Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Monster ❯ Chapter 7 ( Chapter 7 )

Sin struck again that night, as I was to find when I awoke in the morning to the horns of cars and the endless splashing of puddles that lined the ghetto streets. My body ached as I pulled myself up from the uneven pavement of the ally way I'd been dumped into, courtesy of the club bouncers who apparently didn't find it as humorous as Vegeta that I'd passed out on their dance floor.

"Damn addicts." One had cursed as they tossed my heavy body out of their car into the cold wet pavement beside a stinking dumpster. I could recall them doing it, though it was dreamlike and unclear. Still, the shape I was in was obvious and I attempted to dust off my filthy suit as I stepped into the pounding sunlight that had never in my life felt so atrocious.

People walking the sidewalk barely gave me a passing glance, all apparently familiar with overdressed, hung over men who crawled out of ally ways on their hands and knees at 8 o'clock in the morning.

8:00!!

I was mortified, hardly believing what the large clock tower told me. Oh God, what would Chi Chi say? I hadn't even brought my usual outfit along, cursed to stumble home in my present state and mumbled out apologies and random excuses. And what would I say? What possible explanation could I surrender to her screaming voice and glaring eyes? Would I say that I'd merely spent the entire day with Vegeta, confessing our excursions into a nightclub, the over drinking, the possible drugs that I had been so obliviously exposed to? Would I tell her about the kiss?

I felt my stomach contort at the memory. Oh, how I longed to have forgotten it in my nightmarish hours with the company of a dumpster. Oh, how I wished that it had merely been an illusion of my drug infested mind. But I remembered it, if nothing else, as if it had been permanently lodged into my head. I could still feel it, like a burn. The source gone, but the sting still lingering. And I hated it. The idea. The thought. The taste.

I wiped my mouth in repulsion, turning a corner into an abandoned street and taking to the sky quickly so as to be invisible to the naked human eye. Confusion raked my brain and I so desperately wanted to forget the entire scene that I cast it out of my mind, focusing on my destination instead of the excuses I was going to blubber out.

A pan hit my face as I opened the door to a shrieking wife and wide eyed son, my nerves on high as Chi Chi began her expected retort to my absence.

"Just WHO do YOU think YOU are?!" she hollered, bashing my head again in the most unfeminine way, her hair flying as she reached for a larger one, as the other didn't even faze me.

"How DARE you come in here, waltzing like a King into MY house at 8:30 in the morning!? You didn't call, you didn't ask, you didn't……" She stopped for a single second, glancing at my get up and placing her hand on her hip. "And just WHAT are you wearing Goku?"

"Uhhh…." I answered, switching into my idiot mode that worked miracles. I placed my hand behind my head, squinting my eyes and smiling as big, as obnoxious, and as insincere as I possibly could.

"Uh, well you see Chi Chi," I laughed adorably, watching as her postured changed at my childish behavior. "Me and Vegeta kinda lost track of time is all and…."

"Lost track of time?" She hissed, dangerously close to delivering another blow to my head. "LOST TRACK OF TIME?! Are you INSANE?! Its 8:30 in the morning Goku! You've been gone since this time yesterday! Now, I want an explanation, and I want it NOW!" She demanded, knocking the pan onto the table for emphasis.

Gohan shuddered, his priceless round eyes, so much like my own, wide with worry and an intelligent fear. I glanced over to him, trying to smile reassuringly as he bent over his homework, avoiding my gaze. I was about to answer, opening my mouth to speak when a sound came from behind me, the door squeaking on the hinges.

"Ah, there you are Kakarot," Came Vegeta's accented voice, my stomach falling and my blood running cold. "I see you're explaining to your Amazon wife about Professor Camden's unfortunate accident."

"Doctor Camden?" Me and Chi Chi said in unison. My wife's eyes soared towards me and I swallowed, smiling big and nodding.

"Uhh yes!" I exclaimed, "yes I was just telling her ALL about it. Yes VERY unfortunate about Mr. Camden. Yes, what an accident indeed."

Chi Chi didn't seem to buy it and my confusion was mounting as well, my eyes pleading with Vegeta to expound where I simply couldn't.

"Perhaps you wouldn't mind telling me a little MORE about this unfortunate accident Vegeta," Chi Chi said coldly, her eyes never leaving me as I gulped. "as Goku seems a bit tongue tied at the moment."

"Not much to tell I'm afraid." He answered suavely, turning into the charming creature he so seldom was and stunning my wife silent for a moment. "Camden is a professor at a school for intellectually gifted children and apparently he-.."

"Gifted children you say." said Chi Chi thoughtfully, the wheels turning around in her head.

"Yes, gifted children." Answered Vegeta, thrilled that she'd latched on so easily. "Apparently he was run off the road on his way home by a menace of sorts and as we had nothing to do, Kakarot, being his benevolent self, offered to escort him home. As thanks, he adorned us with these stunning suits you witness before you and asked us to be so kind as to accompany him to a meeting, as his personal escorts. He pleaded with us to stay the night in his house of course, exclaiming that it was far too late to drive home, which I believe is a front for the rather shaken up state he was in after being run off the road, but with no other option but to act as his body guards, we reluctantly agreed."

