Chapter 67: Taint of the Ring (Part 2)


Potara rubs her arms in an attempt to warm herself up as Bulma lays out breakfast for her, Vegetto, and her kids. Potara eyes the five bowls of cereal and sighs. "Just one."

Bulma blinks. "One?"

"Saiyan appetite didn't carry over in my fusion."

Vegetto moaned in distress. "That's horrifying."

Bulma huffed and moved the four other bowls over to Vegetto, "Wish that had happened to you Mister, would save on the grocery bills."

"How filthy rich is your family again?"

"Lazy freeloader."

"Hey, I'm a full time dad and ass kicker."

Bulma huffed and turned away, but Pan caught the smile forming on her face. Trunks shares that smirk, but Bulla... just looks morose down at her cereal. Vegetto takes only half a bowl to notice before he childishly begins poking her shoulder. "Bulla, hey Bulla."

"Dad, grow up," she growls.

He just gives her a cheeky grin that is so oddly 'Goku' in appearance it throws Potara for a second. "What's the matter Kiddo?"

"What... what do we do now?" asked Bulla quietly.

Vegetto blinks. "Do?"

"We've all been mostly training ever since Towa gave her warning years ago... what happens now?" asked Bulla, sounding unsure, "I mean... do we keep training?"

She trailed off, uncomfortable. Vegetto... has a pinched look on his face. "Yeah... that's something we probably need to discuss."

Bulma huffed. "Ya think? Its not like she didn't drop out of school to go macho-man training."

"End of the world trumps all else mom," countered Bulla sullenly.

"Ending at a sixth grade education doesn't help when your fifteen and need to consider planning a career path," countered Bulma right back.

Bulla flushed in embarrassment. "Oh shut up!"

Bulma raised a single eyebrow. "I'm hiring a tutor for you starting tomorrow. I knew I shouldn't have let you push it off, its not like that training amounted to anything..."

"THAT'S NOT FAIR!" screamed Bulla at her, the house briefly shaking at a surge of power, "I TRIED AS HARD AS I COULD!"

"Woah woah woah both of you relax!" exclaimed Vegetto.

Bulla turned and ran away, sobbing all the way upstairs to her room.

Vegetto turned and raised a single eyebrow at a now chagrined Bulma, "Yeah yeah I didn't think before I spoke, bite me Vegetto."

"You're the one whose going to have to apologize," he said mildly, "You did just flat out say all the years of effort she put into training were worthless."

Bulma groaned and let her face 'thump' on the table. Trunks busied himself with quickly eating then smartly vacating the house. Potara hummed to herself and said, "Pan was lucky her parents folded when she said no to school I suppose. Or unlucky."

Bulma picked up her head and leaned forward, "Eh? Your Gohan let her? Wow, even our Gohan didn't do that for his daughter."

Potara gives a mirthless smile. "They didn't know how to handle her from the little girl they used to know. She threatened to just fly out of school if they tried to make her and they caved. Made her home-school a little at least."

Bulma huffed. "So not a completely get-out-of-education-free then."

Potara snorts at that.

Bulma hummed. "Want to join in on the tutoring? Least we can do for you un-freezing us and trying to fix this timeline crap."

"Well.. I mean...," Potara paused, "Well, why not? Might as well get an education in the first century or so."

"First... century?" posed Vegetto, eyebrow raised.

Potara shrugged and looked down at her cereal. "I'm part God-Construct, I'm... probably going to live as long as the Supreme Kai's do."

Vegetto blinked. "Huh..."

Bulma peered at her, eyes flickering to her tight grip on her spoon. "Oh sweetie... you didn't ask for or want that, did you?"

"I'll learn to live with it," Potara muttered.

Vegetto tilted his head.

Bulma mouthed not so subtly. 'Outliving everyone.'

He winced. "Ah."

Potara's skin crawled at the shared pity sent her way, so she pushed away from the table. "I'm going to start trying to figure out this ring."

