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This page, The KidVegeta Anthology/Time-Eater, is property of KidVegeta. |
Time-Eater was the final story I came up with for Ka Mua. As I mentioned during my anthology of Lights of Zalama, I came up with this story idea very late and didn't even update the Ka Mua page until 8 minutes before posting it to the wiki. Before that, it was supposed to be a Yuki one-shot (which later turned into The Big Ugly). I don't remember exactly when I came up with the idea for Time-Eater, but its page was created about 26 hours after I posted The Deathless Scraps to the wiki.
When I created the page, I put this outline on it:
scene 1: Ag's supreme kai apprentice stumbles upon Myaku stealing a Supreme Kai fruit from a Kaiju Tree; a fight ensues, where they both flee.
scene 2: Ag and apprentice go to Geene and Martinu to discuss this and show evidence of Myaku stealing Kaiju fruit over a period of years. Geene is tasked with hunting him down and finding all the Kais he took.
scene 3: Geene and Martinu track the Kai's divine energy to a metropolis world. There, they find Myaku, but he has changed his shape into something else to hide himself. Soon after, they chase him through the city, to the outskirts. Cornered, he reveals the fruit, and goes to give it back before taking a bite out of it, then vanishing in a time-warp.
scene 4: Myaku hunts on an alien world.
I haven't read this story since 2019 (doing the commentary for it in early 2022), so I don't remember how accurate that outline is. The premise for this story was to have it showcase Myaku somewhat. Myaku is a villain who will appear in the latter stages of Dragon Ball: Heart of the Dragon, although he is a minor force in earlier sagas as well. This was my first chance to really explore his character, his motivations, powers, and all that. While he had appeared in earlier stories of mine, such as Across the Universe, Leap, and Extragalactic Containment Protocol, he had cameo appearances in each of those. This was the first time I was able to really explore his character.
Unlike Kommon and the Keeper, Myaku is not tied down to Universe 12 and is not originally from there, so to write a story about him in Universe 12 was a bit dicey. I didn't want to deal with the event that led to his imprisonment on Kheriedu, so that naturally led me to include the Supreme Kais in some way. As he's a trickster, it felt natural for him to mess around with the gods a little bit. Delving into his powers was honestly way more tricky than characterizing this bugger, although that's not to say either came naturally or easily.
I began writing this story on February 24, 2019. I only managed to write four or so paragraphs before calling it a day, however. The next day, I finished the first scene and also wrote the fourth scene. I don't remember why I did this. Going through the google doc, it says that I made this decision without hesitation. On February 26th, I wrote the second scene, finishing at 3:30 am. Writing went smoothly there. After taking a five-hour break, I resumed writing at 8:49 am, and finished the third scene (and the first draft) at 9:38 am. That scene was a bit more tricky to write, but overall, this was not a very difficult story for me. It was by far the easiest for me to get through in Ka Mua, not least of which because of its length compared to the other two.
I edited Time-Eater on February 27, 2019, from 3:10 am to 4:45 am, and posted it to the wiki that same minute. Kind of a long editing time for such a short story. The first scene received the most revisions.
Anyways, this one shouldn't take too long. I'm looking forward to re-reading it. Onto the endnotes!
Story[]
Beneath the shade of an aged Kaiju tree, an apprentice Supreme Kai lay at rest, sipping tea. The color of the leaves had only just turned. He watched one fall, and, as it was carried by the wind, admired how the sunlight illuminated its veins. Another had dropped into his cup, sending dark ripples to the rim and back. Scoffing, he poured it out and looked up, and that was precisely when he noticed the creature.
A blue hand clutched an unripe blackened fruit; dead leaves fell in droves. Though his face was masked by foliage, his eyes shone through the leaves at first green, then blue, then red, then golden, then orange. The Kai rose to his feet, leaving his cup behind. Shivering, he stared the beast in the eyes, sensing its foul energy.
“How dare you?! Stealing fruit from one of our sacred Kaiju trees?! An unborn Kai is growing inside there. Put it back, thief. It’s not yours to take.”
Having heard him, the beast pocketed it in his robes. Pressing his hands together as if in prayer, the apprentice bowed his head and let out a long breath.
His foot made contact with wood, and with a groan, a splintering crack formed near the base of the branch. Wood and leaves flew into the cloudless sky. The Supreme Kai grit his teeth. His foe had landed in the stream at the bottom of the grassy hill the great Kaiju had grown upon. Without hesitation, he jumped down, though not daring to get his boots wet, he did not get too close.
Bubbling over stones, river water splashed on by, the only constant.
“You’re not leaving here with one of my people.”
