[10] Watchtower

[Reijin]

Images flashed through his ruined skull like something from a cult horror flick. Searing deeply into his cortex, he saw the image of Videl lying in the snow, no longer breathing. No longer laughing. He felt himself suddenly thrust from this world, as if all the centric force from the planet?s rotation had suddenly slammed into him, evacuating him from a world that was not his. He felt suddenly as if he were invading something that he shouldn?t.

He saw a human Videl looking at him, smiling, while she held a stack of schoolbooks in her hand. No? That?s not my Videl. He saw Trunks smirking, slapping him on his back. NO! That?s not the way things are at all! He saw Raditzu riding on a skateboard in a school yard, girls surrounding him. Ok, that?s not unusual? He saw the grey eyed girl, her eyes penetrating him with an icy stare. Who is she? He heard a voice. "You have learned. You have passed the test."

He awoke lying on the ground, feeling hard metal underneath his still cold skin. He shuddered subconsciously as he pushed himself up from the ground, wiping a strand of drool from his open mouth. He stared incredulously down at the metallic surface and the moisture that was there before looking around. He hadn?t remembered lying down to sleep, and he rarely slept with his mouth open.

Images of Kao attacking them invaded his memory, and he saw the green man as he swept like a cleansing scythe through his friends, ending their lives with the ease that only he himself could have perfected. The enraged creature was screaming at them in anger, and suddenly Bra?s Super Saiyan state flared up. Reijin saw a flash of gold from her, and when it faded, so had Kao.

He remembered having told the old watchman that it wasn?t humanity that he feared, that it was of losing his love. He shook his head as he continued to stare at the cold floor. ?No,? he whispered. It wasn?t anything like that. He had found himself saying it out of a continued Saiyan pride of refusing to tell the truth. He had said the first weak thing he could blurt out. In reality, he couldn?t stand being human. The vile taint had still not been cleansed from his soul ever since his awakening and the sheer underwhelming sense of weakness would take years to recover from. He felt as if he had become pathetic, something not of his true descent.

His eyes hardened. ?This is not the end for me.? He turned and allowed his gaze to drift across the room. There were only eight others in the room with him, and from the looks of one of them, he would not be awakening. Even now, his shallow breaths faded and then ceased all action.

Reijin heard the sound of cold steel upon steel, and the door suddenly swung open. Through everyone?s daze, not a one of them knew quite what to do. He saw a few heads idly turn towards the door, while others seemed as if they still had to recover. Finally his eyes adjusted and he saw a gauntleted foot stride with a purpose into the room. Long flowing locks of hair fell over a strong armored shoulder plate. Golden eyes penetrated each of them to their souls, and ivory wings suddenly emerged from their restraints on his back, filling out into the room with a purpose. Reijin saw nothing more than distant stars and night from behind him.

He touched his forehead for a moment, feeling a pool of cold sweat gathering at his brow. ?It?s night already?? he mumbled. He was slightly angry at having missed so much time. He turned, adjusting his black cloak along his own black suit of armor and looked at the angel levelly. The angel, however, seemed to not be concerned with him.

Without emotion, he addressed them all. "I suppose I have some explaining to do.?

In nearly the same tone of voice, Raditzu responded. "I'll say.? The words left him rather dryly, not at all in their normal humorous tone of voice. Reijin could tell that their experience with whatever it was that they had dealt with had left them all a bit different. Reijin could still relish the overall grandeur of the angelic symphony that he had witnessed. He knew that his spirit was somehow strengthened from that event.

"The Watchman, you could say, is a God,? Gabriel boomed, gliding into the room with a royal flourish. Around him he received looks of uncertainty, to which he smirked in response. "He's not a Kai, he holds no real power or authority. He, however, is a being beyond human, Saiyan, android, or anybody here. He is all powerful. He is the only one of his race, and will always be." He was certain in his words. Reijin was not.

"I don't see what this has to do with the matter at hand," the Saiyan Prince spoke bluntly. Reijin could tell from his tone that he was not eating this bullshit up any more than he himself was.

Gabriel?s eyes hardened, and then he gave a sharp nod. "The Watchman was the one that sent you into your dream states. All of you faced your biggest fears. As you can see, some faced them better then others," he trailed off, giving a slight gesture in the direction of one of the warriors. Reijin vaguely remembered the green warrior from before, but now he had seemed to increased greatly in power, transformed by the experiences he had faced inside of his own dream. Gabriel then swept his arm completely around the room, falling on the corpse of another warrior lying close by. "I was the one that scared Kao away,? he said simply.

A question immediately implanted itself into Reijin?s mind. Before Kao had left, he had been screaming about something. The words were no longer directly in his memory, but if he could recall?

"What was the plan he was talking about?"

Reijin?s focus snapped back to the situation at hand as the words suddenly linked up with the memory of exactly what the green man had screamed upon his exit.

