AFadingKich2

It was a beautiful morning in what remained of Satan City.

The lazy sun rolled its way slowly over the horizon, shedding its paled light over the ruined Earth. Shadows shrank away into the recesses of broken, long abandoned buildings as the sky brightened and took on the hollowness of the day.

Perched on the side of one those building sat a young woman with blond hair and super-focused pale blue eyes. She scanned her world, the world that she had helped conquer with a cool impassive gaze. Her mind was elsewhere than on the destruction caused today.

Juuhachigou was deep in thought. All at once, in only a few short days, her life had taken a drastic turn. She had lost her brother, her twin, her companion all at once in a grand explosion that she was doomed to repeat again and again in her minds eye.

And in the process of this great loss, she had gained a new, and dangerous enemy.

Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she thought of him. The child on whom she would extract her revenge. Unconsciously, a terrible snarl came to her lips. She could see him perfectly. The wide, scared blue eyes, and that bizarre purple hair that had suddenly turned gold…

She closed her eyes and smiled evilly, savoring the pictures of him screaming and dying in her mind. She had kept a close vigilant on his ki, which she had memorized. No way was this little brat going to escape her as Son Gohon had escaped her brother. She would not be taken as a fool…

CRASH!

Juuhachigou whirled around at the sound of the sudden noise, cursing herself under her breath for so carelessly narrowing her perspective. She had been so focused on the purple-headed punk that she hadn’t remembered simple observailent defense.

“Heh heh, sorry Juuhachigou…” Said a voice softly.

Juuhachigou stood, disgusted and completely knocked out of her reflective thoughts. She rolled her eyes at her intruder, wondering why she hadn’t recognized his ki to begin with.

Kuririn stood before her, a rather innocently ashamed look on his face. A pile of unsettled debris lay at his feet. He had obviously knocked it over, or down when he had carelessly come up behind her.

He scuffed the toe of his shoe on the floor and put a hand behind his head. “Sorry if I bothered you, Juu-chan, I…”

Juuhachigou’s eyes widened reflexively. “What did you call me?” she demanded harshly.

Her abruptness took poor Kuririn back considerably. Not sure what to say, he just stood there, blinking rapidly, a shell-shocked look on his face. What did I do? His wide, fearful eyes seemed to ask.

“Well? I asked you a question?” Juuhachigou’s hissed. Her arms where crossed dangerously, a deadly look on her face.

If Kuririn had remembered the look, he would have recognized it as the mask of malice she put on right before the finishing move. Fortunately for him, he did not. Unfortunately, his lack of knowledge did not make her any less intimidating.

“I-I…” he began, stuttering. He swallowed hard, then answered timidly. “…Juu-chan.”

“And why did you do that?” She made it sound as if he had cursed her to her face.

Afraid, Kuririn looked at his feet to avoid her gaze. “Well…why not?”

Juuhachigou did not have an answer, so she dismissed it. “What are you doing here? I thought you were asleep at the other side of this accursed city.” She said, and Kuririn wondered to himself if she always sounded so angry.

She had brought the little runt to this city the night before, after she had found him, totally unaware of who he was or that she had once been his mortal enemy. In Juuhachigou’s mind, it was the best-case scenario. The last time she had seen the short warrior, she had nearly killed him. In an odd way, she was glad that he didn’t remember the terror and pain she had caused to him and his friends.

After finding him and dumping him in a building, she had ordering him very bluntly to stay where he was until she came back. Then Juuhachigou had left him and gone off to find someplace to think over her next move.

To be truthful, she still didn’t know quite know the extent of what she planed to do with the human. The night before, her mind had been clouded. All she knew now was that he was going to be her new companion, and that she had plans to use him in her game of destruction…and in her revenge…

“I’m sorry for bothering you, Juu-chan.” Kuririn said quietly. Then he perked up. “But I woke up this morning and tried flying again, and I did it!” He sounded as if this were a great accomplishment. “I came looking for you so I could show you!”

