8I feel so bad...I keep making you guys wait so damn long. I'm really sorry about all of this, but life's been hectic since starting college (I'm a pre-med student) which has gotten even crazier since quarantining started, plus I have other stories to work on. But with all that being said, I really want to finish this story, so that what I'm going to do!
I have to split this chapter into two parts since it's really long (another reason this one took so long), and hopefully I'll have the second half up soon. So look forward to that in the future!
And as you can see, I have drawn a cover for the Mark of Insanity ^^ If you want to see the full image, it's on my deviantArt page (ScissorSoulOtaku235)
Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball, it belongs to Akira Toriyama! I only wrote this story and I own any OCs that appear! Please leave a review and let me know what you think! Enjoy!~
Episode 134: The Truth is Revealed! The History of Yamcha
"My name is Yamcha. As much as it pains me to say this…I am the firstborn son…and second overall child…of Chawan."
And as if a switch had been flipped, the Z-Fighters were snapped out of their stupors. Vegeta's expression quickly changed from shocked to one of vexation, the prince reverting back to his base form before marching up to Yamcha and grabbing him by his collar, not caring that he had to look upwards at the taller human.
"Alright, start talking," Vegeta snarled. "Why didn't you say anything when Yunomi first attacked?!"
Yamcha didn't respond, his expression almost unreadable and his gaze locked with Vegeta's. Then another voice piped up, "And why didn't you tell us this until now?!" Everyone turned to see Bulma, having overheard everything, standing on the edge of the balcony, hands on her hips and a look that was equal parts annoyed and concerned directed at the ex-bandit.
Vegeta released his grip on Yamcha, allowing the latter to turn to Bulma. "It didn't matter until now!" he snapped back. Bulma looked taken aback; partly because he had never really pushed back whenever she yelled at him, but mostly because of what he had said.
"Didn't matter?!" Android 18's voice growled, pulling herself out of a bush, having been paralyzed alongside her husband and Gohan moments before, an arm wrapped around her sore middle. "Something like that 'didn't matter'?!" She yelled, glaring daggers at Yamcha.
"You've got some explaining to do!" Krillin added on. "Not even two weeks ago, you said you didn't have a father or any siblings, but what just happened was one hell of a family reunion!"
"What do you want me to say?!" Yamcha growled. "'Oh, by the way guys, most of my family is a bunch of murderous psychopaths'?!"
"It would've been helpful when Yunomi first attacked us!" Vegeta yelled.
"Never thought I'd say this, but I agree with Vegeta," Whis said, seeming to be the only calm one here as he locked eyes with Yamcha. "If you knew about all of this, why didn't you say so in the first place?"
Yamcha looked like he wanted to say something, but instead remained silent, looking down at the ground to avoid everyone's gaze. "Well, why didn't you?" Beerus asked, beginning to look annoyed.
When Yamcha still didn't respond, still refusing to look at anyone, Bulma yelled from the balcony, "Hey, answer us already! Why did you never say anything about this?!"
"BECAUSE I WANTED TO FORGET!" Yamcha finally yelled back, startling a few of those present. They had almost never heard the ex-bandit raise his voice—as he had often remained soft-spoken—let alone yell at the top of his lungs.
Another minute or so passed, then Yamcha sighed deeply, looking calmer than before. "All I wanted was to forget about them—forget about my so-called 'family', the damn Mark of Insanity…After Yunomi attacked, I thought that either she, my other siblings, or my 'father' would confront me alone…But they attacked you guys instead…" his expression changed to one of anger. "Thirty years, and some things still don't change…"
Goku, who had reverted back to his base form and had remained silent as all of this went done, walked over to Goten's unconscious form and lifted him into his arms, then walked over to Yamcha, pushing past the others until he was face to face with the ex-bandit.
"You don't have to tell us everything if you don't want to," Goku said calmly, his expression rather serious. "But…can you at least tell us about your family? What exactly are we up against?"
Yamcha blinked at the Saiyan, then redirected his gaze to the ground, as if silently contemplating what he was going to say next. Finally, he sighed and looked back up, facing the other Z-Fighters before him. "Okay," he said, his voice softer than before.
"Yunomi is the eldest of us," he started. "She possesses the power of Psychosis, meaning she can make people see, hear and feel whatever she wants." Goku and Vegeta both visibly flinched, obviously recalling their first encounter with the woman. "As I said before, I'm the second. After that, Chai and Chadō are fraternal twins. Chai is the third; he has the power of Psychokinesis, which allows him to move people, objects and even himself by mental effort alone. Chadō is the fourth, just ten minutes younger than Chai; he has a power called Sleep Manipulation, which allows him to put people into deep, twenty-four-hour slumbers so he can harvest their energies; with every people he puts to sleep, the stronger he grows."
