Chapter 3 - Search for Evil

 

 

There are billions and even trillions of planets in the 10th universe with many civilizations, cultures, and personalities in it that gods do not know everything about them, and the few evil ones are those who caught Zamasu’s attention when he was still a supreme kai in-training under the Supreme Kai of the time, Gowasu. He seeks to eradicate them in the name of justice; however, he was blinded by his ideologies and corrupted sense of justice that he turned his crusade for justice into a genocide of the mortals, not regarding the lives of the innocent.

Blinded by his ego, ideologies, and narcissism, Goku Black cannot accept the fate he got into, he thought that when he became a God of Destruction, he would slaughter mortals endlessly in his realm then realized that by doing so, he would doom himself and Zamasu into a death not even as graceful as they would have in their lifetime; being Hakai’ed.

Mitarashi opened his curtains in Goku Black’s room, tying each carefully to the side and sliding the windows open to let fresh air in to circulate the room. The cool morning breeze woke the slumbering god; instead of opening his eyes and rising from his bed, he took his blanket and covered himself in it as if he wrapped himself in a cocoon. “I never knew my lord would hate mornings.” Mitarashi sarcastically commented as she tries to yank the blanket from her master. “The air is cold--” a muffled voice under the blanket is heard. “It’s morning, of course, the air is cold, my lord,” she explains as she struggles to pull the blanket away from her master. “I thought we would go see the planets now? I have the bath and breakfast ready downstairs for you, my lord,” she tries to insist to her master.
He relented and pushes out the blanket from his face revealing himself with messy hair and an annoyed expression on his face, he then stares at her as shes holding the blanket up as a sign he should leave the bed for his warm bath downstairs, he then sit up and stepped out from his bed with Mitarashi carefully fixing his bed behind him, he stretched up reaching his arms up popping some back joints and walked to the bathroom. After the bath, he was presented with freshly cooked meals by her, and he proceeded to eat with his chopsticks.

Mitarashi continues to hand him the plates of the food he wasn’t able to reach on the vast table of the dining room and refills his tea cup with more hot water or replaces the loose tea inside without spilling or error on her side. Goku Black eats without a word, observing Mitarashi’s movements, pure efficiency and accuracy in her act, his lips opened not to receive the food yet to speak; “Mitarashi, do you know how to fight…?” “Yes, that’s part of being a Kai, one must know about martial arts…” she replies as she refills his cup with hot water. “A good companion of a god of destruction must not be just good at serving through chores but also fight along side him.” he speaks before sipping his tea. “that is true my lord, the dynamics of angels and gods are just like that, however ours is different, yet I cannot blame you for asking that, our pairing is anomalous from all universes,” Mitarashi confirms as she placed more meat on her master’s bowl of rice. “Yet rest assured, my lord, I might keep up with your power level and speed, I won’t be slacking off just by serving you like this,” she added as she assures her master. Goku Black nods in agreement as he finishes up the rest of his meal and drinks his tea. “I’m full, let’s go and check the planets,” he said as he wiped his lips with a napkin.

Goku Black used Mitarashi’s teleportation abilities to reach a random planet, once they arrived the planet is covered with smog not naturally made by the planet yet by its inhabitants, he is coughing the moment they landed, they walked around to see silhouette of numerous skyscrapers behind the smog, they continued to walk, cable lines and towers thrown around the place, broken shards of glass, debris of suspected concrete, alien vehicles on fire on the corner of this unhabitable place of this civilization. “What a despicable place… yet… nostalgic…” Goku Black spoke as he covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief Mitarashi handed to him. “Where are the inhabitants…?” Mitarashi asks as she looks around to see if there are signs of life in a place that looks to be abandoned long ago. The gravity is lighter than Goku Black’s planet, and some buildings are overgrown by plants releasing toxic gas; the two decided to fly over to reach one of the skyscrapers to assess the situation.

