The Horse with No Name
Chapter Forty-Seven
Ecdysis Failure
Quell's mania dies in the darkness.
And in that darkness, Goku manages to find his breath. And then another. Gasped gulps of air desperately fight against the suffocating smoke. What's happening? Where is he?
The last time it was this dark was when he was in the prison: Byleath's…
Is this… is this inside the Zealites' dome?
It must be. They'd just been on the top of it. But why did it suddenly break? Was it Quell? His power?
Goku's throat burns. His eyes water as he plummets through the black. Whilst it has a smoky exterior, the dome itself is formed with thick steel-like rigidity and Goku bounces between each of these shattered fragments with little grace. Where's Rixas? Did he fall too? Goku can't see much beyond the occasional dazzle of falling shrapnel.
A cloud of dust welcomes him when he does hit the floor. He knows as much because half of the floor manages to get into his eyes, and the other half down his throat. More coughing follows as he stumbles up.
There are diamond shaped glimmers of light above where the dome has shattered. It's almost too much to look at, and with the rain, there is hazy smog that makes it all the more blurry. Debris continues to cascade downwards – Goku dodges left twice over – and explodes chaotically; Goku shouts over this, first for Gohan, over and over, and then for Rixas when he gets no reply.
It's so dark in here. There are lambent lights in the far sections (ki?) whimpering into nothing, dying one by one and stealing what little visibility is left. Goku powers up just to have his aura create a light source; the effect is minimal probably due to some mystical Zealite power. Still, it's better than nothing.
And because of it, someone notices him.
"Goku!"
He whips around, jogging over in the direction of Trunks' voice. It's raspy, strained. Something's wrong. Where's Vegeta?
Goku almost trips over Trunks, catching himself just in time to see the flicker of two body shapes in the aura light. Ah. There he is. The red hues don't do Vegeta any favours. He looks awful. Sprawled out with his head angled unnaturally, his body bent in a manner that definitely isn't comfortable. Even with the cast of red Super Saiyan God light Goku can tell he's covered in blood.
Something drops in Goku's stomach when he thinks about who must have done this.
"D-Don't," Vegeta breathes, ragged, "D-Don't fucking pity m-me."
"Shut up, Dad. Just… Just rest, all right?" Trunks' throat clogs wetly. "Gohan… He…" There's something lost in that expression, something hurt. "It's… He—"
"You don't need to say it," Goku tells him. "I'm sorry."
He nods, wiping his eyes along his sleeve. At least he's unscathed.
"You didn't tell him where the ball is, did you, Vegeta?"
"D-Do you really think so l-low of me?"
"Where is he?"
"He was just here," Trunks replies, "Then the ceiling fell and I don't know. Was that you? Did you free us?"
"No. Not me."
Goku reaches out to see who might be beyond the dome; their mystery jail breaker, and feels a whole bunch of nothing. Gosh, this place is awful.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," he admits, "Trunks, think you can move your dad up and outta' this place? It gets real smoggy up high so cover your mouth as you fly up. Go to the far side of the dome over there. I was just up there and I didn't see anyone that way. I bet Rixas is around here somewhere and he has some of that healing salve. When I see him I'll send him to you guys."
Trunks starts to collect Vegeta up into a less than dignified hold, painfully looking like the Trunks of old, or rather the Trunks of the future. When did their kids stop being just that? But Goten, baby Goten… No, Goku can't envision it, he wouldn't accept him here. However old Trunks looks now, even he's not ready for all this.
"Trunks… After that, you need to go home. This isn't safe."
"What? No, I can't! Kibito is still here somewhere. I'd been looking for him to heal Dad before you dropped by, but I can't feel anything here. He's probably hiding with the Supreme Kai. I've got to find him."
Shin. Kibito. Good. They're still alive.
"Fine, go up and get him out of here," Goku instructs, "But keep out of sight. I'll find either Kibito or Rixas and send them your way."
"Right."
Goku tries to quell that uneasy swill in his stomach as he watches Trunks go. The boy is about as stubborn as both of his parents put together.
There's little noise aside from Goku's humming waves of energy. Rixas must have fallen too – Where is he? By now the balls of ki have completely diminished and he's thinking his best option is just to leave the dome all together before it completely collapses, though that does mean facing Quell alone. He'd hoped to check in with Rixas before that because, man, never before has Goku seen someone turn so white so quickly; he'd been terrified out there – of his own his brother no less.
This collective stuff is no joke.
Maybe… that means it could have a pull over Gohan. Could Rixas do something like that? Could he assert himself to make Gohan step down? It definitely seems more of a Quell power – maybe if they could just get through to him then they'd be able to reach Gohan.
After a short while of searching Goku concludes that indeed no-one is left down here.
Well, until he stumbles across arguing.
Goku's never seen Kibito refuse Shin before but he apparently is. They're speaking quickly in hushed, angry whispering that Goku could only hear upon being several feet away. Whatever they're saying is lost on Goku. It's in a weird language that isn't Lanit-Tongue or Common.
"Goku," Kibito manages when he spots him over Shin's mohawk.
Shin too turns, looking equally relieved. "Yes, perfect timing. Look, Kibito, Goku is now with me so you can go. I will be just fine."
Kibito looks like he'd rather scoop up the dirt beneath his feet and swallow it in one. "I am not going to let you die! I will stay by your side until this is over—"
"No—"
"Please! Sir, do not send me away!"
"We must finish what we started, Kibito!" Shin snaps, "Otherwise it'll be for nothing! Zamasu's death will be for nothing!"
"He was a snake! He would never care if—"
"It's about doing the right thing! Even if Zamasu was self-serving, which he was of course, it does not mean that we should forget his service. We must continue this. You must go—"
"Sir—"
Hang on. Goku's lost. "Wait, you and Zamasu were working together?"
In the humming glow, smears of dirt crease as Shin frowns. He searches for his words. He searches for how to cushion the blow – but Goku isn't having any of it. He groans, angry. Frustrated.
"That's why Gohan killed him! He knew!" He throws his hands up. "This is exactly the sorta' stuff Gohan warned me about in the first place!"
"Zamasu approached me very recently," Shin replies slowly. "This is not about keeping you or the others in the dark, I assure you. The situation is delicate. The plan is delicate."
"Plan? What plan? I don't know any plan! Rixas sure as heck doesn't either!"
Kibito scoffs, so uncharacteristically disrespectful. "It is hardly a plan. It is... it is foolhardy. It is sacrilegious and immoral and will only assure your death, Supreme Kai. If you are caught – if I were caught – you would most certainly die!"
There's a sigh. "Well, it is quite the likelihood anyway, what with Lord Beerus being up there. If Lord Quell kills him as I expect he will try then I am lost to this world anyway."
Beerus! It was Beerus who broke the dome! He's finally here!
Goku grinds his teeth, looking up at the splintering hole above. Things are about to get a whole lot more chaotic.
"It is imperative. Please, my friend." Shin takes Kibito by the arm, eyes stern. "The roots of a dead tree still hold water. If what Zamasu said is true then this is our only hope."
The roots of a dead tree still hold water.
Goku's heard that before.
Where did he hear it?
"Supreme Kai… I… all right…" Kibito eventually nods. "Okay, I will go. I will be the—"
"Gardener."
Both turn to Goku. Even he's lost to where that came from. For some reason it was in his head. It slipped right out and on to the tip of his tongue.
"Goku," Shin says, voice heavy with wonder, "Do you know about the rit—?"
So suddenly, Goku cuts him off. He kicks Kibito out of the way, something that would have been uncalled for if not for the dazzle of a point slicing air. Target missed, the thin sword continues into the black, disappearing as though it was between them in the first place.
It's not the Z Sword.
