Chapter 17: Chapter 17: Slumber Party
Perhaps it had been hours, or perhaps, it had been days since Trunks had fought his life-or-death battle with the alien monstrosity known throughout the galaxy as Hirudegarn. The fact in the matter is that he had been unconscious ever since the battle had ended, due to his severe injuries.
Perhaps, if the man was on earth, he would have been able to make a complete recovery, but Trunks currently resided in hell and not the land of the living.
Although he had overcome unimaginable odds, even at the current moment, he was still in a problematic position. The Otherworld was where the dead, other species, and gods resided. It was no place for a mortal who had not been granted passage.
The longer Trunks stayed within Earth's hellscape, the more his mortal soul degraded as if the dimension itself was rejecting him, sensing that he did not belong.
While his body had already healed due to his Saiyan Biology, his soul was slumbering as a means of self-defense, the same way a mortal body slept to conserve energy.
In the present moment, Trunks, unconscious and incapacitated, layed on the ground, motionless like a marionette, missing its puppeteer. His body had already shrunk down to its original form so it was only a matter of time before an opportunistic hell creature took advantage.
Fortunately for him, he now had allies. And although his relationship with most of them were shallow presently, the bonds he had with them had already been molded to the extent of them worrying about his overall well-being.
While Trunks laid motionlessly on the battleground that had once been reduced to a domain of molten glass and red sand, assistance was on its way.
Unknown to anyone, all traces of battle were completely erased artificially. The surrounding area now looked the way that it did when Trunks converted the hell forest into a hell desert, as if time itself rewinded.
Approaching his unconscious body from a distance came a very behooved slender and blue denizen of the otherworld with curly brown hair and a singular unicorn-like horn crowning him, driving in his hell-patrolling pickup truck.
In the back of the pickup's cargo bed sat two more beings of the same species with a muscular stature. One with a mustache, blue skin, and a singular horn. The other with red skin, glasses, and two horns atop his head.
Both of the passengers seemed rather frustrated as they continuously swiveled their heads from left to right in search of something… Mayhaps someone.
"Hey… Hey you guys! I think I see him!"
Shouted the driver, wearing a white sleeveless button-up T-shirt, drawing the attention of the two Ogres in the back seat.
"You serious this time, Denku"
Said the muscular blue ogre in the back.
"Yeah! I'm serious this time. I think it's really him this time!"
Retorted the driver, sounding slightly nervous.
The reason for his tension was because in all reality, he and the two in the back had already spent a lengthy amount of time in their mission to find the Saiyan that King Kai depicted.
Although they didn't receive their mission from their direct superior, King Yemma, King Yemma, King of the Ogres and Judge of the underworld, was a direct subordinate of King Kai.
For any task that King Kai provided, King Yemma would use all of his resources to get said assignment completed.
With the Ogres being Yemma's subordinates, it was their duty to heed to the commands of their King while he determined the faith of new incoming souls from all over the universe.
Upon receiving their mission, they were given a general direction of the last known location the Saiyan known as Trunks was spotted.
The reason why King Kai couldn't give out the exact location of Trunks was simple. He was untraceable… which made King Kai quite weary at the time.
[One week ago in Yemma's office]
Standing before the King of the Underworld was none other than the master that had trained him in the ways of combat and magic, King Kai and his two companions, Gregory and Bubbles.
Next to him was his other only student, the Saiyan, Goku, a familiar friendly face that Yemma hadn't seen in a while. To Goku, it had only been a year, but to him, in otherworldly time, it had been a little longer.
"K-king Kai? What are you and Goku doing here so suddenly?" The colossal King Yemma questioned nervously.
He was taken off guard. A few moments ago, he was attending to his role, as perusal, but King Kai had suddenly popped up in front of him after hundreds of years of barely conversing with the man.
"When'd you get the cojones to speak to me so formally, you brat. I don't care if you are the so-called King of limbo, I'm still your master last time I checked."
"Ugh-Uh. Sorry, King Kai. My apologies. I just… didn't expect you to show up without giving a call first. I would have made accommodations for you and made your time visiting more comfortable."
"Ohhhhhh! So I gotta call first? EXUUUUSSSE ME."
King Kai articulated.
"No-no. It's not like that. I swear!"