Once they reached the top, Goku Black closed his eyes to feel any signs of life, and Mitarashi reached both of her arms to feel the Ki of those who were still in there, but unfortunately, they felt nothing. No advanced life forms, nothing. Just overgrown toxic plants and small insects, nothing else. “Are you going to destroy this planet, my lord…?” she asks as the smog-filled wind blows on top of the skyscraper they stand on. “Yes, I will. What we see here is an ugly representation of mortals’ errors. And we’re here to clean up their filth,” he replies, reaching out his hand to summon a black orb with a violet glow on the top of his palm. “Hakai,” he spoke. Then Mitarashi teleports them both in space, witnessing the planet turn into dust in under a minute, a sad yet grim view of the extent of the god of destruction’s power.

Back on Kai’s planet, Zamasu felt that one of the planets was already destroyed, and Tatsu even informed him of the events that took place. Zamasu, unfazed, smiles as he puts his hands on his back, then looks at the green plains of the planet. “He finally began,” he whispers. “Might as well check if he destroyed to wrong ones and we will revert it,” he added, turning to Tatsu, who is concerned for his master.

Mitarashi and Goku Black jumped from planet to planet, destroying each one of them due to it being evil, corrupted, and a threat to other civilizations. Mitarashi, true to her words, allows her master to slaughter the mortals one by one before fully destroying the planet with a single hakai. Goku Black, covered with the blood of those he killed, ordered Mitarashi to bring him back home to freshen up. Once returned home, Mitarashi bathed him and washed his clothes. On his robe, Goku Black sits on his throne, sipping on his tea, contented with himself. Mitarashi walks up to him to present him with snacks on a wooden tray.

“You see? I destroyed forty-nine planets, and all of them are evil... imagine a universe--” his sentence is interrupted with a swing of his front door. “YOU ABSOLUTE IDIOT!!!” An angry scream from the front door of a familiar voice could be heard. A few seconds later, the two witnessed that it was Zamasu that is screaming, stomping his way to the living room as Tatsu tries to drag him out to calm him. Instead, Zamasu drags Tatsu with him like a sack of rice. “Supreme Kai Zamasu!” Mitarashi immediately raised her right hand to the level of her head, then did a light bow to the supreme kai, “What are you doing here? Zamasu?” Goku Black asks calmly as he places his tea cup on the table beside his throne.

“YOU DESTROYED FORTY NINE PLANETS AND TWENTY THREE OF THEM DID NOT DESERVE IT!” Zamasu starts with his loud and angry voice, veins bulging from his forehead and neck, his face filled with both horror and anger, his eyebrows furrowed as if they’re going to collide like two comets against each other. “How would you know?! They are all evil in my eyes!” Goku Black snapped back. Zamasu then put his hand up, as Tatsu placed a scroll on top of it. Once Zamasu got hold of the scroll, he proceeded to throw it at Goku Black. With his reflexes, Goku Black catches it, then hands it to Mitarashi to open and read. “What does it say…?” the destroyer god asks. “Indeed, those planets you destroyed are innocent peace-loving mortals living their best lives… It’s a shame you choose to see the bad side of their civilization, not the greater whole,” she replies as she browses the scroll as if reading it without making eye contact with her master.

“You… YOU KNOW ALL ALONG?!” Goku Black screams, standing from his throne, facing Mitarashi. “Yes, I know all alone, my lord.” She replies with a relaxed tone in her voice as she rolls the scroll he handed to her. “WHY DIDN’T YOU STOP ME?!” Goku Black is now seething in anger, ready to punch her with his solid fists. Mitarashi looked him in the eye and spoke without fear on her face. “Whose the God of Destruction between us?” Goku Black’s eyes widened, his fist softened, his shoulders dropped, and Zamasu and Tatsu were left frozen in place. Indeed, the one responsible here is Goku Black not anyone nor Mitarashi, now it sunk in for him that this is the consequences of his actions, this is what she warns earlier, he is so dense with his pride and ego that indeed, he will eat his words if he is careless, he indeed is careless, inconsiderate and unforgiving. What is the difference between his old megalomaniac self and the god of destruction that he is now? He indeed made the first mistake, the mistake of overdoing it without assessing each planet’s situation, where he prioritized his sense of entitlement and ego over the lives of those who did not deserve it.

