Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1: The First Day of School (Part 1)

It’s always horrible on your first day of school, and for Tobias Erin Rogers, this is absolutely no different. And Orange Star High School is somehow a worse place to be than even Sally’s room. As he walks to his homeroom, he curses his boss and wonders why the faceless man has so much interest in this dimension. Then he wonders why there has to be dimensions beyond the one that he knows so well.

The school won’t let him wear his goggles or his mouth guard, and so to cover the scar, he tapes a piece of gauze over it and prays that no one will ask. At least, they let him wear his hoodie as long as he wore his uniform badge somewhere visible. Just to spite them, he attaches it to his messenger bag, because he doesn’t want to put a hole in his favorite jacket.

“Oh, I’m so going to be late!”

He looks behind him and sees a tall, black-haired boy running down the hallway with a raven girl beside him. The girl quickly snaps at the boy with equal parts anger and annoyance, “this is all your fault!”

“It’s not like they’re going to give you a detention!”

“They won’t give you one either! You’re the smartest guy in the school!”

“You’re famous, and they all worship the very ground your father walks on, and they’re terrified to give the World Champ’s daughter trouble.”

“Oh, shut up, Gohan!”

The two rush past him with little more than a glance and practically dive into the open door just before the bell rings, and he stops, heaving a heavy sigh when he sees the tag and realizes that it’s his homeroom too. He walks in shortly afterwards, and the teacher turns, a frown firmly set into his face. “New student?” he asks, and after a beat, Toby nods. “Well, then why don’t you introduce yourself?”

“Great…” he mutters, before turning to the face the sheep, secretly wishing that he could have brought his weapons to school; it would be a perfect place to practice… “My name is Tobias Rogers, but I prefer to be called Toby.” He’s not quite sure why he hates being called by his full first name, but he’s certain that whoever called him by it was a horrible person.

“Students, do you have any questions for him?”

Toby’s eyes widen, and he thinks, ‘oh, hell no…’

For a moment, it’s silent, and he’s about to count himself lucky. However, a brunette girl pipes up and ruins the brief moment of hope that he allows himself. “Where are you from?”

“America.” He keeps his answers brief out loud, but in his head, he expands upon them. ‘Another dimension, actually…’

“What’s America like?”

“Boring.” ‘At least the forest is…’

“Why’d you move here?”

“Because I had to.” ‘Or I’d be in trouble.’

“Do you have siblings?”

“A sister.” ‘A dead sister…’

“Why are you twitching?”

Truthfully, Toby hadn’t noticed that his illness was acting up until that question was uttered, and the spike of anger that suddenly bites into him makes him practically snarl out, “it’s not of your business!” He huff in a breath, holding it for far longer than he needs to as he counts down from ten, and he stares up at the students who have gone wide-eyed at his growl. “I’d like to sit down now.”

The teacher, who was clearly taken by surprise, stands there dumbly for a few moments before saying, “there’s a seat next to Son Gohan, if you’d like to take it. Gohan, if you would raise your hand.”

“Fine.” He walks up to the empty seat by the boy who had run into the classroom before him and drops into it without looking at him. “I don’t want to be here.”

“I figured as much.” Toby hadn’t expected anyone to respond to that, and so he stiffens, not sure if he should look at the other teen. “And I wish that I could tell you that it will get better.”

He decides then to look over at Gohan, and the raven offers a small, highly awkward smile. Despite having already decided that he hates everyone in this school, Toby chuckles internally and contemplates changing his mind if he this teenager will make his assignment less annoying. “Well, it’s nice to know that someone’s honest. ‘School will be fun,’ they said…”

Gohan laughs and quickly ducks his head when the teacher looks up. “I actually like learning, but I know everything that they’re teaching… I was homeschooled too.”

“How could you tell?”

“I just could, and it’s nice to have someone who understands...”

When the bell rings signaling the end of first period, Toby’s about to stand up and leave when Gohan leans over and whispers, “the teachers move around, and we’re supposed to stay put, except when we have gym.”

“Oh, joy,” he responds. “Part of me is looking forward to gym though.”

“Why?”

The brunette discreetly points towards the jock who had pointed out his twitching earlier. “If they give me a chance, he’s going to end up with something lobbed at the back of his head.” Surprisingly, Gohan laughs, seeming not to be disturbed by that threat. “What?”

“Today’s dodgeball.”

The rest of the morning passed without further interruption, besides Erasa getting yelled at by Miss Yamori for trying to talk to Toby during the math lesson, not that Toby was actually listening to the lecture anyway. Apparently, in this school, algebra two is the highest they ever teach to, and Toby, having been stuck in a mansion with people who wanted him to be prepared for anything this ‘mission’ would entail, is confident that this class won’t mean much to him. He both simultaneously hates and loves Hoody and Masky for that.

Lunch, on the other hand, is a spectacle.

Gohan and his friends ask Toby if he wants to have lunch with them, and after a moment of internal debate about the worth of ‘fitting in’ verses having alone time and subsequently failing at his secondary mission, he accepts. They end up outside in the courtyard underneath a cherry tree that’s long since been losing its leaves in preparation for the coming frost, and because of the seclusion away from the other students, Erasa begins to question him. He quickly realizes that she was the one who asked him about Lyra.

“So, cutie,” she asks, “what do you think of our school?”

“It sucks,” he answers, trying to remain honest. “Honestly, I just want to go back to America and sleep until I die.”

Sharpener, the blond jock who Toby had been pointedly trying to ignore, scoffs. “Don’t be so dramatic. You’re sounding like the goths over there.” He points over his shoulder at the congregation of teenagers dressed to the nines in black and attitude. “Besides, this school may suck, but you’re in class with the World Champ’s daughter. You have to admit, that’s pretty awesome.”

“Not really.”

The table goes silent, save for the clatter when Sharpener’s bowl of rice drops. “What?” he asks, his eyes wide. “How could you not think that being in school with Videl is awesome?”

He turns his chocolate gaze upon Videl and smiles in a disarming fashion that wouldn’t look out of place on a hyena or snake. “I don’t know her well enough to pass a judgement.” He drops his eyes to the noodles that make up his own lunch. “I don’t judge people that I don’t know… It isn’t my place.” He absentmindedly rubs at a scar on the back of his hand then, a small one that most people don’t know is there, but he does; it’s from the first time he used his hatchets. “I’m going to go back inside… The sun’s giving me a headache.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 2: First Day of School (Part 2)

When the other four teenagers join Toby back in their empty classroom, they find the brunette sitting at his spot and cleaning his fingernails with a pocketknife. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Videl asks, and Toby slowly looks up at her, raising an eyebrow in question. "You can't have a knife in school! You're lucky our teacher isn't in here!"

"Why not?" he asks and flicks it closed before sliding it into his front pocket. "It's not like I'm going to use it on anyone, and as long as you don't go blabbing, no one will know I even have one."

"Ugh, you're impossible. I can't believe your parents would let you have something like that if you're so irresponsible!" His eyes narrow, and he grits his teeth as sharp anger washes over him again. Videl takes a step backwards at this sign of obvious aggression, but then she stops, wondering why she would back up in the face of her new classmate when similar looks from criminals do nothing to her.

Then as suddenly as it came, the anger is gone and replaced by hollow emptiness. "I suggest that we all shut up about this… The others are coming in, and I don't fancy explaining why I got into a fist fight with Videl Satan."

Sharpener barks out a sharp laugh. "As if you could take her on, I bet I could kick your ass in five seconds flat!"

"Do you really think so?" he asks, honestly amused. "Why don't we make a bet for dodgeball today?" His smirk grows, irritating the blond. "If you manage to hit me once, I'll apologize and turn myself in, but if you can't, then you'll all keep quiet, and you," he points to Sharpener, "will keep your mouth shut and not talk to me for the rest of the week. Deal?"

Assured of his victory, Sharpener chimes back, "deal." They shake hands then, and Videl gives Sharpener a wide-eyed look of worry; that's the first and only time she'll give him such a look.

The locker room is a place of intimidation for teenaged boys who may already feel ashamed by the gangly awkwardness of their own bodies. And Toby, who has never been in such a situation, is relieved to find that there are privacy rooms built into it. Gohan smiles and steps into one to quickly change into the uniforms that became a requirement a few months prior, and Toby sighs before doing the same.

His beloved hoodie is reluctantly removed and followed by his black t-shirt and replaced by another, more durable, white one. He looks down at the scars on his arms and sighs, deciding not to worry about them for once.

He ends up at the foot of the stairs, waiting on the only person he's sincerely contemplating befriending. He eyes the others who have taken to staring at him with contempt, most likely because he's new, and he contemplates the consequence of murdering the majority of the school population. He doubts that either Masky or Slender would be very happy with him, and while he knows defying slender would most likely end in a lot of pain or maybe death, it's the thought of disappointing one of the few people who had ever showed him kindness that sends his bloodlust into a screeching halt.

His desire for vengeance on the jock from earlier and to humiliate Sharpener, however, will not disappear so easily.

"Sharpener and Videl are normally the team captains," Gohan whispers and leads Toby off to the side as the two captains for the day (Angela and Videl) start picking their teams. "Videl told Angela that you needed to be on her team so you and Sharpener can be opponents. Angela seemed rather excited about it."

Toby nods, and a dark smile lights his face with mania as the jock who questioned him earlier is called by Videl and lines up with the rest of the livestock. "You better hope that you're on my team, Gohan."

"Trust me, I do."

Much to Gohan's relief and Toby's amusement, Angela calls both of them shortly afterwards, surrendering a basketball player to Videl's team. The two then wait rather impatiently as the ranks are thinned further and it becomes time to play. The coach barely has time to explain the rules before the madness descends, and through the stampede Toby remains stubbornly in the back and watches. Soon, a ball is thrown at him, but it is Gohan who grabs it and passes it off to the shorter teenager. He takes aim upon the jock from the morning and laughs cruelly as it connects with the redhead's arm. It bounces off, smacking itself into the one who had thrown the ball at Toby in the first place.

Gohan snorts and ducks out of the way of another and watches out of the corner of his eye as the slim brunette ducks himself out of the way and catches another ball before flinging it at Sharpener, a cruel glint in his eyes. The blond teenager tries to catch it; he really does, but the amount of force, combined with the angle of trajectory, tips it out of his hands and smacks him in the face. Unfortunately for him, Videl is too far away to catch the ball, and to her shock as well, Toby takes advantage of her surprise.

"Rogers!" the coach cowls. "Way to get them!"

"Thanks," he mutters and ducks once more. "God, you people are slow."

Sharpener and Videl refuse to speak to Toby for the rest of the day, and that's fine with him. During his last class, Toby keeps quiet and works on his homework from his other classes, hoping that he can finish it before he gets back to the abandoned house he set up as his base. The class ends, and he slips out without speaking to anyone, including Gohan. But he flashes that particular teenager a small smile and a nod that he will return the next day.

The moment he gets outside, he takes off, not wanting Videl to see what direction he's heading in and follow him. He doesn't want to answer any questions about his place, because there's nothing that he can say that wouldn't sound ridiculous or suspicious.

The house leaves much to be desired as there's no electricity or running water, but Toby doesn't seem to care. He already has plans to take showers in the school after gym class, and there's a laundromat not far away. He collapses on one of the beds after pulling his mouthguard on so he can get rid of the bandage, and he closes his eyes even though it's only four in the afternoon.

He wakes up at two in the morning, suddenly incapable of going back to sleep, and he stretches. The darkness seems impermeable to his eyes, but after so long of living in the shadows, he knows that there's nothing there to harm him. He eventually gets up and slips on his tennis shoes before heading into the kitchen and grabbing a poptart from the supplies that he had brought with him.

"I'm going out," he says to nobody and slips into the predawn streets.

There are others out, mostly drunks and homeless people, but they don't bother him for the most part. All except one unlucky man…

"Hey, sweetheart, what are you doing out so late?"

Toby looks out of the corner of his eye at a drunken man, and a predatory grin stretches across his face. He snaps on a pair of gloves discretely then so as to not leave his fingerprints behind. "I got lost," he says so innocently, and the man looks delighted.

"I could take you home! Where do you live?"

"Albright Drive." It's a lie, but the man doesn't know that.

No, the man offers the serial killer his arm, and Toby takes it, following him down a mostly unused access road where Toby bashes his head in with a rock. He steals the man's wallet then and tosses his body in a dumpster, careful not to let it be seen from the top or lie on the bottom. If he's lucky, no one will notice there's a body until it's too late. He empties the wallet of cash and abandons the rest in a different trash receptacle about two streets down and his now blood-stained, gloves in another a few streets away from that.

"I think I'll go shopping later…" he says to himself as he walks back to his house to grab a few more hours of sleep before he has to go to school.

Chapter Text

"Good morning, students." Toby looks up at his teacher, annoyance plain on his face for anyone that's paying attention, but no one's looking at the brunette serial killer. Instead, there attention's on the soft-spoken man in the front of the classroom. "In a few moments, you will all be given fifteen minutes to talk with your partner on your upcoming project." The classroom erupts in small whispers as friends try to figure out their partnerships at that exact moment, but Mr. Hisoka is not fazed by this and plows on, slightly smirking at the horror that overcomes his students' faces. "I will be assigning your partners." Toby frowns deeper than before, half-expecting that he'll get stuck with self-righteous Videl or a preppy airhead like Angela. "Now, once I finish listing the partnerships, I will allow you to get together, and not a second before."

"Videl Satan and Thomas Apinski." Over in the jock sector of the room, a large, darker-skinned teen high-fives one of his friends, and Videl rolls her eyes. Gohan moves over closer to Toby to get clear of the waves of rage that flow off of the raven-haired girl, and Toby sighs, leaning on his left hand. "Erasa Marka and Angela Anderson." Toby tunes out some more names. "Sharpener Pencil and Alexander Takura."

"Gohan Son and Tobias Rogers."

Gohan lets out a sigh of relief that mirrors the feeling in Toby's chest, and the former turns to the latter. "Thank goodness, I got you."

"I'll take that as a complement."

Mr. Hisoka finishes listing the partnerships shortly afterwards, and he moves back to his desk. "Your assignment is to present for fifteen minutes on a news topic from the past fifteen years, of your choosing, as long as it is school appropriate." A little nerdy girl in the front row raises her hand. "Yes, Miss Woorm."

"What do you mean by school appropriate?"

