Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ The Fall Of The Lost ❯ Death of Innocents a.k.a Spiral into Madness ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter Four: Death of Innocents a.k.a Spiral into Madness.

I dropped my pen with a sigh. Writing, writing, always fucking writing. "God damn it!" I cursed and stood up violently, shoving my chair back. With a venomous snarl I stormed down the hallways of Capsule Corps. "Goten, you worm!" I cried as I shoved my way into the lounge. This building was simply FAR too small for my tastes. I found the dullard examining Edmunds polished skull with a magnifying glass. I slumped into the couch beside him, he totally ignored me and I focused my attention on the far wall. I examined the fine grained wood for about an hour, pondering over how precisely a knee connects with a femur and deciding that when I next get the chance that I would have to do a little experiment. Blinking I snarled at Goten, "When is my blasted castle going to be ready? I'm about to crack heads open if it isn't finished soon."

Goten sighed and threw the skull casually against the far wall with a dull thud. "I don't know, about I week I believe.. Ask Gohan, he's the one fussing over it. Honestly, anything to take his mind off his normal urges.. it's unnatural." He drummed his fingers together with a single short hum. "I'm bored." He complained tonelessly. I smirked slightly and pondered over something.

"I heard there was a village of rebels out south." I muttered, a small smile playing on the edge of my lips. I unconsciously ran a finger through my waist length purple hair. Goten's head snapped in my direction and it reminded me of a dog called to food. There was a slight twinkle in his eye. Ah, that dear twinkle. He had lost that when he married Bra, but since her death.. I could not deny I was happy to see it again. It meant fun. It meant blood and battles.

Goten slowly turned away from me and sighed with a kind of relief. "Can we go and.."

"Of course.." I said before he finished. I saw him grin like a happy child. He raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you were working on that .. thing you were writing. Since I suggested it, you seemed quite taken with the task." He hummed. I shrugged. The reason for the break was quite obvious.

"I was getting restless." I smirked. "I'll continue it after I work off a little steam." My mind was suddenly taken by the sound of crunching skulls and I sat in a silent daze for several minutes, ignorant of the world, just thinking about that sound. Goten was use to it, and as if in an unconscious attempt to restrain my inner ravaging mind he hummed that little ditty which helps me to keep my cool. It was from a band which had long ago been forgotten in the dust of time.

But back when I had just started as President of Capsule Corps, some 249 odd years ago, they were a band loved by Goths and Punks alike. As well as the average disobedient rebels. I had first started humming it when I spent long hours in front of imbeciles and paper work. I didn't want to fly off the handle and scare some one back then ..did I.

Too bad that by then I had already killed one person. I was frightened of my self. Frightened of what I might do, that I was loosing control of my inner demons. I was afraid that I was loosing my human side. And damn the song was so appropriate..

~*~

~Two hundred and forty nine years earlier~

It had been two days since my badly shaken ordeal that night. Still I remembered those rough screams from a voice that sounded just like mine. Whenever I thought about it, it sent shivers down my spine. Shivers, ha, more like quivering waves of turmoil. I was sitting at my desk chewing on the end of my pen. The little blue nub was almost worn through by the constant nervous grinding of my teeth. I knew I was paranoid. The little fire, which had so horribly ended Matthew Hickman's life, had been cleared of suspicion weeks ago. But to tell the truth, I was over being nervous of that. I was more worried that demonic futuristic apparition would once more appear to haunt my nightmares.

Goten had found me huddled and bleeding that morning. If it had been any one else who had found me I would have blasted them away out of humiliation. He had been so frightened and worried for me. He though it was the guilt getting to me. In some ways he had been right. But I told him what I had seen. He cleaned up the broken mirror for me, no questions asked. I knew he was horribly worried for me. I could see it in his eyes. But he never ignored me or left me alone, and for that I was grateful.