Out of breath and with a defeated look on his face he collapsed back on his throne, his face darkened in dismay, his body slumped, his arms hanging from its arm rest, and his knees without strength, embarrassed and without a face to show to Zamasu, his other self, he spoke with a low and slow tone; “You go fix my mistakes… Zamasu, I’ll do my best not to destroy as many as I did earlier…” Zamasu, taken aback, suddenly calmed down, his furrowed eyebrows relaxed, for a few seconds, his angered face returned; “You better not destroy more planets without actually checking them!” he shouted with anger in his voice. He then spun around and marched out the door, followed by Tatsu, who made a short bow with an apologetic face to the god of destruction before leaving and closing the door his way out.

Mitarashi walked up to her master, then knelt, looking down at the carpet she kneels near his feet; “My lord, if you think what I did is wrong, you can punish me, I have nothing to say.” Her voice echoes in the now-empty living room. The god raised his head, repositioned himself on the seat, placed his hands on his lap, and arranged his feet and knees, then sat forward, “No… I underestimated everything…” he spoke with a serious tone in his voice, a serious tone that made Mitarashi raise her chin to look at her master’s face. Indeed, he looks serious. He then leans his back, crossing his arms and crossing one of his legs on his lap; “Even Zamasu, my partner into doing this realized how of a pain of an arse my actions has brought, I went overboard… I need to fix this… I want to fix this… Yet I don’t know where to start.” he speaks as he looks at the ceiling again not looking at Mitarashi at all, embarrassed and filled with shame that he is wrong immediately after stepping into position.

He then takes a deep breath and sighs, “Get up, get me something to eat, and let’s return to the cosmos tomorrow,” he says with a defeated look on his face, as if devoid of all energy and ki. Mitarashi stood up and made a short bow, walked back, and turned to prepare food for her master. He collapsed his head back to the headrest of the throne, feeling all the mistakes he had made in the past and recently descended on him in one heavy hit.

The next morning, Goku Black sat on his seat at the table as Mitarashi served him food, “Did Zamasu restore the planets I destroyed?” he asked with a soft voice as he reached for his chopsticks on the table. “I asked Tatsu, and he restored the twenty-three planets you destroyed yesterday. He said, Supreme Kai Zamasu collapsed and lost consciousness after the restoration.” Mitarashi replied as she placed more dishes in front of him, then refilled his cup with more hot water. “What a shame that I did this to him…” he lowers his head in shame, trying to hide his embarrassment from her as he eats his meal, one small piece after another. “Would you like to visit more planets, though my lord? You don’t seem to feel well after what happened yesterday,” she asks with concern on her face as she places a small saucer of dipping sauce near his bowl. “I am fine. And I will be visiting more planets to see,” the disgruntled god replies with annoyance at her concerned question.

After the meal, Goku Black prepares himself for a day in the cosmos. As Mitarashi is about to open the door, he asks, “What is the nearest planet to mine?” “The Planet of Nyan-Qing. The origin of your teacup, my lord,” she replies honestly. “We go there,” he commanded as he placed his right hand on her shoulder. “Planet Nyan-Qing then,” she replies as she places her arms across her chest and they both fade in thin air.

