The Grand Kai appeared on the serpentine like path that lead out several miles from Lord Yemma's check in station. The path was a dead end going away from the station, it existed only as a place for the dead to stand in line while awaiting judgement. Currently it was devoid of anyone waiting. No puffy whispy soul clouds, no fully formed soul bodies, and no Oni. Which was highly abnormal.
The station itself seemed fine, however. Though he did find it odd he appeared outside the station, several yards away, instead of inside as he had intended. He pushed that aside to consider later and made his way quickly to the building and inside. There found Oni rushing about hurriedly carrying papers, boxes, work tools, various red, purple, and blue crystals, and an array of other materials.
Standing on Yemma's desk were about three dozen more Oni, each holding clip boards and quickly taking notes as the large Judge before them spoke. "I want a complete inventory of every book and every file." Yemma was booming. "Compare them to the placement records, make notes of any missing books, files, or names. I want a new book prepared, record all names that have vanished from currently existing materials into that book, along with their original placement.
"Continue with efforts to re-open the doors, go to the mortal plane yourselves and try from that side if you have to! I also want a support team of no less than fifty Oni prepared for the massive influx of arrivals we will be getting once this problem is corrected. Names of arrivals will be taken as they appear and compared to the new book of missing names. If you find a match return them to where they belong, all others will remain in line."
As Yemma paused to finally take a breath the Grand Kai cleared his throat. The massive Oni blinked and then leaned forward to gaze over the heads of those before him. "Zenryou!" he cried. "I take it word has spread to you, then?"
"In a manner of speaking." the Kai replied. "We noticed the lack of in comming paperwork and were unable to contact you."
Yemma nodded. "Yes, all the lines and pathways are sealed! The papers that were waiting to be sent couldn't be, there's no way of sending communications through either. And what's worse, the doors to the mortal plane have closed and sealed! As well, most of the souls that were here, waiting for judgemnt, vanished to who knows where!"
"Hmm." Zenryou murmured, rubbing his beard. "I wonder if the problem is the same at Lord Jizo and Lord Wukong's stations..."
"What's that?" Yemma asked, leaning forward more and causing the Oni on his desk to scramble out of his way so that they wouldn't be squashed. "Jizo and Wukong are having troubles too?"
Zenryou nodded. "No paperwork from them, either." he replied. "Yours stopped first, then Jizo's and then Wukong's. I fear the problem will eventually spread to all stations."
"What!?" Yemma cried, eyes widening. "But... if that happens, if all the doors close... there will be no way for souls to enter Otherworld! Everything would fall into complete chaos!"
The Grand Kai remained silent, his eyes fixed firmly on a cracked floor tile.
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Planet Vegeta, Training Grounds
"What do you think that was all about?" Trunks asked. It had only been ten minutes since the adults had chased them off and left for the palace. "What's this 'oracles' stuff?"
Sakura shook her head and plopped down onto the grass and laid back. "I haven't got a clue." she said, exasperated. "Stupid adults! You'd think they'd tell us what the hell's go...."
"Sakura!" Akemi cried.
The other girl flinched. "Sorry. You'd think they'd tell us what the..." she glanced at her younger sister before continuing. "...heck is going on considering we're the ones in the middle of it. Akemi's the one seeing this stuff and I'm the one...."
"That was then." Cheri said, sitting down beside her friend. "Thanks to the King your parents believe you now."
"Yeah... but what was that stuff about Trunks' dad seeing the future too?" Sakura asked, pushing herself up with her elbows.
"Beats me." the young royal replied. "I'd also like to know who this Raven person is. They seemed pretty serious when dad mentioned her being that one guy's mate...." He paused for a moment and then looked over to Akemi. "You said the guy had a tail, right? Was he a Sai-jin?"
Akemi scrunched up her face. "I don't know." she said, thinking. "He could have been, maybe. His hair was all balck and weird, like all the full Sai-jins... but...."
"But what?" Goten asked as he sat down, crossed his legs, and put his head in his hands.
"Well, his eyes weren't black." she said slowly. "I couldn't tell the color, I was too far away. But they had color."
"Half Sai-jin, maybe?" Cheri suggested. "I mean, I have black eyes but that's probably cause both my mom and dad do too, just like Gohan and Goten. So maybe one of his didn't, like Trunks?"
"I guess." Akemi said shrugging. "But his tail wasn't normal either."
"How so?" asked her sister.
Akemi looked to Sakura for a moment then down at Cheri's waist. "All the tails I've seen were brown. His was red."
The kids just sat there thinking for a few more minutes. Finally, it was Goten that spoke up. "Maybe cause of not being all Sai-jin?" he suggested. "Trunks' hair is purple...."
"But this guy's hair was black." Sakura reminded him.
"Goten's right." Trunks said. "Tails are brown while hair is black. It's two different colors. So it could still be that."
"It's possible." Cheri agreed. "But we need more information first."
Trunks snorted. "We'll never get it from the adults."
"Yeah, they act like we can't do anything." Goten pouted. "Gohan beat Cell when he wasn't much older than us! Just cause we're young doesn't mean we can't do anything!"