"I mean, that I don't want any of you to choose topics of a sexual or overly violent nature, and what you say up here has to be free of any inappropriate language. For example, if you decide to talk about the Cell Games, then you cannot give a play by play of any violence committed on the screen." At the mention of the events, seven years prior, everyone seems to have decided that that's what they want to talk about, except Videl, Gohan and Toby, the last of which just doesn't care.

Toby scoffs. 'That's boring… But… I wonder if Gohan would be willing to step into a territory that I'm more familiar with.'

"Now talk to your partners! You need to figure out what your topic is and where you're going to meet!"

Everyone around them scrambles around to get to their partner, but Toby merely turns in his seat to look at his obviously disgruntled partner. "Library?" Toby asks, and Gohan nods. "You free tomorrow after school?"

"Yeah. Do you want to meet up then?"

"Sounds fine to me." Toby rolls his eyes as chatter about the topic of the cell games rises, and he notes Gohan's uncomfortable look. "I'm not doing one on the Cell Games."

Gohan sighs in relief. "That's good. I don't think I'd find the topic enjoyable… Is there something you want to do specifically?"

"Are there any serial killers around here?"

"…Not that I'm aware of… Why?"

Toby smiles slightly. "No reason. It just sounds more interesting than everything else I've heard on the news."

"We could do it on aliens." Gohan punctuates his idea by pointing over at Sharpener. "I mean he's got to have come from Mars."

The brunette teen starts laughing and has to cover his mouth to keep from being too loud as he envisions Sharpener as Marvin the Martian. "I don't think we'd get a good grade if we used him as our example… Maybe we should think about ideas then come together with one tomorrow?"

"Sounds great."

When Toby gets home that night, he flops down on his temporary bed, pressing his face against the pillows. "What the hell am I going to suggest tomorrow? I don't know anything about this fucking dimension."

The phone in his right hand offers up laughter from a baritone voice that he knows so well. "Toby, just go with whatever he suggests."

"But Masky, I can't go in empty handed. It would make me seem like an idiot, and a lazy one at that."

"Well, you'd be being honest then."

It takes Toby a few moments to realize that the response is a joke. "Last time I checked, I'm supposed to be the asshole. But I guess you are the more experienced one."

Tim laughs again. "That is true... If you're so worried about what this boy thinks of you, he must be something special. Do you like him?"

"Well, I don't hate him. So I guess that's a start."

Toby finds himself smiling in response to the amusement and pride evident in the older man's voice; it's something that he's not afraid to admit he's spent everyday in the last two years striving to earn. "From what you were saying last week, he sounds pretty nice. You'll have to let me meet him if this goes any further..." Toby makes a small noncommittal noise. "And I'm glad that you're finally coming out of your shell."

"Thanks, Masky. Goodnight..."

"Goodnight, Toby. And if you can't think of anything else, offer up Urban Legends as your idea. I'd get a kick out of it if I had to do a project."

Toby chuckles. "Alright... I'll talk to you later."

"Talk to you later."

When class ends the next day, Toby ends up right beside Gohan's locker, arms crossed over his chest as he waits for the muscular teen to ward off Erasa who's trying to get the two of them to come to the mall with her. "I'm sorry," Gohan says. "But I've got a long… drive home and Toby and I need to get this started."

The bubbly girl looks a little bit defeated. "Alright… Well, I'll see you guys on Monday then!"

"See ya,"Toby replies off-handedly, having already told the girl that he would be busy for the weekend. "Are you ready then?"

"Yeah," Gohan replies. "I hope you don't mind walking. The library isn't too far away."

"Walking's fine. It gives us time to shoot ideas off of one another."

The library is a rather small building a couple of blocks away from school, but despite the length of the walk, neither of the teenagers actually speak again until they arrive at the computer lab in the back of the one-story building. Toby, who's reclining against the back wall by the windows, looks rather surprised when Gohan asks, "other than the serial killer thing, is there anything you want to do?"

"Uh… Well, a friend of mine gave me the idea of Urban Legends, but I don't have a fucking clue other than that." Toby shrugs his shoulders. "Sorry."

"It's fine," Gohan assures. "You're actually doing better than me. I was half-expecting that we'd do something really boring or uninteresting…" He laughs slightly. "But legends would be kind of interesting…" He gets a speculative look on his face. "Have you ever heard of the dragonballs?" Furrowing his brow, the brunette serial killer gives his friend a confused look. "I think you're going to like this."

When Gohan leaves, Toby finds himself hunched over the computer once more; it's time that he actually started to work on his mission. He has to find out more about this ki that Gohan had mentioned… After all, Slender seemed extremely intrigued by it, and Toby has to listen to his boss…

Chapter Text

Chapter 4: A Secret Found Out

The little research room in the library is full of the sounds of clicking keys as Toby types away at a PowerPoint, filling the slides with small catchphrases to keep them on topic when he and Gohan finally give their presentations on Wednesday. Gohan on the other hand is scrolling through a sight to find popular lore on the dragonballs that he might have missed; he glances at the clock offhandedly and sighs. "Do you want to meet up somewhere else tomorrow to finalize our project?"

Toby looks over a the raven then, his fingers hovering over the keys to keep from pressing something that he shouldn't. "Define somewhere else."

"I don't know… I mean we could meet up at your house or mine, if you don't mind taking a ridiculously long… drive to the mountains. Or… wherever. It's up to you."

Toby swallows rather thickly, and his hands move to his lap. His face twitches just slightly, nervousness making his tics more prominent, and he sighs. "Gohan, it's better if we keep it in the city. I can't drive out to see you… and my place… isn't suited for company."

Concern darkens Gohan's eyes, and for a brief moment, anger accompanies the heartfelt emotion; Toby wonders what he could have done to anger the gentle teenager. "You know that you can tell me anything right…" Surprise crosses the brunette's face, and he isn't sure of how to respond. But Gohan beats him to it anyway. "Where do you live anyway?"

"Arclight Avenue," Toby replies honestly. "It's about three miles out from the school."

"And you walk from there."

There's no question in his words; Gohan's seen him walking to school many times. So Toby settles for saying, "every day."

"Why don't you take the bus?"

"Don't need it."

"And your parents let you?" There's the kicker, and Toby flinches, unconsciously affirming a thought that Gohan has had. "What happened to your parents?"

"What do you mean?" Toby asks, smiling brightly as if the question doesn't make him simultaneously ill and angry.

"I've been on Arclight Avenue. There are only four houses on it, and all of them have been abandoned… Now, what happened to your parents?"

He isn't sure what he should say, but Toby doesn't want to lie; not when there's this tempting offer to be honest and receive kind acceptance in return. "My dad's dead, and my mom left me… I hope that she got ran over a bus, honestly…. And my sister…" He flinches as that memory comes back unbidden, leaving his sick to his stomach. "She's gone too…" There's a scream. And metal crunching... 'Lyra? What happened?' a choking sound... Toby turns his head. There's blood... so much blood. "I'm the only one that's left." His voice quickly turns cold in the aftermath of those words, and he all but glares at the raven teenager. "Don't you dare tell anyone about this!"

"But, Toby-"

"No one! I'm not going to be a goddamned orphanage drop off or ward of the state so I can be left behind or treated like property… I'm fine where I am."

Gohan sighs once more and moves to sit beside the slightly shaking teen, and as he reaches out, his movement falls short when he sees the twitching increase and intermingle with shakes. Eventually, he lays a hand on the brunette's arm. "Toby… I'm not going to tell anyone if you don't want me to, but would you consider… Would you consider moving in with my family?"

"What?"

At that confused question, Gohan laughs nervously and rubs the back of his head. "We've got an extra bedroom, and you shouldn't have to live on your own… So consider it?"

"I… I can't… I-" Toby stops short. 'It would be nice not to be alone, but my assignment.' In his own mind, another voice speaks up, a treacherous one that he would normally follow without a second thought. 'As long as we don't spill our secrets, Slender wouldn't care. So what does it matter?' Toby smiles rather weakly. "I'll think about it."

In the days following the 'confrontation', Toby barely talks to Gohan, leaving the raven to wonder if he's overstepped his boundaries too much. Then Wednesday rolls around, and Toby finally breathes a word not concerning the presentation.

"Hey," he says and takes his seat beside his 'friend'.

"Hey, what's the matter?"

"I just had a question… That ki thing that we've been talking about… Can you use it for offense rather than just mediation and the other things we talked about?"

Gohan blinks at him and eventually nods. "Yeah, a lot of well-trained martial artists in the past could use it that way, but it's kind of fell out of practice because of Videl's dad…"

"Then… you said your family has a lot of martial artists in it… Can you use ki offensively?"

After looking around to make sure that no one is listening to their conversation, he replies, "yeah, I can, and if you wanted to learn, I'm sure that you'd be able to too…"

"I doubt it… But thank you. That's all I wanted to know."

The sound of their teacher clearing his throat is enough to stop all conversations dead in their tracks, and the teenagers start to turn to the front of the classroom. Mr. Hisoka wears a rather bright smile on his face as he motions to the computer behind him. "I know that you're all excited to share your research, but none of you will volunteer. So I've taken the liberty of deciding for you. Mr. Rogers and Mr. Son, if you would please come down here. You'll be first today."

Toby finds himself standing to the left as Gohan upload's their project, and he fights down the urge to turn away. Instead, he fixes his gaze upon his partner, until at last, he's ready. "We've decided to do our project on the dragonballs." Gohan comes to take a stand beside Toby, and his presence lessens the anxiety that he feels. "The dragonballs are mystical objects that are said to grant the wish of whomever gathers the seven balls."

"In order to have the wish granted, the collector has to command the dragon Shenron who will appear to grant the wish."

The slide clicks over to show a rather detailed drawing of the dragon in question, and Gohan smiles just slightly. "Shenron is said to live in the balls until he's called... As for the balls themselves," the slide switches to a picture of the four star ball, "this is what they look like, but each of them will carry a different number of stars... It was after the appearance of the dragonballs that this city and the school were originally named."

Mr. Hisoka looks rather interested and that gives Toby the conviction to continue. "After a wish is made, the balls will revert to a state in which they are indisconcernable from a normal white stone, and they will scatter across the globe. They remain in this state for exactly one year."

"They are said to be able to even bring the dead back to life if they have died in the year previous. One day more, and they cannot be returned." Gohan flips the screen again, instead showing notes for the two teenagers so they can keep their facts straight. "Now to wrap up our really brief presentation, there are a lot of theories for their origin."

"Some people think that they were fossilized dragon eggs. Others think that they were organs from the dragon Shenron which is why he can be summoned if they are brought together.

"However, the story that makes the most sense is that Kami created them," Gohan finishes. "Any questions?"

After a moment of silence, Worm decides to speaks up. "Do you really believe in this stuff, Gohan?"

"Yeah, I do."

Chapter Text

Chapter 5: An Unwitting Consequence

In the week following the presentation, Toby and Gohan end up meeting at the latter's locker and walking to class together. In this week, Gohan's actually on time every day because he knows that the brunette would wait for him to arrive, even if it makes him late to class.

So when Erasa arrives on Thursday, she heads straight to Gohan's locker to share the gossip that she has, and she finds the two of them talking rather animatedly about the practical applications of zero gravity in modern society. The topic makes her raise her eyebrows, because she didn't think that Toby was that much of a nerd, but this is science fiction stuff for the dimension traveler and that fascinates him to no end.

She shrugs off her surprise and more or less bounces over to them, a grim happiness in her eyes and voice. "Hey, Gohan! Hi, Toby!" They turn their heads, stopping in mid-conversation to look at the blonde, and they both bid her a good morning in eerie unison. She once again ignores the oddity before her and instead starts her question, "did you hear?" They both give Erasa incredulous looks that clearly answer her question as she decides to elaborate. "They found a dead body over on Blaque Street!"

"What?" Gohan squawks, and Toby manages to feign surprise; although, he's mostly feeling disappointment that it took nine victims before anyone found out. At this point, he was just gunning for someone to find the body.

"Do the police know what happened?" Toby inquires and laces his voice with more curiosity than concern, unconsciously mimicking what he'd seen normal people do in his own dimension.

The grim delight grows, making Gohan just a touch uncomfortable and making Toby feel almost at home in the mania she displays. "They think that he was murdered… We haven't had any cold blooded murderers her in almost three years… Isn't it exciting?!"

"Not as much as you seem to think it is, Erasa," Videl says, suddenly appearing behind her best friend. "I just got off of the phone with the chief, and I thought that I'd come to warn you, Toby. I know that you tend to walk home by yourself, and I've seen you walking all over town. So you need to be careful, the victim was last seen walking home from the grocery by himself…"

"I'm sure I'll be fine," Toby replies, a bit of condescension leaking into his voice; he still doesn't exactly like the girl, but he knows that he should at least acknowledge her warning positively… That's what normal people do, right? "Thanks though."

"…You're welcome…" The first bell rings. "We better get to class."

"We'll be there shortly," Gohan says. "I have to talk to Toby about something."

"Alright!" Erasa chirps. "Don't be too long, guys!"

"We won't!" The moment that his friends are gone, Gohan turns to Toby, concern darkening his eyes. "Please tell me that you've thought about my offer…"

"I have." Toby's eyes drift to the floor and trace out the grooves between the fitted tiles. "And I have a feeling that you aren't going to take no for an answer, are you?"

"You're alone… And if this killer isn't finished, you'd be a tempting target…"

He huffs out a rather hefty sigh. "Gohan, I can't. You don't want me in your house…"

"Toby, trust me."

"Trust me. I promise you'll be alright." Lyra smiles and lets go of the bike just as Toby starts to pedal. He's going on his own. "See, I told you it'd be fine!"

Masky's hand is warm around his, bare skin against his that doesn't bring pain, and Toby flinches despite himself. He stays tensed up, half-expecting to be yelled at, at the very least, but after a while, he opens his eyes to find that the white mask is gone, revealing a very human face with a kind expression. "I know that you're scared, but everything's going to be okay… Trust me."

He looks up into Gohan's eyes and nods once. "Fine, but don't expect me to stay."

Gohan looks so overjoyed, and Toby's balance is promptly knocked off balance as he's drug into a tight hug. "Thank you… Thank you so much…"

After school, Gohan leads Toby up to the roof of the school and asks him to wait for a little while as the students run away as quickly as they can, not wanting to spend another second in their mandatory prison. Eventually, he whistles and a yellow-tinged ball of fluff descends from the heavens, and Gohan offers a proud smile to the brunette. "Toby, meet the Flying Nimbus. Nimbus, this is my friend Toby."