Gohan's eyes widened, understanding dawning on him. "Wait a minute," he spoke up, directing Yamcha's attention towards him. "Earlier he put Videl, Pan, Chi-Chi and Hercule to sleep…Are there any…permanent side effects to this?"
Yamcha shook his head, and Gohan released a breath of relief he didn't know he was holding. "They'll definitely be sluggish when they wake up, thanks to Chadō stealing their energy, but other than that, it won't affect them. I wouldn't try waking them up, though. All four of them will remain asleep for twenty-four hours after encountering Chadō." He turned back to the other Z-Fighters and continued. "And lastly, Sencha is the youngest. Her power is called the Noise of Everything. She can hear and sometimes even see everything in your mind—your memories, your thoughts, your secrets…Nothing is safe from her." Krillin and 18 exchanged a quick glance. It was no wonder she had been able to avoid all of their attacks; she had seen them coming from a mile away!
"What about you, Yamcha?" Bulma asked, worry filling her blue eyes as he turned to look up at her. "What can you do?"
Yamcha froze at her words, looking like he wanted to say something, but at the same time didn't. Fortunately, he didn't have to, as a look of realization appeared on Tien's face. "It was you, wasn't it?" he asked, making the others turn to him. "Shu and Mai…they weren't acting on their own accord, were they?"
Yamcha slowly shook his head. "No, they weren't," he replied. A part of him was hoping that they would be satisfied with that, but the more logical part of his brain told him that he was just getting his hopes up. And sure enough…
"What exactly did you do?" Piccolo asked, narrowing his eyes at human, who still refused to meet everyone's gaze.
Yamcha didn't respond this time, strongly hoping this time that they would just leave it as is. Even though he was practically itching to activate his Mark of Insanity again, to feel the surge of power it had given him mere minutes before, he knew he couldn't. He just couldn't risk—
"Are you deaf?" Beerus snapped, startling Yamcha easily, the deity looking more than annoyed at this point. "Show us what you did, or maybe I should destroy you!"
Yamcha paled at his words, then lowered his head so that his bangs hid his eyes. A moment or so passed, then the Z-Fighters felt it. His power spiked to a frightening level again, surprise obvious in a few of them, and he raised his head again to look at them, revealing the whited-out eyes and the bright red 瘋 symbol in the middle of his forehead.
Nothing happened for a moment, the ex-bandit silent and unmoving…then Goku suddenly heard what sounded like Yamcha's voice whisper into his ear. No, not his ear. In his mind.
"Give Goten to Piccolo, then walk towards me, Goku."
And in that instant, all thought left Goku's mind, suddenly overcome with the desire to do just that.
Wordlessly, Goku turned and walked towards Piccolo, the Namekian giving him a surprised look as the Saiyan handed his youngest son to him and Piccolo silently took him. But it wasn't Goku's sudden actions that had surprised him.
It was the fact that his eyes were completely whited out, a blank expression ever present on his face.
As soon as Goten was in Piccolo's arms, Goku turned and walked towards Yamcha, stopping once he was only a few feet in front of him. "Good," Yamcha's voice echoed in his mind again. "Now…Attack Vegeta."
Without hesitation, Goku whipped around and barreled straight towards the Saiyan prince, slamming him to the ground before he had time to react and pinning him down, wrapping both hands around his neck, the blank look on his face never wavering even as choking noises escaped Vegeta's mouth.
"Stop."
Goku immediately let go of Vegeta's throat, standing back up at the latter gasped for air and sat up, rubbing his throat, feeling more surprised than hurt. Then, after another second or so, Goku let out a strangled gasp as his eyes returned to normal, Vegeta and the others giving him a strange look as the prince stood back up.
"That…That was…" Goku panted out, his dark eyes wide as he turned to Yamcha. "What was that?"
"Goku, what happened?" Bulma asked.
Goku didn't respond for a moment, then spoke up as he continued looking at Yamcha. "I heard your voice in my head," he said. "You told me to give Goten to Piccolo and walk towards you…And suddenly that's all I wanted to do…"
"Mind Control," Whis said calmly, making the others turn to him. "That's your ability, isn't it?"
Yamcha didn't give a verbal response, instead choosing to nod once. That simple confirmation was enough to send chills down the spines of some of the Z-Fighters. Just the thought of being controlled like a puppet, and being completely aware of it yet unable to do anything about it…
Yamcha silently moved his gaze to Beerus, who was still standing there with his eyes closed, a tranquil expression ever present on his face. The ex-bandit narrowing his eyes slightly. Maybe…?
Beerus twitched his ear once, opening his eyes and narrowing them at the scar-faced warrior. "I know what you're trying to do, Earthling," he said calmly, surprising some of the Z-Fighters around him slightly. "But it's not working."