Upon arrival they are welcomed with a loud noise from its inhabitants, it seems to have a festival of some sort, red confetti made out of thin pieces of paper flying in the air, giant trees with red and yellow lanterns hanging from its trees, music of drums, stringed instruments and trumpets can be heard, the children running around playing with kites and some sort of a paper dolls glued on sticks. Men and Women are enjoying a cup of tea using the same design of the cup Mitarashi has gifted to Goku Black. They both look around in awe with the lively atmosphere of its people who have the appearance of a human yet with ears, and tails of cats with the mannerisms of cats as well, they both walk in two legs and also run in fours, women have this large fan like hairstyle on top of their heads behind their feline ears adorned by silver and gold accessories of flowers and birds, silk and beads tassels hanging on its ends, and a beautifully adorned multiple layered silk dress with intricate embroidery, and silk shoes with at least three inches of platform cylinders underneath to increase their height. All holding embroidered handkerchiefs or fans to cover their faces when interacting with another, men with simple yet equally beautiful adorned coats and simple long braids of their hair with a tassel on the end of it, perfume sachets tied on the leather belts, and wear beautiful black platformed shoes as well.

They both smell the pleasing aroma of perfume, incense, and newly cooked food being served to the public by the homeowners, as they indeed got into a city where there is a festival taking place. Locals noticed them for their different appearance, and an elderly woman approached them; “Hello dear, you don’t seem to be from here, are you looking for someone?” “Ah, good day, Ma’am, I am Mitarashi, and this man beside me is the God of Destruction of our universe, Lord Black,” she replies, the old woman, after hearing the name God of Destruction. Fell on her knees and kowtows in front of the god, “I welcome you to our planet, our lord! I wish ten thousand years of fortune on your way!” she spoke as she reached her forehead to the ground. The other people seeing the old woman kowtow, follow suit in kneeling to pay respect to the god.

Goku Black is surprised by the act that the mortals did. With his first introduction to these mortals, he was suddenly being paid respect. He then spoke: “You all get up! I came here to speak with your… leader… king… whoever manages your planet!” “The person you’re looking for is the Emperor, My lord,” Mitarashi informs her master. “Bring us to your emperor.” Goku Black speaks loudly.
Meanwhile, in the palace, adorned with gold and precious gems, the emperor wearing his golden embroidered coat with red hat with tassels, enjoying his banquet in celebration of the spring festival alongside his main wife, the empress, her concubines and consorts, his princes and princesses, suddenly a eunuch walked behind him and whispers that powerful being who just arrived in the capital city is looking for him. The emperor felt nervous about this news and ordered his other eunuchs to prepare more food for this unexpected guest. The emperor looked around to see one of his daughters missing. He asked the empress where she goes, yet the empress shrugged as she didn’t know where she yet she's sure that the princess is always in the kitchen trying to cook something new to please her father.

Moments later the doors swung open, a eunuch at the door announces; “His divinity, God of Destruction, Lord Black has arrived!” everyone in the banquet is shocked yet stood on their feet, the emperor anticipating the arrival of this guest made him more anxious when the person arrived is no normal Nyan-Qing local, but the God of Destruction of the entire universe. Goku Black, with Mitarashi walking behind him, walks toward the center of the hall, eyes on them; silence is too loud for these feline people. The emperor not knowing what to do, walked down from his elevated seat to welcome the god in his planet, not to anger the god, he fell on his knees, removes his red hat then kowtows as the rest of those in the halls follow suit; “Welcome to the planet of Nyan-Qing! May ten thousand years of fortune be on your way our lord!” as he touches his forehead on the carpet few inches away from the soles of Goku Black’s pristine white boots. “You’re the emperor who oversees everything on this planet, correct?” Goku Black asks with his hands behind his back, looking down at the kowtowing emperor, “Y-yes, my lord! I am Loong Mao, the 625th emperor of the planet Nyan-Qing!”The emperor replies as his face is still buried in the carpet.

“You may rise. I need to speak to you in private, Emperor Loong Mao.” Goku Black commanded as he walked past the emperor, trying to get on his knees and feet. “If you wish to have a private conversation with me, my lord, may I escort you to the other room…”The emperor, with anxiety in his voice, offered to the relaxed god. They walked through the corridors and Goku Black saw a pond filled with lotus plants and its flowers, bonsai trees and a beautifully aligned brick walls and pathways, such a relaxing site to be, once they arrived, he was met with a large table filled with fragrant and steaming hot freshly cooked food, from different kinds of vegetables, and meats, fried, boiled, steamed and sauteed. As Mitarashi helped her master seat on his chair, a servant offered him rice wine, yet he refused; he asked for tea instead.