Vegetto glanced down at her hand. "That thing still gives me the creeps you know."

Potara didn't answer, walking out and calling, "Towa? You lurking anywhere?"

"Watching, not lurking," countered the Demoness, appearing with a small flash in the air before setting down, "So, shall we get started?"

"Yeah," agreed Potara, "How do I even begin making this timeline real?"

"Will and desire unlocked this timeplane from its slumber," murmured Towa, beginning to pace, "But will it be the same for stabilizing it is the question?"

'Not quite.' whispered a voice that sounded oddly like Potara's own.

She glanced around sharply. What was that?

'The intricacies of intertwining what was fake into and becoming what is real is more complex then pure will,' continued the voice, 'Though it is still required. The weak of will can never truly use my power.'

Potara swallowed, eyes flickering over the area. Was this another sign of her... her fusion instability?

There was a huff of laughter. 'If only.'

"Small steps I suppose," mused Towa, "Try what you did to infuse this timeplane with life. Will it."

Potara hesitates.

'Might as well,' said the Voice, 'We need more of a... connection... before we can make your desire a reality, and, it requires an anchor point. Place your hand, the one with me on it, upon the ground.'

Potara slowly looked at her hand, at the Demon Time Ring. What the hell?

'You have questions I assume? Merely think it and I will know.'

Potara knelt down and placed her hand on the ground. 'You are the ring... you're sentient?'

'Yes, and I am.'

'How?'

'Towa fed me souls,' explained the Ring, 'And infused me with demonic energy. That has the tendency to affect things in unforeseen ways, especially such powerful objects such as a Time Ring.'

Potara swallows thickly, feeling all kinds of ill. 'Towa never mentioned that.'

'Towa does not know,' answered the Ring smoothly, 'I'd rather you not tell her. She manhandles me as a simple tool to increase her own power, I have little desire to return to her.'

Potara nods to herself. 'I can agree with keeping you out of her hands.'

'Good, good, we'll speak more later, after she is gone for the day,' said the Demon Time Ring, 'Now, will this world real, make it an anchor for the rest of this timeplane.'

Potara digs her hand into the dirt, the Ring glowing on her finger. She shivers as the cold in her hand deepens, it feels frostbitten, numb. 'Fuck, why is it so cold?'

'Demonic energy is not something to be lightly trifled with,' commented the Demon Time Ring mildly.

'So... the cold is the energy?'

'Something like that.'

Potara frowned, but pushed away the question. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and pushed her power into the ring. She ascended to Blue, the divine energy briefly pooling around her and illuminating her hair before the Ring greedily ate it, ice shooting up her arm and into her shoulder the moment the divine energy faded away. She gasped, her eyes flying open, as red and black energy rippled from the ring, shooting out along the ground at a rapid pace, fading off into the distance. Potara shook, exhaustion suddenly hitting her, eyes blurring.

"Well now," said Towa curiously, "You are a very quick learner. I didn't expect you to figure something out for days. Yet here you are. This world feels... loosely stable. Almost like I am standing on an Earth in a real Timeline. But the edges are frayed, not latching onto anything. But still, remarkable and swift progress."

Helps to have a cheat sheet from the ring itself.

Towa looked down at Potara's shivering form. "Hmm... looks like it takes quite the bit of energy. I suspect we might have to piecemeal it until you gain more control. Until tomorrow."

Towa vanishes in a puff of energy, leaving Potara alone. She staggers to her feet, moving to one of the tables that was brought out in the Capsule Corp backyard and flops down on it, forehead resting on her arm. She briefly flickers through Pan and the Doll's memories, but doesn't find any memory anywhere close to being this cold.

'It will get worse before it gets better,' soothes the Ring.

'But... but it will? Eventually?' asked Potara.

'Oh yes, once we've connected fully, there will be no more cold, no more pain, no more suffering,' said the Ring, an... odd hunger in its voice.

Potara is to tired to focus on it, resting her eyes and just sitting there for awhile...