And it's not Gohan.
It's Eyrelle. She floats down with grace, tapping down with pointed precision.
Kibito stumbles upwards, looking to and fro in the direction of the sword. There's obvious horror. It'd been a close call after all.
"Eyrelle," Shin greets, attempting to sound casual. His voice shakes however. He's guarded, unsure. "So… Did you think about my offer?"
Her expression is as clouded as always. Goku can't get a read on her – he's never been able to really, though she never struck him as a bad person. Contrarily, he much preferred her to that jerk, Brutil. Even now, he doesn't want to fight her. There's nothing personal between them.
Goku sets into his stance regardless, just in case.
Eyrelle doesn't pay him any mind. "I will not betray Lord Famis' memory," she replies to Shin, approaching, one step at a time. "I will not dishonour my commitment to his collective, especially so when my people were the one to steal his life."
"You know I had no say in the execution," Shin returns, "Those who did are dead."
"Not all. The most cowardly of the Council still hide. Lord Mori has promised them to me."
"Lord Mori is not sound of mind," Kibito bites out, likely stung from the failed assassination. "You are serving mania! Have you not seen how he—?!"
"Kibito, please. There is no need for disrespect."
"Lord Mori is prepared to see this through," Eyrelle states, "I am loyal to him. I have said this time and time again, Supreme Kai. I am the reason to the fallen Council. I have their blood upon my hands. It was I who allowed passageway and betrayed my people – and I do not regret it, I… I…" Her words are quickening, although still precise, and her fixated gaze becomes all the more stringent on the kai before her. "I… I have no regrets."
Shin's tone grows kind. "I am not angry with you, Eyrelle…"
It takes slowly yet Goku watches something crack behind her eyes.
He drops his stance. She won't attack.
But she regards them for a time. "I cannot betray him."
"Because… he'll kill you," Goku says.
"I do not care about such a thing. No. I cannot betray him because the enemy will always be far worse."
There's a weight of silence as the kais hold each other prisoner under harsh, substantial gazes. Goku feels like this is not his conversation. He understands so little about Famis and what happened all that time ago. Rixas barely touched on it. Gohan sure as heck didn't share anything.
"Go," Shin tells him, "This is a Kai matter. Please leave this to us."
Goku looks between the three. "Are you sure?"
"Yes. We will be fine, Goku."
But Goku'd promised Trunks that he'd send help for Vegeta. "I need Kibito to—"
"No," Eyrelle says, "He does not leave. He is forsaken."
Well, that's not good.
"Vegeta is injured, but not critically so. He will be fine until the situation has been managed here. Go on ahead. Lord Beerus will be needing your assistance, I am sure. I would prefer Lord Beerus to live for purely selfish reasons, I admit, so I would appreciate you to head on up and defend until our plan is put into action."
"Are you sure you'll be okay here?"
"Yes, thank you, Goku."
Goku looks up at the glittering skylight above, watching the smoke circle it like a flock of crows. A pinpoint tiredly makes its way upward to it. Rixas.
It's time to continue.
Without so much as looking back, Goku makes haste after his friend, trying to push Zamasu and his and Shin's conspiring to the back of his mind.
Earlier
Gohan shields his eyes as the darkness breaks. Rain kisses his lips, his hand above his eyes and his nose, before it then crashes down in heavy sheets as the world opens above. So cruelly his fortress has been destroyed. Did they fell Quell so quickly?
Surely not.
Where is Byleath? He'd been tasked with intelligence concerning the ball, yet that gives no reason for him to be stripped of responsibility of manning the dome.
Gohan sighs, frustrated, as the smoke gives way to dim daylight.
The others are scrambling away, Trunks and Vegeta included. No matter. Gohan will conclude his findings once he's dealt with this mess.
Now by his side, there's a soft gasp from Eyrelle. A rare thing, indeed, so his curiousity is piqued. Her eyes are better than his what with her being a kai. Whoever is up there, through the smog and decaying energy blockades, must be quite the threat.
"Lord Beerus," she reveals.
Gohan pinches his brows. It'd been a chance that this may happen, but no less vexing.
"And Whis?"
"Yes, my lord."
"Mm."
The angel can't involve himself. That'd been promised. He said to Gohan that he would absolve himself from any and all to do with Revelation. So why bother accompanying the cat? Then again, he'd said as much that he'd see Gohan once again so the attendance is hardly surprising – just unwelcome.
Gohan overlooks the circular indent of land that had been the prison. His captives are all long since gone – he'll have to round them up again to extract his information.
"Keep an eye on the Supreme Kai and the others," Gohan instructs Eyrelle. "Make sure Vegeta is not healed in my absence. The only one who may cause issues now is Piccolo but you should be able to manage him well enough. I do not want any deaths. I have much to talk about with them."
She bows and then disappears, looking all the more twitchy than she had just this morning. Hadn't Shin been talking to her before? Hmm… There's a real possibility that she may betray him to ease her guilt. What a shame. Her apparent love for Famis seems not strong enough a motive for the revenge he's offering her.
How disappointing.
Should she turn on him then she'll suffer the same fate as Zamasu.
Gohan today has given his warnings and if they go unimpeded then that's fool on them. Zamasu simply whispered into one too many ears and faced justice for that.
They all need to be watched.
Revelation isn't to be gambled.
The Almighty trusts in me, not pretenders. I must hurry.
Gohan scours the dome for some time. It's a large space. Byleath outdid himself, though that fact makes it no less annoying as the darkness makes it difficult to find much of anything. Vegeta and Trunks have likely already escaped up and out into the rain.
Not to dwell, Gohan flies up atop the half crumbled dome to see a chaotic state of affairs. Quell is horribly ruined and looking expressly pissed off about the fact, especially considering Beerus, pristine and fighting-ready, is staring him down from a ball's throw away. He's in his usual garbs, such gaudy things, and is wearing his egotism for all to admire, his smirk unpleasant.
Noticeably, there is a great chunk of his left ear missing. Gohan wonders if that's from his and Quell's prior confrontation.
A quiff of white pokes its head around. "Oh, hello, gentlemen! Bad weather for it, mm?"
Whis.
Quell attempts a casual brushing of his devastated robes, yet his tightly clenched jaw gives away his anger. His knuckles would be white with quiet fury if they weren't marred in blood.
Speaking of which, where are Rixas and his father?
Though, Whis is the one to watch right now, to remind, once again because clearly he's brain addled, that he should not get involved – or in fact be here at all.
"That is quite the expression, Lord Mori," Whis says jovially, walking along the dome and then the space where it once stood – as though it is still there – until directly opposite. "Do not fret so. I am only here to see Lord Beerus off today, but I felt my polite nature incurred me to offer you my greetings too."
Gohan looks up at the angel. A glimmer of curiousity sparkles back.
"My, my, how unusual," Whis continues, gesturing with his staff. "Just what have you done to yourself? Your energy feels positively splintered. I presume you have been up to no good, my lord."
He bats the staff away. "I cannot keep you from your presumptions, Whis."
"Oh?"
"I have done what I needed do."
"Mm… Very unorthodox. I cannot say I relish the feeling, but alas, do not let me stop you having your Revelation now." He smiles and turns to Quell and Beerus with equally over-pouring positivity. "I am sure you boys have a lot to get out of your systems."
"As condescending as always."
"Oh, Lord Mori, such hurtful words. I thought time apart was supposed to make the heart grow fonder. Are you still cross about the mortal vessel?"
About the unceremonious act of stuffing me into a meat sack? Was I supposed to enjoy my faux skin?
