Dragonball Z: Future Tales
A Radical retelling of the History of Trunks; Gohan and Trunks must find a way to defeat the Androids after they destroy the Time Machine that was supposed to be their last beacon of hope...
Chapter I
The realization was painful...her dream would never be realized. The dream itself was as she was...dead. Gohan was trembling with anger and Trunks was in utter shock at the horrific site that they see before them... Bulma's dismembered body lay on the ground amidst the rubble of the ruins of the Capsule Corp home. Her workshop was destroyed...and most importantly, the Time Machine that was to be their beacon of hope to change the future...was destroyed. The plans, along with everything in the lab were ruined...there was nothing salvageable...
"B..bulma..." Gohan clenched his fists as the reality of the situation had already sunk in. There were no tears, he could not cry anymore. Only anger and hatred for the Androids flowed through his veins...stoically, Gohan lifted his head, "...I'm sorry, Trunks..."
"Mother..." Trunks gasped as he dropped to his knees before his lifeless mother. He shook her by the shoulder, which generated no response, "Mother!!" he screamed as the tears ran down his cheeks. He clenched his fists so tight that his nails dug into his skin, at that moment, Gohan sensed a change in Trunks. His power was rising. An aura had surrounded his body and his hair was needling on end...however, the power surge would end there, as soon as it surged, it subsided and Trunks returned to normal.
Trunks looked back at Gohan, his face full of dejection and self worthlessness, "I can't even go super saiyan...even after witnessing my own Mother's corpse...my Father would be so ashamed of me..."
"Trunks...I can't explain it...but sometimes there's a certain trigger. It seems that this wasn't it... give it time, eventually—"
"Eventually?! Give it time?! Time is something we don't have! The Androids destroyed the Time Machine! And the only person left capable of fighting them is you, Gohan..."
"...I am not the only one still here, Trunks. You are here too. Do not give up on yourself...your Mother...nor Vegeta would approve of that. If you really want to make them proud, Trunks...then pick yourself up. We have much to do," Gohan replied, extending his hand to a crestfallen Trunks.
"...You mean run away..." Trunks retorted, knocking Gohan's hand away.
"Trunks..."
Gohan turned his back to Trunks and flew off, leaving Trunks in the ruins of his home... High into the air, Gohan scanned his surroundings...it's then he spotted a distant city being attacked. The site of more innocents being killed caused his rage to reach a boiling point. In a flash Gohan transformed into a Super Saiyan and jetted towards the city.
Meanwhile, Android 17 was entertaining himself destroying building after building all the while Android 18 was growing ever more bored.
"Come on, lets get out of here. All the humans are dead – The fun parts over. I don't want to sit around watching you blow up buildings all day – it's boring."
"Boring?!" Android 17 retorted, "This isn't boring. Boring is when I stand around while you try on clothes for two hours – THAT'S boring. This is actually pretty fun, you should give it a whirl."
"Man the things I put up with...I swear, he's like a little kid..."
While 17's building demolition was taking place, an injured man was crawling out of the rubble in the distance...
"Hey, we missed one," 18 said as she blasted an energy beam without even looking behind her, obliterating the man and everything in his radius.
"That's 10 more points... Dammit! Now we're tied—Ughh!" 17 was cut off as Gohan's boot connected with his head, which sent him flying far and through a dilapidated building in the distance.
Soon after Gohan landed, 17 breaks out of the rubble. 18 is quick to laugh at him for his torn shirt. 17 smirked wryly and said, "That's quite an entrance you made, I hope you enjoyed it because it's going to cost you your life. And you trashed my favorite shirt. I'm glad you came though... Yeah, this is perfect. You can be our tie-breaker."
"First one to kill him wins, it's sudden death – no ties. Go."
Android 18 began to approach from the rear and Android 17 approached from ahead. Gohan turned quickly to assess his situation and then turned back, facing ahead to Android 17. However, his voice was directed at both Androids.
"You know you can't win. You can't destroy what I really am. Even if you manage to kill this body, someone even stronger will surface and take my place. Not one death will go unaccounted for – Not one!"
Having increased his power to his maximum, Gohan released a ki blast into the ground underneath him to create a cover as he blasted high up into the air with the Androids in pursuit. Still preserving their pincer attack, Android 18 and 17 coordinated their energy blasts towards Gohan.
"Energy Shield!" Gohan used his ki to create a field to protect him from their blasts. The Androids stopped their attack as the smoke created from the blast kept Gohan well hidden.
"Did we get him?" 17 quickly questioned.
"I don't—Ahh!"