I had flicked on the stereo in my office about an hour ago, trying to take my mind off my constantly dark thoughts by the melodies of the good old- fashioned radio. I was not really listening to the music any more, my mind had defied my attempts to ignore my thoughts and stubbornly ignored the music instead.

~ Drowning deep in my see of loathing..~

I cast my eyes over to a happy photo of my family and me. Well, it was what I thought of as happy. Dad was not snarling at least, though what others might think of that staunch icy glare, who knows. I saw my self, a laughing 16 year old. That was just two years ago. Fuck, my life had gone to hell since then. And look at me, so happy and carefree. I would give any thing to be that innocent again. But no.. I was.. what that demon in the mirror had said I was.

~ Broken your servant I kneel..~

Father was gone, mother spent every hour of the day she could looking through that big telescope; listening to the solar air waves of deep space. Calling out over the mic, hoping for a response. So desperate and pathetic it seemed. And here I was, the son of Kings, sitting at a desk riffling uselessly through papers that meant nothing. This business was petty. And I was the petty Prince that ran it.

~ Can you give it to me..~

All the time, constantly I had people asking me for better things, more things, we want this, we want that. Constantly.. demand, demand, demand. How had my mother coped? Well, for one she DIDN'T dismiss her board. I though about it for a moment. I knew I could hire people to do all this paper work crap. At least the minor bull shit, that would cut my day in half. Then I would have more spare time to follow other pursuits. More time to spar and fight. Perhaps.. I could even train hard enough to be in this year's world tournament. I had to up hold my title right? Though this year I would be moving into the adults division. Not that that made much of a difference, it just meant my weakling opponents would be taller.

~ It seems what's left of my human side is changing..~

I felt a sudden memory of my hot thick blood running down my forearm to drip and splatter on to those broken pieces of mirror. To seep, thick and warm into the carpet. I unconsciously licked my lips thinking about it. My thoughts changed to the battles I had been in. The satisfaction of feeling your opponent's body give way to a striking punch, or the sound of the ribs popping as they snap. The heat and power as my body would move as sleek and fast as a leopard. I was like a lion when I went Super. My great golden mane, my brilliant jade green eyes. I was lithe and fast. The epitome of my Saiyan heritage. The streamlined Prince. When I fought, I made my father proud. Sitting in this dull office was bursting the energy in me. I had to get out! To get away! To find some other way to sate my strength. My power.. I had so much of it. Not just physical power either. But I had the ruling capabilities of a Prince of my people. Saiyans and humans alike. They were both my people after all..

~ Can you give it to me..~

I had to find away to use this power. This power being President of Capsule Corps gave me. I craved more than this petty office with its weak willed grey workers. Nerdy little creatures. I raised an eyebrow. Perhaps.. but no, Gohan seemed to love his teaching job. Why would he want to work for me? Perhaps the money.. But he had never been one to fall for things of material value, too much like his father in that aspect. He was too much the family man. Perhaps.. perhaps he may like the challenge. Gohan had always loved challenges. I just knew he would be able to help me spread my tendrils of influence into the ruling class of the world. My eyes twinkled with mischief.. dare I?!

~ Is slowly changing in me..~

Dare I further my pursuits for power?! I didn't really need it.. of course not. But, for once it seemed so alluring. To have control.. over so many. I could use Capsule Corps as a political battleship. Perhaps it was my inner Saiyan craving for my heritage that had begun to burn away inside. Perhaps it was sparked by the absence of my father. All I knew was for once I was beginning to feel like I needed to be MORE. Do MORE. Have people do MORE for me.. come at my will, go at my will. Live by my will. Die by my.. I blinked. Die.. like Hickman. I thought for a moment that I heard a distant strained voice screaming.. 'Murderer..' so far away. Like I was hearing it from across a great gulf in time and space.