"You want me to ride on a cloud?" A flush rises on the older teen's neck, and he scratches the back of his head awkwardly. He almost looks too pathetic for Toby to stand, so he takes pity on the raven. "Fine." Gohan holds out his hand to help the brunette up, but it's clear that this isn't going to work. Toby just can't get a grip on the cloud, and it's increasingly making him angry. "Why the hell can't I get on this thing?!"

The older teen averts his eyes and winces before telling his friend the knowledge that his mother had imparted on his a long time ago. "Well, they say that you have to be pure of heart in order to ride it..."

"That makes sense then." Toby steps away from the magic cloud with a soft sigh. "I guess you're on your own, Gohan. I'm out."

A distressed look comes over Gohan when the other turns to walk away, and he quickly offers, "I could carry you!"

Toby stops and looks at him, clearly not expecting that. "What?"

"I could carry you back to my house." The sheepish, pathetic look is back. "And you're so skinny, I doubt you weigh much more than my brother Goten."

"What do you mean by that?"

"N-nothing!"

Toby smiles and hefts his backpack over his shoulder. "Are you sure about this, Gohan?"

"Positive!" he exclaims and leaps up onto the magical cloud before leaning down to grab Toby's arms. "Now, jump!" Toby does so and ends up being pulled into the muscular teen's chest. "There we go. Now make yourself comfortable. We have a twenty minute ride home."

"Alright…" Toby, a small flush evident on his face, leans back slightly into the man whose lap he's currently occupying, and he finds himself watching the world around him. "If I fall asleep, be careful when you wake me up. I might try to punch you." He grimaces and thinks, 'at minimum'.

Toby jerks awake at a soft shake, and he turns his head so quickly, already on edge, that he's surprised he hasn't ended up with whiplash. "It's okay," Gohan's voice whispers, and the arm wrapped around his stomach tightens slightly. "You're alright…" It takes the brunette almost three minutes to calm down, but when he does, Gohan finally tells his friend, "we'll be at my house in about a minute."

"Huh?"

With his other hand, Gohan points to a little house among the trees in the distance. "That's my house."

"Oh… Sorry for…"

"It's okay. You did warn me."

The cloud starts to descend then, and the two of them land just a few meters from the house. Toby jumps out of Gohan's lap and stretches out his muscles before grabbing his backpack from the teen who'd been wearing it on his back. "Thanks."

"Welcome." Gohan leaps down after him, and he starts walking towards the house. "Heads up, Goten's not home so my mom will probably be a little clingier than usual."

Thinking of his own mother, Toby forces down his anger and responds with a curt, "I don't mind."

Chichi, as it turns out, decides not to bother Gohan's new friend the moment he comes in; instead, she tells Gohan where to take his stuff as she's busy making supper. So once Toby comes back out of the room after dropping his extra clothes and things off in the room, and he finds himself in front of a feast that shouldn't be created for the entirety of the inhabitants of Slender's mansion.

"So, you're Toby." The brunette tears his eyes away from the food to look over at the aging, yet very youthful woman, and he nods quickly. "I'm Gohan's mom, Chichi…" She gets a lost look on her face as if she doesn't know what to say, but then determination makes it's self at home within her, transforming the doubt into conviction. "I want you to make yourself at home here, okay?" Toby nods. "And if you need anything, and I mean anything, let me know."

A soft, wistful smile appears on his face. "Thank you…"

The night is broken by the sounds of the forest and soft cries as Toby curls up in the mess of fresh linens and pillows. The nightmare of that night… It doesn't belong in a place as comforting and normal as this… He doesn't belong in a place as normal as this… But… He wants to. Oh, God, how he wants to…

Even if he can't stay…

He wants to be normal for a little while…

Even if it hurts when he has to go…

Masky would tell him to go for it… if that's what he really wanted…

Toby bites down into one of the pillows and all but screams, venting his anger, and pain, and absolute fear that everything will end in an instant and he'll be back in the at burning house with the corpse of his father again… But even if it is but a dream… a smoke-induced hallucination…

He'll take it over the pain of never knowing what this is…

Masky would definitely understand.

Chapter Text

Chapter 6: The Mission Must Come First

A phone call wakes Toby from the light sleep he manages to enter, and as he sits up, rather groggily, he recognizes the ringtone as Slender's. He grabs it off of the nightstand rather quickly and answers it, speaking softly while he opens the window outside. "'S'up?"

"Tobias, what are you doing?"

"Sneaking out of an acquaintance's house so I can talk to you." He shuts the window behind him and sprints for the trees, knowing that this conversation isn't a safe one. "What do you want?"

If the demon is irritated by the sharpness in his youngest proxy's tone, he does a good job of concealing it; perhaps, it's because of how long he's known the teenager. "Have you found out what I wanted to know?"

"Yeah," he admits. "But, I have an opportunity to learn more about it... and maybe how to use it... Slender?"

"Yes?"

"When I come home, do I have to come back alone?"

Interest crawls into his voice, and Toby can just make out the sound of his fingers tapping against wood, presumably his desk. "Have you found another love interest?"

"Possibly," he bites out, clearly uncomfortable with the topic. "I'm not sure, but if... if they would come with me, can I bring them?"

"Of course… if you think that they will keep our secret."

A flash of anger spikes through the teen, and he turns his head to the direction he came from. An image of a familiar face appears in his mind, and the feeling of blood staining his hands, the splatter of the thick liquid, the heat and stickiness, the metallic tang of its scent, it all comes back in an instant. "I'm not going to make that mistake again," he all but growls, his teeth bared in a horrific grin that would make even Smile proud. "If he cannot be trusted with our secret, then I will not tell him…"

"Good boy…"

When he slips back into his room, the teen crashes face first into the bed and falls into a rather restless sleep. Because of this, when he comes out just after dawn, deciding that tossing and turning isn't worth it anymore, he barely notices that Gohan's mother is already in the kitchen. "Good morning, Toby."

He looks up, for a moment expecting to see an entirely different in this room, even though he knows that he isn't home. He shakes his head slightly and stifles a yawn. "Morning, Mrs. Son."

"Chichi," she corrects him, and Toby nods quickly.

"Do you need any help, Chichi?"

She dead stops and looks over at him with awe, as if she rarely, if ever, hears that phrase when it comes to cooking. Toby drops his head, not sure if he's made a faux pas, and he's just about to apologize when she finally responds. "If you want to help, I'll have you start making toast. I'm almost done with everything else."

"Okay!" Toby chirps, sleep melting away in the wake of his ever-switching emotions. They fall into a comfortable silence, neither wanting to break it until the sounds of Gohan waking up reach their ears. "Thank you for taking me in."

Chichi looks over at him, her eyes alight with kindness. "It's no trouble." She sighs. "My husband was an orphan… Even though he never told me, he was kind of lonely in the years after his grandfather died… I won't ask you what happened to them, but if you want to talk to someone, I will always have an open ear… Or you can talk to Gohan… and if you could make him talk to you too… I would be grateful."

"What do you mean?"

Chichi opens her mouth to respond, but before the words can leave her mouth, a childish voice sounds. "Hi, okaa-san!"

She whirls around, and Toby turns as well, although much slower as his muscles are bunching up in anticipation of an attack. However, an attack is the last thing that he should expect from the tiny kid that's standing in the dining portion of the kitchen. "Goten!" Chichi yells. "What are you doing back?! How'd you even get back?!"

"Vegeta," he responds simply upon recognizing that there's someone he doesn't know in his house. "Who's that okaa-san?"

"'That' is my friend Toby. You know, the one I told you about?" Gohan appears from the hall, a sleepy smile on his face. "Toby, this is my younger brother Goten."

"Oh," Toby replies, and he slightly relaxes. "It's nice to meet you, Goten."

"It's nice to meet you too…" The innocent expression does nothing to disarm Toby's suspicions of the young boy, but that's completely understandable considering who he lives with. "Are you Gohan's boyfriend?"

"No!" Gohan shouts, rather quick to shut down that idea. "I don't know where you got that from!"

"Well, technically," Toby starts and finishes buttering the toast that pops up. "I am a boy. And we are friends. So I am your boy friend. You just have to add in the space called the friend zone."

Gohan gives him a look of disbelief, before he starts laughing, an addicting, boisterous sound that makes the brunette proxy smile wider.

Chapter Text

Chapter 7: A Ridiculous Conundrum

Learning how to control ki isn't quite what Toby thought it would be; at least, he didn't think that the first two days of attempts would find him sitting in the yard behind the Son residence as he tries to meditate to find his center. After the first day, he could feel the energy, but he couldn't bring it out. His mind is a whirlwind at the best of days, and at the small victory it goes off on a tangent that he can't get back under control for nearly an hour. When at last the small ball of energy materializes in his palms, Toby can feel something inside of him unlocking, and he's lighter somehow. Despite not getting much sleep and being exhausted because of this, he's reinvigorated by this energy, and he stands up, still cradling it softly. "G-gohan!" he cries out, not taking his eyes off of the dark blue pulse.

His teenage teacher rushes over to him, worry on the forefront of his mind, but when he gets there, the anxiety, the fear that Toby has hurt himself, disappears, leaving behind amazement and awe. "You did it!" he exclaims and drops to the ground to sit across from Toby. "So… How does it feel?"

"Weird…"

"It looks kind of different too…"

Toby's head jerks up, and the ki ball snuffs out once his concentration is gone. "What do you mean?"

"Well… I've never seen anyone in my family's ki be so dark, other than Vegeta's at times," he whispers the last part more to himself. "It almost looked black in some places…" Gohan's features scrunch up as he thinks, and after a moment, he seems to come to a realization that uneases him. However, he doesn't speak of it. "Try to draw it out again."

"Alright…" Toby focuses on the flow of energy again, and to his surprise, it isn't as hard to find this time because it's everywhere. It's so much easier to bring it to the surface, and the glowing ball in his hands is even bigger than before. It mixes between shades of blue and black, the ball seeming to both suck the light from the atmosphere around it and send off light like the pure energy should. As he stares at it, a thought occurs to him. "Does ki have to do with aura?"

The answer that comes is just a shrug of the shoulders at first, and Gohan's hands reach out to cup Toby's, cradling the chilling ball. "I studied auras once on a whim," Gohan eventually says. "Blue sometimes means devotion and love, but black is toxic… It's evil and hatred and bad things…"

"So does that make me a bad person, Gohan?" The brunette boy's voice breaks the demi saiyan from his thoughts, and Gohan finds a rather stoic expression on his friend's face. "Do you think me a monster in human form?"

"No! No!" Gohan jerks his hands away, and his head shakes rapidly as he exclaims how wrong that statement is. "This means nothing!"

Toby finds himself smiling at his frantic denial, and he dispels the energy before he leans forward, determination filling his soul. His hands, calloused from years of wielding his weapons, scrape gently at the raven's skin as he grabs his face to make the taller teen stop. "Gohan, I'm not a good person." When Gohan opens his mouth again, there's a finger presses against it to tell him to be quiet. "You'll find out eventually, but I can promise you that no matter what bad things you think you've done… I've done so much worse."

There's a moment of disbelief before Gohan pushes that idea away, and Toby knows that Gohan won't believe that Toby could have done anything too awful… But then again, appearances can be extremely deceiving; the teenaged serial killer knows that better than anybody.

Even still there's disappointment that he can't tell his first friend outside of the mansion in so long, and relief that his secret's still just that. He doesn't want to leave yet… He isn't sure if he would want Gohan to follow if he could yet… Besides, there's enough of a ridiculous pressing matter at hand.

"Hey, Toby. What's up?"

Once Masky's voice comes on over the phone, Toby finally lets out the breath that he had been holding. "I think I like Gohan." The sound of metal hitting wood reaches the teen's ears, and Toby surmises that Masky's dropped some silverware on the floor; it would be about lunchtime in the mansion. He can picture the flustered look on his friend's face, and it makes him grin. "Are you alright, Masky?"

"Fine. Fine… Can you repeat that for me?"

"I think I like that guy we were talking about last time."

"You think you like him, as a friend, or do you want to jump his bones or take him home and keep him locked in the mansion so he can never leave you?"

"So far?"

"…Yeah," Tim starts, clearly uneasy with this train of thought.

Toby looks down at his hands and glances around at the surrounding trees to see if anyone had followed him; he'd told Gohan that he wanted to go for a walk alone. "The first one… and maybe a little of the second, and the third is really becoming a main thought."

"Great… Have you told him this?"

"Yeah," Toby snarks, sarcasm thick in his voice. "I can see how that conversation would pan out. 'Hey, Gohan, I think you're really fucking hot. And I want to kidnap you and force you to live with me and my fucked up 'family'. If you'd cooperate that would be awesome, but if you want to fight, I'll just gag you and drag you into the dimension I came from. Oh and did I mention that I've killed nine people since I came here, and back at home, I'll kill a lot more people. And you're cool with that, right?'"

"Sarcasm is really unbecoming."

"You should tell yourself that. You're the world's biggest cynic and sarcastic prick."

"I am not. But I'm probably in the running, honestly."

"You think?" A small sight leaves his mouth. "Anyways… I-I don't know what to do about it."

"Toby, if you like him, tell him."

"But-"

"If you like him, tell him."

Chapter Text

"If you like him, tell him."

Tim's always right.

This is a fact that Toby has never disputed, but it doesn't make his advice any easier to follow. It's not exactly easy for the mentally damaged teenager to tell Gohan about his maybe-feelings, and part of that stems from a fear of rejection. Another part of it stems from the fear that he'll be turned away, casted aside as if he were diseased… There'd be no warm bed to sleep in at night… No warm food for his belly… No companionship, however short it may be…

No, Gohan wouldn't force him to leave like that; he's a kind soul… But that still doesn't banish the worries from his mind.

There are several times in the days that follow his talk with Timothy, but every time, just as he's about to say something, his courage gathered and shield raised in case of a total rejection, the moment is stolen from him. Sometimes, it's Gohan's other friends, or his brother… or the odd times that he just up and disappears on the brunette. This series of near-misses is driving Toby mad.

Finally on Friday, he decides that he's had enough of them, and he excuses himself from the others to the bathroom. He stares at his reflection, wondering what anyone could see in the monster staring back at him. He knows that he's handsome; he's been told that so many times, but… There's a monster underneath that pleasant exterior. It has sharp fangs and fire-blackened skin. Its eyes are his though, the only remnant of the boy that once wore the same, albeit younger, face. He reaches up to touch the bandage that he reapplies every day, and in place of his scarred hand, he sees a claw with that same blackened flesh.

