Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ The Fall Of The Lost ❯ Congealing Plot ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter Five: Congealing Plot.

~Your walls are made from dirt.

But, sadly, nothing grows but arms

and gangrenous legs. Isn't that ironic.

You thought you'd grow, but no. HA!

Follow the trail, it twines in the black forest.

The foxes have it made. Run on three legs, never on two.

Rules for society, make as much sense.

Never get lost but your lost already. There go your marbles! Look

Watch carefully. They're rolling down from the frontal lobe.

Great green balls. Grass? None as far as I can see.

But this is the black forest. The grass is black, right?

What are you mad?! It's blue of course.

When the end falls over there's nothing but stone.

Stone doesn't grow arms and legs you know.

The proverbial apple with a proverbial worm. The apple is

rotten and there's no worm in sight.

Well if you were a worm, which you are, would you eat the green

or the rosy red. Remember what happened to Snow White. Choked dead.

Killed until death. By the apple who feels no remorse.

So who's your cougar, your puma, your leopard.

Where's that titanium backbone? In your spleen some where?

Out catching someone's sun? What a whore.

~ By Dynishra Shin

~*~

"I can't believe it.." he gasped. This innocent crusader of the people was shattered. I watched in silence as the immaculate fighter for humanity stared at his sobbing son. His eldest. Gohan, the man who had lost it and murdered three men. They had goaded him, sure, but Goku still couldn't believe. Despair and disbelief flittered over his face like white tainted butterflies. He thought he had taught his son better, he said this with whispery words.

I sighed slightly, tapping my forehead. I was 28 now, not that that meant shit. I looked exactly the same. I would look at my self in the mirror and wonder at it. Sure, I had more lines, brought to me by worry and the pressure of being the President of a multi-billion dollar enterprise. But still essentially, I was young innocent Trunks Briefs. Only two knew the lie. Goten and me. I also believed Weis knew the truth, but that old man was getting as senile as Master Roshi and he couldn't prove it.

I had gown my hair out a little, short enough not to look too feminine, but long enough that I could tie it back out of my face. Still, it had the irritating ability to slip out of the tie and fan in front of my eyes.

Forget my vanity.

Goku had leaned slightly against the wall near me. Feeling uncomfortable when near any one else, I walked around and away from Goku to the opposite side of Gohan. Goten was kneeling by his weeping brother, patting his arm, comforting him. Goku watched them silently, and then with a sigh he smiled sadly and went to hug his eldest.

Good.

I felt relief. Not for Gohan, not for Goku, not for the ties which pull strong families through adversity together. But because I knew Gohan would be useless to me if Goku turned his back on him. Gohan would collapse. Fall into a hole that would inevitably lead him back to his wife. Six feet under most likely. Well, he can let the worms eat him inside out if he wishes, but first he's going to help me out.

That's why I was happy to see Goku pull Gohan up into a manly hug, a pat on the back, sentimentalities stated, love swapped, families smiling. Goten watched, a strange look in his eye I couldn't place. He walked backwards from them and stood by me, never taking his eyes away. I tilted my head to look at his face, but he didn't move. He then grinned. "Thank Kami." He whispered.

It was then I realised how frightened he'd been. Worried his father, the man he really, in truth, didn't know very well, would turn his back on Gohan.

I noticed Chichi peering around the doorway. She gave a happy cry and ran in, wrapping her arms about her husband and son. It was the inevitable aftermath of love that followed every crisis which ever came in the path of the great Sons. I smiled cynically. Ah, how precious. And how unusual Goten stayed well clear of it. Leaning against the wall with me, his eyes now down cast, staring at the floor with great singleminded interest. The proverbial black sheep of the family.

And what about my family? Well.. what can I say.. Mother was the proverbial wilting flower. Her sun was stolen therefore nothing was bringing the bright rays of a smile to her face. She took this whole mad episode with a nonchalant sigh.