Before 18 could reply, Gohan thrust himself out of the smoke cloud, uppercut 18 in the chin, and followed up with a reverse elbow smash to the midsection of 17, who was behind him.
"You idiot..." 18 scowled... "I'll kill you! Let's get him!"
"Right, he's dead!" 17 responded as he burst forward in tandem with 18.
18 threw a strike which was blocked by Gohan, however 17 struck Gohan from behind and 18 followed up with a hammering axehandle, knocking him through a damaged bridge to the rubble below.
Regaining his senses, Gohan flipped back, merely avoiding a crushing blow by the Androids who landed where he was moments prior. Back to his feet, Gohan stared back at the deadly duo with hatred in his eyes. He readied his hands at his side.
"I will never forgive you for what you've done...I will make you pay! Ka-Me-Ha-me-HAAAAA!!"
In that moment a brilliant blue light illuminated the surroundings, and Gohan's Kamehameha wave soared towards the Androids...the size of the wave startled them to the point their eyes opened wide and what followed was the wave connecting with their bodies...
Gohan remained quiet, stoically watching the dust cloud which was formed from his attack as it slowly began to dissipate... and when it finally did... The Androids were barely hurt, the only visible damage was minor scratches and burns on their face and clothes, but ultimately they were unharmed.
In that moment, lightning striked one of the nearby dilapidated buildings and the rain began to pour down onto the ruined city below. Gohan pushed the limits of his Super Saiyan power and as his golden aura surrounded him, static energy also enveloped the field. The Androids approached a bit, stopped, looked at each other and nodded.
"This thunderstorm is a perfect backdrop for your demise," 17 said cryptically.
"There is no end for me...no end!"
Suddenly, a large flaming spherical object crashed into the ruined street, in the space between Gohan and the Androids...it was a space pod. And almost immediately, Gohan sensed an extremely high power level emanating from inside that space pod...
Both Gohan and the Androids were unsure of what to do with this development and in that moment, the hatch to the pod slowly rose and a figure stepped out from the pod. She stood no taller than 160 cm, she was brandishing Saiyan Armor. The armor's primary color was black, with a secondary color of a deep velvet. She had long dark brown hair, so dark it was almost black. Her black eyes locked on Gohan's green eyes, however, Gohan wasn't looking at her face, he was looking around her waist. Around her waist was none other than a tale – meaning she could only be one thing – A Saiyan.
"Who...are you?" Gohan asked.
The female saiyan walked towards Gohan, as she did, she pressed the switch to her power reader which started to calculate Gohan's power level...she stopped in her tracks when the power level reading had completed.
"50,000,000...This planet shouldn't even exist let alone have someone with such a massive power level! I thought Bardock's son was sent to this sector...just what is going on here?" The female saiyan thought, then she turned around and faced the Androids to read their power levels.
"So...these two each have 45,000,000. This man is stronger than one of them aside...but putting two together is making this fight work in their advantage. I have my suspicions about this man...if they are true, I shall help him. If they aren't...well then I suppose I'll kill all three of them."
The female saiyan smirked, she turned her head to face Gohan, "My name is Vigdís...tell me, are you a Saiyan?"
Gohan hesitated for a moment, but then answered honestly, "Yes, my name is Gohan."
"Tell me, Gohan, who are these two? They are clearly not Saiyans... and there is no way they can be human – they are far too powerful."
"They are Androids, created for one purpose – to kill."
Vigdís turned to face the Androids, "You two know that to defeat this man you have to work together. A two on one strategy seems to be your favored tactic...but now that I have arrived, you will not be able to use such a tactic. This man is stronger than one of you alone...but now that I'm here...he will only have to deal with one of you – and I will deal with the other."
Android 18 brushed her hair back with her hand, she responded with a cocky undertone to her voice, "What makes you think you're strong enough to face one of us alone?"
"Well, girl, perhaps I'll show you. Why don't you and I have at it? We'll let the boys settle things amongst themselves then, eh?" Vigdís answers confidently. Oh, but before you get the idea that I'm just an average Saiyan...think again. I may be a woman, but I'm the most powerful woman in this entire Universe...and I intend to prove that! Arghh...ahhhhhhhhh!!"
In that flash, Vigdís ascends to the level of a Super Saiyan. Her long hair is golden and her eyes green. She glared into the eyes of Android 18 with intense ferocity. It was then that Android 18 seemingly had a change of heart.
"On second thought, this is boring. Let's go 17."
"What? Why?"
"Because, idiot, there's two of them. How are we to break our tie if we each get a kill? There's no point for this – let's just go home, this is boring."
