Author's Note: This is my first story. I hope you all enjoy it. This story is about the years after the cell games and its effect on the people of earth. I decided to write it from the perspective of the humans, who are usually caught in the middle of all the epic Good vs. Evil stuff that usually happens in DBZ or anime in general. The Z senshi and all the other familiar characters will come in the second chapter. Be patient, I don't rush stories.
Disclaimer: I am a potato, I own nothing.
Chapter 1: Never the Same
He had to get home fast, it was becoming dark and the street lights were starting to come on. Benil Abel never liked staying out late, because he hated the dark. The industrial park of West City was really creepy at night and he never knew what was waiting for him around every dark corner. He ran into the lobby of his apartment complex, stopping to catch his breath. Benil pressed the button on the elevator while checking his surroundings, making sure no one followed him from work. When he got to the 15th floor of the building, he stepped out of the elevator to go to his room. He unlocked the door to his apartment and stepped inside.
Benil went to the kitchen to get a beer from the fridge then sat down on his recliner. He grabbed the remote and turned on the news. The slick blonde haired reporter on the news caught his attention as she told the constantly breaking story. The news was usually filled with slaughter and memories of past pain, but this was different.
"Today marks the 3rd anniversary of the Android massacre that bought havoc and death to millions of people across the globe." The news anchor said while showing archived footage of the destruction wrought by the androids. "A total of 6 million people were killed when 4 androids, one of which sucked the life energy from its victims. The Android massacre was bought to an end when World Champion Hercule Satan defeated and killed all of the androids at an ending showdown known as the Cell Games." Benil changed the channel; he couldn't take the bad news anymore. He had enough of it in his life already.
After watching enough television for the night Benil he turned it off and went into his bathroom. He went into the shower to wash off the day's activities. When he got out and dried himself off he looked in the mirror to exam an old scar he had on the upper left corner of his forehead. That scar always bothered him, he hated it. When he got out of his bathroom he headed straight for his bedroom for a greatly needed night of sleep. He put on his blue and green button up pajamas and pulled back his covers, but not before he turned on his night light. Benil hated the dark.
Benil owned and operated a gun store called "Abel's Hunting and Firearms". He opened it up after being discharged from the military 7 years ago. It had every weapon imaginable in stock, from the tiniest knife to the biggest of assault rifles and machine guns. He manned the front desk from Morning to afternoon. He didn't work in the evenings, he hated the dark. He always had good business, but the number of customers skyrocketed after the hell of the Android Massacre.
Fear like no other was cemented in the hearts of people since those horrific years. The knowledge of things outside of human existence had shaken the normal earthling to his very core. Everyone was afraid, no one was safe. Many people turned to different solutions on how to keep themselves safe during that time. Religion, Guns, Militias, Watchdog groups and New Governmental Regimes were just to name a few. Benil turned to alcohol to suppress his fears. Sometimes he would drink himself to oblivion just so he could get to sleep. Earth was in the New Dark Ages and Benil didn't want to be sober for any of it.
The Afternoon had come once again and Benil rushed out of the door with an old camouflage green jacket on, trying to rush home before it got dark. He was walking pass an old Community Center when he heard a man's voice carrying outside the open door. Benil stopped and looked at a sign posted outside. "Humans First League Town Hall Tonight, All Are Welcome." the sign read in big bold lettering. He knew that he should be getting home before the sun sets, but something pulled him inside the building. When he walked inside he took a seat in the middle of the row of chairs. A seat he was lucky to find because the room was packed with people of all kinds, all there to listen to the speaker and his uniformed associates.
The men in front of the room wore brown pants and brown military style uniformed shirts with black ties around their necks. They all stood at attention unflinching while their leader spoke to the crowd of people in the room. The man at the podium wore the same thing as they wore but in a dark blue color, with his hair neatly combed even though he was balding. "How many times are we going to be subjected to this? How many times are we going to bury our loved ones mangled bodies? How many times are we going to be hunted to the brink of extinction by these so called superior beings?" The man in blue shouted as he banged his fist against the podium. Benil looked around him at the people in the room listening to the man in blue. They all stared at the man with mixed reactions to his words. Some laughed at his ramblings and musings, some looked confused by the man's emotions while speaking and the rest looked at him shaking their head in agreement with what was being said.
"I know some of you here have been victimized by these so called higher life forms, so I am going to let you tell your stories." The man said while picking up a glass of water to drink. After he took another a sip of water, the man in blue pointed to a man in the back that had his hand raised and said "Yes! You sir, please stand up and speak loudly so everyone can hear you." The man who stood up was wearing a red trucker cap, a jean jacket with a dirty red polo shirt beneath and well worn work boots. " Ummm…. hello. My name is Jerry." The man said while stumbling over his words. The man in blue nodded for him to continue. "Well, 17 years ago I was sleeping in my trailer when I was woken up by a bright light. The light was brighter than the sun on a noon day. Anyway, my trailer started shaking and it was ripped open. I was lifted up into the air into and onto a ship where I was experimented on. Ummm… that's all." He finished as he sat back down on his seat. "You hear that folks? Did you hear that story?" the man in blue said while looking out at the crowd. "That was alien abduction, something that happens all the time. More freaks from another coming down to experiment on us like we are cattle." More stories were told from the crowd of people about bad encounters with the supernatural and unknown. One man told of how he was attacked by a man completely engulfed in flames, but did not burn. One woman spoke of the time where she was raped by an unknown invisible being in her house; the police didn't believe her when she reported it.
"Anyone else want to say something?" The man in blue looked across the room and saw Benil Abel lost in thought. "You sir!" the man said while pointing at Benil who was startled by the exclamation. "You look like you have a story to tell sir. Please, stand up and tell us." The man in blue said with a smile. Benil stood up and looked around the room then started to speak in a calm reminiscing voice.