His childish and innocent disposition amused Juuhachigou and the corners of her mouth turned up. “Later.” Was all she said. Her eyes flashed. There was no time to waste. “Ready to fight?”

Kuririn’s happy smile faded. “I’m gonna fight…already?” He asked.

“Unless you think you can kill things some other way.” Juuhachigou said sarcastically, crossing her arms. “Do you have a problem with that?”

The small monk took a step forward, making Juuhachigou uneasy. “But I thought you were going to explain my purpose today.” He said quietly.

His face looked almost hurt, like he expected her to tell him to shut up and do as he was told. Normally, that was just what she would have done. In fact, the very words caught in her throat. Yes, normally, she wouldn’t have thought twice. But somehow she couldn’t do that to Kuririn.

Frustrated, she stifled the growl that rose in her throat. What is wrong with me? Her mind asked. What did this little human have to do with her, that she had been compelled to save him, and now to take him as her companion?

She stared down at him, looking him from top to bottom. He just stood there, so tiny that he barely made it halfway up her chest. Large wide, clueless eyes, and his face was as blank as they came. How was he able to do anything to her? He wasn’t threatening at all.

Kuririn looked uneasy, as if he thought that he had done something to upset her. “Is something wrong, Juu-chan?” He asked he timidly. His faced was ashamed. He took a breath. “Is fighting part of my purpose?”

Taking the opportunity, Juuhachigou decided that she could be honest, about this at least. Deceiving Kuririn somehow made her feel strangely unsettled, especially since he was wholeheartedly and unconditionally trusting her, but after careful thought, she had deemed it absolutely necessary that he know as little of his true past as possible.

“Yes, Kuririn.” Juuhachigou said to him, uncomfortably taking her arms out of their crossed position. “Fighting is the way you can help me; in fact, if you can’t you’re useless.”

This answer seemed to rock the small human. It was obvious that “useless” was the last thing that he wanted to be to her. He nodded frantically.

“Fighting. I can do that.” He said, largely to himself. Then he hesitated and looked up at Juuhachigou with puzzlement clouding his expressive eyes. “Why am I learning to fight again?” he asked.

Juuhachigou had had enough of his idiocy. “It is your purpose.” She said, somewhat irritably. “And that is all you need to know for now.”

Kuririn nodded again. “Alright, I guess. You saved me. So now I’m gonna help you by fighting on your side.” He repeated. Then he turned to look right a Juuhachigou and said,

“But I still don’t know who I’m fighting.”

This made Juuhachigou smile. It was an evil smile. Wasn’t it ironic that his enemy had once been his ally. The people that he had once protected where the people that he would fight.

How perfectly ironic.

*****

Kuririn was confused, to say the least.

He didn’t remember much of anything; he only vaguely even remembered who he was. In fact, the only thing he had remembered when he awoke that morning, was Juuhachigou.

She had been the first thing he saw when he first came back into consciousness from what he thought of as the world of nightmares. He was trapped one moment, held in some terrible dreamlike place where he couldn’t wake up and escape, and then the next thing he knew someone seemed to shake him hard and fireworks exploded everywhere.

And then there she was. Juuhachigou.

Kuririn could remember having felt very stupid and small in front of her. That cool, impassive gaze of hers had seemed to bore straight through him.

Then she had given him the only other thing he remembered… His name.

And she had told him who he was, why he was there. To him, it seemed that she knew the answers to all his questions. She had also taught him how to fly. And that was very, very nice. Even if her methods had nearly gotten him killed.

That morning, Juuhachigou and himself left Satan City and flown to the nearby wilderness. Kuririn kept his eyes wide, taking in everything. Nothing seemed familiar to him in this huge expanse. There was just wide-open space, cluttered with small outcroppings of rocks and the occasional small dried out lake or pond. In all, he thought the place looked very lonely.

Finally, they landed in the middle of nowhere.

“Uh, Juu-chan?” Kuririn asked, standing a bit away from her. “Why are we here?”

