Chapter Seventy-five - A Moment's Peace

Gohan hadn't even realized how tense and anxious he'd been until he saw the small, but growing, dot that was the Grand Kai's world, and it all faded away. He and Paine were still a long way from the planet, at least another half hour, but he felt like he was finally going to be able to rest for a moment. To stop looking over his shoulder for danger, to stop thinking, to just take a moment and recover.

He hadn't really had time to do that since this had started. He had to say, though, it was odd flying to a planet under his own power. It was definitely a first. One of many today. Probably one of many more to come as the day wore on, and who knew how many more days to come. He hoped that his father and grandfather could stop this but he worried what would happen if they didn't.

He was so lost in thought he almost missed the sudden change, though Paine pulled to an immediate dead stop. He didn't finally slow and stop until he'd gone another hundred feet, by which point he'd almost flown directly into Mikomi. He blinked in surprise, seeing her floating there, and she gave him a nod.

"I sensed you coming and figured you'd appreciate a lift." she said, before turning her gaze toward his companion. "Who is this?"

"Huh? Oh, right. This is Paine. She's a Demon. Well, of course she is. You already knew that. But she's ok. She helped me get back. She doesn't want to work for Quietus anymore and asked for asylum here until this is over."

Mikomi nodded, eyes still on Paine.

"Really, she's ok." Gohan said after a few moments of silence. "I'd never have gotten back from Makai without her."

That drew Mikomi's gaze back to him, surprise and confusion evident in her eyes and on her face. "Makai?" she asked. "You were only supposed to go as far as Hell. Locate Dabura and have him wait for your father and grandfather."

"Yeah, well..." he scratched the back of his head and frowned. "The three of us ran into trouble. Paine and two other Demons were down there and we had to fight. Videl and Vegeta were captured, and I got saved by Nefaria. I went along with them to try and rescue them but..." He sighed. "Videl... Videl's gone. And the last I saw of Vegeta, he was fighting dad."

Mikomi floated there for a moment, thinking. Apparently a lot had happened in Hell and Makai, a lot that she was unaware of. She had hoped Gohan's return signified an end to the current crisis, but it seemed otherwise. She was also unsure what to make of the Demon, but she felt if Gohan trusted her then it was at least worth considering.

"Come here." she said at last. "Take hold of me and I'll take us back to the Grand Kai's world. You can fill me on on the details there."

Gohan nodded and floated over to her, resting a hand on one shoulder and then looking back at Paine. The Demon floated where she was a moment longer, clearly unsure of what to do. Gohan figured she recognized Mikomi, or what she was at least, and it had her worried. But, after a few seconds, she came forward as well and put her hand on Mikomi's other shoulder.

XXX

Unknown Location

Raven sat in one of the chairs along the wall, hunched over, head in her hands. Depressed didn't even come close to describing how she felt. As the last twenty or so minutes had gone by her mood had soured more and more. She couldn't help but think that if things hadn't fallen apart they'd probably be free about now. Instead, she was sitting here in one of the smaller meeting rooms listening to her mate and Razor make their plans to deal with this new turn.

"It'll be a while before we can work out a correction for this." Razor said, looking over the limited data they had from the battle in Makai. The only information they really had was that the Spirit Bomb had been destroyed. "Something like this, it's hard to adjust."

Raven's mate nodded. "Making power increases wont fix this one." he said. "Being stronger doesn't help with making a Spirit Bomb."

"And if we make them too strong they could stop Quietus without it." Razor said. "Equally problematic. We need the concentration of pure energy to weaken the Black Field. There's no way around that fact. Only the Spirit Bomb can get to a great enough degree of purity and power to cause the field to collapse."

"We don't need a full collapse." the other man said, pulling up a different set of data. Each time a Spirit Bomb had been created thus far they'd tracked the effect it had on the Black Field. They'd had estimates and theories, but no solid facts until Goku had used the attack against Zarbon twelve years ago. That data had proved the accuracy of their estimates and theories, but it had also shown an unepxected rippling effect through the field.