A diminutive thief he was: blue-skinned, with wild jet black hair, a thin, pointed tail, a stub for a nose, a slit for a mouth, and wide, round eyes, as if he were a child. Indeed, his head was noticeably proportionally larger to his scrawny body than should be the case. There were three things about the child’s looks, however, that made the Supreme Kai’s blood run cold: his black curling horns protruding out from above his forehead; his broad black wings, folded around his shoulders; and his unusually long arms, which left his claws ever more terrifyingly in reach.
Throwing his weight behind a right hook, the apprentice attacked the demon with unexpected pace. Instead of blocking, the child contorted his body strangely, arms and legs stuck out at awkward angles as he floated towards the Supreme Kai. Again he punched, and again his fist made contact with naught but light and air.
Blinding pain exploded before his eyes as he was thrown to the river, a bump rapidly forming on the back of his head. He spun around, spitting water, tasting blood, and the coldness of it was not more than his shame. The demon grinned, leaning forward as if to pounce, claws out. The Kai felt himself being thrown back against the rocks, though he never saw the demon’s assault, slipping and sliding and kicking and groaning and blinking all the water from his eyes.
It was shock as much as the force of his enemy that kept the Supreme Kai pinned down. For all the force he could muster, the demon child weighed surprisingly little. “H-how could a mortal being hold such power?” he sputtered, trying in vain to push the little monster off.
The boy cackled, opening his mouth wide to show off all those sharp teeth of his. His claws were digging into the apprentice’s skin. It was only when the demon moved in to bite off his lower jaw that a group of Kais (a teamaster and his disciples) appeared on the edge of the next hill, idly making their way to the river.
“Oh.”
His voice was a child’s–innocent, like a dewdrop on a blade of grass.
Without warning, the beast leapt up, ran a few paces off, turned back, looking to them, to him, and to them, mouthed something indistinct, turned back, and fled with a sonic boom, his aura fiery orange, cutting its way cruelly through the sky.
“Stop…”
The Supreme Kai would not forget that look in the demon’s eyes before he had fled. Unsettled, he sat up, feeling his collarbone gingerly. It was probably broken. Water and blood dripped from his nose.
Squeaking tea-trolleys were drawing ever nearer, and on the wind blew.
At the old Kaiju, where once a thief had stood, now sunlight slanted through.
It was dinner time when the Supreme Kai of Universe 12 and his apprentice made their way to Lord Geene’s world. Bowing humbly in the door before the God of Destruction and his attendant, Ag cleared his throat, laughing nervously. The scaly-faced god gave him an ill-tempered look. His bowl of soup, as it appeared, was steaming up into his face, and he looked quite displeased to not be enjoying it at present.
“My apologies for interrupting your… meal, Lord Geene, but we have urgent news.”
“Why does your disciple have a black eye, Kai?”
“Yes, we’ll get to that in a moment, my lord. First, I must tell you that, according to the records we keep on the World Core, it appears there has not been a single case of a Demon Kai or Demon Supreme Kai being born in this universe in more than three million years. I had known it had been a long time myself, but I had never expected…”
Geene looked up from his meal, folding his arms. “And?”
“Our records indicate that Demon Kais were born fairly infrequently, but reliably, up until that point–roughly three million years ago. After that, not a single one was ever born again.”
“I think our universe’s rising Mortal Level has something to do with that.”
“I’m afraid not, Lord Geene. My apprentice Sukan saw the beast who stole the frui–”
“It was black!” the younger Kai interrupted. “Corrupted, just like what was described in the old records. It was buried deep in the tree. I hadn’t noticed it because it wasn’t even close to being ripe yet, I suppose.”
“Most curious,” said Martinu. “And why didn’t you stop him? Being an apprentice Supreme Kai, you must possess significant power for your species.”
“I tried to stop him… I tried. He was too fast. Unbelievably fast. Took me out in one blow. Would’ve killed me if a group of tea-enthusiasts hadn’t scared him off.”
“Did they fight him?” asked Geene.
“No. He was petrified when he saw them. Almost like he was scared. He fled right away.”
“That is most curious indeed,” the attendant smiled. “Perhaps he is a Demon Kai himself. He could have been harvesting his brethren in secret so they wouldn’t be cast down into the Demon Realm upon being discovered. There could be an army of Demon Kais out there, perhaps led by a fallen Supreme Kai of their own, plotting to overthrow you, Supreme Kai.”
“Oh my. I am terribly sorry, Lord Geene. I didn’t think the lack of Demon Kais appearing in the recent records was very suspicious, otherwise I would have come to you sooner… I have failed you, my lord.”
“Enough whining.” Geene stood, grasping his bowl with both hands and downing whatever it was Martinu had made for him in a single gulp. Wiping his mouth, he said, “Let’s go, Martinu. Divine Energy is rare in the universe. It won’t be hard to find them, wherever they’ve gone.”