"So it's true," Beerus sneers. He's drinking in Gohan's visage. "You are the boy from theday I first arrived on this rock, the one who grovelled for Goku Son's life like some common dog. Yes, how you rolled onto your back and showcased your belly! How shameless can one be? Do you see this, Whis? This is exactly what I've been talking about! Do you see what certain gods have been stooping to?"
"Do not be like that, Lord Beerus. Lord Mori was worried for his –ahem– father at the time."
"I bet your little mortal performance had you in stitches after I had left this rock," Beerus adds nastily. "Did you get a good laugh at my expense? I hope you remember it fondly, brat, because by day's end you'll be begging for your life!"
Tch. What a sack of hot air.
"I will kill the whole lot of you!" He hisses towards Quell. "Him and you and that other one with the atrocious hair! Revelation will be eternally forgotten!"
"Oh, really!" chides Whis, "That is not how Gods of Revelation work, Lord Beerus! You know that. After the current generation pass, a new collective will be born and—"
"I know how it works!"
Quell scoffs, but says little else.
"Be quiet!"
He remains as much, startlingly. Yes, Quell seems off. Aside from looking unkempt, there is an air of something wrong about him. It's charged. Electric. His pressure is erratic like a heart full of fear. He's more than angry, he's emotional.
Really.
There isn't time for this. Quell cannot let him down here. Should his father come then –
Wet spluttering indicates another arrival.
Gohan clenches his fists. Speak of the devil, and so he should arrive.
He fires a look at his brother when none other than Goku Son himself flies from out of the ruined dome, smoke bathed and red-eyed. Rixas appears next in an equal state.
Quell's eyes dazzle dangerously.
Something must have happened then.
Whis conversely has never looked more overjoyed. His staff disappears and his hands clap together. "Ah, Goku Son! I'm so relieved you have survived thus long to experience the truth of it all. Such drama! Such wonder! What a strange turn of events for you! How I would have loved to see your reaction upon stumbling upon the truth of your dearly departed son. I so desperately wanted to tell you at the time but you see –"
"Enough," Beerus barks, "Your hankering for dramatics is embarrassing!"
"But it is so juicy, my lord. Do admit."
"Absolutely not."
"Gohan," his father wheezes when his eyes finally adjust. There's that longing in his voice Gohan's finding himself more and more irritated at every time he hears it.
Similarly, Rixas turns to him. There's hurt there, and anger too.
Good, he thinks, turning his back on them.
Beerus' arrival does change things. The odds certainly are not as favourable, and there's the high chance that Quell will be overpowered whilst Gohan questions the others, what with him now handling Rixas, Beerus and his father.
Gohan will have to take one of them on, surely. Beerus most likely, as there's that intangible outcome of the Supreme Kai dying should Beerus perish at the hands of Quell's hubris. Shin's survival (and eventual agreement) guarantees Gohan's influence over the Kai Council now that Zamasu is dead. The two had been conspiring so it'd made sense for Gohan to separate them, much like coming between two unruly school children plotting to shoot spit balls. Gohan'd simply chosen the good one over the rotten influence, over the threat.
Whatever they'd been communicating is of no concern to him now. Zamasu is dead. The kais are few. Shin is backed into a corner with only mortal warriors and a pitiful Destroyer to rely on. Yes. Shin will come around because that's what's good for him. Above all else, he is a player in the game, and players do not play to lose.
Gohan will remove Beerus from the situation without killing; a harder task than quietly slicing a blade across the cat's throat but he'll manage it.
His Z Sword disappears for now, and in its place his sparsely used kyoketsu-shoge appears.
Whis lets loose a long whistle. "Very nice," he approves, nodding, "I have not seen one of those in some years. Truly, Lord Mori, I had no inclination you were familiar with such a traditional piece. Did you buy it from—?"
"Be quiet," Gohan speaks, "Have you not interfered enough? Take your patronizing badgering elsewhere."
Gohan wonders if Beerus feels protective of the angel because he saunters over at speed, halting mere steps away with ears lying flat against his misshapen skull. He eyes Gohan with distaste saved usually for Quell.
"Watch your mouth! Gods of Revelation – what a farce, the entire lot of you, children! You're fundamentally mortals compared true gods, real ones who do not sulk every millennia or so to exact needless change. Revelation itself is heretical! Your very being contradicts what divinity stands for."
Gohan runs a finger across the recently whetted blade of the weapon, satisfied when the fabric of his glove begins to fray at the touch. "What an interesting perspective," he replies, not sounding very interested at all. He drops the kyoketsu-shoge into a mindless twirl. "Of course, change is most difficult for those who find themselves inadaptable, for those who sleep through the universe's most turbulent moments. Has it been difficult for you, Lord Beerus, to doze and feast and lounge through the chaos plaguing existence? I cannot imagine how awful it has been for you to be doted on."
His tail cracks against the dome. Smoky shards plummet.
"You enjoyed the subservience," Gohan continues to goad, "the fear."
"You question me?" Beerus breathes.
"No. I question nothing concerning your inadequacy."
Rain rushes downwards, hissing loudly over the otherwise pin drop silence. Quell has made his way over to Gohan and even he has nothing to say – he's just as guilty of such perversions of integrity, just as arrogant and cruel. But at least he's not glutinous, nor is he indolent.
Beerus is guilty of being unserviceable to the divine. He reaps the rewards and provides embarrassingly little.
It would be irresponsible to allow his existence, really.
"Gohan," his father tries once more. Tentative.
"This doesn't concern you," he tells him when he approaches. His gaze is fixated on Beerus. "You are mortal."
"Well, how about me?" Rixas throws his arms up. "Don't I get a say? When did you become the judge, jury and executioner?"
Whis sighs. "Oh deary me. Arguing about the semantics of divinity… Some things never change. Could we not have this discussion over tea, preferably somewhere less wet?"
Gohan refuses to give him the attention.
"…No?"
The others are equally as silent.
That garish staff reappears, twirling and there's yet another great sigh. "Such a shame... Well… I suppose that signals my cue to leave. I hope to see you all emerge unscathed though I do rather doubt that considering the situation. Lord Beerus, please be mindful of your step."
"Get out of here if you're going. I know what I'm dealing with."
"That did not work so well for you last time," Quell says lightly. Following Whis' bow and thankful disappearance, he hums thoughtfully, pretending like he doesn't look like he'd just been dragged through undergrowth, matted and bloodied. "Perhaps you should follow your angel back home should you want to live, that is, for today, I have been extracted of my mercy along with my patience."
"Tch!" Beerus' eyes are dangerously slit. Electricity has his fine hair standing on point. He's moments away from attacking, resulting in Gohan loosening his grip on the kyoketsu-shoge for better manoeuvrability. "You. Mori… Do you think yourself devout by charging in and slaying whomever wrongs your immature idealization of utopia?"
Gohan's mouth presses into a thin line.
And then the cat dares scorn him, a breathless irritation, "You really are a stupid child."
"Guys, let's—"
His father is pitifully naïve if he thinks he can stop this. Before he's through with his simpering, Gohan's already spinning the ring at speed, stalling out onto his left leg as to change its course. Beerus barely reacts in time when it comes for him, flickering out and challenging Gohan with chase – a terrible move on his behalf – Gohan's faster and defter than either of his brothers.
The kyoketsu-shoge is truly a rare weapon. It's why Gohan chose it in the first place. Beerus' clear hesitation in dealing with it head on forces him into defence. The kyoketsu-shoge's reach is generous; the movement of it fluid and suitable to Gohan's nimble fighting style. It's a favourite after the Z Sword. Where Gohan bounces to, the spinning rope dances in his footprints and along with it the metal ring that can prove deadly.
He's trained with it many a time over the last few years, solitarily so of course. Rixas knows Gohan's experimented with several bladed weapons, yet he knows not how Gohan can make this particular one ballet and slice through a man's skin. It'll be one of a number of surprises today.
