A/N: This takes place in an AU of DBZ, a very dark AU. The time-frame is around 12 years after Z, also this story will have several original characters of varied importance and things will be quite different than the normal universe. This is most definitely going to be an R rated story, and by far the darkest I've written. I was reading a story earlier that just sunk me into one of my dark and brooding states of mind. I get those now and then.
As to how often this story can and will be updated, that's unknown. I need to be in the correct mindset to work on it, so updates will probably be slow, unless I can get a lot of the writing done during each session. Anyway, this story isn't for kids. This wont be a light-hearted fic. Now, I am going to attempt to keep things tone down, mostly imply things, in order to keep this on FFnet.
Not entirely sure of the limits to what I can and can't do, never pushed them before, but if I do cross them someone let me know so I can try and salvage the story without it being deleted. No idea if I may cross it or not but, just incase. FFnet is where my fan base is so I'd like to keep all my stuff here...
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Part One: The Masters
Chapter One - In the Darkness
Darkness bathed the city gripping it tightly and hiding its horrors from wondering eyes. Thick smoke rose high into the night sky and hung over the city blotting out the light of the stars and moon. Rubble filled the desolate streets and the stench of burnt and rotting flesh filled the air. Moving slowly through the ruined city, walking down the nearly impassible streets, was a group of five similarly dressed people.They were of varying heights, skin colors, and hair colors, some of them short, some tall, some thin, some muscular, and a one was bald. They all wore knee length black shorts, white boots and gloves, and armors of black and green. Adorning each face, covering only their left eyes, were devices that looked like odd green glasses.
As the soldiers moved along the one on the far right stopped and looked into the remains of a gutted building. He reached up one hand and clicked a button on the device he wore and the piece of green glass came alive with activity. Yellow lights danced across the glass as the device searched out for any presence within the darkness. The other soldiers noticed him stop and stopped as well glancing back at him and over at the gutted building.
"Getting anything Pintur?" a female voice asked, a slight unknown accent.
"Just a second, Mitsuki." replied the short but muscular man as a gust of wind blew through his wild black hair. A second later the lines dancing across his scouter stopped and outlined a form hidden in the blackness as numbers danced across the monitor. Then the device beeped and Pintur smirked. "Got three, power levels of 18, 2, and 5." He raised a hand and pointed it toward the building, white energy arcing around and about his palm before a low powered energy blast launched toward the building and exploded several feet short of it. "Show yourselves!" he ordered. "Or I'll bring the place down on your heads!"
"Please, don't hurt us!" a young man's voice called out. As it did light bathed the area from a small flash light being held by the team leader, Mitsuki. The light revealed a young man no more than fifteen years old, in ragged and torn clothes and covered in dirt, slowly emerging from the building. He raised his arms to shield his eyes from the light. Behind him, clinging to his pants, was a young girl in a similar condition, no more than four or five. Lastly came another girl about sixteen years old.
"What are you doing here?" Mitsuki demanded looking them over. "This area is off limits."
"We... we're looking for our uncle..." the older of the girls said nervously. "He came this way last month... before the battle..."
One of the other soldiers snorted. "If he was around here then he's dead." he said in a deep and raspy voice.
Mitsuki rubbed her forehead. "Damn, this was supposed to be a simple patrol job." she muttered.
Pintur grinned. "What's not simple about this?" he asked. "We have some fun, we kill them, we keep moving."
"Certainly sounds better than hours of paperwork, and having to baby-sit these kids." the raspy voice said.
Mitsuki snorted in disgust. "That's all you two think about. Food and sex."
"You mean there's more to life than that?" Pintur asked in mock shock turning to look at Mitsuki again.
She just rolled her eyes and scrunched up her face in disgust. "I suppose Sai-jins will be Sai-jins." she said shaking her head. "Fine, have your fun, but I'm not sticking around to watch."
Pintur laughed. "And I suppose Humans will be Humans, eh Mitsuki?" he asked grinning. "Your people have no sense of fun! I mean, I'm sure the boy could survive for a little while at least." he said still grinning before he turned back toward the three people who were looking at them in fear now. "Come on Inon, time to take a break from our patrol. Either of you guys coming, Ovidar, Geovar?"
"No thanks." a smooth voice said. "We don't much like Human girls, most of them break too easy." He looked at the power readings that were displayed on his scouter now as well. "And these two don't look like they'd be exceptions to that..." He turned and started away, the soldier beside him doing the same.
Mitsuki looked over to where Pintur still stood and Inon was nearing bringing both Sai-jins into view. Pintur was short, only about 5 foot 2, but was rather well built. Inon was a good six feet or so and, while toned, not as buff as Pintur. Still, both were imposing to look at, especially within their armor. "You've got fifteen minutes." she said turning away. "For every second over I'm docking you five percent of your pay."
"Got it!" the raspy voice of Inon called back as he pointed a finger at the young man. There was a spark of blue at the tip of his finger before a stream of energy surged forward and through the boy's head. The force of the attack lifted him off his feet and threw him backward several feet, the young girl clinging to his leg losing her grip and falling over. That done the two began toward the girls.
