DragonBall Omega: The Gemini Saga
By Marshall Honorof
Chapter I: A Taste of Things Yet to Come
The blond haired man in the white robe escorted the girl down the hallway. Surrounding them were two knights of the man. It was quite apparent that the girl was being held there against her will.
Finally, the four of them reached the bridge, a huge window into space towering over them at the far end of the room. This was the highest level of the large bridge; at two lower levels, captains and their subordinates worked to keep the ship in orbit of the blue planet that they were currently stationed near.
"See your planet there?" asked the man in a firm tone of voice, with a regal accent. "You will give me the location of the power crystal or it will be destroyed."
The girl was in her early twenties, with deep purple hair that ran down to her shoulders and angular eyes, the irises a pale green. Standing not too tall, she gazed up at the towering pillar of strength that was her captor. She said nothing at first, but then replied. "My people would sooner all perish than let the likes of you command the crystal."
Angered, he smashed his hand across her face, sending her directly to the ground with a large thud. "It is no use hiding it!" he yelled, his eyes fiery. "We know that it is in this quadrant of the galaxy. We just need your help to pinpoint its position."
With that, he snapped his fingers, and the knights followed him out of the room, escorting the girl as well. The corridors of the enormous spaceship seemed to stretch onward forever, but the man seemed to know exactly where he was going. After descending many flights of staircases, they finally reached their destination.
This corridor was small (comparatively) and rather dimly lit. The girl's nose wrinkled. The whole place reeked of some foul odor, as if it were never cleaned. This was indeed a much neglected part of the ship. After walking a final short distance, one of the knights opened the door, as the other knight unceremoniously shoved her in.
The man in the white robe, still glowering at her, blocked the doorway as she looked around. This place was a prison cell! Against one end of the wall was a cot, and there was a horrid looking bathroom at the other end. Other than that, the room was bare. An incandescent light source flickered at the center of the ceiling, already dim, threatening to go out any second.
"You," the man spat at her, "Have tried my patience. But let me tell you this, clever girl: I am the one who wields ultimate power here, and I will wield it everywhere once you tell me where that crystal is. If you will not reveal the location to me, then you and your whole miserable planet will suffer greatly. With this ship, I can easily destroy your puny planet at will, so don't test me, or your people will regret it."
The girl sat up and continued to look at the man, who turned around to leave. Right before he exited the doorway completely, he shot his head back. "You have your options: you can give me the crystal's location or you can watch as your planet is destroyed. You have twenty-four hours, girl. Don't try anything funny."
The door slammed shut behind them, and a stream of light stood in place of a latch. A lock made of light could not be broken so easily, as anything to touch it would be burned. Nonetheless, the girl picked herself up and threw herself against the door, only to come crashing back down to the ground in pain. It was futile. Nothing she did could make an impact on her situation.
Without further option, she began to meditate, trying to call out to a soul somewhere who would save her.
***
The man dismissed the two knights, and they left him alone at his throne at the top floor of the bridge. He picked up a wineglass and swished it around, staring at the planet which his ship was circling.
"Miserable brat," he thought. "She thinks that by sacrificing her people she can prevent me from attaining the power to rule this galaxy."
He hit a button and a small computer system descended in front of his face. Typing deftly, he brought up a few menus and eventually reached his destination.
"Frieza…" he said, letting the word gently slide through his lips, savoring the sound. "Frieza… Lord of the Universe."
He stared at the picture for a long time. The pink beast wearing only chest armor and underclothes certainly did not look very intimidating. Certainly, he had very muscular legs, a thick tail, and two devilish horns protruding from his head, but still, Frieza did not look all that dangerous to the man.
"How was a creampuff like him the Lord of the Universe?" the man asked himself, and was answered by his resident prophet, Therese.
"That creampuff could transform at will, unlike you," she said. "Frieza's final form was a little more… intimidating." With that, she changed the view on the screen to that of a very slender warrior with bluish skin and purple patches around his chest and head. Every part of his body was balanced, throbbing with sheer power.
"Now THAT," Therese explained, "Is the Lord of the Universe."
"Indeed," the man agreed. "I must have that crystal… it will unlock my true potential."