"I'm open to suggestions." Sakura said.
Cheri suddenly grinned. "We could have Akemi spy on them!" she said, excitedly. "She could go into the room the adults are in with that leaving her body thing!"
Akemi's face suddenly lit up and she nodded. "Yeah! I can do that!"
"Can you do it from here?" Trunks asked. "Cause if we get too close they'll get suspicious."
"I can try." the girl replied. She closed her eyes and began to focus. But as the black of her eyelids faded away and the world around her came into view again she froze. Suddenly her eyes snapped open wide and she stood looking around her scared and shaking.
"Akemi?" Sakura started. She'd never seen her react like this before. "Akemi, what is it? What's wrong?"
"I... I saw... things. I saw all kinds of... of... I don't know. These glowy blue things that looked like not-there people." she said fast. "It was like they were made of light that was falling apart... it was creepy and scary." she swallowed and then sat back down. "I'm... going to try again."
Once more she closed her eyes and focused. Once more the world around her came into view again, blured at the edges and with her eyes still closed. And again she saw the whispy lights that seemed to leave behind parts of themselves as they moved. All the light-people looked lost and confused. As she realized that she wasn't as scared anymore. But then she saw one that was staying together, one that wasn't as whispy, wasn't falling apart, and wasn't lost or confused.
She watched him walking around not far from where she was, his eyes scanning the ground and sky all around him. "Where is it!" he cried, agitated.
"Still can't find it?" another voice asked, this one from behind Akemi. She whirled about and saw another non-whispy and not confused light-person walking toward the first.
The first one shook his head as the second approached. "No, I can't." he said. "There has to be something around here."
"I don't know, this is awfully far from where we showed up." said the second.
"We were told that was possible. Remember? That's why we're looking for the thing, to make sure everyone else appears in the same place and with bodies." The first stopped his searching and looked up at the second again. "And don't just stand there Dore, help me look!"
"Alright, geez, don't get so grumpy. What's it look like again?"
"I don't know! Some sort of light thing." he replied. "Recoome wasn't exactly specific, the idiot. Why he was even asked to relay information is beyond me."
"Slasa, Dore!" a third voice called. Akemi looked up and saw another non-confused light person land. "I found the tear!"
"Finally. Where is it Neizu? We need to hurry up and get ready." Slasa said.
"At the stadium thing the Sai-jins built." Neizu responded.
Salsa nodded. "Alright, let's move out!" and the three of them took off.
Akemi blinked a few times and then realization dawned on her and she quickly returned to her body. "Oh no!" she cried as soon as her mouth worked again. "They're going to the arena! It's the vision, it's happening!"
"Who's going to the arena?" Trunks asked. "What's going on?"
Akemi shook her head, still wide-eyed. "I... I don't know." she said. "Most of the glowy people look like they're sleep walking but I saw three that weren't like that. They were looking for something and one of them found it at the arena! They're going there now!"
"People?" Sakura asked. This was... wierd. Akemi had never seen people that they couldn't see before.
Akemi nodded. "Yeah. Ummmm, they were... Saucer, Door, and Maze, I think. And they mentioned a Raccoon too."
"Saucer... Door... and Maze?" Cheri asked slowly. The names sounded familir but.... "Wait, was it maybe Salsa, Dore, and Neizu?" she asked.
Akemi smiled and nodded. "Yeah! That was it!"
"Wait, that's the Armored Squadron, right?" Trunks asked. He knew about the fight against Cooler pretty well. The story was told a lot by a lot of people. It hadn't even been ten years yet and the entire thing was already becoming legend. "They died a while ago, before I was born."
Sakura thought for a moment. "Racoon... Maybe that was Recoome? But... he died before I was born...."
"Glowy people...." Goten said slowly. Suddenly his eyes widened. "Ghosts!"
"Don't be silly Goten." Trunks scoffed. "There's no such thing."
"Says who?" Cheri countered. "When you die your soul goes to Otherworld, right? So ghosts would just be souls here in the living world."
"We can figure out what's going on later, right now let's get to the arena." Sakura said. "Maybe we can stop everything before it happens. Let the adults waste all of their time talking."
"Right." Cheri and Goten said quickly. Trunks agreed a moment later and they all took off for the arena again.
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Otherworld, Grand Kai's Planet
When Zenryou returned to his world, to his seat at the Otherworld Stadium, he found Mikomi already there. "Things are worse than I feared." she said as he materialized. "At least three of the twenty-four doors to the mortal plane have already closed. What of Yemma's troubles?"
"Same." Zenryou said. "Let me guess, the other one that's closed is Lord Thanos?" Mikomi nodded in response. "That's the four edges then." The Grand Kai said. "North, South, East, and West."
"Kibito is checking the east and west stations of the North and South galaxies now." Mikomi informed him. "I already checked the north and south stations of the East and West galaxies. They aren't having troubles yet but the doors have already begun to close. By this time tomorrow all of the doors will be sealed, no new souls will be able to enter Otherworld." Mikomi closed her eyes. "And I have no way of opening them again."