Mitsuki, Ovidar, and Geovar continued moving away as the older girl began to yell for help. It only took a moment of hearing her for Mitsuki to regret her decision, but she knew she had to let Inon and Pintur have their 'fun' now and then or she'd wind up with a label she didn't want, either traitor or sympathizer. Either one would put her as the target of the 'fun' for anyone strong enough to overpower her. Still that didn't mean she had to like the screams and cries echoing out from behind her as she walked. To try and drown them out she started up a conversation with the two aliens still with her. Still, even after five minutes and several blocks, she could still hear the screams and calls for help.
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Back at the building Inon was holding the young girl by her collar as he grinned watching Pintur go. "Hey, don't break her, I still need a turn.""No promises." Pintur laughed. "What about the kid?"
"I'm thinking of holding onto her, spoils of war." Inon said, his grin widening. Suddenly his scouter flared to life and he turned to look up at the top of a near-by building. Before the scouter had even finished reading the power it had picked up the sphere of golden energy filled Inon's vision and then slammed into his head and exploded knocking him backwards and causing him to release the child. Before Inon had even hit the ground the girl was in the arms of a new person who was trying to calm her down.
At the commotion and interruption Pintur pulled his shorts back up and turned around. His eyes widened as he saw Inon sprawled on the ground, his skull busted open by the KI blast that had hit him. Blood was pulling under his head as his arms and legs continued to twitch. Pintur turned his attention to the other presences in the street and his eyes widened further at the sight of the four people.
The child was being held by a young looking woman with piercing green eyes with short and wild blue hair. She also had a scar that ran diagonally from above her right eye, across the bridge of her nose, and down below her left eye that made her all the more imposing to look at. The scar was a defining feature that Pintur recognized from reports, but the outfit she wore was far more defining. It was an orange, almost red, GI with a blue belt and black red trimmed boots. She also wore a couple of blue wrist bands and Pintur could make out a blue undershirt beneath her GI. She was a student of the Turtle Hermit, a member of the resistance. Enzeru.
The woman handed the child over to another person drawing Pintur's attention to him. He was of fairly average height, bald, had three eyes, and was wearing black shoes, white pants, and a heavy blue tunic. The outfit was forgettable but the third eye confirmed the man's identity beyond any doubt. Tien.
Pintur's eyes roamed in the opposite direction then, toward the other two figures. The first his eyes met was another man of fairly average height, black hair and eyes, and several scars. His arms were crossed over an orange GI with a black belt, shoes, and no undershirt. He wasn't as powerful or as standout in appearance as the others were, but Pintur still recognized Yamcha.
Finally he spied the short bald man standing beside Yamcha. He too wore an orange GI with a blue belt, trim, and black boots with blue trim. It seemed all four of them had some sort of distinguishing features. Enzeru with her scar, and being female. Tien with his third eye. Yamcha with a few scars on his face and even more on other parts of his body. And Krillin, the shortest of them all and lacking a nose.
There they all stood, the four warriors that were talked about within the ranks of Imperial Forces in hushed whispers. Their exploits were quite famous, and they were followed closely by the Imperial Masters. Not because any of them feared the four warriors, while Enzeru, the strongest of the four, could possibly defeat the weakest of the Masters that was only if he didn't transform. Besides, their were soldiers in the Imperial Forces who were stronger than the weakest of the Masters.
No, their exploits were watched as a form of entertainment. Their were rumors of a bet within the ranks of the Masters. In fact, of several bets. Which of the four would be the first to die? Who'd attain the highest body count? Who would be the last to die? Things like that.
But all that Pintur knew was that he stood no chance against the four of them. Hell, he stood no chance against just one of them. As absurd as it was, he was far outclassed by the four Humans that now faced him, far more than he was by Mitsuki. Granted, three of them were in their sixties by actual passage of time, and Enzeru in her forties, but physically speaking none of them were older than thirty. The results of Eternal Youth wishes. These four weren't the only ones, the Masters had sought out the same power.
Enzeru stepped forward and Pintur took a step back in fear. The female walked past him to the teen still laying on the ground and helped her to her feet. "Shhhh, it's okay." she said holding her and moving away from Pintur. "He can't hurt you any more." Enzeru cast a glance down at the fallen boy and shook her head slowly in sadness.
Pintur turned as he heard a sudden crack and saw Yamcha lunging in at him across the street. Before he had the chance to react the Human's fist smashed into his chest shattering his armor and ribs and flinging him backward into the building. The force of the impact brought the gutted structure down on top of him. Before he'd even hit though, the four warriors had felt his KI vanish.
"Damn." Krillin muttered kneeling beside the fallen boy. "I hate it when we're late."