Juuhachigou looked down on him. “Why do you think, Kuririn?” she asked. She turned to stare out over the nothingness. “I’m going to see if I can’t jog your memory about your fighting skills. This place simply offers solitude.”

Kuririn looked down at his hands, eyebrows raised. Fighting was obviously one of her favorite topics. And she did seem determined that he learn how…

Kuririn made up his mind, and set his face determinedly. If Juu-chan wanted him to fight, then he would fight. He would everything he could to make her happy, and if this was it…well, then okay.

“Fine,” He said Juuhachigou, and she turned her face down to look at him skeptically. Kuririn pulled into a perfectly raw excuse for a fighting stance to show his willingness. “Show me how, Juu-chan.”

Juuhachigou couldn’t help but laugh. “You look pathetic.” She said simply.

Kuririn felt hurt. Well, it’s not like I know what I’m doing…

He watched as Juuhachigou broke out of her arrogant posture and prepared to fight. “Very well then,” she said. “I will now pound you into a grimy pulp until you get it right.”

WHAT?

Before Kuririn could think or react, there was a blur directly in front of him where Juuhachigou had once been. Never before had he seen anything like this. Yet somehow, his mind still followed. Somehow, he almost expected what happened next; the fist that came flying out of nowhere to connect with his stiff body!

Then amazingly, instinctively, he felt his own arms rise to meet the punch. With a terrible explosive crunching sound the connection was made, and Kuririn felt his ki surge within him for just a moment.

The force of his much stronger opponents blow, although canceled of its primary destructive force, sent Kuririn flying backward and onto his rear end in the dirt. He sat there, totally incredulous.

Juuhachigou didn’t wait for him to gather back his pitiful guard, and launched herself at him, face twisted into a terrible smile of elation, that only a battle could bring to her face. Pulling her own synthetic energy from within her, so much like ki, she concentrated it in her fist until it glowed with the strength of a red-hot fireball!

Screaming her shrill battle cry, Juuhachigou reached Kuririn and launched that fire filled, glowing fist at her small adversary. The grin on her face widened as she prepared for the enormously powerful blow to crush him into the ground…

But the impact never came.

Kuririn’s eyes, wide as saucers, became suddenly focused. He felt like his body had taken him over, and he was no longer in control. As the lightning fast, crippling blow speed toward him, he saw it. And he reacted, without even knowing that was what he was doing.

A millisecond before he would have become ground toast, his body wrenched; moving calculatedly just out of the way! He felt the wind from Juuhachigou’s arm as it rushed beside him; the barest point of her knuckles brushed his clothing.

BAM! The explosive energy trapped in Juuhachigou exploded upon impact with the ground! Waves of smoke rose from the hole that Juuhachigou found her hand trapped within.

Sensing her momentary vulnerability, Kuririn’s ki flared around him like beautiful pure white flames. As it concentrated, it became more and more powerful.

Then, Kuririn witnessed himself do a terrible thing that rocked his mind and soul.

Before he could stop himself, his arm pulled back, and his fist whistled through the air right toward the last person that he would have ever wished to hit in all his lonely world. Juuhachigou. The sound alone as his fist hit her hard in the face was enough to make Kuririn sick.

Juuhachigou cried out in surprised pain from the blow and staggered backward, her hand to her face. She stood there quietly, not giving any reaction for a long moment.

Kuririn was absolutely stunned. “J-juu-chan…” he mutter in a tiny voice.

As the realization of what had just happened hit him, he sucked in air, not wanting to believe it. She had saved him! She was the only person in the whole world that she knew! How could he have hit her?

He looked down at his shaking hands, still surrounded by the almost blinding white aura. With sudden startling anger, he hated it. Hated the power he now felt in him; he hated it all. Anything that could hurt someone like this had no be wrong.

Forcing his ki deep within himself, Kuririn rushed to Juuhachigou’s side. He called her name, but she made no response. Upset, Kuririn reached for her hand.

“Juu-chan…” he said, lost. “I’m so sorry…I…”

Just as his fingers touched hers, Juuhachigou came alive and lashed out like a snake. The stinging, painful slap knocked Kuririn off his feet and to the ground. He looked up at her, cheek swollen and chest heaving with muddled emotions.