He shakes his head quickly to rid himself of the vision staring him back in the mirror, and when he lifts his head again, it's just his anxious reflection staring back. "I can do this," he whispers to himself. "I can do this." He lets out a long, drawn-out breath, and he leaves the bathroom.

"Hey, Gohan!" Toby calls out, and the muscular teen turns towards him, as does Erasa who promptly stops talking. He takes a deep breath and runs up to the group, comprising of the former two as well as Videl and Sharpener, a determined look in his eye that they all notice.

"Hey," Gohan returns, smiling slightly despite the worried glint that his eyes gain. "Erasa was just inviting us to the movies. Are you in?"

"Yeah, sure whatever, but I need to tell you something." Gohan doesn't get a chance to respond before Toby grabs him by the collar and forces their lips together. It's an awkward kiss, and that's not just because Gohan's shocked into stillness. Their noses don't exactly move out of the way, but neither of them pay it any mind. The kiss isn't exactly long, because that isn't the point, so Toby pulls back quickly and looks the demi in the eye.

"Wha-?" Gohan's head cocks to the side curiously. "Why did you kiss me?"

Toby's eye twitches in annoyance, and he crosses his arms as he pointedly looks away. "I like you, stupid."

"You… You like me-like me?"

"I thought that would be obvious, considering I just kissed you in front of all of our friends and in the school hallway, but I forgot that you can be rather dense at times." The deadpan delivery catches Gohan off-guard, making the teen gape in surprise, and his expression makes the other three start chuckling; Erasa's laughing though is rather giddy. "The real question is, do you like me, even a little bit?"

The raven blinks at the impatiently waiting brunette, trying to process what has happened, but after a moment, his thoughts are put back into proper order so he can answer. "Honestly?"

"Yeah."

"I don't know… Probably… Maybe… I know that I like hanging out with you…"

A small smile quirks up the corners of Toby's mouth, not that Gohan could see it at first with the bandage covering the side of his mouth, and he looks over at him finally. "I can work with probably and maybe… Then, if you probably, maybe like me, would you go on a date with me?"

"A date?!" Panic appears on the saiyan's face and leaks into his voice, and Toby knows that he's thinking of the disastrous affair with Angela.

"I promise it won't be that bad. Trust me, I know a bit about dating, and even if we go out, it doesn't necessarily count as us dating. We don't have to do anything specific… So, would you agree to an awkward, buggy alpha test?"

Gohan snorts a little at the programing term, but he nods nonetheless, understanding what Toby is trying to say. Even if they go out on this one day, they don't have to say that they're dating, and it doesn't have to be anything traditional. "So are we alpha-testing tomorrow after meditation?"

"That works…"

The five of them are left in silence within the abandoned hall, until Erasa comes to her senses. "Well, this is great! You'll have to tell me how your date goes on Monday!" She leans over to the brunette. "And go easy on Gohan. I've heard he's even more clueless about dating then he is about anything else."

Toby can't help the small snort that he words gain, and he whispers back, "no promises."

She winks. "I won't hold you to anything. Other than the juicy details…" She claps her hands then. "Come on. We have a movie to go to!"

Chapter Text

Chapter 9: The First Date

Meditating isn't Toby's strong suit by any means, and Gohan is well aware of this fact. Most of the time it amuses him, as he gets to watch the bouncy teen do everything in his power to remain, for the most part, still until Gohan finally takes pity on him. Sometimes, it only takes a half-an-hour, and others, it may be two.

But never, until today, has Gohan been so distracted. No matter what he tries, he can't seem to get himself to calm down enough to properly meditate. His heart wants to burst from his chest, and his muscles keep tightening, telling him that he should get up and do something. Because the source of his anxiety and restlessness is fidgeting too…

Eventually, he has enough of the lost cause that mediating is today, and Gohan calls over to the brunette, "are you ready to head off?" Toby nods rather enthusiastically, and he jumps up, dusting off his pants. "Good…" Gohan tips his head up to the sky and whistles, summoning the flying cloud.

The younger brunette finds himself smiling a few moments later as he's helped up onto the magical transportation, and a giddy feeling ignites itself in his belly despite his best efforts earlier. "Where are we going?" Toby asks, once he's situated on Gohan's lap, and the older teen's arm reflexively tightens around his waist as the nimbus darts off.

"West City," he replies. "There's this little movie theatre that's showing a flick that I'm pretty sure you mentioned liking."

"What kind of flick?" Toby raises an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Rocky Horror Picture Show."

Toby's eyes widen , and he turns his head back to look at the other. "Seriously?!"

"Yeah…"

"Awesome!"

Walking into the movie theatre around three in the afternoon, Gohan is immediately overwhelmed by the strange sights around him. There are near to a hundred people in the crowded room, and quite a few are dressed up as characters from the movie. From Dr. Frank-N-Furter to Magenta and even Riff Raff, the costumed people are boisterous and happy, talking to one another as if they had known one another their entire lives. The oddness of the situation is off-putting for the rather meek demi-saiyan, but Toby seems so excited to do this…

From the moment Toby steps into this room, surrounded by the oddities and strange costumes, he relaxes, and more than once Gohan catches him complementing some of the cosplaying movie goers. Just before the movie starts, Gohan finds himself with his housemate, sitting in the middle of a massive mob, and Toby leans over to give him a hug then. When the songs and dances come into being, he and many others start dancing as if nothing could deter them from being as zany and odd as they are.

Gohan quickly decides that he likes it when Toby's this kind of happy.

After the movie is over, Gohan and Toby decide to go for ice cream at another place that Gohan knows, and instead of taking the flying nimbus, they decide to walk to give themselves time to talk. It's kind of awkward as neither of them are sure what they should be talking about, but Gohan is nothing but perseverant.

"So... Did you enjoy the movie?"

"I always do... Thank you for taking me."

"Y-you're welcome. Um..." Gohan glances down to their hands mere inches apart, and he gently grasps the other's before turning his head away.

Toby smiles and pretends not to be surprised by the forward gesture, and he squeezes slightly, having not intention of letting go. "This is... this is nice."

"Yeah, it is..."

They walk in silence again, but it isn't so strained now. It's pleasant... until sirens interrupt it.

Less than two blocks away, shouting starts, and Gohan ends up dragging the brunette closer. The police have surrounded a liquor store where it seems a robbery is taking place, and this fact is something that Gohan cannot ignore. "Toby, come with me…" With , he pulls the teenager into an alleyway and turns on heel to leave a few moments later.

"Gohan!" Toby cries out, just low enough that it doesn't shift the attention to them from the horrified people on the street outside. "What are you doing?!"

The steely, almost dark look on the raven's face is so unlike him that it takes Toby aback for a moment, but then Gohan tells him, "I can't just hide away…" He fiddles with the watch on his wrist, contemplating if he should… "I have something to tell you." Toby nods, never taking his gaze off of the teen and the standoff outside of the alleyway. "Do you know of the Great Saiyaman?"

"Yeah… Everyone at school seems to talk about him. He's some sort of 'superhero'."

Gohan smiles, but the glimmering shine doesn't quite reach his obsidian eyes. "Yeah, I guess he is a superhero, and…" He presses a button on that watch, transforming in a manner of seconds into a rather ridiculous costume that would make a Power Ranger proud. "I'm him." If he had to pick from the green tunic to the black leggings and the antennae on his helmet, Toby wouldn't be sure what part of his maybe-sorta boyfriend's new outfit is the one that he finds so hilarious. He has to bite his lip from laughing aloud as his shoulders shake, and when that defense begins to fail, he clasps his hands against his mouth, not that this goes unnoticed by Gohan. "What?"

At last, Toby lets loose a few chuckles, and in between the laughter that seizes his lungs, he tells the other, "you look ridiculous!"

"What do you mean?" Gohan asks, somehow not nearly as offended as one would expect. "This is my superhero costume."

"You look like a Power Ranger who lost a bet." It's a few more seconds before the serial killer can stop laughing, but once he does, it's as if a switch has been flipped. Seriousness completely swamps the good-natured amusement, and he grins rather darkly. "Well then… It would explain your frequent disappearances from class. Although, I cannot say that I'm not surprised… Go save everyone, hero… I'll be right here…"

"This isn't too weird for you?"

"I've seen so much weirder… You have no idea."

"Oh… Okay. I'll see you in a few."

Gohan leaves then, diving into action, and Toby waits, watching his heroic deeds with a touch of worry in his heart. It's not that he believes that Gohan will get hurt, but… Gohan's a good person; how can he possibly get him to understand? How can get a hero to come home with him if he learns just how bad Toby can be?

Chapter Text

"Fantastic, Toby!" Gohan looks so proud of the teen as he floats up into the air, his assent shaky but straight, and Gohan takes off into the air as well, keeping level with Toby so he can catch him should he fall.

"Thanks!" the brunette exclaims, joy rushing up through him. "This is amazing…" He crosses his arms and drifts downwards slightly, trying to keep his center from dropping down too quickly, but that's an inevitability. When it slips from him for a moment, he drops a couple feet, before Gohan grabs ahold of his arm and lifts him up. "Thanks…" he whispers.

"No big," the demi says and slowly sets the human down. "I'm just glad you didn't fall and hurt your pretty face."

"My face isn't that pretty," Toby replies, but there's a smile quirking his lips. His hand raises of its own accord though and touches the bandage; that's a movement that Gohan's quickly becoming familiar with, but it fills him with equal parts curiosity and worry. The press of his lips against the older teen's is just enough to jolt the raven from his thoughts, and Gohan looks up to see amusement glittering in Toby's eyes. They break apart for a moment, their mouths a hairsbreadth apart, and he can hear the teen's voice, just a soft whisper. "More…"

It's the first real kiss that they've had, and it's surely one that Gohan won't be able to forget.

Toby's tongue slides into his mouth quickly, sliding against his teeth and tangling with his own slick muscle. A hint of saliva drips from the corners of their conjoined lips, and it grows heavier as Toby coaxes Gohan to take more dominance in the kiss. It's a heavy and languid kiss, their hands fisting in one another's clothes, and Toby relaxes, not thinking of the hole in his cheek or Gohan's reaction to it. Then, to his dismay, the demi saiyan finds it; Toby freezes as Gohan makes a questioning noise, a worrying one, and he shudders, feeling the swipe of his tongue against the ragged edges of his scar again.

They pull apart, and Toby presses a hand against the bandage that's now partially soaked in the other teen's saliva. "Damn it," he growls and rips the thing off, exposing the gaping hole to the air. He lifts his gaze to see Gohan staring in horror but not disgust… it's as if he's worried about the brunette. Toby wants to laugh at the absurdity of someone worrying about him, especially when it comes to his childhood scar. "As much as I didn't want to talk about it… I think that you should know now."

"About what?"

The smirk on his face is much less a smirk than a heartbreaking grimace to see. "About the accident… How I got this scar, and how I lost my sister, Lyra."

"We were driving home from school. I got detention, and Lyra had softball practice... It was a Tuesday... And it was raining. We were laughing and talking... I was happy..." His head drops, and tears threaten to fall from his eyes. "Another car slammed into us and pushed us off the side of the road. The windshield broke and so did my window... My head went sideways, and it was stuck on the glass... I yanked my head back because I heard Lyra scream. That's how I got my scar..." He shakes his head to clear his mind, but the memory will not be silenced so easily. "The glass from the windshield was sticking out of her throat and chest. She was making this weird garbling sound, and she turned to me and mouthed I love you... And she died...

Someone else called the police, someone who saw… The paramedics cut me out of the car, and I kept screaming for them to help Lyra. They told me she was gone and that they had to treat me... I didn't even know I was hurt until then..."

The tears can no longer be contained, and an electric pulse spreads through his body. It grows and grows, and he's so angry with himself. He has to let it out or he'll explode... He'll die... He'll die!

With a scream of wordless rage and agony, he flings his hand out to the side, a tiny beam of energy leaving it and ripping a hole through the trees and rocks that cross its path until at last it explodes with enough force to decimate a group of trees about a mile away. The tears can no longer be contained, but the angry pulse just won't subside. 'Enough! Enough! Enou-'

"Toby, it's okay." He's startled out of the chaos in his head, and the pulse dies down. He turns to look at the other teen who gives him a sympathetic and remorseful look. "It's okay," he says again and pulls him to his chest. "It's not your fault."

"I didn't help her…"

"And it's still not your fault. You didn't kill her… You were a kid…" Those phrases are something that Gohan has heard before, from his father's friends to his family, but he never believed it either. "You were no more at fault than I was."

"Then you were?" Toby looks up into his coal black eyes, curious and scared all at once. "What do you mean?"

"What if I told you that my father died because I was arrogant? That I'm the reason why Goten has never met him… that Mom is a widow?"

"No," Toby replies. "You… What are you talking about?"

"When Cell came, my family tried to stop him. My father was so powerful, but at that moment, I was more powerful than him. I was eleven… And everyone around me kept getting hurt, and everyone was dying because of that thing. I was so mad! I was so mad that I lost sight of what I was supposed to do… I toyed with him, and the bastard… He decided to blow himself up…

My father had this technique, Instant Transmission, that he could use to appear anywhere he wanted, like teleportation, as long as he knew where he was going. He took Cell there, and died… Then Cell came back… We don't know how… And I had to fight him again… And I won…"

Knowing who the creature is after growing so annoyed by the mention of something that he didn't know and researching, Toby is struck with amazement and horror. "You mean…"

"I killed Cell, Toby; please don't tell anyone… The fame isn't worth it. I may have killed him, but my father paid the price."

Toby nods. "I won't say a word… I promise…" There's an anger burning in his soul though, a deep anger that reawakens the electric pulse just slightly. He's angry on Gohan's behalf… And that anger won't seem to go away. He doesn't speak a word of what was said for the rest of the night, because he doesn't want to put any more pressure on his teacher, but the pulse stays with him, no matter what he does.

It's dark in the forest when Toby sneaks out of his window again, the anxiety growing as he feels a strange shiver go up his spine, locking up his muscles. He has to get it out... But not here... Anywhere but here!

The sensation is unlike anything he's felt before, electric and pulsing as it reduces him to nothingness, but a moment later, the pulse has died down to a soft hum. He opens his eyes, not realizing that he had closed them, and his jaw drops. He can see the Son residence, but it's nearly two miles away...

"Did I just teleport?!"