The glowing warrior answered rather quickly, with complete certainty in his regal voice. "Friend or Foe is ruined. The project is done. Brim is gone." Three truths brought about a few surprised breaths of air from everyone within the room. Reijin noticed though that Gabriel had said nothing about Brim actually having been killed. He made note to keep that little observation in mind. "However, more pressing matters then Kao are at hand. Satan's minions roam the asteroid. They fear to come here, knowing they will lose."

Bra, sitting on Vejita?s lap rather peculiarly, spoke up with passionate anger in her voice. "So why don't we just find them, and end it?"

The angel smiled disarmingly as his voice spat blood. "I don't want to put the angels at any unnecessary risk. You must find them,? he commanded. Reijin felt his jaw tighten and the angel?s gaze fell on him for a moment. Reijin found that even he could not hold his eyes to the angel, and he found himself looking away to the others. Just like that, the angel smiled and passed over to the others. "You can split up if you wish, or all go in a group. Regardless, Kao is the least of our worries, I assure you.? His tone suddenly grew cold and commanding. ?Find the demons."

The Saiyan youth was perturbed as the angel turned, walking once more out through the watchtower door, slamming it with force behind him. If anyone had anything to say, none of them dared to speak the words. Angrily, Reijin turned around and saw Akira and Katel Dezmon standing atop the stairway watching the situation. Directly behind them stood the walking corpse of the man they had called Doctor Flagg. "I will explain my story when you return. I think there are more pressing matters at hand now."

The green warrior straightened his stance and moved straight for the watchtower door. He turned to them and gave a smirk. ?I?m heading to the hospital. It?s the place I?m most familiar with, and there?s something I missed on my last visit that I want to investigate further. Of course, anyone is welcome to join me?? He seemed so sure of himself that Reijin had to at least acknowledge that whatever he had faced inside of his own dream, he had faced it well.

He heard Bra speak up cautiously. ?Cell?? she questioned hesitantly. He nodded and answered simply. Reijin now had a name for the warrior. Her eyes seemed to glimmer for a moment, and then she refocused on the winged fighter. ?...Can I come??

He nodded to her indifferently. ?It makes no difference to me.?

She smiled childishly and snuggled against her father for a moment, exchanging a few words with her. Reijin watched as the two of them show sentiment to each other, and he found himself thinking about his dream. He was sure that they all were, by now. Finally, he heard Vejita sigh as Bra looked up at Cell beaming. ?Hey, Cell? My dad might be coming with us. Don?t worry, he?ll catch up if he wants to... but he might be busy, so... I dunno...? she let trail off into the air. ?So... uh... what?s the deal with the transformations? Do they make you stronger? What made them happen??

The creature gave an indignant snort as he angrily snapped at her, but undaunted, she pressed him. Reijin turned from them, and came to connecting glances with Akira. He had some training to do, and he damn well knew it. He saw Bardock standing nearby, conversing with the younger of the sisters as if he were very familiar with Katel. Reijin began to make his way over to them, noticing Bardock?s withdrawal and he watched him leave. Bardock seemed to have something planned, and Reijin could tell that the man was definitely a man of action. He found himself proud of the man.

Akira greeted him warmly as he approached. ?I?ve been waiting on you,? she smiled.

Reijin shrugged at her. ?You know how it goes? You walk out to kick someone?s ass and you wake up in a pile of your own drool on the ground.? He had such a way with the ladies.

Her younger sister wrinkled her nose at him. ?That?s gross,? she laughed. She looked at her sister. ?Have fun. I?m going to go find something else to do at the moment.? Akira nodded and Katel walked off.

Reijin watched her leave. ?Does she not like me or something?? he inquired.

Akira shook her head. ?No, it?s not that. She?s just somewhat distrusting after what happened to me with Brim, but otherwise? No, she just does her own things sometimes,? she shrugged.

He nodded. ?So about the flame ability??

?Ah, yeah, Pyrokinesis. You slept for hours, you know that? Its pretty dark outside by now,? she continued.

The Saiyan nodded at her. ?Yeah, I know. I really need to train though.?

She shook her head. ?No, you need to loosen up a bit. Stop being so hardcore and uptight,? she blurted out. She realized she had ruffled his tail feathers a bit when he stiffened, and she turned a shade of red. ?You know what I mean. Actually, how about this. We?ll talk about it, ok??

He waited for her to continue, but she said nothing. ?Um, ok?? He finally just nodded at her in annoyance. She smiled at him. ?Good, then let?s go for a walk.?

Reijin?s eyes widened. ?A walk?? She nodded teasingly. ?Do you realize its dark as hell out there? Speaking of hell, there are demons and hordes of zombies walking around out there.?

She stepped towards him and playfully put her finger on his nose, then smiled up at him, leaning in a bit. ?If you can?t handle it, I won?t hold it against you,? she said lyrically. Then Reijin watched as she spun around and walked out of the front of the watchtower door.

She never ceased to amaze him. No matter how he acted around women, they always seemed to have this way of catching him off guard. He sighed in frustration and followed her out the doorway.