"It seems that your powers don't work on deities such as Lord Beerus," Whis chuckled lightly.
Yamcha blinked at them for a moment, then closed his eyes. The Mark of Insanity vanished, his power level dropping back to where it was a minute ago, and his eyes revealed to be back to normal as well. As soon as he opened his eyes, he quietly sucked in a breath through his teeth and resisted the urge to shiver, thankful that no one had noticed that.
"Puar, let's go home," Yamcha said quietly, not taking his eyes off the little blue cat, who had been watching in silent shock the entire time. She blinked in surprise, but wordlessly followed him as he started to walk past the others.
"Yamcha, wait!" Bulma called out, making the ex-bandit stop but he didn't turn around. "That thing that Chai mentioned…What did he mean by 'the day of reckoning'?"
"It doesn't matter," Yamcha replied quickly, still refusing to look at anyone. "It's never going to happen." And without another word, he took off into the sky with Puar right behind him, flying away swiftly.
The Z-Fighters were honestly left dumbfounded, glancing among themselves. "Something's not right," Android 18 muttered out to no one in particular, arms crossed over her chest as he watched Yamcha leave.
"I'll say," Tien sighed. Yamcha had given them a good amount of information, but…
He didn't tell us everything, Bulma said mentally, a worried frown working its way onto her face. He had only given the bare minimum about his family; his refusal to talk about the 'day of reckoning' or whatever it was said as much. The bluenette thought for a moment, then her eyes widened as an idea struck her like an angry bolt of lightning.
"Whis?" she said, making the blue-skinned angel turn to her. "I need to ask you something. This might be a bit of a stretch, but…Is there a way we can know more about this?"
Whis grinned at her. "Well, Bulma, I think I have an idea…" he said, looking into his staff's orb as is glowed a dim green color.
OoOoOoO
Yamcha felt like he had two voice screaming in his head. One telling him how stupid he was for using the damn power…
…And the other telling him to use it again, craving the feeling of the power rushing through him…
"Why didn't you tell me about this?!" Puar demanded, sounding close to crying as they entered their apartment through the open window, Yamcha still refusing to look at her as he rushed off. "Lord Yamcha, you know I respect your wishes, but how come you never said anything to me about—?" Puar was instantly cut off by the sound of the bathroom door opening and slamming shut, surprising her in the process.
Yamcha stood hunched over in front of the sink, turning on the water as he grasped the sides of the sink with his hands, panting heavily as sweat dripping from his brow. After several long second, he glanced up at his reflection with wide eyes, his entire body shivering, then looked down at his hands, feeling the involuntary jerks course through him.
"Dammit…" he whispered to himself, then his head jerked slightly. He gritted his teeth, turning back to his reflection, all while sputtering out with each twitch, "D…D…S…St…S…N…No!" he yelled at his reflection, violently shaking his head before splashing water in his face.
After a few minutes, the bathroom door finally opened, and Puar watched with worry-filled eyes as her master stepped out, water dripping from his chin with part of his hair and shirt soaked as well, an obviously forced smiled on his face. "Lord Yamcha…" she started to say, having heard the shout that only strengthened her worries.
"I'm fine, Puar, really," Yamcha said quickly, then turned and rushed over to the kitchen area before she had time to say anything else. "How about I make us some dinner?" he asked as he opened up the cabinet, that 'can-we-please-change-the-subject?' tone practically dripping from his voice. "W-We didn't have dinner tonight, did we?"
"Yamcha…" Puar said quietly, watching as he pulled out different ingredients. Then she shook her head. "Lord Yamcha!" she shouted, her tone sounding angrier than before.
"I said I'm fine, Puar!" Yamcha suddenly yelled back, startling her. He quickly realized his mistake and said in a quieter voice, "I…I'm fine." He breathed out as he grabbed one of the large knives from the knife rack, placing a daikon radish on the cutting board in front of him on the counter. "There's no need to worry. Everything's going to be fine. I promise, they're not going to bother us anymore…"
He was starting to sound more like he was trying to reassure himself rather than her, chopping up the radish as he rambled on. But as he did so, he started focusing more on his own words than his actions, and didn't notice until…
Yamcha let out a sudden shout of pain, dropping the knife to the ground as agony coursed through his hand, his action making Puar jump. "Lord Yamcha!" she cried out, quickly floating over to see that he had sliced his left hand, scarlet liquids already dripping from the wound. "I-I'll go get some bandages!" She quickly scurried off to their bathroom to find the first-aid kit.