It had all come out so smoothly, even I had to check myself so as not to believe it.

"And of course we would have phoned, as all gentlemen do, if it weren't for the shocking and conclusive fact that Camden's phone lines were cut. Unbelievable if you ask me but further proof that we could not leave this man alone on the weight of our consciences."

The sincerity of his voice bewildered me, and I actually shook my head in disbelief that he had sounded anything less than the begrudging, reclusive beast he always was. Even Chi Chi, the lie detector herself, smiled at his statement, perhaps a bit shocked that he had so kindly reacted to poor Professor Camden's misfortune.

"Intellectually gifted children you say….." she mulled again, apparently intoxicated at the idea. No surprise there and I could see little Gohan's shoulders shrink downwards as he knew what was coming next.

"Wouldn't that be something Gohan?" She exclaimed in rare excitement, the excuses and her beloved pan forgotten in the moment. She clasped her hands together dreamily. "Why, a school full of children just like you, smart and talented and gifted and- oh but wouldn't it be lovely of Mr. Camden if he gave Gohan a try? You don't think he would do you Vegeta?"

"Well then…" Vegeta said pompously, the slick, debonair act still in full swing. "I cant imagine why not. A fine creature such as the boy would be a splendid pupil for any teacher worth his salt. And such a handsome thing too."

I watched quietly on the sidelines as Vegeta played the part, moving gracefully to Gohan and bending to his knee.

"Ah yes," he whispered, lifting my son's chin up and sliding his thumb compassionately across the soft skin of his face. "such a pretty little creature you are. Why, I'm certain Mr. Camden would be……." His eyes slid towards me, hard and cold though he remained smiling. "more than happy to give you a try."

My body felt tense and nauseas as he spoke these words, so suggestive though only I seemed to catch on. Chi Chi's shoulders squared as she timidly glanced over at me, perhaps more offset than I had anticipated. We were both unclear as to Vegeta's motives, as he stroked my son's face and teased his hair, acting in a way so foreign to his character, I had to blink to be certain it was indeed him.

"Children." He mused, standing suddenly and gazing down tiredly at Gohan who seemed utterly as speechless as we were. "Precious are they not? Perhaps I'll have a son of my own one day."

"Vegeta." I said irritably as we marched through the woods near my house, a far enough distance from Chi Chi's hearing. "As much as I appreciate you stepping in, and I do, I'd rather you leave my family affairs as they are."

"And just what are you implying?" he asked, apparently returning to his normal, anti-social self.

"Look," I said, stopping our little walk as I emphasized the words. "I don't lie to my wife and I don't stay out drinking all night and then coming up with lousy excuses the next day."

"Lousy excuses!?" he growled. "That was bloody brilliant you imbecile. Dare you insult me so? You're lucky I stepped in when I did, otherwise you would have gotten yourself pulverized by that wretched hound you call a wife!"

"That "wretched hound"," I growled, "is all that I have. We don't lie and we don't keep secrets from each other. I love her and if that means getting yelled at once in a while, yeah, well guess what? It's worth every second."

Vegeta burst into scornful laughter, holding his stomach as he nearly buckled over from it.

"For a second there," he said in a fit, wiping his eyes. "I almost believed you really meant that. Now come, the day is young and I haven't the patience for your ridiculous speeches."

"Vegeta, where are we going?" I asked lightly, the wind striking my face as we passed through it like two knives to an unknown destination.

I suddenly felt rather humbled at my appearance as he adorned a fine pair of purposely faded blue jeans and a tight black t-shirt, grabbing his muscles like a second skin. I glanced down in humility at my own outfit, the same as always, an orange and blue work out uniform. The same boring thing day after day, after day. And yet, I'd never even realized how it fell short of normalcy until now. Vanity after all these years had taken its revenge upon me at the most inopportune and confusing point in my life.

As if the dreams and Vegeta's behavior weren't disturbing enough, now I had to be plagued with the same shallow headed, empty ideas that human's suffered every day for no apparent reason.

"Does it matter?" he yelled back, his jet-black hair flying into his eyes and making his face, for a moment, seem very young and boyish. "You'd follow me regardless of what excuse I gave you and don't pretend otherwise!"

I was, of course, quite appalled at the apparent "control" he prided himself on, but nevertheless, followed behind, curiosity, and lack of anything better to do, spurring me onward.

We landed on the outskirts of the newest city to be attacked, the victims still fresh and reporters and investigators not far from where we landed. Luckily, they hadn't caught sight of us, courtesy of their business rather than any thought from Vegeta in that regard. He could be SO careless! Then again, I hadn't given it a moment's meditation myself, so I could hardly scold him.

"Come," he instructed, eyes on the ground. "Over here, look at this."

I obeyed, seeing nothing but the dirt on the ground and several bodies laying about ten feet away. He pointed at them all, making a circle with his finger.

"Notice anything odd about the position of those corpses?"

I gazed once again, making my own circle only to nearly slap myself in the head at not realizing it sooner.