Rocks detonate on impact with the ring. Mountain peaks cough with splintered points. Beerus' expression is a tight knot of concentration. He's reading Gohan, his new and unexpected enemy. Fighting Quell is one thing. Beerus knows what he's facing against there; brute force, bull-headed aggression – yet Gohan moves very differently.
Another misfortune for Beerus is the imbalance of fairness. Gohan's watched Beerus before; against his father and flittingly so against Quell. He knows how Beerus moves, how he reacts, how he favours his right side.
It's prophetic. When the right hand rises to propel ki at Gohan, it's expected, anticipated even, and returned with vigour from the spin of the kyoketsu-shoge.
It'd been an experimental shot on Beerus' behalf. He grits his teeth, clearly not liking the results. How frustrated he must feel, the poor thing.
Picking fights upwards isn't working out well for him, is it?
Gohan releases a loop of rope, ranging further and spinning with even more vigour. It presses Beerus further back, forcing him to send another range of blasts out. That's all he can do – a terrible shame for him because using ki against Gohan is akin to watering flowers. Gohan doesn't propel the next strike back immediately. He catches, consumes – feeding on the tainted ki – and discharges out sharpened distortions of the same attack. Beerus avoids these, just.
Gohan greatly understands his own strengths. His most powerful asset is his speed, alongside his unmatched source of ki. His hand to hand is excellent too. Though, he fatigues faster than others. He can even be grounded by even those weaker should he provide opportunity for it; miscalculation can mean an undesirable result. That's why the kyoketsu-shoge is such an appropriate pairing with him. It pushes his opponents backwards, forcing them to rely on ki based attacks when they struggle to push past the rope's length. Beerus is falling into such a trap. Over and over, the ki projectiles sloppily, like a toddler hurling dinner, and Gohan the ever-so-patient adult is ready for each subsequent throw.
A rhythm is born.
And Gohan loves to waltz, and more so he loves to break the tempo of one.
Beerus is suffers his tantrum more so when Gohan dismantles the beat after a comforting bout of attacks. There's a feral sort of expression about him, and then a realization of what's happening just as Gohan pulls the ring back into a surprise shot, kicking the metal lowly as to strike Beerus' shin. It connects painfully, or at least it looks painful because Beerus hisses, buckling into a crouch and putting himself at the perfect angle for a second attack. Gohan seizes the opportunity by crushing his boot into his face. Blood splatters. He thinks he even spots a tooth whizzing past.
The satisfaction warms Gohan like hot chocolate on a stormy day.
"You BRAT!"
Gohan is almost tempted to laugh.
Anger looks good on Beerus. Gohan likes watching the cat burn an ugly shade of red. The indignation of it all sets Beerus ablaze; he lashes out without much thought – yet another mistake – and swings for the shoge, his claws grazing the blade as Gohan readjusts his footwork accordingly. That's all it is. Footwork. Beerus would have recognized that if he didn't let Gohan's very existence get under his skin.
He snarls, spitting really, in his chase.
"You deluded punk! UGH!"
Credit to Beerus, he takes the subsequent hit extraordinarily well. The shoge's blade sinks into flesh, hooking him and drawing him into Gohan's space where he's subjected to a barrage of blows. Gohan punches unforgivingly so. This is the moment he's been waiting for, ending gratifyingly with a swinging kick to the –
An arm.
His father's arm.
Goku Son stands opposite him, boot unrelenting into his forearm, blood washed, panting.
He shakes from the impact of the blow. It's impressive he stands at all. It'd been quite the hit.
Gohan draws back to the ground, using jujitsu technique to pull the shoge's rope back into its usual loop step by step. His father follows, tapping down opposite. Gohan expects another half-witted comment about his choice of weapon or perhaps about the circumstance at large. Instead, his father serves Gohan an expression he doesn't recognize.
"After all this what's next?"
The way he'd said it sounded… so unlike him. Nervous? Curious?
It doesn't help that Gohan doesn't understand the question.
"After… Revelation?"
"Yes."
Perhaps he'll revisit Luxun's Domain soon after and fix the chaos there, or maybe he'll continue his hunt of the purging pirates who would be then without power. There's also remodelling the Kai Council. Revelation is but the beginning, though his father needs not to know that.
"Who knows?" Gohan replies cryptically.
His father meets his gaze. He's tired, physically and emotionally.
"Well," he begins after a beat of silence, "Just so you know, whatever happens today, Gohan, Earth will always be your home."
He hears the Almighty's long lost words. "The snake which cannot cast its skin has to die. As well the minds which are prevented from adapting; they cease to be just that."
Gohan shed that identity a long time ago.
"You want to play happy families?" Gohan closes his eyes, breathing through his nostrils in one long stream. He doesn't know whether to be frustrated or amused. "Such a ridiculous proposition. Do you really think it possible, after everything?"
"I've got to believe my son is still there," his father goes on to say, eyes blazing unfamiliarly, "I've gotta' hope. Who knows what's next? One year from now, I wonder what our lives will be, where we'll be, what we'll be doing. Right here is just one small moment in an entire line of existence, right? So there's got to be a future – whatever that is after all this – and I know that whatever the result, I'll always love you, Gohan… You're my kid. You could steal every last drop of my ki and I'd forgive you for it 'cause that's what it means to be a dad."
After all the crap you—?
Gohan dislodges the thought.
"Yes. Very nice," he says icily, "How heartfelt."
"You've always got an out, son."
Gohan doesn't need an 'out'; what he needs Goku Son to get out of his way. Why isn't Quell dealing with this? Where the Hell is he anyway?
Suddenly, the wind feels like its spiralling around his neck. The world feels small. Gohan's breathing grows erratic and he can't help but laugh despite nothing being funny at all.
In the wayward south of the expanse Gohan feels both of his brothers, the energies hot and angry and brimmed with over spilling rage that'll manifest messily.
His father watches him with a strange look. "…Saying that, that doesn't mean I'm not gonna' try and stop you because what I think you're doing is wrong."
The kyoketsu-shoge takes to the air again, spinning. Now this is familiar territory. His father eyes the weapon. Like the others, a look of incredulous surprise takes hold. Gohan idly wonders if his father has faced one before. They exist on Earth. He remembers witnessing the weapon as a boy and wanting to try it. Surely his father has at least seen one.
And truly, it could be believed as much because he does a better job keeping out of its path than Beerus did. He even manages to read one of Gohan's fake outs, not bothering to avoid the jilt forward. He just attacks. This new style of his is more assertive than Gohan's used to from him; the aggressive movements are harder to predict than his defensive ones, challenging Gohan to push back even harder. He swings the shoge over and over, achieving not as much as he'd been earlier against Beerus.
Annoyingly, he also dodges accordingly when Gohan attempts a surprise shot by kicking it lowly towards the shin. He simply jumps, but never retreats. Ki doesn't follow. He must have realized the play. When Gohan steps backwards and recalls the rope, his father already recognizes the rhythm of the jiu-jitsu. He dashes and snags the rope just as Gohan gestures it upwards, hauling it back and snapping Gohan off balance in one fell swoop.
Gohan catches himself before he tumbles, though it's for nought. His father pulls the rope once more, bringing forth a wide arm and cracking a fist into Gohan's nose.
It's more of a shock than anything. Gohan tastes blood but it still doesn't hurt.
His father drops the rope. The shoge, however, now snapped free, remains in his hand for him to make the point of throwing it mountainside.
"Oh, Gohan," his father says condescendingly, "Who do you think showed you the Kyoketsu-Shoge?"
Gohan discards the weapon immediately. It's fine. It's fine. Yes. It was just the beginning anyway. It'd been his training wheels with the Z Sword.