The young Kai’s head was bowed; Ag beamed and thanked them profusely, and soon Martinu was warping them away in a cloud of pure white energy. Geene took a deep breath, cracking his knuckles, closing his eyes, and clearing his mind. He was looking forward to this fight.
They found him on some backwater world, in a crowded metropolis of floating billboards and even more floating trash. The thief was not at all like the Supreme Kai’s apprentice had described him. Tall, lanky, orange-skinned with a pinhead like all the other aliens of this world, he didn’t stick out in the crowd. They followed him for seven blocks before he sharply turned into an alleyway, ducking out of the streaming throngs of natives and offworlders alike.
Smoked meat in the air; squawking vendors and workers, all lost in the crowd.
Quick though they were in pursuit, the Destroyer and his attendant were not fast enough to stop the thief from savaging a native. The man’s gurgling screaming fell silent as they reached the alleyway. The beast noticed them at once, his eyes radiating a rainbow pulse of colors, blood dripping down his chin. And as they saw him, he melted before them, crumbling into a tiny figure of a demon child with great black wings curled around his shoulders.
Lord Geene stepped forward aggressively. “You’re the one taking all the corrupted Kaiju fruit. Where are the Kais you have been gathering? Where are you keeping them?”
Martinu, meanwhile, was tapping her staff on the ground, her face scrunched up terribly as she gazed upon the thief in his true form.
The demon, for all that, laughed hollowly and licked his lips.
“It is exceedingly rare for any being in the universe to possess Divine Energy. You were not hard to find, imp. This is the end. Give me the fruit in your pocket, and you’ll only serve three years in galactic prison.”
The sliver of light coming from down the alley, where the crowds ebbed and flowed, was broken as the boy threw himself at Geene. The God of Destruction caught his punch, kicking him into a wall. Panting and wincing, the demon dropped to one knee.
Three drops of blood fell from his face. Snarling, he bit his lip and attacked again. Parrying his spinning kick, Geene stepped up, ducking under an incoming left hook to elbow the boy in the ribs. As the demon flew back through the air, he fired two finger beams in quick succession, lighting up the alleyway in flashing emerald light.
The thief gasped as the bolts pierced his flesh, coming out the back and exploding against a far wall in a mess of dust, rock, and heat. Collapsing to his hands and knees, the demon did not again attempt to move.
“Where are the others?”
Violet now was the light of the alleyway, pulsating with heat enough to make the boy look away. Geene’s palm faced his foe, a fist-sized ball of destructive energy materialized in front of it.
The level of hate he felt towards that ball of death… and yet, its beauty…
“Fools,” the boy rasped, blood dribbling down the corner of his lip–blood that was almost purple in the light.
With a sudden jerk, the demon’s body twisted unnaturally first to the left, then to the right, and he was gone.
The god gasped. His attendant smirked.
A corpse bleeding out, space rats nibbling at his ear; smoked meat in the air.
“I don’t sense him anymore, Martinu, nor the fallen Kai. Where’d he go?”
“Lord Geene, I’m surprised at you,” she giggled. “That was a Time Rift he ripped open. He’s gone, my lord. He could be anywhere in time and space now.”
The destructive ki quenched itself. “A time-runner and a thief? His insolence knows no bounds. If I ever see that bastard again, I will destroy him. What was he? A Demon Kai?”
“Oh, I think not, Lord Geene. Fallen Kais may be physically distorted by their corruption, but not so much as he is. He is something else entirely. What that is… well, I must confess, my lord, that I am not quite sure about that, myself.”
“Bah! If he bleeds, he’ll vaporize. Let’s go, Martinu. I’m feeling ravenous. Perhaps this world will have something tasty for us to try before we leave…”
And oh how she had beamed at that, how quickly they had left the alleyway, and how soon their minds and desires had shifted to something more reasonable.
Storm waves broke against the shore in the shadow of the dead king’s palace.
It was getting dark. For some time, the demon regarded the crimson sunset. Feeling seawind rush through his hair, he fell to his knees, closing his eyes. One hand instinctively went to his wound, rubbing it. He had come to the remote world of Julahi to escape prying eyes. This island in particular had been uninhabited for hundreds of years. He had often come here in the past. They knew now. This would be the last time.
The rotten fruit was in his hand. He stared at its foul rankness, not noticing his breathing getting sharper and quicker. He was on his feet again. His chest wound was bleeding again. He held the fruit up to his face. He wondered why they thought he had taken them. Maybe they thought he had plotted out some grand scheme, some plan to harvest all the bad Kais and Supreme Kais in order to mount an insurrection against the twelfth universe. He retched, thinking about what he had to do.
But that was just it–this was the twelfth universe. There were eleven others. That was not to say that anyone should feel like their universe was superior to the others. It wasn’t like Myaku, demon spawn though he was, felt any differently. He was ugly, evil, and bad, though, so what did it matter if he didn’t like the taste?
On the quiet shore, a crouching cambion howled and succumbed at last.
Endnotes[]
- Myaku is also known as the Time-Eater, and he showcases some of his time-manipulating abilities in the third scene.
- There is something to be said about the wasted energy of the Kais, even if it's also so tranquil. The opening of the first scene is somewhat mocking in tone.
- When it comes to the Demon Supreme Kais, there are those cast down before birth, at birth, and after birth. The blackened fruit indicates that the one he has is a particularly evil bloke who would've been cast down to the Demon Realm probably before being born. I would like to think that Myaku has gained a sense for spotting even the ones who will only become evil later in life, but that is merely speculation on my part.
- I am not sure if a severed Kaiju fruit can be saved or not. I figured at least Martinu could save the Kai.
- "Bubbling over stones, river water splashed on by, the only constant." - this is one of many haiku in this story. I count four in the first section alone, for instance. This prose style is not something I've done in any other story of mine. It's really quite difficult to do.
- Myaku's ability to shift in and out of dimensions is an ability seen throughout Heart of the Dragon, and it is also similar to Hit's Tides of Time technique. His mastery of this technique far exceeds anything I expect Ledas, Cuber, or the others to ever achieve.
- Myaku is, of course, very shy.
- One (such as KV) could say that Myaku is only helping the Kais by getting rid of their demon spawn, but one must not question the morality of Toriyama's deities.
- The second scene was a lot of fun because I got to write for Geene, one of my favorite Gods of Destruction. It was cool to lightly develop his relationships with Martinu and Ag.
- Demon Supreme Kais have always been canon, but I've never had any proper use for them before this story. Myaku eating them all, absorbing their god ki, explains some of his power.
- Sukan's name was punned off of Skanda, a Hindu god.
- Martinu's speculation is of course way off, indicating that Myaku is quite the unusual specimen.
- There were no haiku in the second section.
- The third section has two haiku, mostly centered around the juxtaposition of smoked meat and meatsacks/bodies.
- While the metro planet remains unnamed in the text, I considered both "Jeinparr" and "Dabev" in my notes.
- That one native had to die to be undeniable proof to Geene and Martinu that Myaku is "evil".
- Myaku's shapeshifting ability is powerful, but like Oolong's, it has significant drawbacks. With that said, the way Geene broke him out of that form is something Myaku is unlikely to encounter when not dealing with gods.
- Martinu's reaction to Myaku's true appearance was meant to be vague, although I hoped that the sense here was that Myaku was something very ancient, very foul, and very uncommon.
- Geene and Martinu are quite naive about the fate of all that Kaiju fruit, hence Myaku's only real line in the story. I expect he'll be like this in general. He's not the type to speak much.
- Geene was decently close in his guess as to what Myaku is, but not close enough. Martinu steering him away from the Dark Kai idea was not to either of their benefits.
- Geene will probably have at least one more encounter with Myaku, though that may have to take place in Heart of the Dragon.
- The final line of the third scene is a bit cheeky, but it's not so much trying to have a go at Geene and Martinu (and their u7 compatriots) so much as drawing a parallel between them and Myaku (based on what he does in the fourth scene).
- Two haiku in the fourth section is a bit of a density increase compared to how I handled sections 2 and 3, I must say.
- Myaku is unwilling to eat the fruit, indicating that he's done so before and doesn't like the taste. With that said, he knows the nutrients it provides, so he's gotta be a big boy, suck it up, and get that divine energy yo.
- "He was ugly, evil, and bad, though, so what did it matter if he didn’t like the taste?" - if only he were a prettyboi, maybe the readers could empathize.
- The final line is the first instance where Myaku is addressed as a cambion in my universe.
Overall, a nice little tale. Quite evocative. The haiku inserts are an excellent touch and something that I had forgotten about. I didn't utilize this style for my 14 or 15 one-shot collections, but I may do more with it in a future collection or multi-chapter story. Prose was sort of proto-minimalistic. Still had an overuse of the word "demon" for example, and some clunky transitions, but for the most part, it was effective. Had fun with Geene and the Kais, particularly in the second scene. Having Myaku eat the Kaiju fruit was a clean way to simultaneously solve a few of his nagging backstory issues, and re-reading that here, it was done successfully in my opinion. All in all, I am fairly pleased with this one.
As this is the last story in Ka Mua, I will now rank the one-shots from best to worst in my opinion:
- Lights of Zalama
- Time-Eater
- The Deathless Scraps
<---- Part 122
Part 124 ---->