Chapter Text

Chapter 11: Meeting the Z Warriors

Nothing good happens at 3:00am; this is a well-known fact; and when Goten creeps into Toby's room at this time, he's lucky that it didn't go worse.

Goten walks in just after three, his baleful eyes wide with innocence as he takes in the sight before him. Toby's room looks relatively untouched, the only evidence of the teen being a stack of folded clothes near the window, a backpack still packed up and the still form curled up on the bed. He smiles when he sees the brunette snuggled into the pillows, his arm under his head and face buried into the blankets, and he, thinking nothing of waking up his brother's friend, walks up to the side of the bed and reaches out to touch Toby.

The knife that's suddenly pressed to his throat would have terrified a lesser child more, but Goten takes after his father in the intelligence department and doesn't see the threat for what it actually is. "Did I scare you, Toby?"

It's with a shock that the serial killer jerks awake fully, and with a small nod, he lowers the knife before setting it on the bedside table. "Sorry," he breathes, his voice barely above a whisper and a frown tugging at his lips. "What do you need, Goten?"

"Mommy told me that we're going to see her friends today… And she forgot to tell you."

"So?" Toby asks, exhaustion clear in his voice. "She could have told me in the morning."

"But then you wouldn't know about the secret… And they wouldn't be sure of how to tell you."

The cryptic answer leaves the teen gaping, and he asks, "what secret?"

"That some of us are aliens or part aliens…"

Thinking that the kid is just playing but not wanting to outright call him a liar, Toby decides to humor him. "How do you know that, Goten?"

"I know because my daddy was an alien."

"W-what?"

"Gohan, my best friend and me are half-alien, more specifically, half-saiyan…"

"Right… Why do you look human then?"

"Because saiyans looked like humans, but they had tails like a monkey's…" He looks forlornly behind him. "All of our tails were cut off though so we couldn't hurt anyone." He sighs. "Anyway… I thought you might want to know, since you're big brother's boyfriend."

Toby nods. "Thank you, Goten."

"Welcome!" With that, the raven scurries out of the room and back to his own, unaware of the turmoil brewing in the human's mind.

Toby sits in the darkness, completely silent, and he makes no move to go back to sleep. His mind is reeling at the idea, and he isn't sure if Goten was just screwing with him. But… he sounded so serious… 'It wouldn't be the strangest thing that I've learned,' Toby thinks. 'It wouldn't even make the top ten… So, maybe… It would make sense, kind of?' He huffs out a heavy breath. "Fuck."

As promised, once dawn arrives, Chichi tells the teen that they're going to her friend's place in West City. "I'd like for you to come along," she tells him. "I'm sure that Gohan would too, but it's up to you."

"Sure," Toby replies, never lifting his gaze from the onions that he's dicing. "When are we leaving?"

"Just after breakfast… I don't fly like you three, so I'll have to take the nimbus." She glances over at the teen, and for the second time that morning, she wonders if she should ask about the slip pulled over his mouth. She starts to speak, but her words are cut off by the arrival of her sons who instinctually know that breakfast is about to be served. She decides then that it isn't her place; Toby isn't her child, and if he wants her to know, he'll tell her… It doesn't stop her from being curious, though.

Flying to Capsule Corp. is a relatively quiet affair as none of the other members want to disrupt Toby's concentration; it's the first time he's traveled higher than a few meters into the air and for more than a mile away. Halfway there, Toby becomes tired, and while he won't say it, Gohan notices the signs and grabs the other teen before he can fall. After that, the flight to West City goes even faster, the group arriving ten minutes later. From there, it takes less than three to land on the expansive grounds of Capsule Corporation.

"Sorry," Toby whispers, still holding on to the raven when he's set down. "We would have gotten here faster if I was a better flier."

Gohan grins at him and kisses his cheek, just above the scar. "I think you're doing fantastic for as long as you've been flying."

"Really?"

"Of course!" It's this praise that at last allows the brunette to let go of his boyfriend's neck, instead going for his hand. "Now let's follow Mom and Goten... There's some people I want you to meet."

Gohan leads Toby into the dome-shaped building they'd landed beside and through countless winding corridors until they can hear voices, the loud, boisterous kind that simultaneously makes Toby annoyed and homesick. He almost expects his housemates to be fighting over dinner or a movie, but when he walks through the doorway into the living room, he's met with people who are so different-looking than his family. Slowly, the conversation, mostly one of welcoming Chichi, dies off, and the assembled group turns to look at them.

"Gohan," a green-skinned man asks, quickly gaining Toby's attention; he's immensely grateful that Goten had told him that aliens are real, or he's certain that he'd be freaking out by now. "Who's your friend?"

Gohan grins widely. "Guys, this is my boyfriend, Toby Rogers."

"Hello." His muffled voice brings a smile to a few of their faces, and the three of the women in the room hold some sort of affection in their eyes. The one who doesn't triggers the part of his brain that tells him when he's in front of someone who isn't human, but he doesn't let this show on his face.

"Why do you wear that thing over your mouth?" a small voice asks, and it's then that he notices the lavender-haired boy that's sitting on top of Goten.

'That must be Trunks.' Toby smiles, watching as the child is scolded by who must be his mother. "It's okay..." he tells the bluenette, and then he turns to the boy. "If you come over here, I'll show you, but you have to promise that you won't tell anyone, okay?"

"Kay!" he chirps.

"Can I see too?!" Goten cries, and the brunette nods.

He goes down on one knee, keeping that side of his face turned from the rest of the room, and the boys, who had scrambled over, stare up with wonder that quickly turns to wide-eyed horror as the scar is revealed. After a few seconds, Toby grins at them and tugs his mouth guard up. "Remember, you can't tell anyone what you just saw. Promise?"

"Promise..."

With that, he stands, and he catches the eye of the inhuman woman again. "You don't seem very surprised by Piccolo." She's suspicious of him, but Toby has a good reason and intends to use it.

"Goten told me that some of you weren't human last night. Although, I am kind of annoyed that Gohan didn't tell me that he's half-alien."

The raven teen freezes and shifts uneasily. "Really, Goten?"

"You forgot to tell him, and I didn't want him to freak out…" Once again, his baleful eyes are the picture of innocence, and it's only his twisted smile that betrays the trickster inside. "I like Toby. I didn't want him to run away, because then he'd go back to that house you told Mom about…"

Toby's eyes narrow. "You let Goten know?"

"Not on purpose!" Gohan cries, fearing slightly for his life. "I didn't know he was eavesdropping!"

"Hm. Oh, well." He reaches down and ruffles the younger Son's hair. "I can't say that I'm mad. Especially because you were kind enough to give me forewarning. " The staring doesn't abate from some of the members, even though the silence is no longer awkward, but it makes him uncomfortable all the same. He twitches slightly, and a spike of anger soars through him. It's about this time that he remembers… He leans over to Gohan and whispers, "fair warning: I forgot my meds at home…"

"Meds, as in?"

"Both of them… I didn't take either this morning."

"So you're…"

"Going to turn into a ticking time bomb shortly? Yes."

"Great."

The side door slams shut, and a man about Toby's height with dark, flam-like spikes of hair, walks inside, annoyance plain on his face. "Great," he snaps. "The spawn has brought a friend."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Toby snaps; the smile suddenly gone in the wake of overpowering anger, and he realizes that the medicine has been out of his system longer than he thought. He's honestly surprised he hasn't gotten pissed before this moment, but something about this man rubs him the wrong way… Toby wonders if his name is Jeffery.

"I don't have to explain myself to you, human."

"My names is Toby, not human, and I bade you to use it, saiyan."

Vegeta stares at him with mild shock, but that quickly melts away. "If you know that I'm saiyan, then you know that I'm superior to you. So why should I learn your name?"

"You're infuriating!" Toby snaps, teeth gnashing together, and he wishes that he had his hatchets handy.

"And you're pathetic."

"I'm not pathetic, little man."

Vegeta strides right up to the teen, ignoring the growl that leaves the oldest demi's throat. "Prove it."

What most of the room doesn't realize is that you can't intimidate the brunette like this and expect him to back down; he doesn't like bullies. "I will." It's Toby that throws the first punch.

For all his training and prattle about superiority, Vegeta doesn't realize what's happening until his side starts stinging, and he realizes once he moves back that the blow had been from the human. "Wow," he taunts, still not taking Toby seriously. "That actually stung. Has the boy been training you?"

"To use my ki, yeah." He forces himself into a relatively relaxed position, not wanting to continue the inevitable fight if the alien wants to end it before it begins, but there's still a clawing beast inside of him... "To fight, no. Why are you surprised, little man?"

"More like amused."

Vegeta seems to flicker out of existence then, but Toby knows that he hasn't teleported. He closes his eyes, feeling the princes energy, and in this state, he manages to duck out of the way of a punch aimed at his head. It puts him at a vulnerable position for an attack on his legs, and no seasoned tactician could allow that to go unpunished. 'Seeing' the incoming blow though, he does what only seems natural and teleports outside to the garden.

Gohan follows shortly, knowing what his boyfriend has done, but the eldest saiyan follows quickly enough. "Boy! How did you do that?!"

Toby turns to look at him, a mocking grin on his face; if he wasn't half terrified, Gohan would be proud of how nonchalant he is about facing a man far more powerful than he is. But then Toby turns his gaze to him, and Gohan finds that nothing he says will stop his boyfriend now.

The fight begins again as unceremoniously as it had beforehand, and Gohan can't make himself look away, even when the others arrive. "Vegeta, that's enough!" one of them screams, but neither of the fighters pay attention. There's too much at stake at this moment: pride.

Every punch that Toby throws or kick that lands on the older man is charged with ki, making him faster than he was even before, without the use of teleportation. Vegeta though seems to be playing with the human; it's as if he wants to figure out how much it would take to make him use his ultimate move again. But playing with him yields no such rewards, and the prince isn't exactly known for his patience.

The foot that slams into the brunette's side causes a sickening crack, but Toby barely notices, even when the wound has him keeling over instinctively. Everyone expects him to go down then, but he straightens back up, settling back into a stance and launching back into battle. But the wound is still obvious to the observers, even though Toby won't acknowledge its existence.

It's more than some can bear, and one of them refuses to. "That's enough!" Gohan intercepts a few moments later, flooring the older alien.

"What's wrong?" the killer asks, his eyes wide with curiosity.

"You're hurt!" he cries and gathers the teen up in his arms, careful not to jostle anything.

"I am?"

The honest disbelief has more than one person looking at him in astonishment. "Yes, you are! How haven't you noticed that Vegeta probably broke your ribs?"

Toby laughs and reaches out to trace his cheekbone. "You know I don't feel pain, right?"

"What?"

He's grinning, his breath shallow, but still he doesn't show any sign that it's painful. "My pain receptors don't function. I don't feel pain. I could have sworn that I told you."

"Well, you didn't!"

"Sorry." He kisses the side of his boyfriend's face. "But if I am hurt like you think I am, then I should probably get medical attention. Don't you think?"

The blunette woman, Bulma snaps to attention then. "Come on, Gohan. You know where I keep the sensu beans."

"Wha?"

"Don't worry about it."

"Kay…"After a moment, Toby looks behind him, staring at the congregation outside with wonder, but for the most part, he continues watching his opponent who is doing something similar. Vegeta flashes him an amused and approving grin as Toby's carried away, and Toby snorts. "I think he likes me."

Chapter Text

Chapter 12: The Disastrous Second Date

When school lets out a few days after the meeting at Capsule Corperation, Toby ends up right at Gohan's locker, a deep frown on his face. "We're going out tonight!" he proclaims, slamming the alien's locker shut.

Gohan snickers, amusement glinting in his eyes, and he grabs one of his books off of the floor. "Had enough of my mother?"

"Yes," he groans and sags against the other lockers. "She's driving me crazy!" His hands slide down his face. "I know that she's worried about me, but I'm going to go insane if she asks if 'I'm okay' again."

The raven laughs and grabs his hand. "Sounds good to me." He looks down the hall, and a small smile graces his face when he sees one of their mutual friends. "Hey Erasa, can I borrow your phone?" She turns and nods, digging into her backpack.

"What are you doing?" Toby asks.

"I'm telling Mom we're going to be late coming home."

"Seriously, why is Maclure's always so busy after school?"

"Because school's out, Toby."

The serial killer affixes him with a flat stare, a twinge of irritation causing a twitch in his eye. "Thank you, Gohan, for your smartass words of wisdom." He pulls a small pillbox from his pocket and tosses back a couple of pills.

"You're welcome."

Toby sighs at that and swallows harshly before he offers his hand, and after a moment, when Gohan takes it, he smiles. They start walking a few moments later, trying to put some distance between themselves and the crowd of teenagers that surround the ice cream stand. They pass by many buildings in silence, including the library and the alleyway where Toby killed his first victim in Satan City. It's a comfortable silence that could easily stretch on forever… until Arclight Avenue comes into view.

"Toby?"

"Hmm…?"

"We don't have to walk this way if you don't want to."

"I… I don't care."

"Toby…"

"It's not that big of a deal." The house that Toby had camped out in stretches into the sky above them, foreboding but not in the way that the manor is… The mansion, for all its dark atmosphere, is at least surrounded by tall trees and colorful wildflowers. In the winter, the grass is still quite green, and the flowers still bloom… It almost never changes in the park… But here… Here, on this street with its decaying houses and broken streetlamps, it's desolate and colorless… "It's really not." The grass… the trees… everything's dead.

"Do you wanna go to the park?"

"Yeah, that sounds good."

The easiest way to get to the park is through a couple of winding back alleys that Toby's very familiar with, and so the teen leads them through the twists and turns, barely paying attention to his surroundings. He should know better, though, and so should Gohan.

In the second turn, they come across a group of masked men carrying an unconscious and bound girl. "Well, fuck," Toby says, and all hell breaks loose.

The girl is stashed behind one of the dumpsters, and someone grabs Toby. Several guns are leveled at the older teen, and a knife comes to rest at Toby's throat. It slides across his skin, and it starts to give away. Blood trickles down from the small scratches, but Toby barely notices.

His meds are working quite well… No one's dead, yet.

"I suggest you get that knife away from me." There's no inflection in his voice, the blank tone interrupting the silence that creeps into the stand-off. Eyes turn to the brunette, but Toby barely seems to care. He feels nothing, not fear or rage or pain…

"And what will you do if I don't?"

"I'll take that knife and plunge it into your eye socket."