The emperor, sweating in anxiety in the corner of the room, asked the god, “My lord, what is it you’d like to ask from me?” “Take a seat and eat with me.” Goku Black speaks as he looks the emperor directly in his eyes. The servants, hearing this, provided the emperor with a seat, placed an empty bowl and a pair of chopsticks, and a spoon in front of their ruler. The emperor sits quietly. Goku Black then reached for a bowl of steaming soup and then sipped it. He was taken aback by how flavorful it was, better than Mitarashi’s cooking. He then turns to Mitarashi. “This soup is good. Why don’t you taste everything here and join me in eating this?” Goku Black offers, servants, then provides her with a seat and the utensils she needs. She thanks them.

Goku Black puts down his spoon and bowl of soup as he focuses his attention on the emperor. “Tell me, how did your civilization thrive the way that it is now?” he asked. “My lord, My ancestors have experimented with peace, and war, an experiment went wrong and right, decisions that went better and worse, despite all the ups and downs, we write everything by record, nothing to be erased, as its those mistakes and hardships be a reminder for our civilization to learn from it and be a better generation that what was in it before.” the emperor replies with passion in his voice. “How do you keep peace on this planet?” the god asked further. “My forefathers implemented laws, regulations, and memorandums that have been revised and updated with every emperor who sits on the throne. My late grandfather told his subjects that war is a waste of resources and life, and no one wins. That has been carved into stone for centuries now, and the planet has had no wars for over seven hundred years,” the emperor explains with pride in his voice. Goku Black glanced at Mitarashi, who was enjoying the food on her plate, even slurping the noodles beside her, yet attentive to the words of the emperor. He then focused on the ruler; “What about your justice system?” he asks as he leans his right arm on the table. A sparkle can be seen in the emperor’s eyes as the god asked him the question he had prepared for this moment. “My lord, we have the most iron-clad laws for those who commit crimes and those who are innocent. We make sure that justice is not tampered with, those who tamper with the truth are grounds for execution, and those who are accused with no solid proof will be freed with the help of the imperial constitution. What infuriates me the most is those who think they can buy justice with money. Not on my watch as their emperor!” Goku Black’s eyes widened, his face relaxed, and his mouth formed a light smile, a smile of admiration and fascination. Mitarashi stopped eating, almost dropping her chopsticks on her plate, witnessing her master smile, not an insidious smile, but a genuine one. She suddenly remembers someone in her past who shares the same smile as he did. “My lord…?” she whispers in concern. “Emperor… your sense of justice… I do like… ”the god speaks with pride in his voice.

“However, I have one last question for you…” Goku Black asks as he collects himself. “Anything, my lord,” the emperor replies with eagerness. Goku Black reached out his right hand and his palm facing up, as if to ask something, his eyes as sharp as they are, looking into the emperor’s soul; “Proof?” he spoke in a low tone. The tension is suddenly felt in the room, servants tightly hold their wooden trays pressing on their chests, gulping their saliva in anticipation, eunuchs and guards tensed in their positions, the emperor unwavering with the god’s demands, and called one of his eunuchs. “Bring me the box,” he whispered. The eunuch nodded without a word and left for the item. The emperor remained silent as Goku Black retracted his hand and crossed his arms as he waited for the emperor. “Your Majesty, this bowl of noodles is quite flavorful, and the chili oil is equally tasty and spicy!” Mitarashi commented to ease the tension. “I’m glad to hear it from you! Miss…?” the emperor spoke. “Mitarashi, your majesty,” she replies as she picks a piece of fried meat from the other plate. “I hope your imperial chef would teach me so I can cook similar foods to my lord!” she retorted with enthusiasm.