~Looking at my own reflection..~

Suddenly I thought I heard the sound of heavy forced breathing. The panting of a man who had just cut his way through his enemies like a hunter with a machete through the jungles. I looked up and saw him! There he was standing in front of me. His coarse denim jacket was torn and his black singlet had seen better days. His black pants had great bloody rifts in the fabric and the flesh underneath. His long hair was tied back but many strands had come loose to fan about his face like a lilac curtain. His face was covered in blood and dirt. Sweat beaded on his brow and ran down his nose. He was panting, a short thick sword grasped in his right hand, his sapphire eyes were full of malice.

~ When suddenly it changes..~

I sat up straight backed in shock. My prim navy suit now seemed gaudy and ornamental in front of his extreme martial appeal. He slapped his left hand down wetly on the polished wooden desk.

"Which one.." he growled out. I blinked and stared at him. Was he really there? Or was he just some figment from my.. changing mind? He snarled and flicked his sword out, to my shock the point of the blade slashed open my cheek. The harsh stinging pain followed the sudden hot flow of blood down my face. He looked like a weary fighter, one who had come far and fought many for something grandly important to him. Even through the pain and blood on my face, I was still unsure if he really existed at all.. or weather he was.. nothing at all.

"Which future I say!" he growled and stabbed his sword violently into the wooden table.

~ Violently it changes..~

I instantly admired him through my fear. He was me. He was Trunks Briefs. A great war hero. Or perhaps he was a great villain depending on which side you were on. Was I a hero or a villain? Which one did I want to be..? I sucked in a breath of air sharply. How could I question that?! I was always the hero! Trunks Briefs, born hero. There was no other option. And what was he talking about, which future?

"What do you mean?" I said firmly despite the fear that was growing within me by the moment. Was this just going to be like the other night.. when I saw that face in the mirror?!

~ I know, there is no turning back now..~

He stared deep into me with blue eyes of malice. Deep into my soul, where he saw the taint. He saw the murderer in me. Then suddenly I realised! He was me! Not Mirai Trunks! He was me.. but years from now! He was my future.. not that other future, but the future of this time line! I stared at him in wonder at this realisation. I scanned my eyes over him, I have to remember! This is who I want to be! This is who I will be! I silently wondered who it was this me had been killing so very recently.

I saw his lips move into a dark smirk. His long butt length hair swayed slightly as he stood back, straighter, with more strength. "So, that is what you choose.. to be me?" he asked some what mockingly. For the first time I noticed the emblem on his jacket was not the usual Capsule Corps logo.. but a strange design I knew I had seen somewhere before stitched in roughly with scarlet silk thread. I thought his words odd.. did I have no other choice but to be this magnificent self before me? It was like he could hear my thoughts, and perhaps he could because he rolled his eyes with an expecting smile and snorted. He dragged his sword out of my desk and glared at me for a second. "You have no idea little boy," He said mockingly, "What you have just done to your self."

He gave a quick dark smirk and then after I blinked he was gone. Then I was just looking at the reflection of my self in the wall mirror, a young shorthaired boy in a suit, a cut running blood on to his once perfectly white lapel from his face, looking stunned and strangely excited.

~You've woken up the demon in me..~

~*~

I sat there for many minutes pondering his strange words and listening to the song. It was so unusual. Unlike any song I had ever heard. I tried to tell my self it was the least of my worries but as it continued to play I couldn't help but hear the second verse. It echoed around my head strangely.

~ Madness is the gift that has been given to me

I can see inside you the sickness is rising

Don't try to deny what you feel

It seems that all that was good has died

And is decaying in me

It seems you're having some trouble

In dealing with these changes

Living with these changes

The world is a scary place

Now that you've woken up the demon in me..~

It sent a strange foreboding shiver down my spine. That Trunks had really been there, right? He hadn't been just a manifestation of a warping mind? I clutched the side of my head with sudden fear, by blue eyes wide and my breathing harsh.

"Kami, no.. I am so confused." I whispered. Goten walked into my office soundlessly and stood there watching me for several long seconds. He too heard the last lines of that strange twisted song with the haunting melody.