"Tell me about it." Tien said with a frown. "Yamcha, can you take them back to base?" He nodded. "Good, the other three are around here somewhere, shouldn't be to hard to feel them out, the city is nearly empty. Let's keep to the ground, suppress our energy. We don't want them calling in stronger guns. Especially not with Cold on the planet." The others nodded and, as Yamcha lead the girls back toward their base, the other three started down the street tracking down the other powers.
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Ovidar and Geovar, the two tall, bald, lanky, and blue skinned men stood leaning against a lamp post watching their team leader. It still felt odd to them to be under the command of a Human, most Human's were weaklings. But Mitsuki had been one of the good Doctor's many little test subjects, during the early days of his experiments. No one was entirely sure what had been done to the girl anymore but it had increased her power, which had been the intent of the project.At the moment she was kneeling in the intersection they were in and checking a body. Her scouter had picked up a faint and fading power and she'd found a young boy trapped under a slab of concrete. The two aliens had intended simply to keep going and ignore his faint cries for help. But after letting Inon and Pintur have their 'fun' earlier she felt like she had to try and do something to redeem herself and had stopped.
But the more she looked over the situation the more hopeless it looked. She'd moved the slab of concrete that had fallen onto him but his legs were broken. Not that it really mattered, his lower back was broken as well, so he wouldn't have been able to move his legs even if they were in one piece. He also had an iron rod punching through his back and out of his abdomen. No, only one thing would be able to save him, a Regen Tank. Not that he'd make it to one in time, even if she carried him back as fast as she could move.
"It's okay." she said to him softly placing a hand on his head. "The pain will go away soon." A purple glow formed about her hand and a moment later the weak KI vanished and the boy closed his eyes.
Geovar laughed. "And so we witness the Angel of Mercy at work." he said with a shake of his head. "When I first heard the two names you'd earned for yourself I couldn't figure how they could belong to the same person. I still can't. Angel of Mercy and Angel of Death. I've seen you just as ruthless as any Sai-jin and yet you're as soft as the Humans."
Mitsuki stood and turned her gaze toward him, the taller and stronger of the two, and shook her head. "Life is life to me Geovar." she said. "I like mine and I like those of others. I do what I need to in order to survive and I do what I can to help others. They just... don't always go together."
Ovidar snorted. "Compassion, it's a pointless emotion. If the tables were turned all these people would kill you without a second thought."
"Only the ones I gave reason to." Mitsuki said with a glance back down the street to where Inon and Pintur where. "Damn it. Come on, we're going back. Paperwork or not I'm stopping those two."
"Don't worry, they've already been stopped." a male voice said from above. They looked up and saw a short bald man standing on one of the light poles."Shit!" Mitsuki's mind screamed. "We just had to run into them! Damn it, looks like I've hit the end of the line..." She turned to the two aliens. "Geovar, Ovidar, move!" she ordered.
The two aliens launched into the air at Krillin but the short Human vanished before they reached him. "Damn! Mitsuki, where'd he go!" they cried turning around.
"Mitsuki?" Enzeru's mind cried in shock. She gazed up at the woman in the Sai-jin armor. Long blue hair hanging down to the middle of her back and, now that she was looking she could see them, a pair of shimmering green eyes. "Could... could she be..."
Her thoughts were interrupted by a cry from Krillin. "Destructo Disc!" Her eyes focused again and she saw three disks of energy cutting through the air, one for each of the armor clad warriors. Enzeru didn't even need to think and she was moving. As the first two disks sliced through Geovar and Ovidar cutting them in half Enzeru pushed up a KI barrier and shattered the one intended for Mitsuki.
"Hey, what's up?" Tien asked floating down from a roof top.
"She's not like the rest." Enzeru said turning. "You saw what she did, heard her speech. We always go on about second chances, and I say she deserves one." She looked into Mitsuki's eyes for a moment, the wind picking up from behind the armored woman and blowing her hair out in front of her and a mixing it with Enzeru's, the shades a perfect match. "You... are you Human?"
"She's giving me a second chance? Because I showed compassion to the boy? I've always heard that these four... three? Whatever, I always heard that they killed anyone that was affiliated with the Empire... Though I guess I should have expected this from them, from people fighting against the Masters." "Wha... what?" she asked hearing the question. "Y-yes, I'm Human... Why?"
"By Kami..." Enzeru said looking at her. "I can't believe it..."
"Believe what?" Krillin asked walking up beside her.
"Don't you see it?" she said motioning toward the other woman.
Tien walked up beside them and got his first good look at Mitsuki. "The resemblance... the hair and eyes and face... it's remarkable." He cast a glance between them a moment before locking his eyes onto Enzeru. "You... think she's your sister?"
"S-sister?" Mitsuki asked looking at the woman before her. Sure, she'd noticed some similarities in the images she'd seen, and now too, but... as far as she knew she had no living family. And wouldn't someone in the Empire know about this if it were true? Wouldn't they have done something by now, used her as bait or something?
"We can sort this out later." Tien said. "We need to get moving, just in case another patrol comes through the area. We'll figure this out back at base."