"What!" Gohan yelled, however it was too late as the Androids released a highly focused energy pulse that temporarily blinded Gohan and Vigdís, enabling them the time to leave unnoticed... it was also then, when the rainstorm subsided and the sun began to break through the dense cloud cover that loomed over the city...
Gohan and Vigdís both reverted back to their normal state. When Vigdís turned around to face Gohan, a look of surprise appeared on her face.
"Is something wrong?" Gohan asked, with a quizzical look on his face.
"No...you just reminded me of someone... someone I knew."
"...Did you know my Father?"
"Who was your Father?"
"My Father's name was Goku...but, I guess his Saiyan name was Kakarot."
Vigdís' eyes opened wide. She knew he reminded her of Bardock, but to think that this man was the son of Kakarot was baffling. She wondered just how many years have really passed since she entered the cold sleep after the destruction of Planet Vegeta. Her wandering thoughts were interrupted when Gohan approached her.
"Thank you for you help, Vigdís."
"...Wait, you said 'was'...what happened to Kakarot?"
"He's...dead..." Gohan replied dejectedly.
Vigdís turned her back to Gohan, refusing to let him see the small tear that was in her eye, "Yes, Gohan...I knew of Kakarot, but I barely knew Kakarot. I did, however, know his father – Bardock."
"I see..."
"The way I see it...you are the strongest on this planet. I do not care for those artificial things pretending to be alive. And don't think for a second that I care about the inhabitants of this planet... I am merely choosing to help out a fellow Saiyan...nothing more, nothing less."
"I understand, you have your pride. Would you like to come with me? There's another Saiyan I'd like you to meet."
Vigdís was quite surprised, "Another Saiyan here on Earth?"
"Yes, he and I are...or were the only Saiyans left on Earth – that is, until you showed up. And unlike us, you appear to be a full blooded Saiyan..."
"Of course...very well, I'm interested to meet with this other half-breed Saiyan you speak of."
Once agreed, Gohan and Vigdís were just about to head back when Trunks landed near the both of them. He ran up to Gohan in a hurry, "Gohan! Why did you go off alone?! What if something would've happened to you! What would I of done?"
"So, is this the other 'saiyan' you were speaking of, Gohan?"
"Yes, Vigdís, this is Trunks, son of Prince Vegeta."
Vigdís' jaw dropped, she staggered for a second, before suddenly kneeling before Trunks. This came as a shock to both Gohan and Trunks.
"H-hey, why are you kneeling?" Trunks replied in a fluster.
"You are the son of Prince Vegeta, You are that of the royal bloodline. Allow me to formally introduce myself – I am Vigdís, I was selected to become Prince Vegeta's bride before our Planet was destroyed by Freeza...I regret I was unable to locate his whereabouts... so... by you two being the only Saiyans left here on Earth... that would mean Vegeta has left this planet, yes? Did he say where he was going?"
Trunks and Gohan looked away, after hearing that she was to become Vegeta's bride made their hearts sink. Because they knew already what fate had befallen Vegeta... but their silence was all Vigdís needed to realize the reality of that fate.
"I see..." she replied slowly, "So he too is dead. Then I am the last of the Planet Vegeta... standing here with the sons of Kakarot and Vegeta. I'll reiterate, I care not what happens to this planet or it's people... but it's my duty to Vegeta and Bardock to ensure that nothing happens to you.
Vigdis looked at Gohan and then at Trunks...she knew that this isn't the time for foolish pride, She figured that perhaps being a woman was able to help her realize that rationale much sooner than any of her male Saiyan counterparts would've back on Planet Vegeta. She felt in her heart that she needed to help out Gohan, grandson of Bardock, and Trunks, son of Vegeta.
And so Vigdís has come to the conclusion that helping Gohan and Trunks against the Androids is part of her obligation to Vegeta and Bardock. Next time on Dragonball Z, just when it seems that Vigdís and Gohan have the Androids defeated, a new enemy emerges!
Author's Comments
It has been awhile since I've watched/read/or wrote anything in regards to DBZ. The show itself was one of the anime's that got me hooked in the genre and I've been hooked ever since. My hope with this story is to let other fans of the series who always wondered what it'd be like for a female saiyan to be at the focal point of a story in the Dragonball world. I hope you enjoy it as much as I'm enjoying writing it.
In case of those who are wondering about the name, Vigdís; it is derived from Old Norse elements "vig" meaning war and "dís" meaning goddess. So meet the Saiyan War Goddess, Vigdís. Cya'll 'round. Rukaii