"I've been trying to tell you," the prophet explained, "The crystal will not increase your power in the least; only let you push beyond your normal limits."
"I'm well aware, Therese," he confirmed. "I know that the crystal will provide me with no power I didn't already have… but you see… I have an ace up my sleeve." With that, he hit a button and the computer system rescinded into the ceiling. Therese came before him and sat herself down on the thin railing that overlooked the two other levels of the bridge.
"An ace?" she asked. "What would you know about an ace? You're just a human."
"So are you," he shot back.
"Maybe so," she agreed, "But I came in contact with the crystal once. This is what happened to me: superhuman powers and the ability to see the future. I imagine if you've been training and practicing the dark arts of alchemy with your own body like you say you have, if you could take all of the crystal's power, you would become something far greater than the universe has ever known."
The man took a sip from his wineglass. "Exactly," he hissed. "That is all I need. It's not necessary to have a mere power increase… I need to push myself beyond normal human limits. I know I can do it… after all, it was certainly done by my ancestors."
Drawing the computer screen down again, he punched in the name "Krillin" and looked up a family tree.
"Indeed," he said, "My distant ancestors were Krillin and Android 18. If nothing else, I have powerful android blood coursing somewhere in my veins."
Therese nodded. "If that's true," she said, "The crystal will give you unfathomable power."
"That's good," he replied. "Now leave, Therese. I wish to be alone."
She stepped back. "As you wish, Master." With that, she opened the door behind her, her hood cloaking the back of her head, the only part of her body visible being her face.
But she seemed to receive an otherworldly divine inspiration and she turned back. The man turned to face her as her eyes glowed a pale blue and she began to speak a prophecy.
"Seek and ye shall find," she said, being possessed by some kind of otherworldly entity. "And when thou findst what thou seeketh, ye shall have no choice but to be betrayed. Know thy friends, and know that they are far worse enemies than any others."
With that, her normal eyes returned and she remained staring at the man. "What did I say?" she said, looking at the shocked expression on his face.
"Nothing… nothing at all," the man lied. "Nothing important. A waste of a prophecy. Go about your business, Therese." She nodded and began to leave, when she suddenly turned around again.
"Oh, and sir, those Saiyans you sent to extort information from the North Kai?"
"Yes?" the man replied. "Nappa and Raditz, I remember. What of them?"
"They disobeyed your orders, sir," she explained. "They used the Dragonballs to wish themselves back to the mortal plane and tried to cause chaos, but they were defeated by a band of Earth's fighters."
"Defeated?" he asked, startled. "But they're Super Saiyan 2s! How could anything on Earth be stronger than those?"
"I do not know, sir," Therese answered, shaking her head. "They appear to be extremely strong, and I would be surprised if any of them were entirely human."
"I see. Fools; they should not have betrayed me." He waved his hand. "Leave now, Therese, I have no further use for you at this time."
"I don't think you're getting the point, sir," she replied, adamant and unmoving. "The point is that there are much stronger beings on Earth than we had anticipated; beings that could easily take you and your crew down if they caught you without the crystal."
The man thought for a minute. "What of it? Whatever would drive them to come here? Even if they suspect there was something behind the Saiyans, they would never even have a clue to come searching for me at this isolated place out of the entire galaxy. They pose no threat to us."
"Perhaps you haven't noticed, sir," Therese continued, struggling to make herself clear, "But the crystal is a sacred artifact to the girl and her kind. I am most certain that she would have gained special abilities from coming in contact with it. Certainly, she could locate those warriors on Earth and plead for their help?"
"We don't know what kind of abilities she has, and finding those exact life forms in this vast galaxy is an extremely unlikely event," the man concluded. "I've had enough of your hypothetical wonderings. Now remove yourself from my presence or else you may force me to take action that I will regret later."
The prophet frowned but obeyed nonetheless. "As you wish, Master." She shut the door behind her and exited out into the long corridor. "Hypothetical wonderings," she repeated to herself. "How quickly he forgets that I can see the future."
Coming upon her quarters and entering, she sat down at her desk and lowered the computer screen in front of her face to continue her research on the crystal's whereabouts. "Hypothetical wonderings, indeed. For his sake, he had best find the crystal before those warriors from Earth arrive, or else we're all doomed."