"Still no video, yet?" Raven asked, pacing back and forth in the room. The energy reading they'd been following had vanished almost forty minutes ago, now. The power that Goku and Bardock had been up against had also vanished. The fight was clearly over and it had Raven concerned. She wasn't as willing as her mate or Razor to simply write off the battle as merely a prelude to larger things to come. She was concerned that Quietus had weakened during his imprisonment and that battle had been the one they were counting on to set them free.
If that were the case... she had no idea what they would do next. They could shift back still but there was no way for them to make Quietus stronger than he was. Razor's magic would be ineffective on him and there was no way to get any of the fruit to him, and it would be unlikely he'd even eat it, anyway. Without him... they'd have to find some other trigger, some other means to get the energy they required. And she wasn't sure if there WAS another means.
"Raven, relax." Razor said from where he stood leaning against the wall by the door. "It's not over yet. Or have you not realized that Goku and Bardock have vanished?"
Raven stopped, glanced back at Razor, then turned her focus to the monitors. "Vanished?" she asked aloud.
"Their powers disappeared from our scanners almost half an hour ago. Which means they're no longer in any of the Planes that we can scan. That means either in Heaven or in Hell. Considering that there's no one in Heaven for them to fight, and that their destination is Makai which can only be reached through Hell..."
"They're still going, which means Quietus is still out there." she said slowly.
"Precisely." replied Razor. "I understand your worry and agitation. We are very close to our objective at last, after thousands of years of planning, and despite all of our efforts everything still hinges on this one event. The one thing we couldn't plan around, the one plan that can't fail if we are to succeed. Everything's riding on this, on them, so I know why you're anxious, but there's nothing we can do from in here. Either they succeed or they fail.
"The outcome isn't even all that important. If they succeed then we get what we want. If they fail then we just go back and try it again, it would only take a few tweaks here and there in history to change things. A failure at this point is only a minor set back, a decade at most."
"A decade more than I want to be here." said Raven. "Ravenna's spent her entire life in this Kai forsaken prison, she deserves better than that. Fresh air, sun, solid ground under her feet."
"I know, and she'll get it. Don't worry. While we can't control the outcome of this situation we can always keep redoing it until we get the result we want. Failure is not a defeat."
Raven sighed and massaged her temples. "I know." she said. "I'm just sick of this. Sick of waiting, sick of being couped up, sick of this life."
"It'll be over soon." her mate said from his chair. "Even if they fail now we'll still be out of here within a century. What is a centry to the countless millenia we have already spent here? Besides, I don't think they'll fail. We've prepared them too well, and the Supreme Kai has walked right into our plan."
"Can they really hold Quietus off long enough, though?" asked Ravenna. "It'll take time for a Spirit Bomb."
"Quietus outclasses Dabura, true, but working together with Nefaria, and fighting it out in the Mazoku Plane, should help to even things." said Razor. "Plus, one of them should be able to open a direct line into the Dead Zone for the two of them to draw their energy from. Don't forget, the Dead Zone is where Makai sends their purist souls. Drawing power from them will hasten the creation of the Spirit Bomb, it'll just take a few moments for the energy to travel the distance first."
"Razor is right, we have good odds." said the man in the chair. "In fact, I think it is time to begin our final preperations. Razor, tell General Ozotto to begin all pre-launch combat preparations and to begin handing out the assigned orders. Then get into touch with Mainframe and set the systems into stand-by mode so it is ready to revive our new friend. I want everything and everyone ready to move as soon as the field collapses."
XXX
Otherworld, Grand Kai's World
Zenryou floated back into Otherworld through the tear from Planet Vegeta. With the current instabilities he figured returning through tear was the simpiler choice. He'd spent a while in the Mortal Plane speaking with Hotaru, Piccolo, and the Sai-jin senator about various matters ranging from the protection of Otherworld to the routing of the Demons and ressurected dead in the Mortal Plane, to Akemi's future Kai-ness. The latter matter being the one the Tanarian Queen had been most interested in.