Juuhachigou’s face lifted; a trickle of blood ran from her nose. Without a word, her hand came up and wiped it away from a still grinning face. A few strands of hair fell into her frenzied face; the devilish glowing red of her eyes and the malicious smile that showed each and every one of her teeth truly did make her look like a demon.

Her dead, shinning eyes seemed devoid of feeling as they landed on Kuririn, sprawled on the ground; petrified. She didn’t stop the chuckle from rising to her lips as she gazed at him.

“Well,” she said to him calmly, eyes twinkling with unknown emotion. She closed her eyes briefly and raised her hands back into fighting position. “I have to admit, I didn’t know that you had that in you, Kuririn.” She said. “I knew that you would pay of in the end. It seems that you still have some fight in you after all. This training is going to take no time at all.”

Kuririn was shaking. He didn’t like the bloodthirsty, calculating way that she looked at him. As if her were some sort of tool for her to use.

He didn’t like it at all.

*****

Two hours later, Juuhachigou was still “instructing” Kuririn. In that time she had proved beyond any doubt that Kuririn’s attack had been no more than a lucky punch. She had been keeping her energy low for his sake; otherwise, it never would have happened. That much was painfully clear…

Kuririn cried out again as another bone shattering blow through his small body to the dirt. He gasped, face in the dirt, and then tried to rise up again. But before he could even move an inch, Juuhachigou’ foot was there to force him back down.

“What’s wrong Kuririn?” she laughed at him. “Can’t you get up?”

Kuririn groaned miserably.

Kneeling beside him, Juuhachigou took his chin in her hand and pulled it up so that his exhausted eyes met hers. She was truly frustrated. Two hours, she had been trying to get him to use his ki again. Two long hours. And for some reason, he just wouldn’t.

This angered her. She had hardly anticipated having to go to all this trouble to help him regain his fighting abilities. In fact, once he had managed to get in a shot at her, she had assumed that if she gave it a few more minutes, he would have made it to base one, and she could begin to use the runt for her own purposes.

Yet here she was, irritated and no closer to calling it a day then she had been the night before. Finally, she decided that it was time to move on. She was sincerely tired of wasting time.

Pulling Kuririn to his feet, Juuhachigou steadied him while he adjusted his weight onto the leg that wasn’t killing him. Once she let go, he rested his hands on his knees and breathed deeply. Juuhachigou waited patiently until he had caught his breath and straightened up before she addressed him.

“What’s wrong with you?” she demanded icily. “You know how to use your stupid ki, so why don’t you?”

Kuririn looked at his feet. “I…” he began softly. His eyes closed. “…can’t.”

Juuhachigou raised a slender eyebrow skeptically. “You can’t?” she repeated harshly. “And why the heck not?!”

Kuririn cringed at the harsh words. How could he possibly explain?

“I don’t want to fight you.” He finally said timidly. He sensed her tensing up, and hurriedly continued. “You are…my friend? Why should I hurt a friend? I don’t like hurting! It makes me feel sick!”

Juuhachigou hardly sympathized. “Idiot!” she snapped, grabbing him by the collar and sticking her face in his. “You will fight, or I will kill you!”

Kuririn was frightened. “B-but why?” he managed.

“Don’t you get it, you brainless moron?” she hissed. “I am going to destroy everything in this miserable world. If you want to live through that, then you have to help me do it! We are going to be partners, or you will be dead! Got it?”

Angrily, she pushed him away. She absolutely couldn’t believe it! He didn’t want to fight! Why that stupid idiot!

Why do these things happen to me? She thought.

Looking down at Kuririn, she couldn’t help but notice his sorrowful face. Then, his eye rolled up to meet hers.

“Partners?” she repeated in a tiny voice.

Juuhachigou could have slapped herself. Had she really said that? Said that they were partners? Originally, Juuhachigou had only intended that Kuririn be little more than a source of slave labor. She had never dreamed of giving anyone the title of her partner; a name that she could only remember giving her brother.