Watch his father dodge this.
Ever loyal, the Z Sword answers the call.
"Heh, sorry. I can't say I brought a sword with me today."
Gohan doesn't dignify it with a response, but he does take satisfaction in his father's surprise when he drops the Z Sword, only to then catch it by a line of ki attached to the hilt. Like the kyoketsu-shoge, Gohan twirls the blade into a hissing spin.
"That's…" His father laughs mirthlessly, "…impressive."
Yes, it is impressive. Gohan has trained for quite some time to be able to work ki manifestation into his swordplay.
Though, it's not his father who gets the first taste. Beerus has emerged from whatever hole he'd himself landed in and is charging like an unhinged animal. He hasn't seen the blade, clearly. Gohan fancies it time to put practice into purpose and propels his sword skyward and into the direction of the cat. The Z Sword flies crisply, the thin chain of ki barely visible in the rain, before grounding deeply into Beerus' bare flesh. It carves through an arm, jutting as Gohan swerves to pull it back at an angle. There's a rasp at first and then a long groan as the sword journeys back to Gohan with a fresh coat of red.
His father spies it as an opportunity. He also presses against Gohan, bypassing the returning sword and attempting to land ill-advised strikes against him. The sword is churned in retaliation and his father barely dodges it, jumping backwards and unfortunately for him, into an easier path for the blade. The ki chain extends as Gohan feeds energy down the line, birthing even an longer reach, enough so that the tip of the Z Sword runs a clean red line across his father's cheek.
His father seems to have been worn out from his scuffle with Quell and Rixas. Without Senzu beans, it's as good as over for him. He won't be able to continue at this pace, even with Beerus flailing around in the background.
It's time to finish this.
Gohan will do what even Quell could not.
The Z Sword returns to his hand before bouncing back outwards overhead, vigorous like a whip circling the sky and ready to snap down. Yet Gohan's strike is disrupted once more – by a familiar hindrance. A blow of heat is enough to knock him off balance; a simple ki ball even.
Piccolo is at his back. The Masenko's smoke is still freshly climbing from his hands.
Three on one?
Gohan clicks his tongue, recapturing the Z Sword.
Beyond them sits a dark cloud harnessing a battle between Rixas and Quell, its mass leveraging the Earth's energy dangerously. Should whatever they're getting up to in there continue then the entire place may very well blow – and considering the state of Quell's mood that proves a heightened possibility.
What a bother.
All this for one stolen dragon ball…
Gohan spits a wad of blood out, eyeing his perimeter. Beerus, his father and Piccolo each stand in a perfect triangle surrounding him.
"Leave him to me," Beerus orders, hand pressing against his freshest wound. "I'll kill him myself."
"You can't take on all of us, Gohan," says Piccolo.
His father doesn't add anything. He watches Gohan's feet, likely instructed by Rixas to do so when dealing with him.
Yes. How smart. It's all about the footwork. He's learning.
The Z Sword swings passively and Gohan contemplates his options. He could power up now, but that really would bring about Earth's demise. Should he do it? He'd wanted to spare Earth but now he is being ushered into a corner with no other way but through those pushing him. Piccolo would be the easiest to kill off the bat. He's the closest, the most assured with dealing with Gohan; the weakest.
He could summon Byleath from wherever he is. Though it seems his tricks are growing tiresome. There are only so many times Goku Son can be contained.
As for Beerus, it is becoming progressively more difficult to spare him with such pressures. Would he be able to puppeteer the Kai Council without Shin's influence, especially now that Zamasu is dead?
"Why don't we move this elsewhere?" his father finally voices up. When there's yet another explosion courtesy of Quell, he elaborates, "away from Earth…"
Gohan's gaze drags across and holds on him even as Beerus complains. Why so suddenly does his father want to move? He knows Gohan won't be able to drag Quell and Rixas from their respective brawl.
Ah. So his father wants to power up. But the Earth is equipped to handle Super Saiyan God. They've all seen it. It's fine, it –
His eyes narrow and he stands to full attention, the sword stopping in its ballet.
Piccolo's caught it too. He turns to his father, expression open with perplexity.
What sort of peak has the man reached now? Gohan grinds his teeth. Had the earlier mention of an ascended form been true? If that's the case then why and how is he able to grow so strong so quickly?
There's a crackle above him – his own energy, his own frustration – and Gohan has to suppress a foreign brand of anger from his gut. So rarely does he feel it, feel anything, since, well…
They're closer now.
He needs to act.
Who should he move against?
The Z Sword's sharp edge thinly slides over his fingertips. It's not the most finesse weapon, nor is it ideal for how he'd like to make his next cut, but he'll only have one chance to do this and so he needs to make it count.
He throws the Z Sword up high, so much so that is it a mere pinprick in the grey. Gohan wonders how the others will react to it. Beerus isn't a team player so he advances on Gohan without thought, tactless and aggressive and so painfully predictable. Piccolo and his father on the other hand have experience working together; their communication and understanding with one another isn't to be downplayed. Wordlessly, Piccolo also moves towards him as, as hoped for, his father uses Instant Transmission to attempt to reach the sword before its descent.
His father has held the Z Sword before. He could do it again. Gohan had counted on him making the attempt.
This now leaves him to take on two. Gohan doesn't face Beerus, instead stepping around in order to meet Piccolo head on. Closing the distance, Piccolo loses the upper hand in terms of reach (not that Gohan was ever worried in facing him) and is forced into hand-to-hand combat against him. However much faster he'd been than Gohan in Gohan's youth that is very much not the case now. It takes less than a second for Gohan to send him away with a reverse stretch kick.
Piccolo hits the ground at remarkable speed. The Earth shakes; the ground births a hole in the shape of him.
Beerus had only needed that second to encroach. He comes at Gohan with a kick of his own – a woefully unbalanced butterfly style – that misses by great margin. It pretty much does Gohan's work for him, providing opportunity for him to slink around the cat's slithery body and grapple him into a hold. Beerus definitely has the power to buck him. He would have managed it had he had perhaps a couple seconds longer.
Instead, Gohan calls upon his sword, pulling with might along the ki chain. The Z Sword returns but not alone, as like with a fish to a line, his father has remarkably taken a hold of its hilt and dives along with it. He's attempting to take control but Gohan's reign over the ki cannot be matched. Gohan cannot be matched.
"Get OFF of—!"
It's all so fast. Really, Gohan's outdone himself. He's satisfied so immensely so when he brandishes the cat's neck to the rain, spectating as the matted steel plunders into purple flesh just at the base, almost in slow motion to him. It's perfect. It's so precise. It's like striking a bull's-eye.
Beerus squeaks. It's funny how quickly the light in his eyes fade, how fast the connection between his brain and his body falter. The sword digs deeper to the treasure. The brainstem is marred, useless, a severed bridge between mind and body; laying victim all the whilst Goku Son's hands encircle the handle of the blade.
Gohan releases Beerus and both cascade towards the ground.
Beerus is not dead, not in the traditional sense.
He follows after them lazily, landing amidst the upping cyclone of dust. As it starts to settle, Gohan watches as his father tries to shake Beerus from the stupor. The cat's eyes are open. He even breathes despite the damage to the brainstem. Any mortal would have died without support, but gods do not need to breathe like the mortals. Beerus will survive this, by whatever definition that means.
"What did you do?" his father shouts up at him. His hands no longer touch the hilt. He looks at them as though dirtied. He looks at Gohan much the same. "Gohan! What did you do to—?"
"He's alive." The Z Sword is to be manually retrieved. He wiggles it out of Beerus' gurgling neck carefully; he doesn't want to cause irreparable damage after all. "Brain dead however. I cut the brainstem. You know where that is, right? What it does?"