Yemma stammered, cracking under the pressure of King Kai's glare.
While King Kai continued to berate Yemma, a long-haired green humanoid with red eyes and strange looking armor tapped him on his shoulder.
The greenman didn't know how long it had taken him to get in the front of the line of judgment, but it was a lengthy amount of it. Too much for him to just be blatantly cut in front of.
"Hm?"
King Kai turned around to see the fairly tall green individual with bat-like wings. He was crossing his arms aggressively. It was obvious that he was angry and on the verge of attacking the people who had wronged him?
"Hey shorty. You and your friends need to get in the back of the line and wait, just like everyone else cause it's my turn. If you don't, then we're gonna have some serious issues."
Looking up at the man, King Kai tilted his head.
'How cliche.' He thought.
"You hear me? Move it, or lose it."
He said, motioning his thumb towards his neck, insinuating that he would cut off King Kai's head, to which, King Kai had to fight the urge to smirk. The reason for that was because not all planets were equal, in terms of power. The person before him was the embodiment of that.
The green man's power level was smaller than Bubbles'.
"Is that right?"
King Kai uttered under his breath. That was when he took the opportunity to read the mind of the person in front of him.
'Oh… this guy is going straight to a hell cocoon.'
King Kai thought.
As he was in his own head, reflecting on the green man's memories, King Yemma's jaw dropped to the floor in shock at the sheer amount of arrogance that was displayed.
Jumping up out of his seat, Yemma flared his killing intent violently towards the winged warrior, which shocked the green man enough to fall on his behind in shock.
"You dare speak to-!"
Holding his hand up, King Kai stopped Yemma from taking any further action.
"Yemma. Stop. I wanna ask this young warrior a few questions." Halting, Yemma slowly sat back down, letting his master take initiative.
"W-what's going on? Who are you people?"
The green man had now realized what kind of position he was in. The god-like giant man with the overwhelming power level was obeying the commands of the short being who he thought nothing more than a fly. He didn't need to be a genius to figure out that he was out of the loop when it came to the current power dynamic.
"This guy seems to have a problem with me. Goku, I don't want you doing anything eith-" As King Kai's eyes shifted to Goku, he realized that the man was too busy picking his nose to pay attention.
"You say something?"
Goku asked as he flicked a booger away.
"*sigh*"
'No wonder this clown is so confident. I wouldn't take me seriously either if I caught myself with a bodyguard like Goku.'
He thought, resting his fingers on the bridge of his nose.
"No. Don't worry about it."
To those words, Goku continued on with his gold mining ventures.
"Anyway, as I was saying-"
King Kai directed his attention towards the Green man once more before Goku interrupted.
"Hey, King Kai. Can I ask a question?"
"… Yes, Goku." He expressed with slight irritation at his student.
"Why do I still have boogers, even though I'm dead now?"
Blinking a few times in disbelief, King Kai took another deep breath.
"*sigh*"
"When you die, your ethereal body manifests in the form that you were in before any combat. That's why you didn't see people with any missing limbs or any form of sickness in line."
"Oh. Cool. I guess I did notice that." Goku smiled.
Rolling his eyes, he continued to talk to the winged man.
"Anyway, young warrior, do you know where you are right now? Do you know what you're here?"
"Y-yes. It's the underworld. I'm here because I died in combat. The guardian of my planet brought me here, informing me that this is the place where I would be judged."
"Correct… each planet has a guardian that brings their people's souls to Otherworld to be judged by my student here, Yemma. Once they are judged, there's 3 outcomes that can happen depending on an individual's actions they took while living, are you following?"
"Y-yes sir."
"Good. Now, depending on a person's karma, they can be deemed to go to heaven, hell, or they can be reincarnated. Obviously, if you've done good deeds throughout your life, you can go to heaven or reincarnate. If you've done horrible deeds like the ones you've continued to repeat time and time again, knowing that your actions were unjustified, then you go straight to your planet's version of hell where you are forced to stay until you repent for your deeds."
King Kai's words made the man begin to shake with fear.
"W-what do you mean hell? And what makes you think I did bad deeds that are deserving of such treatment?"
"The fact that I can read your mind… also, I'm a god, so I have that going for myself."