And Kuririn was nothing like her brother.

He was short, weak, and amazing gullible. …Or maybe trusting was the better word…

For a long time, Juuhachigou didn’t answer Kuririn. She simply gazed down at his hopeful face, and plaintive eyes obviously so longing for any kind of comradeship. She almost had to force her face to stay frozen.

She found herself thinking; what harm would it do? What could possibly be wrong with letting him think that he was her “friend” and “partner?” Her equal.

Foolish human. She thought to herself. How could he even allow himself to hope for that?

But she didn’t tell him no. Somehow, she couldn’t. In her mind, she knew that if she did, he would be crushed. And he wasn’t any use to her like that, now was he, she reasoned.

So, against her better judgment, Juuhachigou forced the tiniest smile onto her face. Heck, the whole situation surrounding the human was against her better judgment. She outstretched her hand to Kuririn.

The human’s reaction was instantaneous. A huge grin erupted onto his face, and his eyes just shone with laughter. He grasped her hand eagerly, looking about ready to cry with happiness. She got the feeling that he would have hugged her in his gratitude for this wonderful acceptance if he had thought that he would live through it.

His mood was catching, and Juuhachigou’s somewhat irritated and smothered countenance lifted slightly. Her stifled smile came much easier.

Kuririn couldn’t remember being happier. Partner. Friend. Acceptance. Wow. He was quite over-stimulated.

“I supposes that you are ready to stop being so stubborn and fight now.” Juuhachigou’s voice broke through his thoughts.

For a moment, his face fell. Then lifted back up. “When I fight you, it’s just for practice, right?” he asked.

Juuhachigou rolled her eyes. “Yes, Kuririn. It is sparring. Remember sparring?” she said.

Kuririn’s brow furrowed. Then he smiled up at her. “Nope.”

With a deep sigh, Juuhachigou pulled herself into a fighting stance. Across from her, Kuririn tried, failing miserably.

Exasperated, Juuhachigou straightened up and came over to him. “Not like that; you look like a buffoon. Here…let me help you…”

*****

It had been a very long day.

The sun was almost gone, leaving just enough light to see. Juuhachigou watched the orangey purples of the atmosphere began to fad into blackness as she sat on a pillar, all that was left of a crumpled building.

She and Kuririn were back in Satan City now, having stopped training some hours ago. She was proud to admit that after considerable pounding, Kuririn had gotten the concept, and his ki reading was now as high as it had been when he had “died.” Of course, then she had had to teach him how to keep it low to avoid detection, which he had taken to quite easily.

And now, she was sitting and watching him practice ki attacks on the only other remaining pillar a few feet away. He pretty much had it now, blasting away the remains of building effortlessly. His skill was obvious. He hadn’t really been up to par with the other Z fighters in raw strength, but the way he used his Ki was highly effective.

She watched intently as he built up another ki blast; this one came slowly, and then it shaped like magma. He held it between his hands, the light from the ball reflecting off his pleased face and making it glow in the relative darkness. He spread his fingers and slowly brought his hands together, molding it.

Then, he abruptly pulled back, and the ki flew up into the sky. Juuhachigou’s eyes widened as she recognized the shape. Flat, with five pointed sides, shinning brightly a light blue…a star. It was shaped like a star!

Smiling, Kuririn closed his fists, and the ki exploded in the air, bits of golden sparkles falling down around them. He laughed, and she watched in awe. That had not been an attack. He had made it for pure enjoyment.

It was something that Juuhachigou had never seen before.

Thoroughly enjoying himself, Kuririn gathered more energy, oblivious of the fact that he was being stared at. Juuhachigou recognized this attack as the one she considered his best, most formidable one, if only because it could affect even those with powers much greater than his. Even she leapt to the side when he fired it.

He called it Kienzan, or playfully, the “Distructo Disc,” and it had the nasty habit of being almost unstoppable until it sliced something to pieces.