Someone laughs, and the others join in rather quickly. It seems so ridiculous to them, but Gohan can't bring himself to feel the same. He knows that it was meant with utter seriousness, and he wonders if the teen's medication is causing his current apathy. Gohan wants to stop this, but he can't turn into Saiyaman, not without revealing his secret… But he can't allow Toby to be hurt.

"Let him go," he speaks up at last, and the laughter all but stops.

"What are you going to do, little man?"

"Nothing," Toby says. "Gohan will do nothing, but you should still let me go."

"Or what?"

"Or I'll kill all of you." Toby doesn't allow the laughter to really start; he swings his arm up, catching his captor in the nose. Blood spurts out, but Toby doesn't even flinch. Instead, he grabs the knife from his loosened grip, and he makes good on his promise. The knife's blade is thin and bites quite well into the soft tissues of the man's eye. He yells, now blinded in that eye, and Toby pushes it in harder before teleporting out of the way of the guns that are now turned to him. There's a gun that he'd stolen from his captor in hands, and he clears his throat, catching the men's attention. "I said I'd kill all of you, didn't I?"

He lets loose bullets with efficiency that a hitman would give his soul to have, and he silently thanks Hoody for those lessons when he was younger. The men are nothing in the wake of his murderous desires, and there's manic laughter bubbling up in his throat. He grins so widely he's surprised that his cheeks haven't torn form the pull; it almost hurts.

Blood and brain tissue splatters the walls of the alleyways, and Toby leaps down from the rooftop. He yanks the knife out of his captor's eye and moves to cut the girl free; it's then that he sees Gohan's horrified look.

'How am I going to explain this?'

Chapter Text

Blood and brain tissue splatters the walls of the alleyways, and Toby leaps down from the rooftop. He yanks the knife out of his captor's eye and moves to cut the girl free; it's then that he sees Gohan's horrified look.

'How am I going to explain this?'

Toby pointedly turns away from his boyfriend, focusing on the girl instead, and he's grateful that she's asleep. But that makes her an ineffective distraction to block out the feeling of Gohan's eyes. "Please stop staring at me. If you have something to say, just say it." Once the girl's free from her bonds, Toby takes the knife and slides it through his belt; it might come in handy later. He turns then, and the older teen is all but staring at him. "I'm serious."

"How can you be so nonchalant about this?"

"Hm?" Toby's head cocks slightly to the side. "What do you mean?"

"You just killed eight people, and you're acting like it's nothing."

"Because, it is nothing."

"What?"

He wipes his hands on his pants, smearing blood and other fluids on the dark fabric. "I thought you were smart." Confusion crosses the raven's face. "There hasn't been a serial killer here in years, and then I show up and they find a body. Doesn't that strike you as odd?"

"You're not-"

"I am."

"But-"

Toby laughs, cutting him off again. "I've killed nine people since I got here, not including these morons. And they certainly aren't the first ones!" He knows that the teen could take him down if he wanted, and so, Toby takes it as gesture of faith that he hasn't yet.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

He's curious, and Toby's in no mood to deny him his curiosity. "The same reason you didn't come clean about being an alien." Gohan flinches. "I didn't want you to find out this way... But I have friends who wound up like this girl probably would have... And you were conflicted... It was just easier."

The demi-saiyan stiffens even more so, recognizing just how true the brunette's words are, and words just can't seem to leave his mouth for the longest of times. "Who was the first?"

Of all questions he expected, that one wasn't very high on the list. "My father."

Gohan would be lying if he hadn't thought of that idea shortly after he asked, but hearing the answer come from his mouth without any preamble and absolutely no remorse, it shocks him. He knew that bad things had happened to his friend, that much was certain from when he'd spoken of Lyra, but for this remorselessness… "What did he do to you?"

"The usual," Toby replies, and he grabs up the girl, thrusting her into the teenaged superhero's arms. "A few knives here and there and some beatings now and again. You know, stereotypical, abusive, asshole and all that bullshit." He contemplates moving the bodies, but at this point, he can't be assed to care. "Do me a favor and take that little girl to the police station... If you leave her in the alley right next to it and run off, no one will notice you, but she'll be safe."

"And what about you?"

The look on Toby's face is positively feral when he looks at the alien again. "I think that we need some time apart... You can decide if you want me to stay away... forever... Or we can put this whole thing behind us, and I'll go. You'll never see me again." A few steps down the alley and around the corner, and he's gone, vanished into thin air. Gohan thinks about following him, trying to talk this out, but the shock is quickly wearing off. He needs a level head if they're going to talk ably something like this, and it's not like he wouldn't know where to find him.

The house on Arclight Avenue isn't so far away.

The moment the door closes behind him, Toby launches into the nearby couch, shoves his face in and screams. The dust flies up around him, and when his scream cuts off, he sucks in a gulp of dusty air. He hacks out a cough then, annoyance piercing through the quiet rage that's making a home in his heart. "I'm such a moron," he mutters into the pillow. "Fuck!" His bottle of pills stabs into his thigh, and he pulls them out. The swiped meds stare back at him with disdain, the black writing yelling at him for being so stupid, and the rage grows bolder, demanding action.

He downs a couple and lies on the couch, intending on sleeping and forgetting this whole mess. Who gives a shit if the couch gets messy?

Gohan isn't sure where to go.

After he drops off the girl, he's left listless, broken and so very angry. He knows that he has to work off this overpowering rage before it spirals out of control... There's only one person he can trust not to say a word.

He sneaks into Capsule Corporation, careful not to let anyone know that he's there; he doesn't want to explain the blood. He knows where to find Vegeta at this hour, in the Gravity Room, and he knows that the man will not deny him a spar. In fact, Vegeta opens the door the moment he senses the teen's suppressed energy, that permanent scowl melting away when he sees the look on Gohan's face. "What happened, brat?"

"Toby," he replies, not willing to give any incriminating information.

"Did you have a fight?"

"More or less." He growls to himself, trying to stifle the rage that got him in so much trouble before. "He... He's not a good person, Vegeta." The remaining saiyan affixed him with a flat state. "I'm serious..."

"Neither am I, Gohan." Those words ring so true in his head. How could he have possibly forgotten that this was the man who tried to murder his father on more than one occasion? How could he have forgotten that Vegeta has killed more people than Toby could have ever done? "You need to stop thinking so much. The more worked up you are, the harder it'll be to come to terms..." He backs up, allowing the teen to follow him into the GR. "For what it's worth, I really like your boyfriend."

Gohan smiles just slightly. "I know... Me too..."

Chapter Text

It's almost three hours into his self-exile that Toby realizes that he'd left his phone at Gohan's house that morning, and in the moments that follow this revelation, he ends up on the couch again. "You've got to be shitting me!" he screeches, the couch doing nothing to mask the frustration in his voice. "Why now of all fucking times?!"

When his screaming fit subsides, a wave of sadness washes over him, and he unconsciously starts to reach for the pills that are still in his pocket. His hand stops just shy of grabbing it, and he instead moves to sit up. His eyes stare into the darkness, searching the shadows for some answer, for some familiarity, but the shadows of this house hold no comfort. "What am I going to say to him?" he asks the nothingness, somehow not caring that there's no one that can answer him. "How can I explain all of this bullshit?" There's wetness sliding down his cheeks, and he, after a moment, wipes it away, surprised at his reaction. But he knows that it's an understandable one at the very least ."He's going to think that I'm insane…"

By the time Gohan finally works his rage off, Vegeta's climbing out of yet another hole that bears remarkable resemblance to his shape and size. "I don't want to go home," he sighs and drops to the ground. "Mom's going to be so pissed at me."

"So, don't go home. Call her and tell her that you're staying here."

"But Toby isn't here, and she'll be so pissed that I let him go back to Arclight Avenue."

"Why?"

"Uh… Because he's been living in an abandoned house."

Vegeta sighs then, rather heavily, and he moves towards the other. "You're an idiot."

Gohan turns a tired an annoyed glance his way. "Thank you for your words of wisdom. How is that supposed to help me? Or is this one of those times that you're hoping that I'll just figure it all out on my own."

"Well, you could start by apologizing to your boyfriend."

"But-"

"I don't care if he beat a puppy. He's right and you're wrong, and you should work with him to figure out what you two can do to fix this mess." He pauses, and turns his head towards the door as a soft voice comes calling for him; Mrs. Briefs. "I know that it's none of my business, but what did he do?"

"He… He stopped some men from hurting a little girl."

"That's not bad-"

"By brutally murdering eight people."

Vegeta stops in shock, and the feeling of amusement overwhelms him. "That's all? I thought it was something really horrifying!"

"And that's not?"

"Not really, no." He moves to leave the gravity room then, Gohan not far from him, because the magic call has stated that dinner will be soon. "Considering that he did it for a good reason, he's not that bad of a person… Now, go see Bulma. I'm going to talk to your boyfriend."

Gohan blinks repeatedly. "Thanks, Vegeta."

"Don't mention it, brat."

Finding Arclight Avenue is quite a bit harder than Vegeta expects it to be. At one point, he even has to ask for directions, but it doesn't take him long to find the desolate street once he's put in the effort. The exact house doesn't take much longer to find, considering he can feel the teen's twisted energy spilling out of the house; he's downright pissed.

The outpouring of emotions brings yet another wide grin to the ex-soldier's face, and he walks up to the front door, not even bothering to knock as he finds it unlocked. The energy turns colder and twice as malicious as before, and Vegeta knows that there's only one way to make him calm down. "Hello, boy."

"How did you find me?" he asks, not stepping out of the shadows, but Vegeta finds him anyway by the sound of his voice and the sharp glint of knife.

"Gohan told me." Vegeta pointedly looks at the teen, daring him to come out of the darkness, and after a moment, he creeps out of his hiding spot.

His cheek bares the garish scar to the conqueror's gaze, but it's not the terrifying wound that keeps his attention; it's the look in Toby's eyes. "…what else did he tell you?"

"Enough."

"I see…" in a split instant, the boy teleports over to the couch, where he all but drops. "You know that I really like him, Vegeta…"

"Then why didn't you tell him about… this?"

"It's… It's complicated," he replies. "I… I c-can't… I can't tell you. You'll just have to trust me on that…" He sighs rather heavily, and his head flops down into his hands.

"Are you in trouble?" the saiyan asks, honest worry coming over him.

Toby shakes his head. "Not really, but I will be if I say anything. My boss always knows… Always."

The silence takes over, and in it, Vegeta can hear the creaking of the house. It groans all around them like a dying man.

"Come to CC with me."

"Why?" The confusion on Toby's face is enough to make the man grin.

"It beats being here, doesn't it? And you don't have to interact with Gohan unless you want to."

Chapter Text

Despite being quite a bit taller than the alien, Toby hides behind Vegeta, unconsciously using him as shield against the other teen who's sitting across from Bulma and Trunks. His hands shake with nervousness, and suddenly, he twitches viciously. His breath hitches in this throat as he attempts to calm his overactive muscles, and he closes his eyes, waiting for Gohan to notice him. But it isn't his shaking presence that finally makes the raven look; it's Vegeta's terrifying voice.

"Woman!" he yells, startling everyone else in the room. "Toby's staying over." The three people at the table turn so sharply that Toby's almost surprised that their heads didn't twist off.

Bulma stands then and starts to make her way over to them, a small grin on her face. "It's good to see you again," she tells the brunette.

"It's good to see you again too, Bulma."

Her smile grows, and she claps him on his shoulder gently. "Come sit. Whatever you want my robots will make it for you."

"Uh, thank you…" He doesn't move though, not even when a robot comes up beside him and he whispers that he'll just take a sandwich and a glass of juice.

"I'm serious, Toby. No one's going to bite your head off." She grins as if it's the funniest thing she's ever heard, but, Toby, not completely convinced, nods rather stiffly and walks around to sit beside his boyfriend, careful not to look him in the eye.

It's quiet and awkward for all of a minute before Trunks speaks up, and Toby, for a brief moment decides that he loves this kid, perhaps even more than Goten. "Are you and Gohan fighting?" The thought that Trunks is more loveable than Gohan's clueless brother disappears suddenly.

"Yeah," Toby replies, his tone cold but somehow emotionless.

"Okay," the boy chirps. "Then you can come and stay in my room if you don't want to be around him!"

He doesn't know why, but he laughs. Bulma quickly admonishes the tiny terror, but Toby's far from angry with him. "Thank you for the offer, Trunks," he says, cutting off the bluenette's tirade. "That was very kind of you, but I don't think it'll be necessary."

"That's right," Bulma affirms. "Toby can stay in a guest room." She turns to him then. "Will that be alright?"

He nods and picks up the apple juice that a robotic assistant had brought him. "I would settle for a tree, honestly."

Bulma, unbeknownst to the three children, gives Vegeta a pointed look and mouths, 'you know something. We're talking later.' He waves her off quickly and starts to devour his food, thusly starting the other two saiyans on their quests to relieve the well-stocked kitchen of food.

After eating, Bulma shows Toby to a guest room, and the lithe teenager thanks her and says that he'll be turning in shortly. That's a lie though, but he hopes that it'll give him privacy as he knows that he won't be able to sleep for a while yet. No, he would rather sit at the window that encompasses half of the wall across from the bed and watch the lights of the city. The main dome goes quiet the longer he sits in the room, staring up at the great expanse of the sky and the many people who still wander about in the pre-dawn hours of West City.

At some point, he falls asleep, and by the time his eyes open, dawn has already come. He can hear some sounds in the house, but he doesn't move, not even to crawl into the bed or relieve the stiffness in his muscles. But then someone knocks on the door, and he, gritting his teeth and plotting murder, opens it.

On the other side is the person he wants to avoid the most, and he wonders if he could just slam the door on him and cut his throat in the bathtub; it wouldn't do to get blood on the nice carpet. "What?" he bites out.

Gohan, at the very least, has the decency to look somewhat ashamed, and that brings the barest hint of a smirk to the brunette's face. "Uh… Bulma wanted me to come wake you up for breakfast."

"Whatever." He brushes past the half-alien, grabbing his jacket off of the chair beside the door as he does so. He shoves his hands in his pockets, fingering the pocketknife, and wishes that he could talk to the person who gave it to him. Masky would know what to do… He always does.

He pretends not to notice the surprise on Gohan's face, but he's not exactly surprised when he hears him call out. "Toby, wait!" Steeling himself, Toby stops and hisses out a sharp breath as he waits for the demi-saiyan to catch up to him; it doesn't take long. "I need to talk to you."

"About what?"

