New arrival at the Check in station

The entire time his spirit was floating towards Other World, Jeraph had been replaying the final moments of his life in his mind. The warning, the cosmic cannons he had let loose, the fact that he thought he would be safe underground. The feeling of the blast, then the numbness that followed after all of his nerve endings had been burned. Then looking down at the destruction that had occurred due to the massive release of energy from the fire haired boy he had been fighting.

He knew he wasn't going to hell, or the demon realm because he had done several good deeds while on the earth. It was his personal belief that what ever sins he had committed prior to being reincarnated had been washed clean. Soon the check in station came into view. The columns being different architecture than anything on the planet earth, the building actually looked like a big train station or bus terminal. The difference was this was sitting on clouds. The sun seemed closer here than it did any where on the planet earth. He couldn't see through the clouds but he knew he was above the planets in some other place.

As for what lay beyond, Jeraph could see a few miles of the infamous Snake Way, he had read that it led to a planet inhabited by a teacher of sorts, called King Kai. As he floated closer he began to get the feeling of Deja Vu, as if he had been through this before. He actually had the feeling he had known, or at least met King Kai before. He began to wonder if the being was a shin as he himself was.

What he had read told him that he had to check in at the station he was floating towards, then he would be able to traverse Snake way to train with the being. He was sure that king Kai trained all comers if they could pass certain tests, every one of the Sensei's on earth had required a feat to prove their worth. Some had required more than one, but even the tests proved to be part of the training.

Jeraph eventually arrived at the check in station, and became more corporeal. His spirit gaining mass, as his feet touched the cloud made walk ways. It eventually became almost just like his earth bound body. He noticed that all of his equipment was there, his armor, his pendant, even his sword. How any of it survived the blast that killed him he didn't know, all he knew is some how it stayed with him as he perished and even onto Other World.

He entered the check in station, and saw two identical ogres behind the desk. each had small horns, what could only be called an afro and their skin was slate grey. They wore non-descript clothing, and didn't appear to be armed. Jeraph got the feeling he knew these two as well, and that he didn't want to pick a fight here, or any where near here.

"You have arrived finally" the first ogre said to Jeraph, without even looking up.

"The king wants to see you" the second continued the firsts sentence.

"The king" Jeraph inquired "as in King Kai?"

"Oh that's right" the second said in response.

"The reincarnation erased his memory" the first ogre said to no one in particular.

"Just go through this door and he is waiting" the second explained.

Jeraph listened to the instructions from the ogres. He entered the door, and was immediately in awe of the ogre who was seated behind a desk. The desk was of a dark wood, it was similar to several he had seen on earth but several times larger. The ogre dwarfed him by many feet, it dwarfed the other ogres by several feet. This one's skin had a slight redish tint, and purple tinted hair. His horns were larger than the others, and a symbol of status.

"Ahh, weren't you just here" the massive ogre asked.

"I don't recall anything except being on earth, but nothing before that" Jeraph answered the question.

"Then my experiment worked" King Yemma said almost to himself, more than to Jeraph.

"Experiment, what do you mean?" Jeraph asked.

"Well you didn't like being locked in the demon realm, you hadn't known that half of what you were doing was actually evil. So I allowed you to be reincarnated with out a wish being made, and erased your memory" The king ogre responded.

"That explains some, but just so you know some of the memories keep coming back in segments" Jeraph explained to the ogre.

"I know they do, but only the ones you really need. I placed you on earth so you would be on a planet that was full of beauty, and also one that was feral so you would learn to protect yourself, but want to protect the planet" Yemma responded.

"Well the earth is worth protecting. The life on the planet is young, and doesn't know much, the flora and fauna is very beautiful" Jeraph explained.

"I know, I watch over all the planets. So far you've aligned with several other beings that are protecting the planet earth along with other planets. You've gained a decent amount of good karma as well. You are well on your way to being a hero on the planet earth" The king said sounding proud of himself and Jeraph.

"What does that mean for me?" Jeraph asked the giant ogre.

"For starters, it means you get to chose to run Snake way this time instead of going to hell or the demon's plane. As for the other benefit to you, I've got a personal gift for you" the ogre said, in response to the question.

With that the ogre bends over towards one of the desk drawers. His shirt was an odd pink color, and Jeraph could see the muscles in his back tense as he bent forward. He dug around for what seemed like minutes before straightening back up in his chair. When he was finally straight, he made sure his shirt was straight and not wrinkled, then he lifted his right hand, and set a watermelon sized fruit on the desk.

The fruit itself was gold in color, and appeared to be roughly the shape of an apple. Jeraph could feel the power coming from the fruit, it was strong, in many ways it felt like the same power that came from the Sacred Water that had been given to him by Korin, on earth. He knew that the fruit would bring him more power, that is if the fruit is for him, and would be given to him.

"This is the gift, you must eat it all for it's effect to happen, there is a non-edible core, and some seeds I don't recommend you eating" King Yemma said as he motioned to Jeraph to step forward and grab the fruit.

Jeraph moved forward and grabbed the fruit, immediately he could tell that the skin felt like an apple, it was waxy, and smooth yet bumpy. The fruit itself was heavy. Jeraph raised it to his lips, and took a bite of the fruit. It was the best thing he had ever tasted. It was like a mix of every one of his favorites fruits mixed into one. The sweetness was perfect, the juiciness was almost like drinking from a glass of juiced fruits.

With every bite, Jeraph could feel the fruit doing something to him, he closed his eyes as he took a bite. He began to see training he had under went, this time it wasn't on earth though, it was on some other planet, one that Jeraph hadn't read about in the library in Central City. He was training with what looked like a human, but prettier. The hair was white, the skin was purple, with pointy pierced ears.

The clothing they were wearing was almost like the Genie on Kami's Look out. It was loose and baggy. It seemed to be made of silk, or some other soft, slick material. The training involved balancing on a tree trunk and fighting off a few attackers without falling. Jeraph fell several times during the training, just to be told to start it all over. Eventually he got the test finished. The person training him congratulated him on completing the test.

Then the memory jumped to more training, this time the training was on a different planet. This one seemed more hell like, it was hot, and there didn't appear to be any light. His teacher was not the same either, this one red in skin tone, had horns, and the outfits were leather. This time, the training was on unleashing rage to power up. The benefit was enormous for the half breed. His anger being harnessed to power him up, this is when the color of his ki became known to him. It was different than any he remembered seeing, it was a mix of light and dark.

When he opened his eyes, Jeraph was still standing before King Yemma, the fruit was completely gone. He had eaten it all, the power from the fruit had opened a door to some of his locked memories. Nothing about what he had done in the past, but more of what he should know to protect himself and the planet earth. The remembered training was in martial arts, it made him better able to fight hand to hand, and also the ability to power up, and harness the demon for good or bad.

Jeraph steeled his resolve to use this for the good of himself and the planet. It also clicked in his mind that next time he was in a friendly fight, he wouldn't have to resort to such tactics. He could now fight without going to majorly harm his opponent, and he could fight better when it came to life and death. Had he remembered how to harness his rage he may have survived the blast that killed him this time.

"Thanks, that fruit helped a lot" Jeraph said humbly.

"I know, now you better get on your way to King Kai's, its a heck of a run, and you can't fly on snake way like you can on earth" King Yemma responded, pointing to the door that lead to snake way.

Jeraph walked out the door, and his feet met the hard stone of snake way. The banisters were designed like the back of a dragon, or snake. The name was apt. Jeraph took a breath and began to run the way down snake way. He was determined to train with King Kai, and to learn as much as he could. He wanted to be resurrected, but not before he learned all he could while he was deceased.

WC 1814