Bra? Well.. if you could call that strange Goth punk goddess of the underworld, that bright laughing little girl, then there's something seriously wrong with your observational skills. She still had that strangeness which she had carried with her since birth. I swear, she scares me sometimes, and it wasn't just the dyed black, spiky, blood red streaked hair with the silver studs lining her ears, the ebony eyeliner thicker than an Egyptian pharaohs', the lipstick bleeding her lips black like she had eaten coal. It was those eyes. Those damn blue eyes so like yet unlike my own. They had some kind of strange knowledge behind them. It was from beyond the after-birth of infant-hood. Hell if I knew her mystery. But it irritated me more than it ever had when I was her age. Despite her black angry appearance she was usually quiet yet nice. And that's Bra Briefs.

My Grandfather? I shoved him in a home the moment he began to drool at the dinner table. Grandma followed soon after, she's the life of the rest home, so I hear. It was nothing cruel, you understand, it was for their own good. They couldn't look after them selves. Mother was too caught up in her own private desperate search to find father. I was too busy, and Bra.. well I didn't think it would be a good idea to put her in charge of our grandparents.. she was only 17.

That was my family. Dysfunctional. Separate. Nullified. We pretty much had nothing to do with each other. I couldn't help but feel a slight jab of envy at the happy convergence in front of me. Smile for the simpletons Trunks.. smile so they think your normal. Goten wasn't fooled. But then he was like a brother to me. Like the only family that could warrant the name. I loved him, plain and simple. He was my brother and my best friend. I never thought of him in the same way I did the others. And how did I think of them? With disdain most of the time. I guess you could say I was growing into my father's realisations. Wasn't he around 28 when he first came to Earth to kill Goku? I blinked. So he had been. Interesting.

I was at least ten times as powerful as he had been then. Even then he was under the oppressive tin plated foot of that creature known as Frieza. All I had heard was descriptions of that apparent monster. Neither Goten nor me had any clue of what he had been like. I had asked Gohan once.. He said to think about a short white Buu with a tail who had an aristocratically developed class and a rich taste in wines. Other than the fact he was an evil unlike the universe had ever seen, he sounded like an interesting fellow. The odd thing was, whenever I asked my father about him he had always gone silent then pushed me into a ruthlessly harsh sparring match.

Well, I didn't have an oppressor. No one was going to walk up to me and crack a whip. I would melt their face.

And my father was gone.

I left the room and marched down the hall. Time to get back to work me thinks. I smirked darkly. Soon Gohan will be back to his chirpy self. He had been a great help over these last ten years. Diplomacy, strangely, seemed to be his middle name. There was only one other person I knew who was better. And that was Goten. There was something about his airhead smile that made people underestimate him. That and his youth. Like me he looked little older than 18. I was seriously thinking of replacing Gohan with Goten.

Back when I first started my little game Gohan had been useful because he had been a good ten years older than me. Now though, it didn't really matter as Goten and me were of an age (and reputation) where people respected us. To a degree. There was still the odd old fart politician who was blinded by our 'apparent' inexperience in wheeling and dealing.

Funny. Considering by now I had money in the back pockets of almost the entire senate of the Orange Star Islands. Weis was also on a downward slope, poor idiot. He refused to influence the senate. Oh well, more for me. The senate loved it. When it came to the day to vote, out went the Capsule Corps flags, backing whom ever I decided was easiest to manipulate. It was early days yet. Really all I had done for Capsule Corps was insure financial deals with some of the key members usually in the business of transportation and weapons. Though the later was a rather secretive deal. Oh, and of course, don't for get communications. Capsule Corps had bloomed over the past ten years on a little instrument of communication called a Crystal Cube. It had originally been devised by my mother as a way to try and contact father. It was a failure in that aspect but I saw in it the potential I needed. So.. that done I leaned back and got richer. And more powerful.