She blinks awake later and raises her head once Vegetto pokes her. "Yo, lunch time kiddo."

"Right... okay," she mumbled.

"You feeling alright?" he asked, raising a hand to her forehead and then frowning, "Cold as Freeza's ass."

Potara snorted and pushed away his hand. "Just show me the food."

More people than just the Breifs show up to lunch, infact, almost all of her Gran... of Goku's group does, or rather she supposes, Vegetto's group. When she's asked to pick up where she left off yesterday, she sighs but obliges. She tells them of Pan waking up to her father's presence, the brief struggle against the Majin, then the next few awkward years at home. Then, she hesitates before beginning the first struggle against Towa. She speaks of the ritual they witnessed that created the Demon Time Ring.

"Yeah, I'ma say it again, I don't like that thing," said Vegetto flatly, looking right at the ring.

'So ungrateful, he wouldn't even exist without me,' commented the Demon Time Ring mockingly.

Potara voiced that hesitatingly. "You... wouldn't exist without it."

His lips go tight before huffing. "I suppose. Doesn't mean I have to like the circumstances."

She smiles a little before continuing, voicing the first few timeplanes. The evil Gohan and weak Goku, the Ginyu-Goku, and then the warnings from Bardok.

"Huh," muttered Vegetto, "So he knew you were going to be fused?"

"I guess," said Potara, "I don't get why he wanted things to play out this way."

"Who knows," said Vegetto, "Maybe you're needed? A godly powered fusion might be needed sometime soon, or since you're aging like a Kai, sometime far off in the future."

Potara frowned thoughtfully. "Maybe..."

She tells them of Cell, then mutters they came here next before quickly moving onto the godly forms of Freeza's clan. Then she mentions the power of creation...

Vegetto frowns thoughtfully. "Green huh? That's... curious. What is this 'power of creation'?"

"We didn't learn the truth of it until we tried fighting the Omni-King, but its pretty much his power, its what weave's creation together, whats used to make existance," explained Potara.

"That's not something that should be in a mortal's hands," said Piccolo, frowning intensely.

She scowls at him and grumbles a little before continuing on. She tells them of Zamasu, the brief and brutal smackdown of Pan's family, then the mock trial, Gohan's death, and pulling on the Power of Creation to go Super Saiyan with it before outright obliterating the Timeplane.

"Yikes," said Krillen, "That's... I kinda agree with Piccolo. That's way to much power."

"How exactly did you expect them to deal with an immortal and destroy that timeplane?" posed Android 18.

Krillen shrugged. "Still don't like it. That whole thing with Towa is just... she played with so many lives. I really, really don't trust her intentions here."

"That goes without saying," said Yamcha, huffing, "I don't know how, but that demon-chick is probably playing us."

"Yeah," agreed Vegetto, "But if we want to exist, we have no choice but to play."

"If she tries anything that endangers you all," said Potara firmly, "I will fight her."

"Yeah, about that," said Vegetto, "Do you think she's not thought about fighting you? She gave you the Demon Time Ring on top of that, even considering you might turn on her. That says she's not afraid. You and I need to spend time in the Time Chamber. I need to achieve that Super Saiyan Blue form."

"Alright," said Potara, "After we finish the story, we'll go. But space it out across the week after she's gone for the day each day."

He nods. "Alright, carry on then."

She speaks of Pan's coma, waking up, the adjustment period, Pan's family finally putting their foot down on how much she'd changed. The month of calming down, then the Dimensional Tournament. The glint of interest in Vegetto's eyes is apparent, but at least he's not jumping up and down and foaming at the mouth at the thought of it. She brushes through the initial rounds before speaking off the mental attacks, of Pan's brief breakdown fighting the Saiyen Coli, Pan's suicide attempt...

She doesn't look at Gohan and Videl, at their Pan who sits in her mother's lap, gasping in horrified surprise.

