01. [Action]

[fatherandsun]

[There is a very distressed blond in the lobby of the castle, calling loudly from a throat already hoarse from shouting. The last memory he has is of diving down an elevator shaft after Goku, who'd fallen after taking a blow for him while the two were running for their lives. Thinking he may have lost him for good, Konzen barely realizes he's no longer in Heaven. His mind is completely preoccupied with finding Goku. With saving him. How he himself survived the fall when he can't even remember landing is beyond him. He'll find out later. For now...

For now he had to find the hand he'd promised to never let go of.]

GOKU!! Geh... dammit, where is he...?! GOKU!!

Comments

[20thcentury]

[Jenny's just come down from the stairs, and gives this screaming guy a look, illustratively putting a hand to her ear.]

Quit shouting, would you? Open your journal and speak into it; you'll likely find who you're looking for or be told he isn't here. Simple.

[fatherandsun]

[He freezes, expecting an archer or a soldier. He has no weapon and he isn't good with fighting... so he's completely stunned at the sight of Jenny.]

W-what..?

[20thcentury]

Oh. You're new, yeah?

[Jenny isn't very good at greeting newbies, so this conversation might not help. Like, at all.]

So, this is a magic castle outside space and time you've been pulled to, along with round two hundred other unlucky bastards. There should be a journal somewhere with your name on it that'll let you speak to everyone else. Maybe you'll find whoever you're looking for that way instead of shouting on everybody.

[fatherandsun]

[That stops him dead.]

Magic castle---beyond time and space---what---what!? Do you earnestly believe I'll accept that explanation?

[Konzen, you really don't have much choice.]

[20thcentury]

It's likely the best explanation you'll get, friend.

Dictated

[hard_talker]

Wait, hey, you're lookin' for Goku?!

[that pings his attention RIGHT away]

[fatherandsun]

[A voice from nearby catches his attention. He is frantic, but hearing Goku's name manages to stop him. It seems to be coming from a journal at his feet. He was certain it wasn't there a moment ago. Carefully, he picks it up.]

...? My imagination...?

[hard_talker]

Nope, but look for a book with your name on it. Goku's here, he's safe. My name's Mark, he'sa friend of mine. I been keeping an eye on him.... First thing he did was make me promise to tell him if his friends showed up here.

[fatherandsun]

I'm holding the book... I'm speaking to a book. How is this---wait, you've been watching over Goku?! Impossible! He and I only just fell!

[hard_talker]

Yeah, that's Castle Wonderfuck for you. The book transmits people's voices, like a radio, but it does words, too. And anything that gets spilled on it or done to it. ... And there's a pretty heavy-duty theory that whenever you show up here, time stops at home. So you might've just fallen, for you, but for Goku ... it's been a while.

[sexyhitchhiker]

[have an unimpressed teenage girl lying on a couch and looking up from her handheld game.]

I'd look for a trail of paper and crayons.

pff poor konzen.

[fatherandsun]

What?

[He stops in his tracks, looking to the girl. She wasn't a God...]

Who are you? Where are the soldiers?

l-lol

[sexyhitchhiker]

There aren't any soldiers here. Or rather, there's no army or anything.

[mulish teenager ahoy] Who are you?

"I'm looking for my daughter Cheryl." /forever

[fatherandsun]

...what?

[He was going to be saying "What?" in response to a lot of things at this rate. Clearly he wasn't being pursued... but that made no sense. He then realized he didn't remember landing after plummeting down the elevator shaft. How had he arrived here?]

I---... but...

[He's too confounded to properly respond for the moment.]

[sexyhitchhiker]

[...she sighs.]

Welcome to Paradisa, the magically sadistic castle that kidnaps people from different universes.

[Voice]

[modernholmes]

How do you know Goku?

[fatherandsun]

[Konzen is going to look around wondering where the hell that voice came from. When he realizes it's coming from a book, he's going to carefully pick it up and scrutinize it.]

...what?

[Voice]

[modernholmes]

Why are you asking after Goku?

[This is the voice of a young child coming from the journal.]

[fatherandsun]

[He almost drops the book in shock. What a pushy book. Even though it was the first talking book he'd ever met.]

He---Goku is under my care. He was given to me to look after. He's my responsibility.

I'm talking to a book.

[modernholmes]

No. You're not. This is a communication device. My name is Conan Edogawa. I'm a detective.

And a friend of Goku's here.

1/3

[goldencirclet]

[At first, he thinks that he's just imagining it. But then... then the sun rises.

Staring, the small boy is frozen in place, unable to even blink.]

Konzen...?

[goldencirclet]

Konzen?!

[goldencirclet]

KONZEN?!

[fatherandsun]

Goku?!

[He whips around, hair flying in his eyes for a moment. It's him. He's safe. He's safe, oh thank anything other than Heaven he's safe. Konzen's legs are jelly. He can't move. The relief is so strong it literally floors him and he feels himself almost fainting right there... save for the overpowering strength he gains in needing to be strong for the little one... so it is with one, then two, then three forced steps that he forces himself to move.]

Goku!!

[goldencirclet]

[A large sob breaks Goku's frozen spell and he rushes forward as quickly as he can.]

KONZEN! Yer here! Yer finally here!

[Reaching the blonde man, the small boy throws himself around Konzen's legs. A year. Over a whole year since he saw his sun.]