Ah, democracy.. well democracy with a monarchy. Instead of a President there was a King. The senators were all cousins you see. The 'royal' family was rather large and full of illegitimate bastards who, in more recent times, been accepted back into the 'family'. I thought the whole thing was laughable. They made them selves look like a joke to the rest of the world. Just ask Johann Achilles. He was the ruler of the Red Table Nation. They had a lovely large continent south of the Orange Star Islands that at one stage my father and his general, Nappa, had blasted chunks out of. That was quite a while ago. Thinking of Nappa made me think of Goten. Was he not like my general? My second? My best friend.. definitely. I would trust him with my life. I snorted, though I would never blast him into Hell.

But I was not my father. I had no restraints against me but those I chose to in force. I did not want to bring on my own self-destruction.

I smirked. Fantastic. Everything was falling perfectly into place.

"Trunks." Goten tapped my shoulder. I blinked out of my thick inner thoughts and turned to face him.

"What's wrong Goten?" I frowned slightly. He looked worried. He bit his lip slightly and sighed, his eyes darting away to the floor, his right hand swept nervously through his black hair.

"Um.. well.. I was wondering.. since Gohan's, well, out of it at the moment.." he looked up hopefully at me. "I was wondering if I could take his place.." His dark eyes grew round in appeal. "I know I can do it! And I know you know I can! Those political suckers won't know what hit them!" he laughed and grinned at me. It was slightly devious. "I think I know what you're up to Trunks.." he grew quiet and darted his eyes about the hall, checking for others. In a quiet whispery voice he spoke up. "I have for a while now wondered why you continue to go after the senate. But after the Hagen Bridge thingy I finally clicked."

The 'Hagen Bridge thingy' as dear Goten called it, was the largest amount of political power I had publicly welded so far.

It was against a large corporate company called Press & Douglass Incorporate. The now ex-King, King Cetearyl, had asked Press & Douglass to build him a bridge that would straddle South Island and Satan Island.

The problem was the point where the South Island bridge end connected with the land. It was on a large amount of property owned by none other than King Cetearyl's rival for the throne, senator Prince Richard. They were brothers and Prince Richard was furious but could really do nothing about it since it was Crown Rule. Richard had come to me. Through advice from some of his.. cousins.

Richard was desperate. This piece of land was of important value to him. He didn't tell me what it was but I found out with my own ways. Apparently Richard had reason to believe there was a large oil resource in that area and if Cetearyl took the land he could not only build the bridge but gain access to the coastal run of the property and find out Richard's secret. Lots of money for the crown, ahem, the people. Money Richard would rather have when he became King.

So.. I smiled to Richard and shook his hand. Out of this, if Richard ever became King, he promised me the first place as his government's transport and weapons supplier. I was over joyed. No really I was..

This was a perfect opportunity to try out my strings of power. So I got to work and found that Press & Douglass was in a rather sticky situation legally. It seemed that they were bribing off health inspectors at their chemical factories and then dumping the waste in less than approved areas. When I found this out I smiled and then dumped Press & Douglass up to their necks in shit. I found their health inspector and gave him an even heftier back pocket if he exposed Press & Douglass. He was happy to oblige. The back pocket was VERY heavy after all.

So, Press & Douglass were sunk. I gathered a quiet meeting with many of the corporate Presidents of other super companies like my own and told them of it, discreetly of course. That was so when King Cetearyl went to them they politely declined. Every large business has its dirty little secrets. Well, all but mine. Capsule Corps was the cleanest of the lot.

King Cetearyl was worried. The people demanded a bridge, and he knew the future investment would mean big bucks between South Island and Satan Island.

So he came to me. His offer, although generous, was not in my best interest. At the next election three months later, Richard was voted in. He immediately came to me and I built him a bridge. Richard, being the loving cousin of Cetearyl, took some of the ex-King's own private waterfront land. I had a little help from the other business who had declined Cetearyl; I let them have a piece of the pie. It was no good to threaten and not reward when the dog does what its told. And now I had a nice business with Richard, building him little explosive knick-knacks and fast cars. He had also asked me to build him profitable spacecraft that could be used in exploration. I thought that interesting. Out into space for the people of Earth. Boy would they be surprised. Most didn't even believe there were aliens, let alone little green men, of which the only green men I have ever seen certainly weren't little. How ironic, the man they came to for help was half alien himself. I wondered what they would do if they knew? How would they react?