Now, at last, he was back, and as soon as he came through he could tell the fight in the H.F.I.L. had ended as well. It was hard not to notice the absence of four powers of such magnitude. All of the Kais had been shocked with how much power the two Sai-jins had put out in that battle, though it seemed that Appla and Sora had known in advance how strong they were. He couldn't quite figure how the two of them had managed to become that strong without anyone noticing it.
Then again, they did like to dissappear for months at a time, flying way off into the depths of Otherworld, to train without interuption. If they were to fly out far enough they would be fairly easily overlooked by those not looking for them. It made him wonder what other secrets the two of them could be hiding, and it made him even more certain that they could handle matters in Makai. While weaker than Mikomi, Yasuragi, and Yousha they were both more powerful than Shin had been. With the help of Dabura and the Supreme Mazoku still loyal to him they just might be able to succeed.
Still, defeat of Quietus would not end matters entirely. There was still the issue of those Demons left in Shinkai. The horde that had invaded the Realm had certainly not left it yet. They were merely in hiding, scattered through out Otherworld, and they had to be dealt with. Now that the strongest attackers in both Otherworld and the Mortal Plane had been repulsed it was time to go on the offensive.
"Grand Kai." Pikkon said as he nodded and flew over to join him.
"How are things here?" he asked as they flew off toward his mansion.
"There hasn't been any problems since your depature." the long dead alien replied. "I think, perhaps, the powers felt in the H.F.I.L. scared off most of the attacking force."
Zenryou smirked. "Yes, I'm quite sure it did." he said.
Pikkon eyed up the glass orb tucked under the Kai's right arm. "What's that?"
Landing on one of the upper balconies Zenryou motioned and the glass doors before him swung open. "One of our troublemakers." he replied as he walked into the mansion. "That Cell creature. Unfortunately containment is the best we can do for him at present. Until the doors are re-opened again it is impossible for him to die. He wouldn't be the first immortal in the the Mortal Plane, but when they insist on causing trouble we won't let them run around as they please, even when they're not part of an invading army." he explained as he lead the way through the halls.
"Anyway, we need to start focusing on matters here. The Demons and escapees from Hell and the H.F.I.L. may have gone into hiding but they haven't left Otherworld. They either need to be eliminated or contained, we can't simply let them run around. Quietus's defeat will put an end to the invasion but it wont fix the instabilities in Shinkai and those troublemakers still around could still cause us a lot of grief."
The two of them were now deep inside the mansion in a section that Pikkon had never seen before. The mahogany wood floors and walls had given away to cold damp stone. The windows were gone now and the only light came from the occasional light bulb in the ceiling. As they rounded a corner they came upon a pair of large double doors, fifteen feet tall by ten feet wide. There were six metal beams going across the door through a series of slats as well as a pair of metal chains criss-crossing the doors from corner to corner, a large padlock in the center through the chains and the door's handles.
The Grand Kai held an arm out toward the door, made a few motions with his hand, and then the lock snapped open, the chains fell away, and the bars slid out of their slots. There was a faint click a second later and then the doors swung open admiting the pair into the room. It didn't seem very large to Pikkon, maybe ten foot across and another ten wide. But as he stepped closer and looked up he noticed that he couldn't see the ceiling.
"It goes up forever." Zenryou said, noticing him looking. "Not that we've ever needed that much space in here yet." He nodded to the back wall where several crystal balls, like the one he held, rested inside small basins on a few shelves. A quick glance was all the dead warrior needed to count them, a grand total of forty-six of them. Forty-seven as Zenryou set the ball holding Cell into one of the basins as well.
"All of our immortal troublemakers." the Grand Kai explained as he left the room, motioned again, and the door closed and resealed itself. "There are still four or five immortals out there in the living world, but as they don't stir up trouble we let them be. Anyway, let's head back up, I need to talk with the other Kais and some of the other warriors. We need to start arranging to clear out the Demons."
