26
"Breathe..."
Sitting on his bed, he pressed the palms of his hands into his eyes hard enough for phantom lights to start appearing in front of him. The ceiling light was on, but that hadn't done anything towards easing his panic. He'd thought he was past the worst of these attacks, but it just seemed like they were waiting for when he was most vulnerable.
He was furious at himself for being this weak, but he had no idea what to do to remedy the issue. No psychologist could possibly understand, and he really didn't want to talk to any of the others about it; they'd just try to talk to him about it, like that was a cure-all. Like he was just doing it to himself!
He couldn't rely on any of them, simple as that. Pretty soon, he wouldn't have to tolerate having to act normal around them. He could fend for himself, and soon he would prove that he was far more capable than any of them. He had to.
He jerked his head up as the doorknob began to turn.
Chi-Chi put down the letter she'd been rereading as Goten rolled past, arms and legs tucked in for maximum speed. "Goten! Stop that right now! What have I told you about playing indoors?"
The six year old reluctantly came to a stop and stood up, his shirt dirty along the shoulders and back. "That I can only do it when playing won't break something," he recited dutifully. There'd been a couple furniture accidents and even a whole wall needing replacement, but he didn't really see problem since either his dad fixed it or Grampa Ox bought them a new one.
"That's right. Aunt Bulma and Trunks are going to be here in just a few minutes, so go make sure your father and Gohan are ready and then go put on a clean shirt."
"Yes momma!" Goten chirped, pleased to be given a task. He trotted to the back of the house where the bedrooms were and headed straight to his parents' door. He'd never knocked before, so he didn't bother now and opened it up, needing to boost himself onto tiptoes to grip the brass knob. Goku was just inside, rummaging through his closest with a determined look, He caught sight of his youngest child and turned his head to smile at him. "Hey buddy, excited for today?"
Goten nodded enthusiastically, enormous smile of his own making him look even more like a duplicate of Goku. "Uh-huh! I been really looking forward to this! Trunks said that he was even going to have a surprise for me!"
Goku chuckled and scratched his chin. "I think that's the point, buddy. Everything is supposed to be a surprise!" He tousled the boy's already unruly hair. "I just need to find my good shirt and then I'll be ready."
"Alright, daddy." Goten exited and moved to Gohan's door and opened it with the same tact as before. His brother wasn't inside, so he proceeded to the next step of his task and went to his own room for a change of shirt. The room had been an addition made just a few years before, when he'd gotten too big for the small bed he'd had in his parent's room, and the walls were noticeably lighter that the rest of the house, even under the light red paint.
His dresser was all full of nice shirts and pants that his mother kept clean and neat despite how rarely he actually wore them. He much preferred the orange and blue training gi his dad had given him last year, but that wasn't for special occasions and his mom had been specific when she'd told him to dress appropriately. That didn't stop him from throwing his dirty shirt into the corner without care as he put the fresh one on.
Now that that was done, he needed to track down his brother. Fortunately, on non-school days he usually was just hanging around outside the house – sometimes working on a project or just relaxing under the sun with a book. Sure enough, Goten found him leaning against a tree, looking out at the valley and turning a funky shaped rock over in his fingers. The older half-saiyan seemed to be aware of his sibling approaching and pushed away from the tree to face him.
"Hey, bro! Looks like you're all ready. Did mom need something?"
"No, she just wanted me to make sure that you were ready for Trunks and aunt Bulma getting here."
Gohan looked down at his hands, letting the rock drop back to the ground. "I guess I should probably get washed up first. Come on." He lead the way back into the house through the back door and found that Piccolo had already arrived and was talking to Chi-Chi in the doorway to the kitchen. "Hey, Piccolo, great of you to show up!"
The namekian smiled and nodded at the brothers. "No problem, kid. Dende and Popo send their best."
Gohan kept walking towards the bathroom, but Goten began tugging at Piccolo's cape, trying to open it up but the alien warrior resolutely kept it tightly closed. "C'mon, I know you've got something! You always got something!" Goten whined, attempting to climb up the material but being gently rebuffed by a single finger pushing against his forehead.
"Don't be so sure of stuff like that, kid, or you might start making hasty assumptions."