Kuririn skillfully played with his ki disc; smashing it together and watching it spin round and around, faster and faster, until it was deadly. Then he lifted it over his head and launched it into the impending darkness. A second later, a creaking, grinding sound was heard, and a whole, mostly intact building simply feel over and crashed loudly to the ground.

Kuririn smiled and looked over at her. “Better?” he asked her.

He had had some difficult getting it to fly straight earlier when he had just rediscovered it.

Juuhachigou only nodded, not willing to tell him that it had been virtually flawless; that with a little more work, it would be perfect. In fact, it was so good that tomorrow Juuhachigou had decided to take Kuririn with her stomp out a small village she had located.

Still, despite his newfound power, she was a bit anxious about bring him with her. It would be the first city or village that she had gone to destroy without her brother; and for that reason, she had mixed feeling about Kuririn. One half of her did not want to go by herself; something in her just did not wanted to be alone. But on the hand, somehow, by taking Kuririn, it almost felt as if she was replacing her brother; which in a way, she was.

And then there was the problem that, although Kuririn was no longer shy about his ki and fighting in general, he sit didn’t seem to enjoy the thought of hurting something else. Perhaps it was a piece of his old life that had stayed with him; the desire to protect and preserve… At any rate, she was worried that he would freeze up at the least opportune moment. Something that she just couldn’t not afford.

Sighing dismally with pent up troubles, Juuhachigou did not notice when Kuririn came to sit beside her. The pillar was large, and there was plenty of room for them both.

“Hey, Juu-chan?” Kuririn startled her out of her thoughts. She tensed up.

“Yes?”

“What are we going to do tomorrow?” he asked, smiling ignorantly.

Juuhachigou almost didn’t respond, but all doubts were wiped away as she stared into his eyes and face, filled with absolute devotion to her. She knew that he would do what she told him. That much she could be sure of.

“Tomorrow, Kuririn,” she began quietly, turning her head to stare back into the darkness. “We are going to begin fulfilling our purpose…”

*****

It had been a difficult two days for Trunks.

His mind was shell-shocked; hardly functional at all. All that he could see was his sensei, Gohon, exploding before his eyes over and over again. And his paled, lifeless body lying there on the filthy ground before him.

And the female Jinzouningen. Oh, yes. He could see her quite clearly. Other than his fallen master, she was all he thought of. He could see her face, distorted in that terrible smile, blue eyes flashing red as she floated overhead…

In all his life, he had never really had a desire to kill. Even when the Jinzouningen had come, he had only known that he wanted them gone; he never really thought far enough to realize that it would mean killing them.

That was then.

Now, his fantasies were consumed with getting revenge on the person that he blamed for Gohon’s death. No one would ever know how much that revenge meant to him then…

That morning, he had felt a strange ki. In some way, it had seemed familiar, but he was unable to identify it. He had wanted to go and investigate, but unfortunately, they had been in the middle of a meal, and his mother had refused to let him leave.

He had hoped, no sensed, that the unusual, out-of-place ki was somehow connected to the Jinzouningen somehow, even though in his intelligent mind, he knew that made no sense. He only hoped that it would pop up again so that he could follow it…

Next time, he would be ready…

*****

It was dismal the next day.

The sun almost decided that it wasn’t going to come up, and dark clouds threatened. It could have been called an omen.

Juuhachigou stood at the open window of a large building in the middle of the city, watching the gloom. Today was important to her, and yet the whether seemed to fit her mood. She felt like she was leaving behind a part of herself with this imminent destruction.

Behind her in one of the corners of the room, a small human was curled up sound asleep. He was totally oblivious of what the day had in store for him, and what his loyalty to “Juu-chan” would bring him to; something so blatantly against all he had formally stood for.

Juuhachigou looked over at him. Kuririn. Today was the day where all things would either fall apart, or fit together neatly. She hoped for the later. It would be a shame to have to kill something she had expended so much time and effort on.