Goten elbowed me in the ribs with an irritated glance. Oh right, the current situation. "Oh you clicked to what?"

Goten gave me a sly smile. "Your trying to get your claws into control of the country aren't you?" I looked at him with all the blank innocence I could conjure up.

"Why Goten, what ever do you mean?" I grinned. Goten gave me a 'gimme-a- break-I'm-not-that-stupid' look.

He leaned forward and whispered into my ear. "You know just because my dad can be an utter moron doesn't mean I carry the same genetic disability." Damn, that was rather harsh, I thought. Goten was a bitter young man, though usually he masked it well. I guess he was very serious about what I was doing. He was right of course, it was very serious. I saw the concern in his eyes. Was he worried about me? Something suddenly broke free within me at that unexpected look. A bolt of irrational anger suddenly struck through me. Why should he care what I do?! It's none of his business.. For some reason, those two concerned eyes made me snarl with rage. How dare he..

How dare he care.. for me.

"Look, Goten, just watch your self.. don't interfere with what I'm doing!" he was visibly taken back by my harsh tone. "Don't even think it!" I snarled and stormed off to leave him in angry confusion.

"Hey I wasn't even.!" Goten scowled. "Paranoid bastard.." he muttered as he turned around and walked back to the room, a black cloud hanging over his day.

~*~

Gohan sat silently in the chair. He ran his hands over the creases in his black jeans, digging his nails in to lift the stiff fabric. He felt totally and utterly alone. There was a great void in his soul that was suffused with a darkness so thick he choked on it. He felt his father's eyes on him. Kami, how was he going to explain this! Explain? Was there an explanation?

Son Gohan, defender of Earth, son of Goku. Hero. Saviour. Protector. Murderer. That's what he was, even though it had been a delicious sick kind of revenge. Swiftly dealt out. But then he supposed that's why he felt so guilty. Because killing those three men had felt so good! Ripping into their hot flesh and hearing them scream. Bathing in searing waves of their boiling blood. It sent shivers through him, he hadn't wanted them to die so quickly. He had wanted them to suffer! He grimaced at the feelings. It was wrong! So damn wrong, but so right! It was like for the first time in years he was himself. Not what others wanted. But what he knew he should be. No! This couldn't be right! He was not a mindless killer! He was a hero! Then the bitter irony hit home. Yeah, sure, the ~Great~ Saiyaman.. He laughed cynically and buried his head in his hands as new hot tears came. Oh yeah, if he was the great hero he always paraded around as.. then WHY IN HELL, HAD HE LET VIDEL DIE! In a fit of rage he stood swiftly and kicked the wooden chair into the wall where it crumpled like delicate wooden wings.

Goku came up behind him and held him in a mournful hug. He calmed him with soothing words and led his slightly deranged son back to the couch. "Gohan.." Goku began. Looking into his son's tear stained face. He smiled slightly. "It's.. it's alright.." he took the young man and Gohan leaned in to cry on his shoulder. "There.. there.. it's going to be okay.."

He rubbed his boy's back and whispered. "It's okay, we'll wish her back.. it's okay.."

Gohan shook his head into his father's shoulder. "No.. no it isn't." came his muffled words. "I killed those men dad.." he leant back to look into his father's eyes. "I killed them and.. and I liked it!" he started sobbing again and Goku took him hesitantly back. He closed his eyes tightly.

"Just momentary madness.." he muttered. "Just momentary grieving madness.." Goku knew he would have done the same thing if some one murdered Chichi. He clenched his eyes shut tightly, tears edging on the corners.

Gohan sobbed, knowing it wasn't true, but wanting to believe in the illusion as well.

He bit his lip, staring out the window over his father's shoulder. He saw the city. He saw the fading sky, ribboned with plum and peach hued clouds. The tears stopped. The sobbing ended. He just stared as darkness slowly filtered over his vision, seeped into his soul, and made its self at home.

~**~

TBC..