"I…" He glances over to see an expression of unease on the teen's face. "I… just wanted to say… that… that I'm sorry."

"Wh-what?"

Gohan looks up from his wringing hands to find disbelief on the serial killer's face. "I'm sorry," he says again, this time with conviction. "I shouldn't have judged you like I did… You were just trying to help that girl the best way that you know how." Toby's voice is caught in his throat, and Gohan takes it as a sign to continue. "…I mean, you saved her… And I don't know about those other people… I don't know a lot of things… about you… So I guess… If you'll let me, I want to know more. I want to know everything about you."

"I'm surprised." Toby gains his voice back suddenly. "You're such a goody-two-shoes at times. I thought for sure you'd be more adamant that I'm a terrible guy… I thought that I'd have to leave."

"Well, I had a talk with someone… And he told me that I was being an idiot."

"Vegeta?"

"Uh… Yeah…"

"He told me." Toby holds out his hand, and he gives the demi-saiyan a pointed look. "So, are we burying the hatchet?"

Gohan takes it a brief second later, and he whispers, "I only ask that you don't go off and kill people."

"What if they deserve it?"

"Please… just try. For Goten."

"For Goten?" The look that Toby gives his boyfriend is one of equal parts concern and disbelief. "Why Goten?"

He smiles rather bitterly and grips the smaller boy's hand harder. "Because, he likes you, and I think he would be sad if you went away."

Toby laughs. "Alright, I'll try for Goten."

"Good. Now, food?"

"Do you always think with your stomach?"

"What body part would you prefer I think with?" Gohan realizes what that could mean, and he blushes so darkly. "Wait- I mean-"

"Your brain," Toby cuts off, knowing what he's thinking of and trying to stop him from blushing so much that his blood pours from his pores. "You should definitely think with your brain… and not you dick."

"Toby!"

Chapter Text

The weeks following the make-up fiasco, Toby ends up sleeping at Capsule Corp. to give them a little space. Gohan isn't exactly sure that it's a good plan, but he cannot deny that a little break does well for his temper. It's not like he wants to keep yelling at Toby for killing the kidnappers, but every time he looks the teen in the face, he remembers the uninterested way that the brunette dispatched them. It's a tiny bit unnerving to say the least…

Everyone in Gohan's 'family' knows that they had a falling out, but at least for the time being, no one has tried to ask what it was about.

No one really wants to destroy this arrangement, considering Vegeta seems to be in a good mood regarding it. Bulma confides in Toby that her husband has never actually liked people, and that Gohan's one of the few people that he has any sort of affection; but he does like Toby too. She, passing him a credit card, tells him that he's welcome to stay as long as he wants, and if he ever wants to get away, he'll always be welcome in her home.

At school though, it's almost like Gohan and Toby never fought, and so things go on as usual… Well, there was the day that Videl came in and tried to tell everyone about the gang members who were murdered, but Erasa beat her to it. Other than that though, it's like nothing went 'wrong'.

"Come on, guys! We're going shopping!"

Both Videl and Sharperner affix Erasa with nearly identical looks of equal parts annoyance and dissatisfaction, as if the idea is the dumbest thing that they've heard all day; in all actuality, that title belongs to Angela who was convinced that the answer to 8x-1=7 was x=0.

Erasa takes these looks in stride and grabs toby by the hand, before trying to drag him out into the parking lot. "Well, if they aren't coming, then you are."

"Why me?" he asks, clearly confused.

"Well, I want to show you something at one of my favorite stores. I thought you'd like it, and since Gohan didn't come to class today, I don't have to contend with his schedule or date night."

"Alright, fine."

Videl and Sharpener never join them in the car, so its Toby only that the blonde drags into store after store in a seemingly endless trial to try on every dress, blouse and pair of pants that she finds. The longer it goes on, the more Toby contemplates breaking his promise to Gohan… 'Or maybe.'

He eyes the socket not far from the chair he's currently sitting on. 'I have a pocketknife… I wonder how bad it hurts to electrocute yourself.'

Finally, Erasa walks out of the dressing room in the clothes she wore to the mall and asks, "after I pay for these, I'll take you to Interconica."

Toby had heard of this store from the stereotypical gothic kids, and he knew that Erasa went there with Videl on a few occasions. He heard that it was a store that catered to dark and gruesome things, from horror movies to printed versions of urban legends to cosplaying materials for the people and monsters featured in the store. If it were anyone else bringing him here, he'd think that it was incredibly strange, but this is Erasa... He knows that there's something disconnected in her brain.

However, he didn't expect how normal the shop looks from the outside. He tells the blond this, and she ushers him into the store, a twisted grin lighting up her face.

The inside, though, is nothing like he would have expected. The walls are black and splattered with bright red, as is the carpet, but on the carpet, in the middle of the room, is a chalk-line of a dead body. Behind the cashier's counter, a knife is embedded in the wall, directly over a sign proclaiming that the store is watched by security. It's a dull gray; Toby notes immediately that it isn't real. A few people send them appraising glances, and Toby catches someone staring at his jacket.

"Here," she tugs on his arm again and leads him around a partial wall.

His eyes widen significantly, and he stops dead when he sees cartoonized and fanart versions of so many familiar faces. "What?"

She smiles softly and pushes him further in, and he takes a few more steps of his own accord. He raises a hand, and it presses against the glass of a case of masks. 'Masky,' he mouths, and his hand comes to rest over a convincing copy of the white mask. Right next to it are a pair of goggles and a black slip on one side and a black hood with red eyes on the other.

He senses as well as hears Erasa move, and so he stops himself from harming her. But when she whispers right in his ear, it takes all of his concentration not to pin her to the nearby wall and slit her throat. "I know that you're a serial killer, Ticci Toby."

He stiffens and tries to keep his voice even and measured when he replies, "what are you talking about?"

"You're Ticci Toby…" She points up to a poster on the wall with himself, Masky and Hoody; it proclaims them as The Slenderman's Proxies like they're some sort of horrifying superhero group. "I've always loved Creepypastas… I had thought your name sounded familiar, but it wasn't until they added this section to the store that I remembered where I heard it before." He turns to face her, a mix of an inquisitive look and anger crosses his face. "Don't be surprised. I'm a lot smarter than people think I am."

"I know that, but this is just a coincidence, Erasa."

"No, it's not. If it was just a coincidence, you wouldn't be so freaked out. Your name is Tobias Erin Rogers, and so is his." She points again. "You had a sister, and you came from America. Underneath that bandage you wear is a wickedly awesome scar. You always wear the same sweatshirt, and when you moved in with Gohan, I saw those goggles hanging on your bag. We hadn't had a murder here in years, until you showed up, and I have no doubt that there's more no one found."

He grins darkly; that reminder of what he did before moving in with Gohan only serves to stroke his ego further. "So what if I am this person? What are you going to do about it?"

She laces her fingers with his. "Well, if you were him, I'd ask you to teach me. Teach me everything you know..."

"Why should I?"

"Because," she murmurs, coming even closer to him, "I've always wanted to get rid of my uncle... And, I've admired you and your," she waves her hand at the posters and other replica items, "for what you do. So what do you say?"

"Sounds like fun."

Chapter Text

Chapter 17: Announcements and Training Part 1

"Did you hear that there's going to be another World Martial Arts Tournament?"

"Really?"

"Yeah! It's the first one in like ten years!"

"Didn't Videl's dad win the last one?"

"Yeah, but she doesn't like talking about it."

Toby snorts and turns his head away from the gossips below the rooftop where Gohan and he are eating. The insistence jabbering all through their morning classes has left the brunette teen with little remaining patience. Gohan, having sensed an incoming bloodbath, drug him up to the roof and built a 'nest' with their backpacks and a blanket from Bulma.

"You cannot kill them," the alien murmurs and yanks his boyfriend closer. "I am not helping you clean up the blood."

"Erasa would."

Gohan sighs heavily. "And that is something we desperately need to talk with her about." He tucks Toby's head beneath his chin, and he feels the more animalistic part of himself sigh in contentment; a soft purring sound vibrates against younger teen's ear, and Toby's breaths slowly even out. "I'm going to enter the tournament, and I think that you should too."

"Why?" For the first time in nearly a week, Toby doesn't sound the least bit combative, and Gohan take that as permission to continue.

"It'd be a chance to try out your abilities, and my Dad got permission to come back for the day."

He raises and eyebrow incredulously. "How?"

Gohan shrugs his shoulders. "I have no idea, but I'm going to take it like the blessing it was supposed to be." His fingers run through brunette strands of hair, unconsciously relaxing himself as he partakes in the intimate parody of grooming. "But if we're both going to enter, we're going to have to start training even more… And Vegeta's offered to help." The exasperated way that the demi-saiyan whispers this is enough to make Toby snicker and bury his face in the older teen's shirt. "What?"

"You don't sound very happy about it."

"No, but I figured you'd be excited to kick his ass."

Toby uncovers his left eye and looks up at Gohan. "There's no way that I can kick his ass. He's so much stronger than me."

"But you're so much more devious and cunning." The bell rings. "We start tonight."

Tonight, as it turns out, was not so much after dark as it was the moment the saiyans had finished eating, but Toby was more than used to that with Goten and Gohan and expected it from Vegeta even more so. Vegeta is surprised when Toby follows them out without his mouthguard and goggles, but he doesn't show it; instead, he instructs the teen to spar with the two young demi-saiyans while he and Gohan watch for a moment. He says it's to find the gaps in the human's form, but to the other demi-saiyan, that excuse falls flat. It's the way that he appraises the human with the barest hint of a smirk on his face; to an outsider, it would look like one of haughty disbelief, but to Gohan, who catches it out of the corner of his eye, it's a smirk of pride.

Many of the Z Fighters refer to Goten and Trunks as little devils, and most of them would be quick to bet on the two of them beating a human in a fight. Goten knows better than Trunks does, and throughout dinner, he tried telling his friend that they were going to have their asses handed to them. Trunks wouldn't listen, though; he told Goten that Toby had to be slower than them and with sheer speed, they could win…

His confidence collapses a mere moment after Toby teleports just behind him and slams his body into a nearby tree; Toby may be slower than the two manic boys, but every time they get close enough to land a blow, he senses their movement, regardless of what side they are on, and either ducks or teleports away.

"He's something, isn't he?"

At the sound of Gohan's voice, Vegeta turns minutely to put the taller male in his sights. "Yeah, he is. I'm quite surprised at the amount of ki he has stored up and how cunning he is."

"It's not like you to complement someone."

Vegeta's eyes narrow minutely, but he doesn't allow himself to get riled up at the subtle jab. "No, it's not, but I do approve of your boyfriend... It's just a shame that he isn't a saiyan."

"I think he'd prefer it over being human, honestly."

They fall into a pensive silence, neither of them really paying attention until a peculiar noise reaches their ears, making the two of them jolt back into attention. The sight that awaits them has the two older saiyans looking wide-eyed at him, and neither of them can bring themselves to jump into the fray; a strangling sound leaves Trunks' mouth as he's choked by a rather wild-eyed Toby, who's teeth are bared in a menacing sort of snarl that wouldn't look out of place on a feral wolf. Goten curls up in the topmost branches of the tree, looking conflicted, but when Trunks chokes again, he leaps down at the human, only to be caught too in a ki powered grip. Toby's eyes have an off kind of glint to them, and for the first time in weeks, Gohan finds himself afraid of his boyfriend.

His mouth twitches, followed by his right eyelid, and his neck cocks slightly in an inquisitive manner. He doesn't grip them any harder though, and he doesn't seem intent on breaking their necks, so Gohan breathes easier. Toby wouldn't never kill a child without reason; but only Gohan knows that.

No, Toby, with his savage look and hostile demeanor pulls of intimidation rather well, nearly stilling the two boys, but their surrender isn't coming quick enough for the human. "Give up or I'll strangle you to death," he hisses, his voice so low that a normal person could never hope to hear it unless they were close enough. A sudden vision fills the boys' minds of their bodies lying lifeless on the ground, and the bravado evaporates.

"We-hah give!" Goten rasps out, and both he and Trunks are suddenly pulled into a hug from the teen. "Huh?"

Gentleness replaces the cruelty that had colored his eyes even darker, and a soft smile parts his lips. "I'm sorry, I scared you," he whispers and gently nuzzles his face into Goten's hair.

"We-we weren't scared!" Trunks exclaims, his voice wavering slightly.

Toby's eyes soften, a tinge of sadness making their way inside of them, and he whispers, "you don't have to lie to me…" Out of the corner of his eye, he catches Vegeta and Gohan descending, and while they don't look angry, he doesn't want to take chances by holding onto the boys any longer. "Go play." He shoos them away, and in the second, he finds Vegeta standing to his left, a curious look on his face.

"It's too bad you're human," he says, and Toby can't find it in his heart to disagree.

Chapter Text

Chapter 18: Announcements and Training Part 2

"If you're going to strike, you need to follow through."

The thud of flesh on leather echoes slightly in the empty gym; to an untrained ear, the contact would have sounded solid, but to Toby, it's obviously weak. He has no doubt that the strike would have done little damage to a living being, but he decides not to comment upon that; Erasa needs to focus on form, then strength. When another hit sounds just as weak with the tell-tale sound of a squeak, he realizes what she's trying to do.

"Remember, if your victim cannot fight back, then there's no need to confuse them. If they can fight back, don't just confuse or overpower, watch them, catalog their weaknesses, and when the time is right..."

Toby's sneakers make no sound on the polished floor as he stalks up behind his blonde friend, and Erasa thinks nothing of his voice trailing off into nothing; it's normal for the brunette to trail off when he gets distracted, and as far as she's concerned, he's still a few paces to her right. In reality, Toby teleported to a spot some fifteen feet behind her, and as he walks, his every movement is near silent. This stalking would have never worked on the Saiyans, but for a human like Erasa, if she'd been able to hear it over her own labored breathing, it would have been a miracle. "You strike."

Suddenly, he reaches out and grabs her arm as she pulls back, stopping her next punch in its tracks, and with a wicked smile, he jerks her into his chest and then teleports out of the way. Coming to stand fifteen feet away again, he brings his hands up to his face. "You haven't been following through, so you're going to practice on me."

Erasa's eyes widen, and a hint of worry enters them. "But what if I hurt you," she says. "I know you don't feel pain, but you can still get injured."

A harsh snorting sound leaves Toby's nose, and his grin grows even wider and even crueler. "Trust me, the moment you actually hurt me will be the moment that you're ready to kill him." He beckons her closer, and she sinks down into the defensive pose that Toby taught her. "I promise I won't even teleport on you."