"I take it you already have something in mind?" Pikkon asked as the two made their way back out of the mansion.
"More or less." replied the Kai. "We're going to divide up our forces. The lower Kais, you, Olibu, Appla, and Sora will be placed in charge of separate teams. We're going to be working a lot of fronts at once in this, I want to try and restore order to Otherworld, not just rout our interlopers. For one, I want to try applying some brute force to the doors between the planes. We don't yet know what exactly caused them to close and it may be possible to simply muscle them open, we've just not had the time or man power to try yet."
Pikkon nodded as they stepped back out onto the balcony of the mansion. "That would certainly help clear up matters in the Mortal Plane, at least to a degree."
"Yes. It should eliminate the walking corpses, for one. And once the doors are open again my powers in the Mortal Plane will be back to normal, or should be, and I'll be able to deal with any further problems that arise there far more easily. Plus it will help greatly in clearing out any remaining enemy forces in that Plane."
Zenryou looked over those still gathered in the open fields near his mansion. Quite a few of them were still obviously exhausted, and for good reason. It had barely been more than an hour since they'd driven back the attackers. He still found it hard to believe that Makai's invasion had failed so miserably and quickly. In less than an hour the invaders had gone from an overwhelming horde to hiding and on the run. It was a good sign, one that made him optimistic about their chances.
Turning to his left he nodded to Mikomi and Kibito as they suddenly appeared a few feet away. It was King Kai that spoke up, however, from where he stood a few yards away with some of his fighters. "So Janemba's been stopped?"
"Completely destroyed." replied Mikomi. "It gives me greater hope that this plan will work against Quietus. The Demon is more powerful than Janemba was but the principles remain the same."
"Indeed." said Zenryou. "And while they are dealing with that it is time that we attend to matters here."
XXX
Otherworld, Hell, The Path Between Realms
The four of them were flying through Hell at significant speed, heading for the path way that would let them cross into Makai. According to the Supreme Mazoku they were only a few minutes away from the path now, after a good ten minutes of flight already. Also according to her the trip between realms wasn't very long at all, just a few moments. Apparently the path wasn't an actual, physical, path like the one between the H.F.I.L. and Hell. She called it a 'transdimensional vortex' but none of the Sai-jins had any clue what that was.
Bardock had something else more pressing on his mind, anyway. During the flight they'd asked Nefaria about things in Makai, trying get a feel and understanding of what was going on there. They found out that she wasn't entirely new to her post, having become a full fledged Supreme Mazoku about five hundred years before, apparently replacing someone named Yokuatsu whom Dabura had killed following the previous incident with Quietus as a message to the rest, choosing him because he was the Supreme Mazoku of the Mazoku Plane.
The message, it seemed, was one that they had not listened to. The other three Supreme Mazoku, as well as the Grand Mazoku, had all sided with Quietus. The four Lower Mazoku had all chosen to remain neutral in the matter, not siding with either group, just as they had done before. While she was explaning this she named the various Mazoku, the lower four first, then Malchio, the Grand Mazoku, who's name Bardock had recognized hearing from Maku. He hadn't recognized the names Neikan or Daikirai but the last name she gave rang a bell.
"Aku?" he asked, turning his head slightly to look at her. "Hey, Goku, didn't Maku mention someone named Aku?"
"Uh, maybe?" Goku replied. "Something about looking for Dabura in his place, I think."
Nefaria blinked and glanced bewteen the two Sai-jins. "Aku is searching for Lord Dabura?" she asked, frowning. Turning her gaze forward again she narrowed her eyes as she thought. /Aku doesn't have the power to fight against Lord Dabura. Quietus wont use his powers to make any of the Mazoku stronger, likely for fear they might surpass him, a concern that seems quite valid with the power some Demons have gained. Anyway, outmatched as he is he certainly wouldn't want to confront Lord Dabura, so.../
"Something wrong?" asked Bardock.