The pure energy didn't reduce the field's power in a uniform way. The edge closest to the energy lost strength faster than the reverse side, and this discrepancy in strength sent fluctuating ripples through the field. Some areas would be stronger, some weaker. Simulations even suggested that some areas could weaken enough to create gaps in the field even before the entire thing collapsed. The ripple effect meant that a complete collapse wasn't actually needed.

If the field was weakened enough that the ripples caused small gaps to appear, tiny failures moving through the entire structure, any direct application of great force could break it. It didn't have to be pure, it just had to be strong. He had more than enough power to break the field at that point. They just had to get it there, first.

"If we can just get the field to start to fail, get some gaps in it, I can break it myself. The issue is getting it to that point. Keeping them here in Shinkai would reduce the yield needed, also."

Razor nodded. "Less power required means less time exposed." he said. "Less chance of failure. We could change our issued orders, include something that would draw Quietus over here."

Raven's mate nodded. "Make up some sort of threat or detail that would entice him to attack directly." he said. "Though we'd have to keep him away from the Grand Kai's world, give Goku and the Kais time to think of a Spirit Bomb, let alone start one." His tail swished around behind him a couple times, then wrapped around his waist as he quickly pulled up more data files to look over. "Here." he said after a moment, tapping one of the files. "The Lord of Kais."

Razor smiled. "That would be perfect. We have our men report that Muzai's been recovered, that he's back in power here. Quietus would have no choice but to attack himself, no one else would stand a chance against Muzai."

"The ruse likely wouldn't last long. Once he attacked he'd expect Muzai to appear within moments. When he didn't he'd get suspicious. Still, it could be long enough. Would that be enough of a change by itself, though?"

"Hard to say." Razor replied, shaking his head. "It would certainly get Quietus over here, and that alone would cut about a quarter of the RADs needed. Not going for a full collapse would drop another... ten percent. Maybe fifteen."

"So only about three million. Based on the growth rate we saw in Makai... About fifteen minutes, give or take. Still a long time. They didn't make it even that far this time."

"No, they didn't." Razor said with a sigh. "But it's a start. We could shift back just a decade to make this change, give it a shot."

"A decade?" Raven asked, her head coming up and her voice sounding hollow. "That's all? Just a measly little decade? For a guess? For something that probably wont work, wont be enough, anyway? Just throw away an entire decade?"

"Raven..." her mate started.

"No. Don't." she said. "I don't want any platitudes. I don't want any whims. Any guesses. I refuse to just throw away an entire decade on a wing and prayer!"

"There's a degree of trial and error to this." said Razor calmly. "There always has been."

"Then maybe this entire thing was a mistake!"

Her mate didn't like the wild, confused, look that had crept into her eyes. Like she wasn't entirely sure where she was, what was going on. It was Razor, however, who stepped forward. He walked over to her and knelt down in front of her, resting a hand on her shoulder. At first she pulled back a little at the contact, but as soon as their eyes met she visibly relaxed. Faint blue light came from under the hand on her shoulder, unnoticed by either her or her mate.

"I understand that this feels like it's crushing you." he said gently. "But it's not. You are stronger than that. This wont defeat you. Keep your focus on what matters, on what you deserve. On what your daughter deserves. On what the Shugotenshi have taken from you, have denied her. This is a set back, nothing more. Time is nothing for us. Freedom will come."

Raven hesitated for a moment, the look fading from her eyes, her composure returning. "Yes." she said at last. "Yes. You're right. You're right."

Razor watched her a moment later, then lifted his hand from her shoulder and stood back up. "Perhaps you should rest for a while, Raven." he said.

She looked like she was about to refuse, then stopped and nodded. "Yeah." she said. "I still feel..." she shook her head. "I think I'll go lay down for a while."