"Goh—"
"I could do the same to you," Gohan tells him, "or anyone else here. The dragon ball. That is all I am here for." He begins sealing the wound along the neck, burning it closed with ki to stop him from bleeding out. "His fate could have been different if you just gave me the ball. Give it to me and I will leave. It is that simple. I know you know where it is."
When he's done, his father is still looking at Beerus with a deep, unwavering horror. Clearly, he's unable to appreciate Beerus' sorry – albeit improved – form like Gohan can. The cat deserved what he got, and more.
Then the space beside Gohan colours darkly. Finally, Byleath appears before him.
Whilst not as tarnished as the worst of them, Byleath certainly hasn't been without tribulation. The smoky residue is less saturated than usual, blood puddles in the creases in his armour where the aura is at its weakest; only if one knows where to look can the damage be seen.
"I apologise for my absence. Lord Rixas apprehended me after my prison fell," he tells Gohan in Celestenese.
Wiping the bloodied Z Sword along his pants, Gohan doesn't waste time. "Have you seen Vegeta?"
"Northwest of here. Less than a few miles. He is hidden in a cave with his son."
Gohan shields his eyes of the rain and turns towards the array of mountains.
"Can you handle this guy for a while?"
Byleath with visage hidden isn't easily read but Gohan can sense the unease. That's fine. Without a second thought, Gohan charges a quick blast in his father's direction. There isn't time for reaction, and it's enough to impel him harshly into an opposing cliff, one of which deteriorates loudly with the echo of rain behind.
"Now you have an advantage."
"My lord, does he not know where the ball is? Could you not have asked him?"
"Tch. If only it were that easy…"
Gohan could peel back Goku Son's finger nails until there was nothing left and still he'd never tell him the truth of the ball. As stubborn as Vegeta is, with Trunks there, Gohan will get his answer.
Stepping over Beerus' lifeless form, Gohan takes to the sky.
"No! Absolutely not! Vid – Videl, Videl! Listen to me!"
Goten paces, phone wedged between hand and cheek, along the worn carpet of the lounge. A groove has been waded into the shag style as Goten goes back and forth, worrying not only the material but also himself as he tries to talk some sense into someone who's supposedly older and more mature than him!
"You cannot go out there!" he exclaims. It's the tenth time at least he's had to tell her this. "If you just show up then who knows what'll happen? No, no, I'm not being – ugh!"
Bulma sits in a sofa opposite, her hand extending out expectantly for the phone.
He practically slaps it into her hand.
"It's Bulma," she greets nicely enough, though there is that no-nonsense tone. "Look, if there's anyone here who knows how you're feeling it's me."
In turn for her dealing with Videl, Bulla is swapped into Goten's wobbly arms and left there when Bulma makes her way up and out. Even after the door closes, Goten can hear her attempting to persuade Videl not to do something so stupid as to fly out there in her jetcopter.
Why won't she listen? Honestly, she can't feel what he can. She has no idea what's happening.
Bulla gurgles, staring at him with that stupid, empty baby stare. He envies her.
Beyond them in the depth of mountainous territory, Goten feels the dampening of Quell's influence. That pressure has him take a second breath, his heart skips a beat, and he groans, pushing his head against Bulla's, who of course thinks it's an appropriate time for a bout of hair pulling.
"I hate this," he complains into her belly.
"Yeah, it's not great," Krillin agrees.
He's sitting on an opposing armchair, watching Eighteen and Marron from the window. The two are outside in the garden in matching raincoats, throwing bread to the ducks and feeling nothing of what they can, though Eighteen does keep looking back at them.
Originally, they'd been at their home but decided to take refuge at Capsule Corporation when they heard both Goten and Yamcha were going to be here.
Yamcha is less still in his anxiety. He stands and sits and stands again all in repetition over and over until Krillin has to tell him to settle down.
He throws his arms in gesture to the collective of warring energies. "I'd rather be out there than stuck here."
"You'd rather be dying then," Goten summarizes.
"Or dead," Krillin adds.
Yamcha trips over his own words when he tries to reply. "Th-This is ridiculous! It's stupid! Can't Goku just control his kid?! Ah! Uh, no offense, Goten, I mean, it's just if your dad could – I don't know – get through to Gohan and stop all this crazy— You know what, why don't we go and try talk some sense into him? We've known him years. If we go together—"
"Seriously?" Krillin snaps, "What are you gonna' do? Give him a signed baseball and a pat on the head? What can you say to Gohan that Goku hasn't?"
"I don't know; something about the power of friendship."
"Don't you agree with his Revelation thing?"
"Well, I don't agree with what I'm feeling out there."
"Yeah, Gohan's energy feels so…" Krillin shudders. "Yeah…"
"But it's still him. If we go we could—"
"If you get in his way," Goten interrupts, "He'll for sure kill you."
Both turn to look at him. What's with those looks? Goten'd told them as much yesterday.
"Well, he will."
Bulla giggles like it's the funniest thing said all day. Why's he stuck holding her anyway? Goten doesn't even like babies. It's Trunks and Gohan who usually coo over her like idiots, they're the ones good with her, not him – but they're not here, are they? No, they're both out there, fighting, and Goten's the one stuck in here… with the other weaklings, and the little kids.
He should be out there.
Damn it.
He sighs, standing as to deposit Bulla into Krillin's arms and collecting the Power Pole on his way out.
"You'll get used to it," he hears Krillin say as goes. "Don't let this get—"
The door slams behind.
Goten doesn't want to get used to it. He doesn't want to fight either so he supposes he can't win either way. He just wants to be there. He wants to be involved. He wants all this craziness to stop and for Gohan to just be Gohan and not this weird thing he's slipping into.
What was it that Videl called Gohan? A fanatic?
And what happens when a fanatic is immeasurably strong? What happens if he has gods on his side, or that he himself is a god?
How the heck is Dad going to beat that? Last night, he'd already sounded so defeated.
Beerus and Rixas are out there with him, Goten supposes, but none of it feels good. Quell is just so strong. And Gohan feels…
Disgusting? Warped? Gross?
Goten spins the Power Pole absently as he goes. This really might be the last day that they all have ki; that any of them would be able to fly through the clouds or send energy blasts up for New Year. Bulla would grow up in a normal world. She'd go to school and never worry about some big bad showing up to kick their asses.
Okay, that bit does sound nice. Goten can see the appeal. It's something he'd been wanting for so long, and here Gohan is offering it on a silver platter.
Yet, now that's happening… it feels so wrong.
Trunks may be ready to bite that hand right off but Goten, no, Goten knows the difference now. Not only are they giving up ki, they are giving up power; their power, their right.
From the next room over, Goten can still hear Bulma's diluted talking to Videl over the phone. It's enough to send him for air.
The walk is a short one to the furthest most south garden, a nice hiding place where no one can reach him. If he has to speak to anyone again within the next few minutes he might just combust.
It turns out it isn't meant to be however, for when he opens the backdoor, not only does a thrust of wind bluster in but also Kibito.
"Ehhhh?!"
He'd just appeared! Teleported! God, it nearly gave him a heart attack!
"You're supposed to be out there!" Goten informs when Kibito – absolutely filthy – charges past him and out of the room. "What are you doing? What's happening? Why are you—?"
"This is not by my own violation!" Kibito snaps.
"Is it Dad? Is he okay?"
"Yes. He's fine. It is the Supreme Kai who nearly came to the hands of death by your zealot of a brother!"
"And now you're hiding out here? Where is the Supreme Kai? Is he—?"
"He is still in the thick of battle. His absence would not be tolerated, and so he hazardously sends me away just to find you."