And, even though she would never admit it to herself, she wanted to keep the little human around for an entirely different reason. His high spirits and joyful smile somehow made her ragging, turbulent mind calm itself. She felt…well, it was hard to explain. His sweet gentle nature was like balm to her angry and torn psyche. She was fascinated the playful way he used ki, and the way he so openly trusted her. At the moment, she honestly and truly wanted to keep Kuririn and find out just why he acted like he did. To someone who had only in her life known hate and anger and pain, Kuririn was a great mystery. And she wanted to solve it before she even thought about killing him.

As the sun rose higher in the sky, the human in the corner stirred and sat up, yawning deeply. Slowly, he stood and stretched out his tired, sore limbs. He didn’t even attempt to pat down his storm tossed, wild black hair.

Turning around, he tensed seeing Juuhachigou, and then relaxed slowly. That intriguing smile came almost immediately to his face.

“Good morning.” He said to her.

Juuhachigou acknowledged him with a slight nod. “Are you ready?” she asked him.

Kuririn at first looked confused, but then his face lit up in remembrance. “Oh yeah! Okay, let’s go!”

He ran to the widow and launched himself into the air. Then he turned, waving to her. “Come on, Juu-chan! Show me the way!”

Hesitating only a moment, Juuhachigou joined him in the sky.

Less than an hour later, Kuririn was no longer thrilled or ready.

He floated beside Juuhachigou over a small town – one of only a few that had been left untouched… Until now, that is.

Kuririn watched the people below, going about their days, unsuspecting how close the end was. Children played in the streets, mothers rocked their babies close to them, couples walked hand in hand… It was totally serene.

That in part, was what made Juuhachigou’s next command so very shocking to him.

“Kill them.” She said to him, her voice perfectly masked so that no emotion could possible be heard.

“WHAT?!” Kuririn erupted in total disbelief. “W-what did you say?”

Juuhachigou lazily turned impassive blue eyes to look into his. “This is the test, Kuririn.” She told him honestly. “This is what decided what happens to both our futures.”

“I-I don’t understand…”

Juuhachigou had expected this.

“This is my purpose, Kuririn.” She said softly, looking back down on the helpless town. “I am here on this Earth to destroy – for my creator, my brother, and now just for me. I saved you in hopes that one day you would be able to help me fulfill my purpose.” She turned to look directly at him with a penetrating gaze.

“And now is that day.” She finished.

Kuririn’s mouth hung open. It was obvious that he plainly didn’t know what to do, or to say. So, Juuhachigou let him keep the silence.

“I am going to destroy these people and this town.” Her voice continued to gather volume as she spoke. “With or without you it will happen. I am giving you this opportunity to become my partner, and I will not give you a second chance. It is now or never, Kuririn!”

Mutely, the human barely nodded. “I-I want…to help y-you…” He stuttered.

“And this is how.” She said pointedly. “This is it.”

And with that, she turned away from him, and descended like a rain cloud on the town of happy people.

*****

“JINZOUNINGEN!” the people cried in terror, running blindly out of their homes and into the street. Those that were smart tried to run. Most, though, stayed in the streets, like sitting ducks.

Juuhachigou stood lazily on the top of a building, firing into the crowd, and just generally getting them stirred up and causing pandemonium. When they all got their senses about them and tried to run, the fun really began.

Juuhachigou took off among them, darting in and out, spreading death and blood like a disease. She felt like laughing with the rush, and fired an energy beam at a building, enjoying the heat coming off the flames as it exploded grandly.

Tiring of getting the blood of her victims on her, Juuhachigou flew to the top of a string of nearby stoplights and began firing her destructive energy into the crowd, causing mass devastation to everyone and everything in its path.

Between shots, Juuhachigou happened to glance up at the sky. There was no sign of Kuririn. Smiling, Juuhachigou temporarily halted her barrage, and looked down into the town, searching for him.

The whole city was literally on fire, making it hard to see anyone. Juuhachigou could not find Kuririn anywhere, and his ki was small.

Disturbed, Juuhachigou left the few survivors and flew into the town, feeling for the weak ki that was Kuririn’s inside the smoke. She honestly had no idea of what to expect when she found him, but what she saw, she was not prepared for.