"When you wake up," her mate began. "We will have our new plan ready. I promise." She gave him a nod and then left the room. He watched her go and stared at the door for a moment, even after she'd gone, before turning back to the table and the data on its screens. "She's partly right, though." he said after a moment.

"What do you mean?" Razor asked, rejoining him at the table.

"Just taking a shot on the dark, discarding an entire decade just to see if a small change is enough? It's a waste of time and resources. I don't want to put her through another eleventh hour failure if I can help it."

"Alright." Razor said. "Alright, we'll go over what we've got. See what other changes can be made. Even the smallest of tweaks could help."

"And let's keep our sensors going, keep a watch on what's happening." said the other. "There is always the possibility that this isn't over yet. We may not need to go back, to change anything."

"It's unlikely, but possible." Razor agreed. "We'll wait until the plan's failure is set in stone before going back."

XXX

Shinkai, Otherworld, Grand Mazoku's World

"So for all I know grandpa could have succeeded by now." Gohan was saying. "I just don't know."

Zenryou nodded thoughtfully. The Sai-jin had just recounted his trip down to Hell and then over to Makai, with Paine adding in a few details of her own along the way. He, Mikomi, Kibito, King Kai, and Appla had all listened closely. It had been quite a tale, with several points that were intriguing, and disturbing.

"I suppose..." the Grand Kai began. "We wont know the outcome in Makai until someone else comes along. Either Goku and Bardock return, or Quietus does."

"More than likely." agreed Mikomi. "Though I must say I am concerned over this news about Vegeta. If he's truly near Goku's level now... he would make for a dangerous enemy. Especially if Quietus comes with him."

"Nothing we can do but wait and see." King Kai said. "But I don't think we have much to worry about. This is Goku and Bardock we're talking about, after all."

Appla nodded in agreement. "If anyone can pull this off, it's those two." she said.

"Well, we still have matters here to deal with." said Mikomi after a few moments of silence. "We could still use your help here, Gohan, though I would certainly understand if you wished to return to your friends."

"I'll stay." he said. "Hotaru and the others should be fine on their own for a while longer yet."

"Thank-you. And as for you." she turned her gaze to Paine. "You may remain here until this matter is resolved. Beyond that... I suppose it will be up to Dabura."

Paine nodded her understanding and Mikomi turned to leave. "Supreme Kai?" Gohan started, stopping her. "How much... how much do you know about Shenron, and Porunga?" he asked.

"What is it you wish to know?" she asked him.

"Videl, she... died in Makai. Could either of them... Can their powers reach there?"

Mikomi shook her head. "Both dragons are quite powerful, but their sphere of influence does not extend beyond the Realm."

"Oh." Gohan said, shoulders sagging. He'd been afraid of that, but... he'd hoped it had been unfounded.

"When this is over I will ask Dabura to locate and return her soul." Mikomi said. "I doubt he'll have a problem with it, and once she's back in Shinkai she'll be back in reach of the dragons powers."

"And can be revived..." Gohan said softly, relieved. He focused on that, allowing himself to hope.

"Yes. However..."

"However what?" he asked. "You think I shouldn't revive her? That we shouldn't revive anyone who died because of this mess?"

"I'm not saying that." she said. "In fact, in this particular instance, I feel it is well within reason. This event is not natural and the Mortal Plane should not be made to suffer for my mistakes. If I had been more vigilant, if I had kept watch over the Blood Crystal, or at least placed it under guard instead of just leaving it where it formed..." She shook her head.

"But the state of the Realm can not be ignored. The damage that has happened... The source of the powers of the dragons is unknown to me. I do not understand how the Nameks create them, or what powers them, but their abilities go beyond even those of the Lord of Kais. Such power should be treated with respect even in the best of times, but in Shinkai's current state?

"I worry what affect a wish of such magnitude will have on the stability of the Realm. That amount of power unleashed across the entire Realm, the degree of change it would produce, would be exceptional." She shrugged slightly. "I worry it may just make matters worse."