Goten nearly drops his Power Pole. "Eh? What are you saying? What can I do? I don't have ki – and I'm not strong!"
"We do not need your power, just your knowledge, boy."
Kibito snatches him by the arm and the world disappears in a spin. He didn't even have the time to fight back – or to grab a jacket, which he desperately needs when they teleport in the centre of a patchy forest. Rain thrashes down. The smell of greenery is almost too much.
But Goten recognizes it.
It's 439 Mountain Area. It's home.
"What are we doing here?"
Kibito grimaces. Daylight is reaching its death and the streak of dusk across his face is stark. "This is inappropriate to ask of a child but our resources are thin, Goten. Your father would be better suited for the task but he is preoccupied, and I truly doubt he would cooperate with such an immoral act as to desecrate a grave."
Kibito makes haste out of the forest and up the clearing, climbing the hill.
"What?" Goten asks, following him. "A grave? What do you mean?"
When they reach the top, Goten can see the house and the surrounding scape smothered in rainy fog. Kibito looks out too, but unfocused as though he's scouring for a specific spot.
"The roots of a dead tree still hold water," he says, lips pursed. "We must dig up that tree."
"Tree?"
"It is an expression."
"For…?"
"You need to take me to Gohan's grave."
The rain rages from every direction, vociferous and demanding with its sway of wind. Visibility is low, especially now with nightfall. Gohan can see so little, though he manages to keep on track all the way back to where he needs to be. It's where the dome broke down that he finds a chiselled alcove in the mountainside, and it's there where two faint energies residing. They would have been missed by anyone else. But Gohan understands energy; he can find any needle in any haystack.
He hears Trunks' harsh whispering. They're arguing.
Gohan doesn't bother hiding himself. His boots tap along the ground as he goes deeper into the cave. It's not particularly deep, allowing witness to the showers outside should one look. But Trunks isn't looking, he's hunched over Vegeta, fretting, panicking.
He's already so perfect to ply information from should he have been the one Gohan needed to question.
Alas, it's Vegeta.
The Z Sword is called and he drags her point along the stone shrilly.
Trunks jumps up immediately. The desired effect has taken place. He looks like a frightened animal, ready to run, ready to flee.
"G-Gohan…"
The two are cast in a shadowy blue. They're barely visible. Gohan rectifies that with his ki flames, dotting the rockery exterior sporadically to set up their cosy lighting. Horror shines a warm gold.
Beside Trunks, Vegeta grunts, gasping as he moves. He's succeeding in sitting up, though it looks painful. The shreds of red haven't closed up along his skin and bleed the more he stands.
"You're too weak!" Trunks shouts at him, "Sit down! You know you can't—!"
"Be quiet, boy," Vegeta gets out weakly. "S-Shut up."
"Dad." When that doesn't work, Trunks sets those pleading blues on him. "Gohan."
"There's nowhere to go from here," Gohan tells Vegeta, advancing.
He doesn't shuffle backwards. He's too proud despite struggling to stand. The laboured breathing echoes in the cave, making him even more pathetic.
"I'll die before I tell you where the ball is."
"That's true. But we both know that's not who I'm threatening."
They both tense, and a strange bubbling laugh emerges from Gohan because, really, it's simple. It's the first time he's felt the sensation in a long while. It's foreign, dirty. Trunks and Vegeta look as disturbed at the notion as Gohan does amused.
"You are making this more difficult than it needs to be," Gohan elaborates, "As Trunks said, he agrees with me. He wants away with ki. You're the one stepping in front of our ambitions. Are you truly going to forfeit his life for something you believe in, Vegeta? This is his future, not yours, after all."
"I don't want it like this," Trunks responds warily.
"Yes. The reality of the situation is unpleasant."
"Just you," he bites, "You're…"
Gohan scoffs, which angers Trunks all the more.
"Doing bad things for good reasons don't make them good!" he yells "This is evil!"
"The universe is built upon evil deeds. The victors simply do not relay such details."
The earlier amusement is ash. He retreats into his mind, remembering something sour; the killing of Famis is a committed evil for the greater good. It'd been the right thing to do – on paper, but the act swung the pendulum too far and now Gohan must swing it back. If their evil is considered understandable then Gohan's evil will be considered as such in time. Although, he doesn't much care about being the villain; Revelation is what matters.
The Almighty is what he serves.
Gohan is a vessel for the will, and the will is for change; it is to do right by those in the universe even if they do not want such a thing.
Besides that, he isn't about to argue semantics with a child, again.
"So what'll be it?" He offers a smile. Something they'll recognize. "How do I take the ball? With or without our cooperation?"
"P-Pathetic. I'd say you're shaming K-Kakarot but," Vegeta snarls, "Y-You're not his son, you're not G-Gohan."
Lord Mori.
That's who Gohan is to most. Vegeta thinking of him in the same way doesn't bother him. Even before, back when Gohan felt a shred of care for this man, Vegeta never respected him, not really, not when he was so quick to disregard him at his death.
Now, all Gohan needs him to do his spill his secrets. And spill he will. Gohan can't credit him for being a good father, but he can appreciate that Vegeta loves his kids, Trunks included. He won't allow detrimental harm to come to him.
So Gohan employs a blast of air to knock Trunks onto his back. He slides all the way along to the edge of the cave until he meets the dead end of rockery. There's a squeak when the point of the Z Sword lifts his chin high.
Blue eyes. The same blue they'd been when Trunks was a baby. The same when he'd been sitting in Gohan's lap watching a movie together growing up. The same when Gohan came back from the dead and he'd asked for Gohan's phone number. Familiar. Young.
Scared.
Gohan had missed his chance before. He needs the dragon ball. He needs Revelation.
The blade holds firm.
"I am going to make a bridge."
Those had been the words promised to the Almighty years ago. Gohan is devout. He was going to kill Quell for the Almighty, his beloved brother, so this should mean nothing. Trunks is a mortal. He's a fleeting moment in Gohan Son's earthly life; what's that in Mori's grand scheme of things?
And besides, he isn't going to kill Trunks. It won't get to that point.
"D-Dad," Trunks manages.
Vegeta is paralyzed by his own wounds. What can he do? He groans when his body refuses cooperation, he growls with feral vigour.
He won't say? Fine. Gohan will take his first cut.
It's strange. It's like Trunks knows. When he closes his eyes, flinching in anticipation, in hopelessness, something within Gohan seems to falter. The itch of his conscience – the corruption of principle – turns his limbs numb with icy resistance. Vegeta should be screaming his secrets. Gohan would be.
Gohan wouldn't let anyone he loves hurt for his own principles.
Well, except that he is. He is the one with the edge against a throat.
B-But it's different.
He is skin no more.
"The snake which cannot cast its skin has to die. As well the minds which are prevented from adapting; they cease to be just that."
The Almighty told him this years ago. Gohan is Revelation. Gohan is more. Gohan is Mori!
When rain hits the shine of the Z Sword, Gohan stares at it, confused. How has it reached them? They are inside. Another drop slides over steel. And another.
There is only so long you can delay this. Our duty is awaiting us. We must be the difference.
"You are the skin no more, my child."
Do not be afraid.
"The time for Revelation is upon us. Do this, be reborn new as the God of Death, find true power and become the stallion beyond Conquer. Breathe renewed, my child."
Like the dawn swallowing the moon and the night, it will happen naturally and without any contest.
Voices carry over one another. He hears the soft whispers of the Almighty serenading him so sweetly, decadent and consuming, cut only by the harshness of the memory of the Mori before him.
Why is it raining?
Trunks dares to open an eye when Gohan remains ice. The blue is focused on the rain too, and he says something Gohan cannot hear. Oh, it's not raining. It's warm and streaking down Gohan's cheeks – why is it doing that? Gohan doesn't feel sad. He doesn't feel anything.