"Maybe." she replied after a moment. "Aku would not confront Lord Dabura if he found him, nor would he be likely to approach me. In Lord Dabura's case he would avoid a fight because he would stand no chance. In my case he would not want to alert Lord Dabura that he's around. He would need to power up to fight me, and even if that went unnoticed my death would not. Which means his only option is to find Lord Dabura, return to Makai, and get help. Either from the other three Supreme Mazoku or from Quietus himself. This wouldn't be a problem if I had continued to try and hide my presence after I met Gohan."
"I get it." said Gohan. "If this Aku is around he's certainly sensed you, and us, so he can track us. And as we're flying to meet Dabura..."
"Exactly. Though I suppose it may not matter. The only way it would present a problem to us is if Aku were to get through to Makai first and that is unlikely. He's most likely monitoring us to be sure that we're leading him to Dabura. He wont make his move for Makai until he's sure of that, so we should be able to beat him through, and thus avoid any ambushes at the other end. Anyway, we've arrived."
Goku blinked, turned his gaze from her, and looked down at where they were descending to land. It looked like a massive swirling lake of blue, green, and red light. The whirlpool at the center of the lake vansihed into the depths and out of sight. A rock outcropping jutted out from the right of the shore reaching out up over the swirling light and coming to a stop in the middle, directly over the center of the whirlpool.
"Not what I was expecting." said Gohan as they landed on the outcropping. "Then again, nothing down here has been what I expected."
"I see you've made some new friends." a deep voice sounded from behind them, startling the three Sai-jins. They hadn't felt anyone approach and turning to look found themselves looking at a red skined man with short cut black hair, a black goatee, short horns, pointy ears, black eyes that were yellow where they should have been white, and wearing a blue outfit with white boots and a white cape that left his chest bare.
"Lord Dabura." Nefaria said, bowing slightly to him. "These three have been sent by the Supreme Kai to help us against Quietus."
"Oh?" he wondered, eyes going over the three Sai-jins with her. "They are stronger than I expected any of Shinkai to be, especially since none of them have halos, but I do not see how they could be of any aid to us."
"What you sense is not their full power." said Nefaria. "I do not know how strong these two are but the boy is stronger than even Malchio. Besides, it is not for their strength that they were sent, but their skill. The two older ones know how to perform an attack called the Spirit Bomb that is created from donated pure energy. The boy is coming along merely to rescue some friends who were captured by Akuhei and Paine."
"Yes, I saw them go through the vortex a short while ago." Dabura said, nodding. "And this is a most interesting turn of events. The boy is tronger than Malchio, you say? I've never heard of a regular mortal suprassing the powers of a Grand Mazoku or Grand Kai, certainly not a living one." Dabura tilted his head slightly as he gazed at the three of them. "Your appearance is... familiar, however. What race are you?"
"We're Sai-jins." said Bardock. "Well, Gohan's only half Sai-jin."
"Sai-jin... Sai-jin..." Dabura mused. Suddenly he smirked, the action revealing a long gleaming fang. "Ah-ha, you're Super Sai-jins. My, my, my, this is an unexpected turn. Unexpected indeed."
"Huh? You know about Sai-jins?" asked Goku, confused.
"Oh, quite well." said Dabura. "But that is neither here, nor there, and not important. Very well, with you two along, and this 'Spirit Bomb' of yours, our chances at success are certainly greater than before. Come, time is of the essence. Akuhei, Paine, and Malus will no doubt inform those with Quietus of the battle here. And Aku has just recently gone through as well, it will not be hard for Quietus to figure out that Shinkai is mounting a counter-invasion. I do not want to be caught with my pants down, as it were."
XXX
Makai, Dead Zone, The Path Between Realms
Daikirai pulled to a stop and nodded to Neikan. Where as Neikan was a large and powerfully built green skinned man with a blonde mohawk and blue eyes Daikirai's skin was as dark as shadow, his eyes red, and his hair long and white. The only thing the two had in common with each other, or the other Supreme Mazoku, were their pointed ears. "Still no word?" he asked.