Zenryou turned and looked out into the stadium. The only ones who would have the power to reopen the doors would have been Muzai, Lord of all Kais, and Yousha, the Supreme Kai once in charge of Otherworld but killed by Majin Buu over twenty thousand years ago. If they were lucky Kibito would take Yousha's place in four hundred years and be able to open the doors then. If not, they would need to wait more than eight hundred years for Yousha's replacement.
And in the meantime they would be powerless to stop the disaster at hand. Four hundred years of no souls crossing over would quickly send the entire mortal plane into chaos. This was, without a doubt, the greatest single disaster to ever strike the realm of Shinkai. Even if the wait was only four hundred years Zenryou wasn't sure there would be much of a mortal plane left to save when the doors reopened....
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Planet Vegeta, Sai-jin Palace, Conference Room 14
Since no one was sure just how far this issue would spread they'd worked out a 'worst case scenario' plan. One in which the entire galaxy was in danger. There wasn't much they could do on a galactic scale, not on their own, that had been made painfully obvious as they'd begun working out their plans and it was yet another reason the Sennari was a must. But at present that governmental body was too new, too small, and too limited to be entirely effective in the current situation.
Still, they felt fairly confident in what they'd established. Contact had been made with Earth and Tanaria and they had been put on alert in case the events forseen for those worlds were to unfold soon as well. Also, the entire Sai-jin military had been placed on full alert throughout the entire galaxy.
Piccolo had also returned to the conference room several minutes ago and at this point everyone was just sitting around waiting for him to hear back from Dende. It was several minutes before anyone broke the silence, and when she did Vadora spoke barely above a whisper. "What will you do if...." she trailed off, the concept of the question still too much for her to fully grasp.
"I... don't know." Hotaru said after a long pause. "How do you raise someone to be a Kai?" she asked no one in particular, her eyes locked on the table before her. "I'm not even sure if she should be told. Not now, obviously, but later, when she's older."
"That'd be a lot for someone to come to terms with." Videl said. "But it might be better to tell her. She'll eventually find out anyway, once it happens. Knowing while she's alive will help her in the long term, I think."
Yamcha leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. "Well, I suppose it's not so different from her current situation anyway." All eyes turned to the Human as he spoke.
"Not so different?" Raditz asked. "I'd say being a Kai is a lot different than...."
"Being a Princess?" Yamcha asked, lowering his gaze again. "I don't really see much distinction beyond scope and power. The duty is the same at its heart."
The elder Vegeta nodded. "Yes, that is true. The Kais exist to govern Otherworld and defend the universe. Just the same as any royal exists to govern and defend their people."
Hotaru nodded as well. "That does make sense, and it makes it a less mind boggling prospect and concept. Rulling is something I know well...."
"If it were Trunks..." the younger Vegeta began. "I'd just keep his training the same as ever. If Akemi is properly trained to be a ruller she'll be well equpied, I should think, to be a Kai."
"I still say we're getting ahead of ourselves." Raditz interjected. "I just can't see how...."
He was cut off as the emergency pager went off on Vegeta's communicator. The royal picked it up off the table and activated it bringing one of the room's large screens to life. It was Rowan. "What is it?" Vegeta asked, stiffening up.
"We've gotten some... odd reports." Rowan said slowly, glancing at a computer in her hand. "Some sort of disturbance out at the Hallowed Grounds. I'm not... sure what to make of it...." She dropped the computer and looked up again. "If not for the alert, and for the number of reports, I'd assume it was just some drunk hallucinations but...."
"What is it?" Vegeta asked, scowling.
"Well, sir, ummmm...." she paused again as her scouter beeped and she quickly answered it. "Rowan, Palace Operations." she said. Then, a moment later. "Hang on, I'm going to patch you in with the King." she said pressing a couple of buttons. "Alright, repeat that."
"This is Celtuce, commander of the seventeenth elite combat squad. I... I don't know how else to say this but... our post at the city perimiter is being over run by... dead people."
There was dead silence in the room as everyone stared at each other. "Dead people?" Senator Vegeta asked at last, the first to find his voice.
"Yes sir." Celtuce replied. "I... they can't... they're moving but... they can't be alive. I... we're on the corner of Onion and Berry." he said.
Rowan knew exactly why he'd given them a location and she quickly accessed Saiya City's perimiter security cameras. A moment later they had a live video feed up on the screen. "What the hell?" Raditz said in disbelief. There, walking down the street, were dozens and dozens of... corpses. Some of them were missing limbs, some had holes in them, most had their skin peeling off and rotting away. There was no mistaking that they should have been dead.
"They don't seem very intelligent." Celtuce continued. "They're just walking toward the nearest person they can... I don't know, see? Smell? Sense? They've already tried to attack a few of my men."
"Attack?" asked Gohan.
"Yeah. One of them tried to chew off my arm earlier. I... there's hundreds of them and they just keep coming. I think they're coming from the Hallowed Grounds. If this keeps up the entire city will be overrun by morning unless we do something but... how do you kill dead people?"