~ Here it comes, get ready to die..~

The voice screamed the last word like a venomous battle cry and followed with the `Get Down with the Sickness..` chorus. I looked up and saw Goten staring at my stereo with a strange look. It looked like his right eye twitched. He blinked and looked back at me. "Trunks." He said simply, as if suddenly remembering why he was here. He walked forward slowly with odd deliberation and sat back in the chair in front of my desk. He narrowed his eyes at the large slice in my desk. "What is.." he began.

"Uh.. I accidentally.. um.." Damn brain! Can't even lie properly anymore! I gave a huff and told him about the strange apparition and what he had done. Goten jabbed his eyes to my cut cheek with a wince.

"Nasty.. man did he just walk in here and cut you?" he looked angry, but I realised it was more at him self than the apparition. He slowly looked back at me. "Was it like the one in the.. mirror?" he hesitated to bring it up.

I sighed with thought. "Well, no not really, he was more real. Way more real.." I ran my hand down the raw wooden slash in my desk with a frown.

Goten pondered for a minute before he changed topics. "What was the song on your stereo just a minute ago?" he looked up at the stereo which was now playing some R&B crap.

I shrugged. "I don't know, does it matter?" I asked before I sighed again and rested my head into my hands. I had a headache beginning to pound the front of my skull. Goten twiddled his thumbs.

"Well any way.." he began. He swiped his short hair back.

"Oh right!" I said suddenly remembering something. "Can you take this to Gohan for me? I would like him to consider a position here as a business advisor." Goten goggled at me.

"You want Gohan for a business advisor?!" he laughed, giggling he took the paper and read it over. "Well, well, it looks like your serious." He snorted. He gave it a thought and realised that I must have some thing up my sleeve. He gave me one of his rare sly looks. "What's this about? Trying to get one over Weis by using Saiyaman as a means to sabotage enemy lines?" he smirked.

I grinned darkly. "Yeah, some thing like that.."

~*~

~Ten quiet years later, in a part of Satan City..~

"Bad guys! Come out with your hands up and I, the Great Saiyaman! Will not harm you!" Cried Gohan in his Saiyaman get up. He pointed heroically into the air. Next to him, his wife pranced forward.

"And I, Videl Satan! Will send you straight to the slammers where you belong!" The three bank robbers paused before the doors of the bank and their leader shot a round into the air, the hostages cried out, shaking in fear.

"What makes you think we're gonna listen to you, Saiya-dweeb!" he said with a dark chuckle. He was a large muscle-bound man, his thoughts were on two things. The cash and the escape, and if one of these clowns got in his way they were going to taste lead very quickly.

Videl snarled and jumped forward. "Because if you don't bonehead, I'll make sure I'll send you to jail with several badly dislocated vertebrae!" with that she leaped forward.

All Gohan could think was, 'What is she doing! She promised to let me deal with the armed ones!'

There was a loud bang and Videl's whole body seemed to shudder with an unseen force. The bullet went right through her chest and pinged off Gohan's shoulder to his utter shock and surprise. The robbers swore and made a run for their get-away van. Gohan paused, staring in mute shock as Videl fell backwards with a soft sigh to thump onto the pavement with a sickening slap. A shuddering arm slowly rose from the bloody earth and reached towards Gohan. Videl stared at him with watery pleading eyes. She gave a ragged cough and blood spluttered over her pale lips. "Gohan!" she gasped before she gave a choking cough and her arm fell to the earth with a wet thunk and she lay still. Her eyes vacant black orbs.

"Vid..Videl?" Gohan gasped and darted forward to crouch over her body, his hands roamed over her, checking for a pulse. Any sign of life! "Oh Kami.. no.. No.. NOOO!!" he screamed at her lifeless form. "Videl!" he shook her out of desperation. "VIDEL!" He cried and suddenly rage consumed him.

She was dead.. DEAD! Gone from him! This moment would haunt his nightmares for many years to come. With an inhuman scream he summoned all his power and changed, his hair flashed up with golden crackles, yet at the same time a mystical white glow surrounded him with blue lightning. "VIDEL!" he screamed and vanished after the van.