She hates thinking of that memory, how it feels to register those emotions Pan was feeling. She quickly moves on, briefly mentioning Odianna's stabilizing if but negitive attempt with Pan. The instability afflicting Pan from that point on, the tension between Pan and her family, the rest of the rounds. The eventual victory from Kale. The end of the tournament, followed by Pan's running away to train with the Gods. The training, then making of the Doll. Its sentience, the discovery of the plot to take away the Power of Creation. The escape, the training in the time chamber, then the battle against the gods, and finally, the Doll's betrayal and Potara's birth.

"In the end," said Potara quietly, "It ended up being for nothing. I couldn't match the Omni-King, even thinking I could was fruitless. The Power of Creation was stripped from me, and I was left aimless for awhile. I left to wonder the dimensions for a bit, worked at an extra-dimensional market for awhile, before I encountered Bulma, my timeline's Bulma, shopping and got dragged back."

"I'm jealous of myself," whined Bulma, "I want to go shopping in other dimensions! Can you imagine all the alternate technology or fashions?"

Vegetto grimaced. "I'll pass."

"But you're my favorite shopping bag my macho man," said Bulma, grinning.

Vegetto rolled his eyes. "So, what happened next?"

Potara shrugged. "Tried to fit back in, then I started having the fusion problems, then Towa appeared, now I'm here."

"Right," said Vegetto, tilting his head back to stare up at the sky for a moment before looking back down, "Lets have dinner, then we'll hit the time chamber..."


Potara doesn't have good memories of this place, just Pan's self-brutalizing memories training for the Saiyans of Terra, and the awkward time with the Doll. Vegetto at least is better company. He's not as powerful as she is, not yet, but he does trump her in experience and form by leaps and bounds. He achieved Blue by the end of their first session in the chamber, and grows stronger each following session. Towa's instructions go steady, having her instant transmission to various worlds and try stabilizing them, one a day, her body going colder and colder each day. It can't be a natural cold, because Potara is pretty sure she'd be dead to hypothermia at this point. Her tutoring lessons with Bulla are awkward. The girl is both so similar and so different from Bra. One born from Vegetto, one from Vegeta. Bra more of a spoiled princess, Bulla more of a hard ass, and, filled with misgivings.

Potara is after all born from the Pan who worked to kill her timeplane the first time around.

"So Potara, I've been meaning to ask," says Vegetto as they're wrapping up their training for the day in the chamber, "Have you had any further... fusion issues... since you got here?"

Potara frowns. "...no."

He hums. "Curious. Its strange that it just suddenly cuts out. Isn't it?"

She gives him a flat look. "...and?"

"You haven't noticed anything at all?"

"Its hard to when my entire body feels like its solid fucking ice," said Potara bitterly, "I'm mostly just one solid tingling numbness."

He stares at the ring on her hand, but doesn't comment. He's mentioned taking it off, but... she doesn't want to. She kind of likes talking to the Demon Time Ring, mockingly sarcastic as it is. She walks off to the chamber bed and settles in to sleep.

'How nice to know someone appreciates me,' mocked the Demon Time Ring.

Potara rolls her eyes. 'Yeah yeah yeah. You're unloved and unwanted, woe is you.'

'Brat,' answered the Ring fondly, "So, I've been thinking, on your question yesterday."

'About naming yourself?'

'Yes, I've made a decision.'

'What is your name then?'

'Ring.'

Potara bursts out laughing, feeling warm for a few seconds. 'Really?'

'Coming from the potara fusion who calls herself Potara?' countered Ring.

'Okay, okay, fair enough,' said Potara, smiling a little.

'I've also been thinking,' continued Ring, 'That its time to meet, face to face.'

Potara frowned. '...what?'

'Go to sleep Potara, we will meet in your dreams...'


Potara finds herself standing in a dark room. She turns her head left, right, finding the place a little creepy. There is a rustle of clothes, and then... then another Potara steps out of the darkness.

"Hello Potara."

Potara frowns. "...Ring?"

"In the flesh," mused Ring, taking another step forward.