"L-lies! These are all lies! I've never hurt anybody who didn't deserve it. My place is in heaven with my wife and kids!" The green mad said with rage and anger in his voice, which only frustrated King Kai further. His reaction even surprised the God slightly.
"Dude. Are you serious? You really think you're going to heaven when you literally eat the heads off of babies… Maybe if it was a tribal thing, you would've been reincarnated or something, but your punk ass just did it because you like how crunchy their squishy little bodies are. You're a psycho! Personally, I think hell is too good for you."
"He eats babies?!" Exclaimed Goku.
With that, the green man's back was against the wall. The truth was revealed, and he could no longer run from it. That was when his true face was revealed.
"*tsk*"
With a smirk, the man stood up with confidence and scowled menacingly.
"And I'd do it again. All of it."
He grimaced, attempting to intimidate all those around… unfortunately, his tactic didn't work.
"Oh, we know. That's why you're going to hell."
King Kai shrugged.
King Kai wasn't a stranger to evil. People like the green guy came and went. He was frankly numb when it came to horrid acts like this. One had to be when they were observers of the universe.
Yemma only looked at the man with clear disdain in his eyes and shook his head, disappointed.
"*sigh*"
"Kader of Planet Jefair, I sentence your soul to be purged in hell."
"Screw all of you! I'll kill you all!" He screamed, charging at Yemma, but it was too late for him. His fate was already sealed.
With one wipe of his pen, Yemma had transported the assailant to his rightful place, leaving King Kai and the others to themselves, uninterrupted.
"Sorry for that, King Kai. Now that he's gone, I would like to formally apologize."
"No need for that, Yemma. The vibe is already messed up."
Nodding his head, Yemma asked the question that had been eating away at him.
"So… what happened to you two?"
Yemma's curiosity was just too strong. Although King Kai wanted to avoid giving him the answer, he finally folded.
King Kai glanced at Goku who was nervously scratching the back of his head.
"…Care to explain, Goku?"
"Ha… is that really important? Didn't you teach me that it was important to focus on the present when I was training with you?"
"*smack*"
"Ouch! What was that for?"Goku asked, rubbing his stinging shoulder.
Without bothering to reply to the Saiyan, Goku went on to answer Yemma's question.
"Long story short, I'm here because I have terrible taste in students."
Goku and Yemma both flinched at his words, both feeling attacked personally.
Nervously smiling, Goku cocked his head and retorted.
"Don't you think that's kinda harsh? I didn't really have anywhere else to go. Also, It technically wasn't my fault that you died, and even though it wasn't, I said I was sorry already."
Although King Kai could've teleported much sooner to the front of the spirit line, he needed to get a more in-depth explanation of why things transpired the way they did from Goku, so before their arrival, he shamefully waited to hear an explanation from his student.
Goku, of course, kept the story brief and sweet, leaving out any details regarding time travel.
King Kai's face began to shift from blue to red in anger.
"Sorry? You think sorry is gonna Fix this, you pea-brained dolt?!" He shouted pointing at his brand new halo.
"On top of that, You had all of the universe to teleport to, But you chose to get me killed, you dingus!"
"Relax King Kai. It's not like it really makes a difference with you being dead or alive, anyway." Goku mumbled.
"What did you say?! Speak up, you ungrateful piece of-"
"You know… He's kinda right, King Kai. It's not like being dead is gonna hinder your job or somethin. For work, all you have to do is pretty much sit home all day, watching over planets,"interrupted the flying cricket, Gregory, who also had a halo atop while he sat on Goku's shoulder.
"OH YOU LITTLE…"
"*Sigh*"
"Relax King Kai. Relax. It's not good to have your blood pressure rise. Remember what you learned in therapy."
King Kai uttered to himself.
"Wait… How does that make sense though? Do dead people even have blood? Do gods have blood?" Goku questioned. And at that question, using his magic, King Kai conjured a mallet in his hand with magic out of thin air and slammed it down on the unexpecting Goku's head.
"*Bonk*"
"Ouch! Why'd you do that? It was a good question!"
Goku shouted, falling to the floor with a lump on his head.
"Another word out of your mouth, then it's you next, Gregory."
Panicking with a sweat droplet falling down his face, Gregory motioned that his lips were sealed.
"Glad we can come to an understanding."