"We've used the powers of the dragons before." Gohan said. "Both Shenron and Porunga, and nothing horrible has happened yet."

"You've never made a wish as large as this would be, either. No other wish has ever spanned such a large reach of the Mortal Plane, affected so much of the Realm at once. The biggest wish you and your friends made before this was restoring the destroyed planet Namek. And, while a powerful wish, it's scope was far more limited. These events have hit more than one world, more than one galaxy. All four galaxies have been affected, have seen people killed.

"And many of those who have died have done so on worlds where tears exist. Namek has no tears on or near it, the Realm is much more stable there. But on the other worlds, where tears exist, I cannot even guess at what effect a wish, a change to the order of the Realm, might have on the damage that's already present there."

Gohan frowned as he thought that over and realized she had a point. He didn't know much about all of this stability stuff but he knew enough to realize she could be right. With the Realm in it's current state... His thoughts trailed off then and he froze as a few things came to him all at once. The Supreme Kai's comments on the powers of the dragons and her previous explanation of why the Realm was in such bad shape.

"Supreme Kai? You said... the dragons have more power than the Lord of Kais did, right?"

"In some ways, yes." she replied. "They can do things, such as reviving large groups of people, that no Kai, not even the Lord of Kais, can accomplish."

"Then... could they fix the stability problems?"

Mikomi stared at him for a moment, processing the question. She... didn't know. The idea had never occurred to her. It might be possible. There was no way to know without trying, but they definitely had access to enough power to at least make some minor repairs. Eliminate some of the more severe signs of damage, such as the tears.

"I do not know, Gohan." she said at last. "But it might be worth trying."

"Indeed it might." agreed Zenryou.

XXX

Shinkai, H.F.I.L.

"Interesting." Daikirai said, watching events unfolding on the Grand Kai's world. The Mortal that had come back with Paine had just finished explaining what had happened in Makai. Neither he or Neikan had known why the two Mortals had been fighting on Malchio's world, or that the Grand Mazoku had been killed. But it was this 'Spirit Bomb' that had him most interested.

"I see now why Quietus wanted more information." he said. "This attack they mentioned, an attack made of donated pure energy? That's dangerous."

Neikan frowned, but said nothing. What he found truly annoying was that he agreed with Daikirai. An attack such as that had few limits and would be devastating against any of the Mazoku. If anyone else in Shinkai knew it any kind of attack would be dangerous because it wouldn't just be the Supreme Kai they had to watch for. It was every single warrior Shinkai had, even the weakest of them.

/The weakest of them would probably be the most dangerous./ he mused. /Low power, hard to sense. Could go undetected while they created this attack. Wouldn't know they were there until it was too late. We need to know who knows this attack and.../

"Dragons?" Daikirai said, cutting into his thoughts.

"What's that?"

"The Mortal and Kai are talking about a pair of dragons. Ones with powers, ones capable of reviving the dead." Daikirai said, while still trying to listen to the conversation. The Kai was talking about the dragons having more power than the Lord of Kais. "I wonder... I can't remember the race but one of the Mortal species in Makai, they have the power to create these artifacts called Dragonballs. They can summon a wish granting dragon.

"If Shinkai also has such things it could explain what Quietus sensed here. He said something abnormal had happened. A dragon granting some kind of wish, that would certainly count as abnormal. It could also explain the powers we've been encountering. Wishes for power."

"I've never heard of such things."

Daikirai snorted. "Of course not. If they were widely known every would be emperor in Makai would be after them, seeking ultimate power. I chanced upon them in life... still can't remember the race that had them. Too long ago, I suppose. Memories fade after seventeen million years."

"So, do we report your theory?"

Daikirai frowned and shook his head. "No." he said. "Not now, at least. We'll wait until Quietus contacts us again. Traveling all the way back to the Mazoku Plane just for this..." he shrugged. "Besides, we need to keep gathering information."