Haed's voice talks to him next, slimy, as though he's right behind Gohan with that disgusting presence.
"Mori, what will you do?"
What will he do? That's foolish. Of course he will cut and slice and torture whoever gets in the way of the dragon ball!
Trunks' hand is bravely on the sword. Who does he think he is to push it down? How dare he –?
He's crying too. Gohan's never seen Trunks cry before, not since—
A flurry of memories, of haphazard emotions which choke him and fill his head and blind him, come raging forward. It's so much. It's too much. Gohan snatches the sword – his sword – and steps (most certainly not stumbles) backwards, carving through the hand which had held it.
Trunks reacts but Gohan can't hear it.
Gohan looks down at his hands and sees not the sword, but the sandstone. He panics initially but soon enough it disappears and its place is the Z Sword once more, redder and wetter than ever.
Vegeta somehow has managed to move. He's summoned the energy to ply Gohan upwards, bursting the ceiling of the cave into dust and debris, exploding it. It's not painful. Gohan doesn't really feel it and it's only down to the surprise of the attack that he doesn't catch himself immediately.
The Z Sword is still with him as it may as well be a limb of its own. It touches the ground first, and then Gohan follows suit, kneeling into a skid over the gravel.
Vegeta lands, panting.
He's dying.
He's bleeding heavily into the rainfall, and like it, he'll disappear into a stream of nothing within the dirt.
Gohan needs the ball.
Trunks. Gohan needs to –
No, he can't. He can. No, he really can. He's done it before.
Why did he throw away his chance? Gohan looks around but the rain is too much – it's a system overload – the stimulation of hushing and wet and movement, it hurts. The sand falls around him. The stone is broken.
Blue eyes – Trunks'. One pair of eyes does not compare to the many. Gohan has seen so many young eyes bleed out. Revelation – yes. Revelation needs to happen.
"Revelation," he reminds himself, breathing. Breathing.
Vegeta is approaching him. He's enjoying himself a monologue, probably saying something uninspiring that is supposed to get under Gohan's skin. He sways, blending into the rain.
There's another person here too. Gohan feels someone by his side. Byleath. He's reporting something.
All Gohan can hear is the rain.
"Your sacrifice for Revelation," Haed's voice returns.
"My lord," Byleath eventually breaks through, using a tone that incites it's not the first time he's called upon him. "What do you wish of me? Lord Mo—"
"Kill the boy," Gohan feels himself say.
Vegeta stiffens. It's the desired effect. And even before Byleath can disappear, there's a retch of horror. Vegeta has snagged Gohan by his front, barely able to hold his own weight as the sway of blood loss looms, his twitchy little hand worrying at the fabric.
Gohan watches him. He waits. His hand holds Byleath there.
"I… I… have…"
Vegeta's eyes are heavy with hatred but his lips are loosening.
"I… the ball…"
Gohan is patient.
As such, Vegeta offers up his wrist and very shakily removes his own glove to reveal a thin silver thread encircling his wrist. Attached is what Gohan came for.
Orange and beautiful.
The dragon ball.
Of course Vegeta wouldn't hide it. He'd want it on person. He's arrogant enough to believe he could protect it.
There, the final ball – Gohan's lost earring – dangles between them.
Revelation is but a breath away.
He can –
And then Vegeta unhooks it. The bracelet falls free into the weather and then further below that, to be swallowed whole by the disorder of mountain terrain.
How… petty.
Gohan nods for Byleath to indeed retrieve it, and so he dives low, ever loyal.
There's a galactic boom indicating to a battle near over. Lazily, Gohan turns to towards the flaring light; whatever spat Rixas and Quell have been throwing fists over must be coming to an end. Hot waves roll towards them. A rainbow of colours streak overhead; it's oddly pretty.
His mood feels lighter.
Seven balls. Gohan has them all.
He can't help but smile. A weight has been lifted – he can breathe.
"You…" Vegeta pants, "You are more the m-monster than I ever—"
"There'd been few people more self-serving than you," Gohan returns softly, still watching the explosion. "The things you did before Earth… Mm… they'd been rather terrible in their own right. With researching the Super Saiyan God transformation, I happened to learn far more than I'd ever wanted to about the saiyan people, about their wickedness, their language, their royal lineage…
"Such atrocities make me ashamed of the blood I've inherited, though I, more than most, understand your hunger for the divine transformation, Vegeta. Had you not allowed your arrogance – your cruelty to me – to hinder your own progression then perhaps I would have participated in the ritual for you back on Earth."
"You… l-liar."
Gohan allows his smile to stretch, saccharine. "But it matters no more. I will make my wish and you will be stripped of the little power you have now. No harm, no foul, I suppose."
It surprises Gohan when Vegeta laughs. It's an unpleasant sound. "It must have k-killed you. To lie. On Earth. To p-pretend to be G-Gohan Son when you are but a vile bastard n-no different from every other fucker w-we've beaten."
"Tall words from a dying man."
"I'm… at l-least no coward. You send," – a cough – "a grunt after a child because y-you can't do it yourself. Y-You can't kill K-Kakarot. You c-can't kill m—"
The Z Sword hears the challenge. It's raised, ready to bury into flesh.
And Vegeta laughs again. "S-Soft. Full of h-half measures. You're still a coward, and a-always have been. Perhaps I'd r-respect you more if it had been suicide after all. Instead, y-you became a c-crazed zealot who f-forces your insecurities onto all of us!"
Mmm. Yes.
There is a level of truth to what he says; each time Gohan has tried to kill or hurt one of them – his mortals – beyond surface level; he backs out, he retreats, he remembers his skin.
"The snake which cannot cast its skin has to die. As well the minds which are prevented from adapting; they cease to be just that."
Why is he remembering these words so vividly? Over and over. Why – his chest is tight – he laughs even though it's not funny.
Gohan brings back the sword.
Okay. Fine, Vegeta.
This time he'll see it through. This will send a message to the others. Killing Vegeta will keep them at bay.
No one will challenge Gohan again. No one will make him the skin once more.
Gohan envisions himself being stuffed into the rind of the snake he once was, much like he'd been forced into the meat sack. It suffocates him. He wants to tear the flesh. Quell had trapped him years ago, too. He's always been a prisoner of some kind, to some embodiment.
The rain transforms into sand. It's sandpaper against his scales.
No one will – after this, yes… No one…
Revelation.
Change.
The Almighty.
Beetle black eyes connect with his own. There is no fear. Insects don't have such an emotion.
"Do it," Vegeta goads.
And Gohan obliges.
He snarls, ripping the sword downwards into flesh. It streaks with liberation. Red bursts like juice from a fruit.
Except.
Vegeta screams.
It's not him.
It's not.
It'd been fast. The purple blur – the sacrificial dive – the… the…
His hands halt, shaking and the blade stills in its journey – in its plump hill of organs – as Gohan feels the sand distort into static. Blurred blue eyes gaze back in horror. They frazzle.
They fade.
They die.
Gohan can only watch as Trunks' lifeless body slips out of the Z Sword's mouth and down into the abyss.
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*cough*
So...
Happy New Year! I hope 2023 is it for you! I had the wonderful pleasure of watching the Sydney fireworks from under the bridge and it was just *chef's kiss* Anyway, yes, I'm still travelling so updates won't be super regular but they will be at least monthly. I'm 6k into C48 and it's getting spicier.
Thanks as always to you lovely and patient readers for your feedback, and also a big thanks to Kags for her great beta work!
My poor babycakes Trunks is not having the best run of it unfortunately but, well, he won't be the last casualty. And Beerus, oof. Yeah...
Until the next one... (It doesn't get better for anyone.)