"I was 22 years old and a private in the army stationed in Guam. I was walking back to my base from one of the local restaurants there. The sun had just set and I was walking along a dirt road. It was very dark out and I could barely see my hand in front of my face, but I knew where I was going. I was just coming to a crossroads when I saw a shadow come out of nowhere. I thought I was hallucinating, so I kept on walking until I felt something hit me from behind. I fell down and hit my head against a rock. I had a gash on my head that started bleeding. I turned around and took out my pistol from the holster and looked up. I couldn't believe what I saw. The shadow on the ground started manifesting itself into a humanoid form." The entire room in which Benil was speaking was so quiet you can hear a pin drop. They could hear the emotion in his voice and see the tears in his eyes. "I started shooting at it, unloading every bullet in the chamber of my gun, but it passed right through him. I thought that that thing, whatever it was, was going to kill me, but it didn't. Instead it laughed at me, the most menacing life that I can think of. It then disappeared into a puff of smoke, just like that. I got up and ran, faster than I ever did in my life to my base. I came to a check point and told the MPs what happened, I was absolutely hysterical. They thought I was drunk or crazy. I don't remember what happened after that because I passed out, but I do remember waking up in an M.A.S.H unit. Till this day I am afraid of the dark. I can barely go to sleep at night and I never go out after hours. I was never the same after that." Benil said while sitting back down in his seat.
After for what seems like forever the man in blue spoke and said "I am sorry that happened to you that night. May I ask how did you feel when all that happened?" Benil stared at the man for a second and cleared his voice and replied "I felt helpless, scared and I didn't know what to do. " The man in blue looked up at the crowd once again in his most commanding and spoke to them "This is what I and my men are here for, to bring order and peace back into the human race. We at the Humans First League believe that the people of earth have a right to protect themselves against these monsters in the night." The crowd clapped their hands and shook their heads in agreement in what he was saying. Benil just sat and watched, memorized. "These things might call themselves supernatural, but we call them unnatural. They call themselves paranormal, we call them abnormal. They call themselves superior beings, we call them freaks of nature!" the man in blue yelled in to the now frenzied crowd of spectators. "You want to know what else that burns me up? The fact that the Gov't KNOWS that these things exist, and some, if not all of them are living amongst us RIGHT NOW! Just the other day I saw one of those freaks flying over the city, to go God knows where, to do God knows what! That is unacceptable good people. We need to get our control back over our lives and we need it NOW!" The man screamed while slamming his fist full force into the podium. The crowd got up on their feet clapping, cheering and whistling at the speaker and his prowess.
After the speeches were done the meeting was dismissed and people started leaving one by one. When Benil Abel got up to get to go back home, he was stopped by one of the uniformed men. "Sir…" the man in the brown uniform and sun glasses said in his official sounding tone. "The commander would like to speak to you." Benil looked around the room at the people leaving then said "Uhhh, yeah sure I'll talk." "Right this way sir." the man said while pointing his way to a back room across the hallway from the speaking room that was emptying out.
Benil walked to the room down the shadowy hallway. When he got there the uniformed man, who was following behind him, shut the door. The room had a polished wooden desk with various files on top of it. Benil noticed that there was a large fattened file on the CEO of Capsule Corporations and her family. The man in blue was in the corner looking in a tall slender mirror fixing his hair and his clothing. Benil noticed that the man walked with a limp when he was speaking at a podium out front and that his leg looked funny underneath the blue pants.
"Ahhh yes, Benil Abel is it? My name is Commander Robert Aldess. Come, sit down I want to talk to you about something." The man in blue said while sitting down in a seat near the mirror. Benil continued to look at Aldess while sitting down in the chair in front of the desk. Much to Benil surprise, Aldess took of his left leg and set it aside. Aldess saw the curiosity on Benil's face and said "Yeah, I lost my leg when one of those robotic devils went on a rampage here in this city." Aldess said while adjusting his prosthetic so it could fit better. "It was the one with the long black hair that did it. His sister, that blonde haired bitch, just sat, watched and smiled. He had these bright burning lights come out of his hands, almost as bright as the sun. When it hit me, it was like someone stuck my leg in hot lava. I watched as the lower part of my leg melted off. Then there was an explosion so strong I was tossed 2 yards to the side and covered in rubble. It was a miracle that I survived at all." Aldess said while putting the prosthetic back on. Aldess then got up and sat down in the chair at the cluttered desk.
"I guess you were wondering why I called you here." Aldess said with his hands folded together. Benil just shook his head. "Well Mr. Abel, out of all the stories told tonight, yours is the one that compelled me the most. I know what it's like to be terrorized and beaten. By something you couldn't possibly defend against. You understand the horrors mankind has to face over the years. That's why I called you here to this room tonight. I want you to join the HFL, we need men like you." Aldess said while leaning in closer to look in Benil's eyes. Benil was dumbfounded, and awestruck. "Well, Mr. Aldess I don't know what to say. I mean, I don't know whether to be flattered or what." Benil said forcing the confused words out of his moth. Aldess didn't say anything, he just sat back and looked at Benil as if he already knew what the answer to his proposal was going to be. "I always wondered if there was something I could have done to stop that dark figure in the night from attacking me, from taking my life away." Benil muttered while looking down at his hands. "We can't change the past Mr. Abel, but we can change the future. So what do you say Mr. Abel? Want to change the future?" Aldess said while extending his hand across the desk. Benil looked hesitantly at Aldess, then took his hand in a firm grip and said "Yeah sure, I'm in." Aldess smiled at Benil and said "My associates will drive you home, I will see you tomorrow. Goodnight, Mr. Abel."
With that one handshake everything and everyone on earth was going to be changed forever.