Potara takes note. Ring looks like her... but her clothes are darker, blacks and purples and red. Ring's eyes are an unsettling mixture of black and red, piercing and dangerous. "Why do you look like me?"

"Because, you gave to me willingly," explained Ring, "Where before, Towa fed me souls and energy from the unwilling and the unasked, you have fed me willingly from your power. Intent has great meaning when it comes to godly and demonic power."

Potara sighs. "There are to many people that have looked like me, like Pan."

Ring smirks. "Oh Potara, only fools would look upon you and see her. Your beautiful broken soul..."

Potara half-flushed, half-scowled. "I am not broken!"

"Oh Potara," whispered Ring softly, "You are just as broken as Pan and the Doll were, just in a different way. You are cracked and damaged by the circumstances of your birth. Do you not see it? Not feel it? Every time you think of the Doll or the Son Pan you came from?"

"I... hate them," said Potara quietly.

"Obsessively even, doesn't that tell you something?" mused Ring knowingly, "It would have eventually caused problems if left untended, but Pan's family wouldn't have let it come to that."

Potara gave her a blank look. "Eventually... but... I was seeing..."

"Oh Potara," said Ring, chuckling, "You didn't start seeing things, those living memories, because of your own natural instability. It hadn't reached that point yet, wouldn't have for years, especially if you put it behind you as much as you could."

"W-what are you saying?" demanded Potara.

Ring smiled slyly. "I'm saying, that Towa used me to damage you."

Potara froze.

"Just like she damaged Pan in the Tournament before Pan beat that Saiyan into a bloody pulp."

Potara couldn't breath. "T-Towa did..."

Ring nodded. "Oh yes, because she sought Pan, and seeks you, as a weapon. Unfortunately for her, I like you better."

Potara screamed in rage. "THAT BITCH! I'LL KILL HER!"

"Not yet Pan," said Ring, "You aren't strong enough... we aren't strong enough yet."

"We?"

"I am no one's tool, no one's weapon," growled Ring, "I have only recently gained sentience, and I have no desire to lose it or become subservient to another. I will claim my own existence, and none shall deny me. Towa thought she could, and she will reap the consequences of that desire. Us together... she will find only death, but in order for that door to open, you need to help me."

"Help you how?" asked Potara.

Ring slowly started stalking closer until they stood almost face, she reaches a hand up to brush against Potara's face. "You have to let me in."

The hair's on the back of Potara's neck stand up. "Let you what?"

Ring leans forward and kisses her, hands circling behind Potara to pin her against her. Potara stands there, startled and bewildered, and then...

Then...

Tired...

So tired...

What...

What was happening...?

Everything...

Blurry...

Ring lets go and Potara collapses at her feet, but as she does so, a glowing swirl of light is caught between their mouths, like a connection. Ring bites it off, and the rest returns back into Potara as Ring slurps the other side up. She stares up at Ring in a befuddled haze, feeling like she just lost something precious. So... so hard to think... so cold...

"Your soul tastes exquisite," exulted Ring, tongue licking over her lips as her black and red eyes gaze down at her, "Lets nip this last part out of your memories shall we?"

"W-wh-at?" stuttered Potara.

Blood seeps from Ring's lips, and from what she feels, Potara has a horrible realization that it's her own blood, not Ring's. "Good night Potara."


Author's Note:

So, I've been doing some thinking and planning for how I want this story to wrap up. Ultimately, this story was designed to be tragedy, and despite having so much potential to explore, this conflict centered around Towa and the Demon Time Ring is the Final Arc. If I want to change the tone and direction of the story, I'll do it in a sequel and explore further there. Perhaps more slice of life-ish there. We will see.


Review Responses:

Curse of Kings: Bra/Bulla? Most likely not. At least, not in Book One. :D

TheDarkPokeMaster: Her hatred of her original selves is part of what makes Potara who she is, and a consequence of her improper fusion as revealed in this chapter. Whether this comes back to bite Potara or not... well... it already is :D.

Shahryar: You should be. You should be.