Yamcha barely heard her, his gaze transfixed on the cut as blood pulsed out and started to drip down his fingertips. Then he raised his hand up, opening his mouth and placing his fingertips barely a couple of inches above his tongue, the red liquids ready to drop down at any second—
He gasped and pulled his hand away from him, quickly shaking his head again as he hurriedly turned on the kitchen sink and ran his hand under the running water, eyes widened at what he had almost done…
OoOoOoO
"I take it that the confrontation didn't go well?" Yunomi rhetorically asked as Chai touched down in front of her, with Chadō and Sencha right behind him. Even with the lack of wounds, the tears and bloodstains on all their clothing, as well as the burnt parts of Chai's clothes and the lack of Yamcha's presence, told her it didn't go very well for them.
"Not a chance," Chadō sighed out, the Mark of Insanity vanishing from all three of their foreheads, his voice back to normal. "You know he's not going to listen to us," he grumbled out, dark green eyes narrowing in annoyance.
"Are you really surprised?" Chai asked his twin, rolling his onyx-black eyes at him. "He's always been the stubborn one, ever since we were children."
"I wouldn't say that," Sencha chuckled lightly. "I believe that title goes to Yunomi."
The elder sister glared at her, then sighed heavily. "No matter," Yunomi said. "He knows we don't back down easy."
"'Easy' is going to be questionable," Chai said. "How long have we been watching them, now? And you saw how strong he is, even without using his Mark. We're going to need to up our game for this one."
"True," Yunomi said, a grin appearing on her face. "It sounds nice, an actual challenge."
"But even so," Sencha spoke up again. "Given that we failed to convince him, how do you propose we execute the next step?"
"Oh, I'm honestly clueless," Yunomi said, sounding all-too happy now. "But you know that father's never clueless."
OoOoOoO
The next day, Yamcha found himself sitting on his bed at dusk, wordlessly staring down at his hands in his lap, the left one currently bandaged up, as the last rays of sunlight shined through his window. He had refused to leave his apartment after the confrontation last night, not even to train like he had been doing. Puar's eyes never left her master, the blue feline sitting on the pillows of their couch. Yamcha had barely said a word since she helped him bandage his hand last night, the silence heavy in the room.
The sudden, shrill ring of the phone made Puar jump, but Yamcha simply lifted his head, his gaze resting on the phone for a moment before he stood up from his bed and walked over to it, picking it up by its third ring.
"Hello?" he said, his emotionless voice making Puar inwardly wince.
"Yamcha, can you come down to Capsule Corp.?" Bulma's voice sounded from the speaker.
"Bulma…" Yamcha started to say, but was quickly cut off.
"Yamcha, I'm not gonna ask you anything about your past," she said. "I promise. I just wanted to tell you something important, and I have to do it in person."
Yamcha looked hesitant for a moment, but then sighed into the phone, "Okay." He hung up without another word.
"Lord Yamcha?" Puar said softly, picking herself up and floating over to him. The ex-bandit looked up at the feline, giving her a gentle half-smile. He didn't say anything, merely turning and heading towards the door. "Lord Yamcha, wait for me!" she cried out as he opened the door, rushing after him.
The trip to Capsule Corp. didn't take too long—only a few minutes, actually—but as Yamcha approached the large building, he narrowed his eyes at the sight before him. Bulma was standing on the balcony, waving to him once he came into view, but Whis and Beerus were standing right next to her. And as he drew closer, he could see a lot of their friends several feet behind them—Goku, Vegeta and Bulla, Gohan, Krillin, Tien, Chiaotzu, Piccolo, Android 18 and Marron, Chi-Chi, Videl and Pan, Hercule, Trunks, Goten, Buu, Dende, Roshi, Oolong, and even Pilaf, Mai and Shu!
Yamcha touched down with Puar right behind him, standing a few feet in front of the bluenette. "Bulma?" he said quietly, having half-expected it to just be the two of them, but still silently wondering what Bulma had wanted to tell him.
"Yamcha…" Bulma started to say, a serious look on her face. "I hope you can forgive me for this."
"W—?" The confused ex-bandit started to say as Whis vanished and reappeared directly behind him, the orb on his staff glowing a dim, green color. He cut himself off, and within a second, his eyes glossed over before they closed and he started to fall forward, only for Whis to grab the back of his shirt with his free hand, stopping him from falling to the ground.
"Whis…" Bulma said in confusion, watching as the blue-skinned angel carry her childhood friend to one of the long chairs on the balcony and place him there, looking as if he were just sleeping. "What did you…?"
"Apologies, Bulma," Whis said in a casual tone, the orb on his staff still glowing. "But this is how the process works."
Bulma, along with a few of the others present, gave him a confused look. And without another word, Whis tapped his staff on the ground. Within seconds, the world around them began to grow brighter and brighter until it was blinding, forcing everyone present to shield their eyes.