"Goten, stop bugging Piccolo; he's a guest in this household, and we have to be polite to all guests, even if some of them come here looking for a fight."
Piccolo chuckled. "That was a hell of a week."
"Don't use that language in front of Goten." Chi-Chi spotted something from out the kitchen window. "Bulma's here. Why don't you go and let them in, Goten."
Goten was already running to the front door, not seeing Piccolo extract a neatly wrapped box from under his cape or his father carefully hefting a box nearly wider than he could hold into the living room. The boy got to the heavy wooden door and opened it easily, ecstatic to see his aunt and best friend on the other side, the latter of whom was holding a package the size of a shoe box and wrapped in colorful, shiny wrapping paper.
"Happy birthday, squirt!" Bulma cheered when she saw him. It had only been a couple of weeks since she'd had them over at her place, but she acted like it'd been years. "Seven already! You just shot up like a beansprout, I swear!"
"Happy Birthday," Trunks greeted a bit less jubilantly, but he was smiling widely. He loved it when they visited the Son family, since that meant he and Goten could play outside and not have to worry about neighbors seeing them shoot ki blasts or fly (Goku had actually taught them both the technique on Trunks' own birthday a few months back, making sure that they knew better than to use it casually around people who would ask a lot of questions, which was surprising coming from him).
Chi-Chi came up behind her young son. "Come on in, we've got the cake ready and waiting!"
Goten whooped and dashed back into the dining room with Trunks racing alongside him. This was going to be the best year ever!
When the Supreme Kai and his attendant, Kibito, arrived in the Warrior's Paradise, many of the souls there were shocked and awestruck by the presence of the highest level of godly beings (that they knew of), but the two acted as nonchalantly as though it was just another Tuesday for them.
They strolled primly towards the Grand Kai's palace, receiving many respectful bows and similar shows of respect along the way. They didn't enter the building because they saw who they had come seeking not far off in the side lawn: King Kai, reclining comfortably in a yard chair and reading an automotive magazine on top of a large, red cube that was curiously bobbing up and down steadily.
"North Kai, it has been some time," Supreme Kai said in way of greeting. The blue-skinned kai looked down from his magazine and nearly flew off of his chair.
"L-lord Supreme Kai, sir! W-w-w-what brings you all the way out here?" He scrambled down from the still bobbing cube and bowed several timed in front of them. "If I had known you were coming I would have made myself more presentable."
"Yes, well, this was a rather spur of the moment decision for us. We have very recently received knowledge that a...problem from the past may quite soon make itself known again in the direct future. We know that it shall be on the planet Earth that they will appear, and we were prepared to go there ourselves to intercept and hopefully preempt any troubles that may arise, but then Kibito reminded me of that event several years back that had all five of you Galactic Kais intervening."
"Uhhhh..." King Kai stammered, not really sure where he was going with this, but feeling there was definitely trouble in the making. "Yeah. I mean yes! Yes, that did happen as you recall."
"And I was told by Grand Kai that a mortal's soul was actually sent back into a body in the living world to challenge and defeat the threat that all of you felt was worth interfering with."
Now King Kai was nervous. It had been his idea, after all, and any fallout from the unorthodox measure would land squarely on his head. But while the prospect of receiving the brunt of responsibility for a major infraction was daunting, he no longer doubted his actions at the time and whole-heartedly stood by his decision. "Yes, Lord Supreme Kai, a saiyan was sent back to save the Earth and the galaxy."
"And this saiyan, he was a contributor in the defeat of Frieza, correct?"
"Yes, Lord Supreme Kai, he along with another saiyan defeated Frieza at his peak."
Supreme Kai nodded slowly, gratified that his information was accurate. " I would like to meet this soul and offer him a role in defending against this threat from the past. Can that be arranged?"
This was almost worse than being punished. The very idea of putting him in direct contact with his boss' boss was a migraine in and of itself. There was no way that this was going to go well...but he really didn't have any other option. Not when Supreme Kai was standing here, right in front of him, and asking a direct order. Oh man, this was almost as bad as the time he'd forgotten to let Lord Beerus win at that video game they'd been playing.