King Kai nodded.
"*Cough-Cough*"
Yemma cleared his throat, gaining the attention of the others.
"Anyway, All of us died. Doesn't matter how. What does matter is the fact that I need you to go look for a Saiyan named Trunks. He has purple hair and a purple tail."
"A Saiyan? I thought they had black hair and brown tails."
Yemma retorted.
"Well there's obvious exceptions. Stop asking questions and look for him. Can't you see that your great master has been through a lot lately?"
"Well… Yes. That's quite apparent."
King Yemma said nervously.
"I'll send the SnakeWay sweeper down there. He and two of my other men know earth's hell quite well. Can you give me details on his precise location?"
For a moment, King Kai paused, using his senses to try to feel for the life imprint of Trunks… but still. There was nothing. Nothing but the weird gigantic dome that blocked his scope that had formed near where his planet once was.
"No… just check around the area my planet used to be."
Nodding his head to King Kai's words, Yemma began to make calls to his subordinates while King Kai and the others walked off.
"So, uh. Where we goin?"
Asked Goku with a smile.
"Well, that should be obvious. We're gonna go fix Snake way, then, my planet while Yemma finds your friend."
In truth, King Kai was very much concerned about the situation that presented itself before him involving Trunks. His Ki… there was just something off about it. He knew that Trunks was Goku's friend, but he was also aware of the fact that his student's companion was just too perplexing.
On top of everything, Trunks somehow managed to escape his sights, which should have been impossible. Was it intentional? Was there a third party involved? If so, why did they compose a concealment dome over such a large perimeter.
What was being hidden from him.
Earlier, Goku did explain the fact that Trunks' had made wishes with the Namekian Dragon Balls which would have served as an explanation for the characteristics of the man's strange Ki, but his disappearance was still a mystery.
Being a god, King Kai had quite the reservoir of knowledge collected inside of his memory bank. He knew about the Dragon Balls and their capacity to grant wishes, but he also knew of their limitations.
Prior to his own death, he was able to sense the missing Trunks, because his creation abilities surpassed that of the new Namekian elders… but all of a sudden, coincidentally the exact moment he took his eyes off of the fellow, he disappeared as if it was premeditated.
Although it he knew it was a foolish belief, he optimistly hoped that Trunks somehow managed to strengthen his concealment in his transformed state… but deep down, King Kai knew that eventually, something would come of this incident.
[Present Day]
The Ogers, after endless searching, finally found the person they were looking for.
"Wow… this place has gone to hell."
The ogre with glasses voiced.
"This is hell, you weirdo."
Said the mustached blue ogre.
"That's not what I mean, Goz."
Spoke the red ogre.
"Does it really matter? We found the guy. Let's get out of here already." Goz demanded, picking up the body of Trunks and throwing him over his shoulder like luggage.
Walking to the Vehicle, Goz opened the back doors and gently placed Trunks' body in the back seat while his colleague crouched down, feeling the sand texture of the red sand.
Closing the door, Goz hopped in the cargo bed and shouted to his spectacled friend. "Mez! Get over here. I wanna go home, man!"
"Hold on, you clown! I'm doing something."
Smacking his lips, Goz laid back, staring up at the yellow clouds above, impatiently waiting for his friend to do whatever it was that he was doing.
After a few moments, Mez jumped in the back of the vehicle car with a perturbed expression on his face.
"Took you long enough."
Goz spat.
"Cut me some slack. I thought I found something."
"And what the hell did you think you were gonna find out here in the middle of nowhere where?"
"Well… I thought I sensed demonic magic but, I guess it was just my mind playing tricks on me."
"*pft*" Goz chuckled.
"What are you laughing at?"
"Haha! Seriously? What you just said didn't even make sense. What would a sorcerer from the demon realm be doing in Otherworld?" Goz asked rhetorically.
"You see, this is why I don't tell you stuff. You always gotta make fun of somebody." Mez muttered.
"Then maybe you shouldn't be stupid then. Maybe I'd make fun of you less."
"*sigh*"
"Whatever man. Let's just go and get this guy some help before his soul completely splits from his body. We can't get paid if we bring him back dead."
"Agreed… hopefully none of those scary demons come to get us." Goz taunted, which caused Mez to sigh in frustration.