"No." Neikan replied. "I've had no new information at all yet. I don't know what's taking them all so long, I should have started getting reports in almost a half hour ago."
"Maybe the Demons screwed up." Daikirai said, smirking. "I wouldn't be surprised. Lord Quietus should have left those weaklings out of this and just sent the three of us to deal with Shinkai. We could have completely crushed the Realm by now."
"Lord Quietus has chosen caution over reckless action this time, not surprising considering how things played out before. He can not be certain that there is only one Supreme Kai left still. After all, Nefaria has already replaced Yokuatsu. None of us expected a replacement to come along for him so fast, especially considering how long Shinkai went with two of its number missing. Our informants could only guess that there was still one Supreme Kai, it's possible all of their posts have been filled again, in which case it would be three on four."
"True, I suppose." Daikirai said. "And give them another shot at a Blood Crystal. Still, even with four of them they would be no match for the three of us. Oh well, it doesn't really matter I suppose. Us or the Demons, either way Shinkai will fall and we'll be rulling by tomorrow. Anyway, I need to be going."
"Going? I had thought you came to look for a report."
"No, Lord Quietus is sending me through to Shinkai to look into something. I don't really know what's up myself but apparently he sensed something unusual happen in Shinkai's Mortal Plane involving a massive green creature with red eyes." Daikirai shrugged. "Whatever it is has his inter..." The Supreme Mazoku trailed off there as the pulsing white light that marked the path to the Realm of Shinkai, the only light in the empty void of the Dead Zone, suddenly pulsed and spread apart into a swirling mist tunnel. Someone was coming through from the other side.
"What's this?" Neikan asked as Malus, Akuhei, and Paine emerged from the swirling mists. The pig-faced Akuhei had someone slung over his shoulder while Paine had someone else clutched under an arm and Malus was holding his right hand against his left shoulder which seemed to be bleeding somewhat heavily. "Who are these two? What's happened?"
"Not really sure who they are." squealed Akuhei. "Three of them came down from the H.F.I.L. looking for Nefaria and Dabura."
"Three? I only see two." said Daikirai.
"Nefaria showed up at my fight." said Malus in a deep rumble of a voice. "I barely got away. These three fighters, though, they're not normal. If we hadn't been fighting them in Hell..."
"We could have very well lost." Paine finished in a smooth and sultry voice as she shifted the weight of the person under her arm. "They're not quite as strong as us, but far more skilled and used to their high powers."
"Wait, you're saying these two Shinkai mortals are almost as powerful as you three?" asked Daikirai. "That's not possible, they're not even dead!"
"And we're only Demons." countered Paine. "As is Lord Quietus. Besides, we were told to expect power like this, and did witness it in that Cell creature." Paine had been one of the few Demons to interact with those from Shinkai during the plan to restore Quietus to power and had dealt extensively with Cell, and had witnessed just how powerful he was when he'd sparred with Malchio as a way to convince those of Makai just what they were dealing with in Shinkai. She hadn't been particularly surprised when her opponent had suddenly increased in power to nearly match her own.
"Bah, I still say it's a bunch of hogwash!" Daikirai retorted. "These two, and that other one, must have done something special first. Magic or something, made them seem stronger."
"It's possible but either way Lord Quietus needs to know of this." said Neikan. "These two could be useful sources of information, and in fact already have been. If they were in Hell then the invasion has been stopped, Angel and Maku have failed. Maybe... this is what Lord Quietus sensed? That green creature with the red eyes could be reponsible for this."
"If that's the case then I need to get to Shinkai and find out what it was." Daikirai said. He then turned to face Malus. "You said that Nefaria came at you?" he asked and the Demon nodded. "I'll have to try and avoid her. I could deal with her, but if she's surfaced in Hell then Dabura can't be far behind her and I'd rather not run in to him."