Mech, the leader of the little troupe of bank robbers chuckled merrily to him self. "Well, that showed them. Ha! Now I'll be famous for knocking of Videl Satan!" his other little friends laughed with him, though nervously. Suddenly there came the screech of tearing metal and above them Mech could see two gloved fists tearing through the roof.

"Holy fuck!" cried Regatta as one of those fists reached down and grabbed him by the hair. "Ahhh! Help me! He's gonna kill me!" he panicked. Gohan pulled him up onto the roof, a savage look in his eyes. With a snarl of pure rage he ripped out Regatta's throat with his teeth and yanked off his left arm with a sickening crack. He then tossed the body over his shoulder to tumble back along the road. Gohan, his mind totally taken up in the pure instinct to kill and maim, jumped down into the van and smashed Corbel around the head with Regatta's detached, blood raining arm. Corbel screamed and tried to grab at his gun, but faster than he could contemplate Gohan had him by the base of his rib cage, his gloved hand through his stomach. Corbel coughed, his eyes wide as blood ran down his chin and Gohan gave a sick pull and yanked Corbel's rib cage out through his stomach. Corbel was dropped to the floor, flopping like a dying fish, his limbs twitching.

Mach swerved the van into a building and was saved by his belt, but Gohan went flying through the window screen, shattering the glass like a rainbow of red. Mach jumped out, his breathing harsh, he pulled his gun and pointed it at Saiyaman. "Keep back you monster!" he screamed. He had seen what he had done to his two mates. His pale eyes were wide with fear.

Gohan gave a primal roar and pounced on him mindlessly. The bullets shot into his stomach pinged off him ineffectively. Then unheedful of the bystanders, Gohan ripped Mach into pieces. He ripped a hole in Mach's stomach and started pulling out his bowels laughing darkly at Mach's suffering screams. His lifeblood flooded over Gohan, staining the defender of the Earth scarlet.

~*~

I watched in horror from the pavement as Gohan dealt bloody vengeance on his wife's murderer. I suddenly understood the term 'beserker'. Gohan had lost it. In his grief, his weaker human side had fallen back into the primal Saiyan-ness within. Given way to the darkness which the more rational human-ness could not cope with. I watched him pull the man to pieces until there was just a stripped bloody skeleton, the flesh strewn about madly. He seemed to be wallowing in the man. And he was laughing. A strange unnatural laughter. I had been pulled here by Gohan's sudden dramatic rise in power. His power level right now was enough to make even a fully ascended Goku pause in his tracks. Goten beside me looked with pale unbelieving astonishment. "Oh my Kami.." he breathed before he ran over to tug his brother away from the.. mess.

I quickly followed and we drew Gohan away and brought him swiftly back to Capsule Corps. Goten helped clean his brother up and then we both sat him down on the couch. Gohan didn't move, his face was expressionless. His eyes were vacant black holes. "He's lost it.." sobbed Goten. "Videl's dead and my brother's gone mad!" he wrapped his arms about his frozen unresponsive brother and cried into his shoulder.

Gohan sat like that for three days before tears started to slide uncontrollably down his pale cheeks. Even then it was another several hours before he started to sob, and he suddenly was 'Gohan' again. He cried so painfully and so long, we all, meaning Piccolo, mother, Chichi, Goku, Goten and me supported him through it. But none of us forgot, especially Goku and Chichi, what he had done to those three men.

It had been a boring simple ten years past. Gohan had accepted my offer as advisor and his family had flourished under the extra income. Pan was 19 and engaged to some nobody. And now this had happened to shatter the silent peace.

That night I heard that voice again after so long. I was just drifting off to a difficult sleep when that strange detached voice which sounded like my own, spoke. It sounded harsh and whispery when it said, "It has begun." And then never made another peep for the rest of the night.

~**~

TBC..