*
*
*
[2 Days later]
The party of three had finally arrived at their destination; the doors of Hell, which were guarded by enormous black ogres larger than King Yemma himself, who were in an unmoving and seemingly endless line. Right in front of the open gates, dwarfing their size was Son Goku, who had been waiting for their arrival.
"Hey, you guys! Looks like you finally found him!"
Goku smiled, waving at the incoming truck.
Stopping the engine and getting out of the car, Denku briskly walked to the Saiyan he encountered years prior.
"Hey! You're Goku, Right? It's Denku!" He grinned.
But to his greeting, he was only met with confusion by the Saiyan.
"Denku? I don't know. That name doesn't really sound familiar to me." Goku let out, embarrassed.
"Ha… I guess I can't really blame you. We never really had a formal greeting. We both were in a rush at the time. I was the sweeper on Snakeway who gave you a ride not too long ago."
Goku then thought to himself for a moment, then an invisible light bulb sparked over his head.
"Oh yeah! I remember now. I met you around the same time I met that weird snake lady who tried to… Never mind. Anyway, hey bud! How've you been?"
"Snake Lady? You don't mean-"
"Hey, Goku!"Goz shouted from the vehicle, interrupting the two's conversation.
"Huh? Oh, Hey! You guys are here too? Long time no see. Was it you guys who ended up finding Trunks?"
Goku waved.
"Yeah… we did. It took a bit of searching, but we found this guy laying face down in the middle of some desert. Long time no see. Goku, kid" Mez replied, hopping out of the cargo bed alongside Goz.
"Goz and Mez, right? I remember you two helping me out when I fell down here last time. How's life treating ya?" Goku asked, approaching the two and dapping their fists.
"Well, same old same old, Kid. I Just been doing pretty much whatever King Yemma tells us to do. Other than that, we've just been training like crazy."
"Oh? Is that right?" Goku smiled.
"Yep. No doubt about it. I bet I won't be losing in a race anytime soon." Mez smiled while Goz opened up the back door of the vehicle, retrieving Trunks' body.
"Haha. You sound confident. Now that I'm dead again, one of these we definitely gotta figure out rather what you're saying is the truth or not." Goku smirked.
Goz then smirked, grabbing Trunks' limp body and tossing it to Goku like a sack of potatoes.
"Hey-hey! Watch it buddy. Don't hurt the guy. If he finds out about this, you might regret it later."
Goku said nervously, carefully catching Trunks' body in his arms.
"I'm sure he'll be fine. You caught'em after all. Anyway, even though that guy looks pretty sturdy, I'm sure that I could take em.." Goz uttered nonchalantly.
"I wouldn't be too sure about that one."
Goku replied with concern, scratching the back of his head.
"*tsk*"
"Sure bud. You just don't know how strong I got since the last time you saw me." Goz smirked confidently.
If ignorance was bliss, then Goz was perhaps the most well-off person in the universe. Presently, only Goku was aware of this.
"His first point was valid, Goz. With how strong we've gotten, you could have hurt him. If that happened, we'd probably get or pays docked."
"Alright already… Jeez." Goz shrugged, massaging his neck.
"Anyway, now that you have your friend, what are you gonna do now, Goku?" Asked Mez.
"Well, there's not really much I can do right now but wait for my friends to bring us back to life. Other than that, I'm gonna have Trunks here, be looked at by King Kai. He looks fine and all, but I can tell that it's something off about him. He should've woken up by now. Has he been sleeping this whole entire time?"
"Well, yeah. We tried to force food down his mouth, the guys tried slapping him awake, but nothing. I think sending him to King Kai would be for the best, if you ask me." Denku stated while the other ogres nodded in agreement.
"The I guess I better get to it." Goku replied.
Then, putting his fingers to his head, Goku vanished, shooking all those who were observing him.
"What in the world?" Denku questioned.
"Man… I don't know," Goz uttered.
Meanwhile, Mez pondered on rather or not withholding the information about the demonic magic he faintly sensed days prior was something of importance to Goku.
He still wasn't certain whether or not what he sensed was real, but perhaps, it would have been best to provide details on his encounter. If he was right, then perhaps there was potential for a promotion… But if he was wrong, the Goz would have made him a laughingstock.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone