The Fear (Solo)

(Thread PL: 74,067)

(Heavy weights on!)

Jie Shan rose from his bed, sweat beading at his forehead. His breaths were shallow and harsh, and it felt as if his heart had been replaced by a jackhammer. His eyes darted around the room like mad, searching for somebody, anybody. He felt a presence, as if he was being watched. Hell, he told himself, he probably was. His father's compound always felt as if the very walls had eyes and ears. And Jie Shan knew at least one person who watched him almost consistently: the Saiyaness scientist Rudieri. The woman kept a careful eye on him during his training sessions, but would she watch him while he slept? Jie Shan liked to think not, but if his father ordered her to keep an eye on him… Jie Shan shuddered at the thought. He didn't need those thoughts. They would only make him more nervous. And he was already on edge.



And that didn’t help the fact that he’d been sleeping in his armor. What in the world, he thought, why was he in his armor still? And then he realized: whoever had put him in bed had not changed him. That’s what he got for coming back in drunk. His body ached. But he was just too tired to take the armor off.



Jie Shan looked at the clock that he kept by his bedside. Through the darkness, he squinted, focusing on the bright green, digital display. His eyes hurt, and they were heavy, but he could still see. It was three in the morning, by Planet Natto time. Once upon a time, Jie Shan’s mother told him that there were people on Earth who called this time the witching hour. It was when the things that go bump in the night and dark forces moved about, scurrying around, plotting and working their dark deeds away from the sanctuary-like rays if the morning sun.



His mother had always held a fascination with the tales and superstitions of the various people of the worlds, particularly the more… macabre. And these tales are what Jie Shan got instead of bedtime stories. And it wasn't as if he minded; It was more than he ever got from his father. But some of them did stick with him, haunting the dark part of his mind, that dusty broom closet where he sealed the things he did not want to think about. Jie Shan had not been a fearful child, far from it, but he had had a certain overactive imagination. As a boy, his greatest fears were often the monsters he conjured up in his head, though some of them were very real indeed. Sadly, he knew that much. But he was a man now. No longer did he have to fear the monstrosities skulking around the inside of his mind.



Or did he? Jie Shan’s sweaty body and erratic heartbeat was all the reminder he needed of what had just transpired. His mind and imagination had betrayed him once again. A dream. No, he thought. A nightmare. Jie Shan hated them. But sadly they were all too common. Jie Shan was not a peaceful sleeper, far from it. His dreams were often full of all the things he locked away, as if the locks and chains that bound his fears came undone as soon as he slipped away into sleep.



Indeed, his favorite days were the nights that he did not dream at all. Some people might take solace in their dreams, but Jie Shan was not the kind of man who rested easily, in all matters. And when he did, the feeling never lasted long. No, Jie Shan much preferred staying active. The less time he spent among unchained beasts, the better.



And, perhaps the worst part was that he could not remember. He could not remember the beasts that hounded him at night. If he was going to be scared, he might as well know what putting the fear in him. Even now, the memories of the dream that had startled him were slipping like so many grains of sand through his fingers. All that he remembered were fleeting details. Jie Shan closed his eyes tight and concentrated. If he focused, vague images of the dream could be seen, floating around his mind, like stills from a movie. They were fuzzy, indistinct, and probably wildly inaccurate by this point, but they were there. Jie Shan saw… a man, an older man. A man who towered above him, like a mighty tree to a sapling. The man’s eyes glowed red like hot coals, but the gaze was not warm. It was cold, so very cold. Even imagining it, Jie Shan shivered.



But that man did not move. He stood there, a cold anger in his eyes, his gaze locked squarely on Jie Shan. And Jie Shan had felt very small, like he was a child again. Suddenly, the man stirred. He lifted his hand and held something up. A rod, thought Jie Shan, maybe a whip? No matter what it was, the man held it over Jie Shan like a weapon. And, in his dream, the man swung. Perhaps luckily, Jie Shan had awoken before he could feel the pain in his dream. But even that had been enough to wake him from his sleeping stupor.



Jie Shan shook anxiously in his bed. This was unbecoming of a captain of the Saiyan Alliance. To be scared by dreams… It was embarrassing. Luckily for him, there were only a handful of people in the entire universe who knew just how common these night terrors were. And he trusted them all with his life. Surely, they could keep a secret.



Jie Shan laid back down in bed and closed his eyes. But sleep would not come. He pulled the covers over his face. But sleep would not come. He tossed and turned, moving himself back and forth, trying to get comfortable, doing anything that might make the return to sleep easier, but sleep would not come! He felt like he’d been laying there for an eternity. Jie Shan shot up, sitting up and immediately turned his gaze on the clock. Only five minutes had passed since he’d tried to get back to sleep. He sighed. It seemed as if he would not be getting back to sleep this evening, even with the hangover nagging at his mind. Too restless, he thought, he’d be wasting his time trying to force himself back to sleep. Best if he just got up and made use of his time.



So, Jie Shan rose from his bed. There was no need to dress; Whoever had brought him to bed had not even removed his boots. “Inconsiderate, lil’...” mumbled Jie Shan. Just who had done this? His money was on Carota, probably too drunk himself to care. He seemed to remember Cornel leaving before the two of them were completely drunk off their minds, and Potana had refused their invitation… It had to be Carota, unless there was someone there he’d not remembered. Screw it, he thought, it didn’t matter. He had more important things to attend to.



Jie Shan slothly walked out of his room, peering up and down the hallways. Empty, not a soldier in sight. But the coast was not clear. Jie Shan knew he was being recorded by at least two or three cameras. His father was a paranoid man and he probably kept the camera businesses on Natto running single handedly. Surely, someone was watching, but he cared not. Who would dare stop a captain of the Saiyan Alliance? And one of the most powerful people on the planet? Jie Shan could walk where he damn well pleased, and he deigned to walk in the hallways of his father’s compound.



So, he walked. He strode down the empty hallways like he owned the place, keeping a brisk pace while he turned over all the nasty thoughts in his head. Jie Shan passed door after door, hallway after hallway, and it occurred to him that he knew what very few of them held. He had never really explored the compound, not even in his youth. Jie Shan knew where five rooms were for sure: his own room, his father’s chambers, the training room, Rudieri’s lab, and the grand bath. Other than those four, he knew about as much about this place as somebody who had never walked the halls did.



What he found more surprising was the lack of soldiers. Either his father had grown lax, or Jie Shan just wasn’t finding any. He knew they were here. Even in his hungover state, Jie Shan could sense the ki energy of his father’s men. And he recognized most of them. Jie Shan knew the signatures and faces of many of his father’s men, even if he did not know their names. He supposed that he should best learn them. After all, Jie Shan was a ranking officer now. They were technically under his command. Now that was a warming thought, Jie Shan told himself. It used to be that they showed him diference because of who his father was, but now they showed him respect because of his own standing. Silver linings, he thought…



Speaking of soldiers… Jie Shan felt one draw closer, his ki signature betraying him. Jie Shan sighed. He’d been hoping to have this time to himself. But it seemed that it was not to be. He looked about him. No rooms to duck into, at least not without potentially disturbing someone else. He’d just have to take it. He braced himself for contact.



A Saiyan soldier stepped around the corner, and saluted Jie Shan almost instantly, as if he’d been expecting him. “Sir!” He exclaimed, “Miss Rudieri wishes to speak with you!”



Jie Shan tilted his head, confused. Rudieri? At this hour? Did the woman never sleep? “Aye,” mumbled Jie Shan, “Thanks for the message, soldier. Return to your duties.”



“At once, Captain Lan Dian!” Said the soldier with a second salute. Captain Lan Dian… Jie Shan liked that, very much. The title never got old. Still, Jie Shan watched as the soldier traipsed away, presumably back to his duties. And Jie Shan was left alone, with another fistful of questions. And there was only one way to find out answers. He turned himself about, looking for the way to Rudieri’s lab. In the darkness of the early morning, everything in the compound looked eerily similar. But if he closed his mind and focused, he could sense the telltale aura of Rudieri’s ki. He used it to guide him through the dark and twisted hallways of the compound. Shadows and darkness seemed to stretch forever in front of him, and the hallways never seemed to change. But he was sure that he was getting closer.



And in time, his sureness turned to confidence, and confidence turned to pride as he found himself before the door of Rudieri’s lab. Jie Shan hesitated a moment before entering and swallowed. Why was he so nervous? With a shake of his head, he cast it off and entered the room.



And he was dazzled by the bright light of it all. The lights were on, full blast. The glare of it stung his eyes and caused his head to throb, and he was not so sure it was just the hangover working its cursed magic. The white light was so… sterile, just like everything else Rudieri worked with. And there was Rudieri, sat in front of a monitor, typing away like mad. She seemed entranced, as if nothing else in the world mattered. Her hair was messy and disheveled and bags had formed beneath her eyes. How long had the woman been here? Somehow, Jie Shan believed that she never left her lab.



Jie Shan cleared his throat and suddenly, Rudieri’s eyes shot up. She looked at him through bloodshot whites, her Saiyan black irises and pupils small. “Jie Shan,” she said, the exhaustion plain in her voice, “I’ve been expecting you.”



Jie Shan looked at her, his eyes still throbbing in the intense white light. “Rudieri,” he said sourly, “I was not expecting you. What are you still doing up?”



The woman gave a haphazard, mad grin, like her hold on the world was slowly breaking. “The work,” she sighed, “Never ends. Folder after folder, report after report, equation after equation. You know, it’s hard being a scientist. And it’s hard working under your father. I’m sure there’s a correlation, but I haven’t tested that idea. Maybe that’ll be my next project after we get you up to Super Saiyan strength. Speaking of which…”



Rudieri tapped away at her computer more. “I think you’re getting close. But enough about that. Why are you up? You need your rest,” she demanded.



Jie Shan grinned. “The work never ends.”



Rudieri rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I’d offer you a seat, but I’m kind of out of those. Why don’t you use that table there?” She said, nodding her head towards a metallic table not far from where Jie Shan was standing. The halfblood shrugged and went to table. As he went, thoughts stirred in his mind. Could he trust Rudieri? He liked to think that he could. So, he began speaking as he went, “Rudieri,” he began, “We need to talk. I’ve been having nightmares lately-”



“Hold that thought, Jie Shan! Give me one second to finish this up!” She exclaimed.



Jie Shan sat on the cold of a metal table as Rudieri tapped away at her keyboard, occasionally sighing to herself. The halfblood could only wait as the Saiyaness scientist continued her work, occasionally looking up at Jie Shan. There was a twisting in his stomach, and a cloud over his mind. The man’s eyes felt heavy. Lack of sleep would do that to a person, even someone as hardened as Jie Shan.



“So,” Rudieri interjected suddenly, “You’re having nightmares are you? Deep dark thoughts that wake you from your sleep? Cold sweats and accelerated heart beat? Feels like you wanna die sometimes?”



Jie Shan nodded slowly. “Yeah, that about sums it up,” said Jie Shan with a sigh, “What do you think?



Rudieri shrugged and tapped away at her keyboard. “Well, Jie Shan. I don’t know. Not without a psychiatric evaluation. We could do that now, I just need to put it in your records.” She hummed to herself as she worked.



“Is that really necessary, though?” Asked Jie Shan, the distaste plain in his voice, “Like, it’s just a nightmares. It’s not like I’m going insane or anything like that.



Rudieri suddenly stopped typing and raised her eyes from the monitor. She looked at Jie Shan with a tired look and shook her head. “Everything has to go in the records, Jie Shan. So says your father. And besides,” she continued, “I think he has the right idea. Records are everything. But maybe I’m biased.” She added a small smile to the end of her statement, before turning her head back to the monitor and continuing her typing.



“Yeah, records are important and all, but-”



“But what?” She cut him off.



“I had meant for that to be a private conversation. You know? Like, I thought I could tell you these things in confidence,” said Jie Shan sullenly.



“Oh,” whispered Rudieri. The two sat in silence for a few moments, not even the tapping of a keyboard to fill it. The words hung between them. Finally, Rudieri spoke, “Well, alright. We’ll keep this between us. Okay, Jie Shan, tell me about this nightmare of yours.”



Jie Shan swallowed. How much of the nightmare could he remember? It was hard to say. The man and his cold, red gaze were still fuzzily engraved into his mind. “Well,” began Jie Shan hesitantly, “All that I can remember is a man. He’s tall, giant even. He’s standing over me, but really the only thing I could make out are his eyes.”



Jie Shan paused for a moment, his mind racing. Rudieri only nodded, saying nothing. Jie Shan said nothing as he tried to find the words. And finally, his tongue moved, though it felt dry. “And those eyes,” mumbled Jie Shan, closing his own to remember, “They were red, like hot coals. But the gaze was not warm. It was cold, so cold. Like, it was the inverse of warmth, the absence of it. And that’s not all I remember. The man, he had something. It was a switch or something, maybe a belt? I don’t really know and I don’t care to know. All I know is that he raised it like a weapon, like he was intending to hit me.”



“I see,” whispered Rudieri, “And is this a reoccurring nightmare? Like, do you have this every night, every few nights, or even just like once a year or something?”



“No,” confirmed Jie Shan with a slow shake of the head, “Not that I remember. But I do have nightmares pretty often. Almost every night. Though some nights I don’t really dream.”



“Hmm, interesting. Frequent nightmares. There must be some underlying trauma. And so strange, too. You seem so… happy and energetic most of the time. You must cope with it pretty well. It’s that Saiyan mentality, I’d bet, but even that cracks on occasion. And you’re not even a fullblood. Believe it or not, that makes a difference. The chemicals in your brain… They must be different from a fullblood. Your brain’s internal coping mechanisms, those are biological. And your biology is strange, unique. Like I said before, you hybrids are strange,” lectured Rudieri, once again typing away at her computer.



“So, what’s wrong with me, Rudier?” Asked Jie Shan quietly, watching her as she worked.



“Jie Shan, I’m not a psychologist. My expertise is in the fields of biology and genetics. And the Super Saiyan transformation, but that’s still part of my main fields. I can’t, in my right mind, tell you what’s wrong for certain. Though I can give you my opinion,” explained Rudieri, once again looking up from the bright light of her monitor.

“And what’s that?” mumbled Jie Shan.



Rudieri gave a wry smile. “That you’re real messed up on the inside of that head of yours.”



“Ha-ha, very funny,” said Jie Shan with a frown.



“Look, Jie Shan, I can try and find you a proper shrink. They’ll be able to you better than me.”



“A shrink? Like, is this going to be another one of my father’s men?”



“No,” sighed Rudieri, “I’ll look off-world. I want to help you Jie Shan, but you need real help. And I can’t give it. So, you’re going to need to work with whoever I find, okay?”



“Yeah, sure.”



“I mean it, Jie Shan. You’re going to get real help. So, don’t go trying to fix it yourself. Like, don’t start a drinking habit or something. We’re not going to drag you in every night like we had to do tonight.”



“Wait?” Said Jie Shan suddenly, “It was you who brought me in from the bar?”



“Well, not me specifically. One of your father’s men. I, however, gave the order. You were to drunk to stand and your friend Carota could barely move himself.”



“So you were watching me?”



“Jie Shan,” she stated coolly, “We’re always keeping tabs. On your father’s orders, of course. Or maybe I just really like watching you. Does that creep you out?”



“Yeah, actually,” he frowned, “It kind of does.”



“Well, sorry. Just following orders.”



“I’m my father’s superior. I could just order you to stop.”



“Yes, you could. Though it wouldn’t make your father happy. He might even blame me for it.”



“What?” Demanded Jie Shan, “Why would he blame you?”



“Think about it. Your father has tasked me with tracking your movement and your development, steering it towards Super Saiyan-hood, and making sure you don’t do anything stupid. And that might count as stupid. He might blame for putting these ideas in your head. Trust me, your father is wroth. He doesn’t always think clearly. You should know this much.”



Jie Shan bit his lip. She was right. His father had a habit of making judgement, whether he was right or wrong. And he’d hate to see Rudieri get blamed for it. “Alright, just… Next time, can you make sure they take me out of my armor? It’s kind of a bitch to sleep in.”



Rudieri gave a tired chuckle. “Alright, sure. Hey, speaking of your armor… You know you’re advancing pretty quickly, right? Like, that armor is really helping you out. Your power is shooting up like mad. In fact, I have something I want to try if you feel up to it. But I understand if you want to go back to bed or the like.”



“No, I don’t think I’ll be going back to bed. Tell me what you have in mind,” admitted Jie Shan, leaning in curiously.



“Okay, so that sword thing you do, with the ki-lightning. It’s nice and all, but I think you can push it further to have the effects of actual lightning. Like electrifying people,” explained Rudieri, “You’d have to sacrifice some power for it, but it might be useful!”



Jie Shan nodded. “It does sound useful. But how do you mean to test this?”



“Well,” she said, spinning around in her chair, “I planned for that.” She stood and walked over to a console on the other side of the room, rapidly tapping at the controls of it. A second later, the floor came away and what appeared to be a floor mounted leather bag ascended. “This,” she continued, “Is a special scanner I made it. It’s capable of measuring your power and it simulates the effects that various stimuli would have on an organic body. I made it when you were starting your gravity training. I had to be sure of the effects it was going to have on your body.”



“I see. I never would have guessed that. It looks like… a punching bag,” admitted Jie Shan.



“That’s because it is. Well, it started as one. I cut some corners, okay? The point is, it works,” huffed Rudieri.



“I see. But, uh , one small wrinkle. I don’t have my sword, Rudieri. It’s in my room. I channel the ki lightning through the jian,” explained Jie Shan.



“Well, uh, can’t you use a stand-in?” Questioned Rudieri.



Jie Shan shrugged. “I suppose. Do you have a metal pipe or something? That should do just as well.”



Rudieri nodded and crossed to one of her cabinets. She rooted through it for a few moments, throwing out the occasional piece of junk. And finally, she drew out what she had been looking for. She drew out the pipe, a short one, shorter than his sword. But Jie Shan looked at it appraisingly and shrugged. “That’ll do, I suppose. Toss it here, Rudieri! I’ll give it a swing,” exclaimed Jie Shan.



And she did. Rudieri tossed the pipe and Jie Shan snatched it out of the air, swinging it with one swift motion. The balance was off, and it did not have the feel of a proper weapon. But it would do. Jie Shan crossed to the punching bag-scanner and looked at it.



“So, uh, Rudieri do I just hit the thing?” He asked, as if thinking aloud.



“Yeah, hit it. I’m sure you’ll figure it out. Modify your ki as you swing, take the power and transform it into actual electricity,” explained Rudieri.

“Well, I’ll give it a shot. Keep an eye on that data!” Said Jie Shan with a grin. And with that, he held the pipe in front of him, He began to channel ki into the metal, a familiar process he’d done hundreds of time before with his blade. The pipe crackled with power, too much power. And not enough of electricity. Jie Shan began to change the course of electricity, changing its nature. Soon, it was crackling with real electricity. And soon, he was satisfied.



He swung it through the air and it smashed into the bag. Electricity sparked in the air, and static ran through Jie Shan’s hair. Rudieri whistled from her seat. “Not bad, Jie Shan. Impressive actually. According to this, that electricity would have really messed up a real person. It probably would paralyze someone, at least for a time.”



“Excellent,” smirked Jie Shan, “I’ll be sure to use it.”



Jie Shan tossed the pipe aside. “Now, why don’t you get some sleep, Rudieri? You’ve earned it.”



“Well,” laughed Rudieri, almost crazily, “If you insist, Captain. I could do with some sleep”



“Alright, Rudieri. I’ll see you later. And, uh, thanks. I appreciate your help.”





(Attempting to learn [VT-1] Paralyzing Stormbreaker. Also, I’d like PL for this, with heavy weights bonus, house bonus, LMB, and my half-Elemi bonus. Thank you!)