"Er, yes, Lord Supreme Kai, sir." He covered the three steps back to the bobbing cube and bent down to speak into the space underneath it. "I hope you heard all of that, because you're up." He pointed his hands at the solid mass and a burst of magic caused it to rapidly shrink down into itself until it was just the size of a suitcase resting on the back of the man who had been performing push-ups underneath it.
He stood up easily, allowing the weighted material to slide onto the ground where it impacted with a sizable thump. He was sweating, but other than that he didn't seem to be particularly taxed. He scanned both the Supreme Kai and Kibito with a critical eye, not saying a word to either and just crossing his arms. The silence was tense, but not long lived.
"A pleasure to meet you at last," Supreme Kai said with a tip of his head. Kibito was stone-faced and glaring at the saiyan, who was almost half his height. "If you were listening in on our conversation, then I'll waste no time in reiterating my point. Will you consent to joining us on our mission? It would not be for more than a single day, so you would not need anything more than the assistance of Fortune Teller Baba to reenter the dimension of the living."
Still, he was met with silence. The saiyan didn't jump at the chance to visit his home, as Supreme Kai had thought he would have, and that was a bit disconcerting. Even more so, he felt that he was being analyzed by the mortal, something he hadn't been subjected to in mellenia.
At length, he finally spoke. "What is so much of a threat out there that you feel the need to directly intervene and get a lowly mortal's help? You said it was something from the past, so you must have fought it before and lost, or won at an extreme price."
Supreme Kai took an involuntary breath as his eyes widened. Kibito tensed, as if ready to fly at the impudent mortal.
"Ah, I get it. You're afraid of it."
Kibito swung his fist and caught the saiyan right in the cheek. "How dare you insult the Supreme Kai! You wretched, ignorant, pitiful-" He stopped his tirade when the saiyan slowly turned his head back, forcing Kibito's fist along with it. When eye contact was reestablished, the attendant felt a brief, foreign jolt of dread arc up his back when the pitiless black eyes bored into his. There was an animal behind those eyes.
"Kibito, enough!" The Supreme Kai placed a hand on the taller being's chest and guided him back, arm snapping back to his side as he resumed a proper stance. He was more than aware of the other souls watching them – witnesses to his outburst - and a tinge of humiliation settled in his stomach.
The saiyan didn't seem to have been bothered by the attack, save for scuff marks on his cheek. "You said that you wanted to 'preempt' the danger. Whatever is so bad that it has you asking for help, it can be stopped, and you're willing to get your hands dirty to make sure that that's exactly what happens. Just tell me one thing: how bad was it the last time you dealt with it?"
Supreme Kai felt his emotions stir, the anger and fear and desperation of that time still ingrained into him. It was a fair question, one that anybody he got involved with the matter should have the right to ask, and it actually spoke well of the saiyan that he'd dig for information, but it proved difficult to answer. He had carefully created the mask of a completely assured and competent being, his best imitation of what he believed was required of a Supreme Kai, but it slipped from him like from tired fingers.
He squeezed his eyes shut for several moments and clenched his fists behind his back. When he opened them again, there was a fire where there had previously been ice. "Last time, there were four other Supreme Kais, and I wasn't the Grand Supreme Kai. I am the only survivor." The saiyan gave him another piercing stare. Perhaps it was just whimsy, but the Kai saw a trace of understanding along with all that intimidating . "They called me Shin back then."
"Hn." The mortal grunted impassively, but it felt almost accepting. "If you really do need my help, then tell me everything."
AN: And so ends the age of filler. You all know what comes next.
I've gone back and forth on telling you guys or not, since it can very easily be seen as a cheap attempt to garner attention, but I feel that you really should know going in: there are permanent deaths already slated. This will be a brutal struggle for survival, and casualties will need to be stepped over by the fighters or risk being tripped up by the dead. The Destruction Saga will take its pound of flesh.
On a much lighter note, I just want to extend a shout-out to reviewers Guest and the incredibly fearless Rain-XIX who both posted a review on the fifteenth of November. I don't think I've laughed that hard about matters of my story in a very long time, and it did me good to read those. A shame that neither could be asked to read further than chapter five, but their contributions shall be remembered all the same. Don't let it ever be forgotten what these two heroes have achieved here.