"You three, return to Limbo and turn over the prisoners to Malchio, then go to the Mazoku Plane and Lord Quietus to report all of this." Neikan ordered. The three nodded and then flew off as the Supreme Mazoku turned to his companion. "Don't do anything reckless. If the attack has failed then the Supreme Kai will be on the watch for any further attempts at invasion."
"I know, though I would love the chance to kill her." He shook his head. "No time to play, though, mission fir..." he trailed off again as, once again, the light flared open in to a swirling mist tunnel. This time it was one of their fellow Supreme Mazoku who came through. "Aku?"
"Nefaria is approaching the path between Realms along with three others from Shinkai." he said. "The one that Malus fought before and two others who just recently entered Hell. She will likely be coming through with them shortly, and no doubt with Dabura along as well."
"Do we go or do we stay?" Daikirai asked, glancing toward Neikan. "The three of us working together could take Neafaria without any issue at all, the Shinkai warriors make no difference. We can't be sure Dabura is with them."
"No, we can't, but it's possible." said Neikan. "We need to know what's going on, so we'll wait for them. If Dabura is with them then we will go, if not..."
"We eliminate them." Daikirai finishedd, grinning. "I hope we get to fight, I've been itching to kill some Shinkai scum since this whole thing started." Before either of the other two could speak up again the path once again flared larger and then opened. A moment later Nefaria emerged, followed by Dabura, Goku, Bardock, and Gohan.
"A wecloming comittee? How thoughtful." Dabura said, spying the three Supreme Mazoku who were floating only a few yards away from them. "I must say, I hadn't expected you to be so thoughtful as to come to me all together. I should have just eliminated you the last time, let all four of you be replaced insted of just Yokuatsu."
"Perhaps you should have." agreed Neikan. "But it's too late for that now. Quietus controls Makai now, and you are obsolete."
"Insolent worm." Nefaria growled. "You have no idea what you're doing."
Neikan snorted. "I'm doing what I always do, seizing power and turning things to my advantage. It's how I worked my way through life, building an Empire that spanned the entire Mortal Plane, before my death. It served me well in my first life, I see no reason for it not to do likewise in my second." Neikan shifted his gaze from Nefaria to the three golden haired men with her and Dabura. "So this is what you're reduced to, working with pathetic Shinkai weaklings?"
"I'd watch who you're calling a weaking, if I were you." Bardock said, crossing his arms and frowning. "You may be stronger than Goku or I but with both of us fighting, and against just you, we could still win."
Daikirai laughed. "This mortal should get a job as a comedian." he said. "You wouldn't stand a chance against any of us, even if there were ten of you. We're Supreme Mazoku, three of the strongest beings in all of Makai! You Shinkai ants are nothing compared to us. Hey, Neikan, can I kill them?"
Neikan shrugged. "If you want to." he said.
Daikirai grinned, turned back toward Bardock, and then suddenly lunged at him in a burst of red. Bardock was already waiting for him, hands clenched, and as soon as he saw the Mazoku start his charge he let out a loud cry and burst of power as he pushed his ki up from its supressed level to its maximum in his Super Sai-jin form. Beside him Goku did likewise, the action causing both Dabura and Nefaria to hesitate in their intentions to intervene.
The Supreme Mazoku continued to charge them, however, and was nearly upon them when there was another sudden burst of energy, accompanied by a rush of wind and a flash of golden light. When the light faded it showed the two men with even spikier and stiffer hair and blue lighting flashing around their aruas. But it wasn't the mild appearance change that had brought Daikirai to halt, or that had him and the other three Mazoku staring at them in shock, or caused Dabura to raise an eyebrow as he gazed at them. It was the sudden spike of their powers. Increases that made them stronger than even Nefaria and put them close to Daikirai and Aku, though still no real match for Neikan.
"If you want to fight, then let's go." Bardock said, grinning, as he moved into a fighting stance.
A/N: Annnnnd... that's all folks, until I can get the internet back. Which could be a while. Last time I lost it I was off for about 5 months. Hopefully not so bad this time but... Anyway, see you all when I get back.