must have been the feedback effect. The two techniques must be one in the same, or at least similar enough to substitute one for the other. The Spirit bomb tends to be more about damage, but both affect evil. I've never used one before…wait a second! What did Dad say that one day when we fought Vegeta?
"Bounce it back Gohan!" Goku thought out to his son.
"What, daddy?" Gohan thought as the bomb approached him.
"Bounce it back! Clear your mind! That ball can't hurt you if you don't have evil in your heart!" Gohan recalled being able to deflect the spirit bomb without a scratch, due to having no evil thoughts or intentions in his heart.
"That's it!" he said happily as he rushed through the door and then floated into the air. Only Videl would be able to get to him in the air, and that's exactly who he wanted. Soon the whole school poured through the doors, mobs of angry students and teachers, all directed at him by Ranso's mind control. Videl and Ranso soon joined them, Videl rising through the air, snarling as she did. Gohan calmed his mind, smiling warmly with thoughts of his family and friends as he charged the Psi ball in his hands.
He didn't even open his eyes when he took aim, "Feedback!" He heard Videl groan as his attack struck, and sensed her falling through the air, being filled with painful energy bursts at the same time. He rushed down to catch her, earning a kick or two when he did, and setting her down to suffer in her own anger as white lightning streaked through her over and over again. Ranso stopped in stunned silence now that Videl was down, and the enraged students backed off.
"What did you do to her? Your own girlfriend?"
"I stopped her from hurting herself and others, as I will do to you if you force me," Gohan warned.
"Get him!" Ranso shouted. The mob of students rushed towards Gohan, who didn't bother hesitating this time and powered up just slightly, sending out a ki wave that knocked them all down. Ranso also fell to the ground, but quickly backed away, running for the door to the school.
"Stay away from me!" she cried out as she ran.
"Just a minute ago, you wouldn't have said that," Gohan replied calmly as he followed her inside. Ranso didn't have much of a lead on him, but did call upon the help of a teacher with a metal chair in hand. The chair broke in half upon striking Gohan's hard head, and he responded by chopping the teacher lightly to knock him out. Ranso kept running, but there was nothing but hallway ahead, and a clear shot for Gohan.
"Feedback!" he fired again, the white ball flying through and hitting Ranso in the back. She fell to the ground as a few energy strands circled through her, and Gohan instantly sensed a different feeling in the hostile crowds outside. He emerged from the high school to find several hundred tired and confused students. Videl was staring at her own hands as he walked up, offering a hand to her.
"Gohan? What happened here?" she asked.
"It's a bit of a story, what do you remember?" he asked.
"Just being really angry with you for some reason, I still don't know why. Felt like I was dreaming, but I feel sore all over like I was Vegeta's punching bag for a week," she groaned.
Gohan winced, "Sorry about that, I didn't think I had hit you that hard. Let's just say that mind control girl had something to do with it!"
"She didn't make you do anything, weird, with her, did she?" Videl asked as she stared into his eyes.
"Nah, she never got close," Gohan grinned. His senses were suddenly alerted by something new though, and he turned to stare at the distance, where he sensed a dark power clashing with a familiar one.
"What is that?" Videl asked.
"It's Verto, he's fighting someone powerful, but I don't know who, and, oh god," Gohan suddenly dropped as a sick feeling hit his stomach.
"What was that? Is he okay?" Videl asked again, though sensing the disturbance coming from the distance.
"I'm not sure, I just felt a lot of people suddenly die. And they suffered; it wasn't instant like Buu or anyone else we've faced. I've got to go," he replied, standing up.
"Yeah, I will too!" Videl said.
"No, stay and look after everyone here. This isn't a normal foe," Gohan ordered as he rose up took flight. He sensed his father's presence near Piccolo as Verto was streaking away angrily, and quickened his pace.
As Videl and the other students tried to put together what all happened, no one noticed Ranso creeping away. She was hobbling a little due to being weakened, but she managed to limp a steady pace towards a limousine parked on the street. She opened the door and got in, turning to face the man sitting across from her.
"You were supposed to bring someone else along," he said.
"Sorry, but he was a little too hard to handle. I never got close enough and then he did something that shut my power completely down. It was some sort of energy blast, but it felt different and it didn't hurt me like I thought it would. I think whatever it was is gone, but it did reverse the effects of my power. Do you want me to try again?" Ranso asked.
"Not right now, we'll have another day for that Saiyan half-breed. Right now we have a different plan in mind, in which you will play a very important role. Your previous duty of capturing mutated humans will continue, but we have a few bigger targets now. You'll have another chance at the Saiyans," the man explained.
Ranso nodded, "Yes Doctor."
A/n: This is a public service announcement reminding you that most of what you think you know about this story may have just gone flying out the window and replaced with a new, up to date version. Have a nice day.