"They're all the same distance away from this point!" I exclaimed, further confusing myself. "Its like something at this very spot moved them all away into one big circle around it. Why its almost like…… like……"

"Like something had a power level and blew them all to shit." He answered for me in his own uncouth way of speaking. I simply nodded, trying to understand where all this was going.

"I took the liberty of investigating all this while you were…… making love to the garbage dumpster," he added for dry humor I didn't enjoy. "and I just happened to come across this little piece of evidence as well."

His eyes were on the ground as he kneeled, putting his fingertips into the sand.

Footprints.

"FOOTPRINTS!" I yelped, covering my mouth like an idiot after nearly blowing our cover. Vegeta glanced in irritation to the camera crews and police that were completely oblivious to us.

"Yes you idiot," he growled, pointing one by one to the prints that lead away from the scene. "This means that something survived. That someone was here, right at this point, forcing away all the people that had surrounded them and then after……… doing whatever it is they did……. Walking right away from the city. Just like that."

I was stunned at his investigative skills, my eyes still sizing up the shape of footprints in the yellowish sand of San Diego, California.

"So what we're dealing with here," He said in an adult sort of way for my convenience, "is most definitely flesh and blood. Which means……. It's killable. Whatever it does to these people, whatever control it has to make them do these things….. it's stoppable."

I nodded, looking over at him.

"So Sin isn't just a religious thing." I mused quietly aloud.

"I don't think we're dealing with a `thing' at all Kakarot," he said almost angrily. "I think Sin is a someone."

"So all we have to do is catch Sin in the act. Then we take em' out."

"Ehhh…" he said uneasily. "I think we're getting ahead of ourselves on this one. Crazy as it is for me to say, I recommend we get an idea of what we're dealing with rather than rushing head first into something."

"Now that IS crazy of you to say," I commented, looking at him strangely. "You've never been one for asking questions and THEN shooting Vegeta. What's the deal? You nervous?"

"No!" he snapped, eyes blazing at the insult. "I'm merely suggesting we try to understand what powers this creature has. I'm not exactly thrilled with the idea that it could mind control a simpleton like you into fighting against me while I'm beating the shit out of it, and I'd rather have some sort of idea what I'm up against. I've never fought something with the power of turning others against each other rather than facing them head on itself."

"True," I nodded humbly, impressed with his train of thought. "And maybe it doesn't mean for all this to happen. Maybe it's under someone's control too! We cant just kill it if it's innocent."

Vegeta rolled his eyes at me.

"Now that DOES sound like you." He grumbled, glancing suddenly away. I followed his gaze, feeling a sort of eeriness overcome the air around us, suddenly feeling cold and pressurized.

"What……" I stuttered, "what am I feeling? What IS that?"

I felt a rush of energies blazing against me, all cold and full of a sort of despair that haunted me. I could sense the life of thousands of people all swirling through the air, the voices of children and women's screams chilling me to the bone.

I trembled, foreign to my nature, my feet falling backwards as I nearly stumbled over a body, the sounds and feelings making my skin tickle.

Vegeta faired better than I, holding his ground and merely glaring at the air that surrounded him, arms still crossed and muscles tense.

"I don't know." He answered honestly, his eyebrows knitted angrily together. "but whatever it is, its dead."

"D-dead?" I whispered, my head darting left and right as voices came shrieking from one side to the next. I felt the tingling of a person's flesh on my face, a cold, painful sensation as if someone's hands were on both sides of my head and trying to scratch my cheeks. I stumbled backwards, reaching out to push it away, finding my hands flailing at air and nothing more.

It felt as though a thousand hands were suddenly on my body, raking down my arms and legs.

"Vegeta!" I cried out, falling down and trying to hold myself up. He was there, grabbing my arm and scolding me for being such a weakling, tugging me into the air as he took flight, the freezing cold fingers of the dead still scratching at my feet as I soared from the ground.

I was trying so boldly to hide my fear, to conceal the trembling of my hands and legs, the wobbliness of my knees and my racing heart. I couldn't have spoken even if I'd had anything to say, my entire body on high alert. The wind snatched at my sore skin, as if I'd been pricked by a thousand little needles, my very pores complaining at the touch of a little pressure.

"Maybe we're jumping the gun," Vegeta said calmly, though even his body language betrayed an amount of dishevelment. "Perhaps it's all coincidental that those footprints were like that. It could have been any of the investigators and that still leaves us with the fact that I felt no power level last night when the attack began."

"And with the fact that what I felt back there was….." I couldn't even put it into words.

"Not of this world." Vegeta finished for me. He looked solemn, as thoughtful as he'd ever been, beauty no stranger as we simply tolerated the other's companionship, soaring towards nothing as we mulled over what little information we had.

But we had enough for one conclusion. I knew in those moments, as I could still feel the pinches of dead little fingers on my body, my breathing and heart rate no where near normal, I knew that what we were facing was no human or anything comprehensible. Just like the souls that had gripped me in San Diego, it was indeed, not of this world.

But I never knew, just how right I was.

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