She finally traced his ki to the farthest reaches of a dark ally. Kuririn was not alone. With him, was a young, strong looking human male. This human was not scared, or hurt as he should have been. In fact, he was attacking Kuririn.

And to Juuhachigou’s stalk disbelief, Kuririn was letting him. He would not raise his ki. He wouldn’t attack and kill this man, even as he punched and kicked at him as brutally as he could.

Apparently, Kuririn had made some attempt to follow Juuhachigou’s orders, and followed one of the would-be escapees. Once cornering him her, he might have – must have – attacked him, or made some indication of hostility…

The human male attacked furiously; his life and home and family had just been lost. And Kuririn was barely blocking, refusing to kill him.

This infuriated Juuhachigou. In a rage, she stalked over behind the human and caught his arm in mid punch. He stared in shock at her, eyes wide in terror, knowing his fate. Eyes gleaming angrily, she through him into a wall; where he slide down to the street and stayed there, alive but knocked senseless.

Kuririn looked up at Juuhachigou with a slightly battered face. His eyes were sorrowful.

“Juu-chan, I…”

Juuhachigou didn’t give him the time to explain. She grabbed him around the neck with one ironclad hand and pulled his face up next to hers.

“What are you doing?!” she demanded of him, disgust dripping from her voice. “Why are you letting this weakling beat up on you when you could easily wipe him off this filthy planet!”

“I-I can’t…” Kuririn gasped.

“Yes you can!” Juuhachigou’s eyes and voice were on fire. She literally threw him to the ground beside her and then wrenched him to his feet facing the human male. “Kill him now!”

Kuririn looked about to cry. “I can’t, Juu-chan! I can’t!” he cried, trying to move away.

Juuhachigou wouldn’t let him go. “Yes you will!” she shouted venomously. Her eyes shifted color to that terrible red, and Kuririn became sick with fear.

She lifted her hand to his face, letting him watch it begin to glow with her deadly energy.

“Kill him now, or I will kill you myself!” she threatened.

Kuririn shook his head, eyes never leaving her hand. “No… Juu-chan, you wouldn’t kill me…would you?” he asked desperately.

In response, Juuhachigou made her hand glow brightly. “Do as I say!” she shouted.

At that moment, as her attention was focused completely on Kuririn, the human male came to life. Leaping from the ground abruptly, he screamed and pulled a long dagger, jumping directly for Juuhachigou.

Kuririn saw all this as if in slow motion. His eyes widened as he saw the man leap at Juu-chan. The one who had saved him. Had told him everything he knew.

He couldn’t let it happen. The knife, the dagger, was burned into his mind as if by hot iron. No. It wouldn’t happen. It couldn’t!

Then next moment speed up so that it seemed to happen in a split second – just as the man came within reach, Kuririn reacted suddenly, raising his hand.

“NO!” He screamed, and without thinking, a blast of ki erupted from his palm and easily intercepted the man, mere inches from Juuhachigou’s heart.

He watched in horror as the man fell backward and slammed into the cold, hard ground. He saw the eyes roll back and the blood that came to his lips in his dieing breath. The man was dead.

Kuririn had killed him.

“No…” was all that he could manage to whisper. “W-what have I done…”

He slide to his knees as his legs buckled, his eyes never leaving the man that he had murdered. Unable to keep looking, he hid his face in his hands in despair and tried bitterly not to cry…

*****

Miles away from the town that now lay in ruins, a figure speed wildly across the landscape.

Trunks was flying as fast as he could. He felt a sudden sickening wave of death, and know immediately that it was the Jinzouningen. He knew that it was too late. He knew that it was to far away, but he flew toward there anyway, hoping, praying, that there would be something left when he got there.

But he was too late to stop the damage. Too late to stop the death. Far too late…

A Fading Ki

Chapter 2 - Finding A Purpose

Author: Swiss Army Knife

Email: dragonswissarmyknife@hotmail.com

~End Chapter~

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