“Y-yes, I can present you my Imperial Chef after this discussion.” The emperor sweetly yet nervously offers. A few moments later, two eunuchs carrying what seemed to be a black chest, it is heavy from the grunting noises of the two servants lifting the chest near the emperor, he stood up, opened the chest, and took a scroll, then another. Mitarashi stood up to take one of the scrolls handed to her, then opened it.

She took a short moment to read the contents and turned to her master; “My lord, based on these records from at least three hundred years ago, the emperor speaks the truth.” she then handed another scroll by the eunuch, then she reads once more; “In this scroll, one of the iron-clad justice laws is written down and its from two hundred seventy years ago, this one states that once an innocent man accused of murder, tried as guilty then found out as innocent by the end of the court case, he would be given a position in the local government as compensation of his troubles and his family be rewarded with five hundred taels of silver.” she reads, and she reads every scroll corroborating the claims of the emperor earlier to the god.

Goku Black was left speechless, shocked, and dumbfounded that there are these civilized mortals who know how to get things done. He remains silent, frozen in place, as Mitarashi helps the eunuchs rearrange the scrolls back to the chest despite the insistence of emperor that they will take care of the rest. Mitarashi then steps by Goku Black’s side and asks him, “My lord, is there something on your mind..?” “Don’t you dare remind me of your deal!” he snaps at her. “I do not, you’re the one who reminded yourself!” Mitarashi defended herself with a light laugh.

Goku Black feeling defeated for the second time, hits his fists on the table that it startled the emperor and his servants in the room, he then raise his head and looks at the emperor; “Emperor, you’re lucky… I’ll be sparing your planet from destruction this time… But if you mess up, you know what will happen…” the god through gritted teeth, acknowledges his defeat to Mitarashi and the emperor. “Thank you for your mercy, my lord! I will never going to disappoint you!” The emperor kneels and bows to the god three times.

“I’m so glad that my lord has finally spared a planet! Though it made me curious…” Mitarashi speaks. “Curious of what?” Goku black asks with interest. “Why does Your Majesty put every important document and recording in a single chest…? Isn’t that dangerous?” Mitarashi asks with concern. “Ah, good thing you asked me that, Miss Mitarashi, you see, when I was still a young prince, my father, who is the emperor of the time, was visited by the former god of destruction.” The emperor explained as he took a seat near the god. “The god asked my father multiple questions that he answered carefully, honestly, and confidently… However, he asked for proof like you did earlier. My father ordered all the eunuchs and ministers to gather all the records that could confirm my father’s claims, then they could not find the scroll for accounting that records two years before my father’s reign. My father never knew that that small scroll was the cause of the deaths of many. The god is angry that we cannot provide one small scroll to back it up… this angered him, he claims that my father lied to him, he’s so angry in fact that he killed fifty percent of father’s subjects… the god’s companion never stopped him despite our begs of mercy… one of those he killed is my mother, the current empress of the time…” the emperor explains with tears on his eyes… “Just a scroll…? How shallow.” Goku Black’s brows furrowed as he sipped his tea. “There might be another reason? Why did he do that…?” Mitarashi inquired. “The scroll is one of them, but there is an earlier question that leads to this…” The emperor is starting to confess.

“The god of destruction of the time, asked my father if we would like to join him in a war…” he started. “A war…?” Goku Black stopped sipping his tea to turn around. “There is this… universal war… I don’t know what is all about, but my father refused, as it is a waste of resources and lives… then it was not talked about after that…” The emperor explained the rest of the story.

“I never heard of a universal war headed by a god of destruction, but a multiversal one…” Mitarashi murmurs that only Goku Black could hear her. The cogs in Goku Black’s mind started to turn, yet he remains silent and speaks, “As your current god of destruction, I’m not going to enlist your planet with anything war-related, nor anything to destroy your civilization, only I am the judge of that,” he reassures the emperor. The emperor’s eyes welling in tears fell on his knees again, bowing and thanking the god for his mercy.