"I really don't trust that."

The flat expression her face takes on makes turns his smile sincerer, but Toby doesn't try to correct her. It's probably for the best that she never trusts and opponent; he doesn't want her getting cold feet when her uncle begs for his life...Toby's certain that the man will, because he knows how vindictive Erasa is, and she won't end his life quickly...

" Toby! What are you doing?!"

The fear that pours off his father is nearly palpable, and Toby's almost certain that he can taste its sweet note. His fingers twitch, and there's laughter bubbling up in his chest. A part of him wants to end the man as quickly as he can, but another, larger part wants to savor this. He knows that this will be the last time that he sees this man...

" I'm going to kill you. I hope you don't mind."

Jolting out of his memory, Toby side-steps Erasa when the young woman, and she crashes to the ground with a loud thump. A loud growl leaves her throat, but she makes no move to get up... as if Toby wouldn't know that tactic.

"Get up. We have work to do."

When the door to the gravity chamber whooshes open, Vegeta pauses and lowers the weight baring down on him before it can get to the human standing just outside of its reach. "What's wrong, Toby?"

"Nothing," the teen replies, and with a soft sigh, he teleports to the room, just as the gravity settles to ten times that of Earth's. "I just got back, and I noticed that you were still up."

The saiyan nods and fully turns around to face the teenager sitting on the railing around the control panel. Amusement flickers in the stoic man's eyes, and for a brief moment, a smile ghosts across his face. "I have to beat Kakarrot, and how am I going to do that if I don't train?"

It's Toby's turn to smile, but for the teenager, it comes quicker and much freer than it does it the alien. And that look makes Vegeta want to smile too, but that urge is quickly squashed down because there's absolutely no way that the prince of all saiyans would be happy that a human is... right?

Vegeta turns his head sharply and begins stretching out his back muscles, a small sigh of relief leaving when his one of his vertebrae pop back into place; that shifted hours earlier. When he looks at Toby again, he finds that the human has begun to deliberately pick his nails with a pocketknife, and he feels grateful for the teen's perceptiveness, even if he would have preferred for Toby to be completely in the dark. "So where did you head off to at such a late hour?"

Toby snorts at the time comment, but that doesn't make the remark false; it had been almost eleven when he left to meet Erasa. "One of Satan's private gyms."

Confused, Vegeta asks, "why? Don't tell me you're considering taking lessons from that idiot."

Once again, Toby finds himself snorting, and he shakes his head. "As if. I'd rather slit my fucking wrists and drink the blood until I either die from blood loss or from killing my liver." After a beat, he gets off of the railing, and walks over to one of the windows. "No, Erasa has a key to it, and at this hour, it's empty."

"Do I want to know what you and her are planning?"

"Probably not, but I know that Gohan will want to know even less." When Vegeta doesn't respond, Toby looks over at him and sees the concern hidden under a mask of displeasure. "Erasa's family isn't... Her uncle deserves to die... I can't tell you why, she wouldn't want me to tell anyone. But he needs to die, and she should be the one that delivers him unto hell..."

Understanding dawns on Vegeta, and he finds himself grabbing the youth's shoulder and squeezing affectionately. "You've been teaching her, then."

"Y-yeah."

"Good. She'll need someone with experience."

Chapter Text

For someone who lived in the heart of Satan City, was truly afraid of anyone finding out his secrets, and happened to be petrified of the serial killer plaguing the streets, it strikes Toby as both ironic and sad that Erasa’s uncle would leave his back door unlocked.

When Toby told Erasa that she was finally ready, they waited another week, splitting time between planning and Toby’s continued training with Vegeta and Gohan. He asked Erasa to tell him everything she knew about their mark, from his deepest fears to his bedtime habits; nothing, he told her, is unimportant. Upon hearing this, she spilled everything that she knew, from what time he got home from work to what kind of toothpaste he preferred.

While most of it was unnecessary, what he learned was more than enough to end the man’s life, no matter what awaited them at his house… He’d carefully planned for every contingency that he could think of, and considering what his main occupation is outside of being Slender’s messenger, he really did think of a lot… But this?
“God, this guy’s an idiot.”

Hearing the hissing whisper, Erasa shoots Toby an inquisitive look, and she slowly creeps over from the back door, carefully avoiding the creaking floorboard. When she steps beside him, she turns to look in the same direction that he is and finds herself standing in front of the big bay windows. Toby points to the row of latches belonging to the ones they’d avoided because they faced the neighbor’s living room. “They’re unlocked?”

He nods and pointedly turns away, his expression one of simultaneous annoyance and relief. “I’m positive that the rest of this will be easy, but we can’t really say that this is proof of his incompetence or a single oversight. Do not get cocky, but don’t worry… Everything’s going to be fine.” Out of the corner of his eye, Toby catches Erasa’s shoulders drooping as the pent-up anxiety lessens at his assurances, and the corners of his mouth quirk up slightly. “Go on. You know this house better than I do.”

“Okay.”

A look of steely determination appears on the blonde’s face, and after a few more calming breaths, Erasa nods at her friend and starts down the hallway, Toby close on her heels. He watches as she fishes out a sharp coil of wire as she walks up the narrow staircase, her steps light but sure. He watches as she pauses at the top, her head moving around almost frantically in the darkness; he knows how this feels, the apprehension, the worry, the bone-deep anxiety that everything will turn out wrong… It goes away after a while; there’s still that edge of discomfort, but it all blends into the monotony of murder.

Erasa slips into the door on the left, her feet barely making a sound on the thick carpet, and after a moment, Toby follows and stands in the doorway, watching as she stands over the sleeping man. The wire in her hand slackens as she relaxes her grip, and one of the handles clacks against the floor. The noise it makes seems to echo in the silence, waking the man who lays snuggled up in a cocoon of woolen blankets; the room is strangely cold; but neither Toby or his student are stricken with worry. The act had been deliberate as it’s hard to strangle someone with a cord if you cannot get a proper grip around their neck.

Bleary, gray eyes open to the darkness, and upon catching sight of the figure standing over his bed, he jolts upwards, his hand shooting out to the gun at his headboard.

“Do it now.”

To an untrained eye, Erasa’s movement to wrap the cord around her uncle’s neck would have been nearly impossible to track; she had practiced many times; but to Toby, who’s eyes have been privy to slaughters and monsters beyond human comprehension, it’s almost painfully slow… Yet, he feels a satisfied smirk curl his lips.

A curious feeling curls up in his chest, a deep, slow sort of pleasure that hums in his heart and sings in his head… It isn’t a foreign feeling to the teen, but it is uncommon nonetheless. It takes a few moments to process the feeling, but when he does, likening it to the way his heart sings when Slender praises him for his work, he realizes that its pride; he’s proud of the blonde. He’s proud of her for taking this so seriously for not hesitating in the slightest, for returning the cruelty inflicted by her victim…

As he watches Erasa choke her uncle in unconsciousness, he finds himself contemplating not her technique, but the way that she must be feeling. He remembers the adrenaline pulsing in his veins, the sick sort of pleasure as he stares down at the face twisted in agony, and the bone-deep relief as he cut into his father’s flesh. He knows that as time drags on that a spark of disgust and a tremor of self-loathing will start, but it doesn’t truly consume you until the victim is dead.
He’s glad that she keeps it all hidden, contained behind a mask of determination, and as her uncle starts to slump, his struggles lessening, he opens his mouth to ask her if she’d like to take a break.

The heady feeling dampens when Toby feels a familiar energy that has no business being in Satan City at this hour, effectively stopping him from speaking. Not wanting to distract Erasa from her work, he creeps up to the window overlooking the street and stares up at the moonless sky. Even though the darkness should stop him from seeing it clearly, Toby’s sure that he’d be able to see the offending costume, but he’s not sure if he’ll be able to stop himself from laughing.

“Erasa,” he whispers, his soft tone seeming as loud as a passing train in the quiet. “We have company coming.”

“W-who?” she asks, her grip slipping and the wire loosening in her shock.

A frown tugs at Toby’s lips behind the mouth guard, but he refuses to betray his anxiety to the girl. “Gohan… He’ll be here in a matter of minutes. You’ll need to be quiet until I can convince him… Or he might try to stop this.”

“Oh… Okay.”

A couple of minutes pass by in the tense silence, but neither of the teens open their mouths to break it; there's too much potentially at stake for casual conversation. With Toby looking so intently up at the sky, Erasa decides not to move closer to him, nor does she move to continue choking her unconscious uncle; she just stands there at the foot of his bed, engulfed in shadows and watching. She notes the way that his breathing deepens and slows and he slips into a relaxed posture, providing he image of someone who has everything under control, but she knows better. She sees the tenseness in his limbs and can hear the measured cadence in which he breathes; it's unnatural... He's doing it on purpose... He's doing it on purpose to calm her down.

Eventually, she makes up her mind to talk to him, to tell him that he doesn't need to put on a brave face for her. She takes a step out of the shadows, her footsteps quiet but still echoing in the silence, and she opens her mouth to say something, anything... but, he shakes his head and motions for her to take a step back.

The silence reigns for a few moments more, the seconds stretching into endless hours, and just as she contemplates trying again, a figure appears before the window, his face shrouded by the darkness. Toby's body tenses at his appearance, but after a few quiet breaths, he seems to unwind again. His fingers find the latches, and he quickly opens the window, letting in the cold night air and the figure that moves to quickly for Erasa's eyes to follow.

"What are you doing here?" Toby asks, his voice sharp as glass behind the monotone mask.

"I could ask you the same question." Gohan's eyes scan the darkness, and while his gaze rests on Erasa for the smallest moment, he says nothing to her. "You promised you wouldn't kill anyone else."

"I haven't broken that promise," the younger male replies. "I won't be breaking that promise, but nevertheless, he needs to die."

"Why?" Gohan asks, both his tone and body posture betraying his obvious contempt. "What has this man done to earn death?"

A part of Toby struggles with how to respond to this question; he wants to spill all of the confided secrets, to explain everything to Gohan and show his boyfriend that what he's is right... But, he can't. He can't do that to his friend, the one who knows exactly what he is and did not bat an eye when she found out. He can't tell Gohan of the things that this man has done; it wouldn't be right.

"He hurt Erasa," is all that he can manage to say, even though there is so much more to be explained and so much less that he knows would be appropriate.

Gohan catches the slight inflection in his voice, but he doesn't press his boyfriend further. Instead, he looks up at the blonde, and the hard light in his eyes softens upon studying her. "Are you sure that you want him dead, Erasa?"

The young woman jolts, surprise electrifying her body at being acknowledged, but she takes it in stride. "Yeah... I want him to die. I want him to suffer..." Her lips quirk up into an uncanny grin, full of dangerous mirth and agonizing desires. "If I can't make him face justice, then I want to erase him completely."

The half-blood shivers at her tone of voice, instantly being reminded of the way that Toby had spoken about his father, and he knows... He knows that this is not something that he can stop... that he has any right to stop... And so, he bows his head in resignation. "If you're so sure, then who am I to stop you."

Toby’s voice goes softer than normal, and he reaches out to grab Gohan around the waist. He tugs at the older teen until he steps closer to Toby, allowing Toby to hug him. He presses his face into Gohan’s chest, refusing to move, even when his goggles press back against his face, and in the smallest voice, he whispers, “thank you.” Knowing that Toby wouldn’t want him to respond verbally, Gohan hugs him back and squeezes slightly; instead of stiffening, Toby relaxes in his hold, knowing that everything’s okay.

“Toby…”

At the sound of Erasa’s voice, the young serial killer jolts and looks over his shoulder. “What?”

She points to the incapacitated bastard and holds up her wire with an almost annoyed look on her face. “He’s not dead yet.”

“Right! Right!” His expression turns almost sheepish as he lets Gohan go and hops backwards awkwardly. He digs around in his pockets and pulls out a pair of disposable gloves and tosses it back at the Saiyan half-blood.

Gohan catches them and the alcohol swab that comes afterwards, but he doesn’t put them on, clearly confused about their use. “What are these for?” he asks.

“Put them on,” Toby replies, not looking up from where he’s putting the things that fell during Erasa’s struggle with her uncle.

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

The brunette boy huffs out a long sigh and gestures to the unconscious man. “I can’t carry him all by myself, and you’re stronger than Erasa.” Once he has everything put to rights, the teen stands up and turns to look at his boyfriend again, a please smile working its way onto his face when he realizes that Gohan has already put on the gloves and scrubbed them down with the alcohol pads, destroying the fingerprints on them. “We’re going to take him to his… room… The one you told me about, E. And then we’ll make it look like an accident.”

Erasa nods sharply and steps to the door as her friends grab her uncle by his arms and legs, careful not to let him hang too close to the floor. She leads them down the stairs and across the living room to an unassuming door that leads to a study. The study looks rather unassuming, until Erasa pops open the bookcase and slides it along the wall to reveal the room in question. She doesn’t go inside, but that’s understandable…

This room represents some of her worst memories.

Trying to defuse the tension that hangs heavily in the air, Toby tells Gohan to help him lay the man on the large bed. He then shoos his boyfriend away and starts messing up the blankets and sheets while moving pillows around. “So, I’m going to your wire, Erasa.”

“Why?”

“Autoerotic asphyxiation.” When they make no sound, Toby looks up from where he’s propping up the unconscious man in a convincing way. “What?” he asks, clearly not bothered by his train of thought.

“What the fuck is autoerotic asphyxiation?” Erasa asks, her eyes wide and her voice pitched with shock.

“It’s where you restrict your breathing to get sexual pleasure.” Toby shrugs his shoulders. “It can be kind of dangerous, and it wouldn’t be too out of context considering where we’ve put him. So we’re going to make it look like that’s what happened so they’ll rule it as an accident.”

“You have issues,” she replies but complies with his request anyways. “Like serious mental issues.”

He nods and starts wrapping the wire around Erasa’s uncle’s neck and pulling it up to the ceiling. “I don’t know why that’s surprising you.” Once the wire is fastened to a hook at the ceiling, he starts tugging on the wire to check the tension. “I mean, you know who I am and what I’ve done.”

Once the setup is finished, the three just sit there and wait in the silence as the weight and angle of the wire chokes the man continuously, finishing the job without him ever waking up. They know that they could just leave, but as Erasa sits and waits for her uncle to die, she relaxes, knowing without a doubt that the man will be gone at last…

That’s why they wait, for her peace of mind.