Cosmic Crisis 4

Chapter 1

--

Darkness. It pressed on every inch of her body like a lead blanket, threatening to smother her. She did not resist; there was no use. An old, familiar voice spoke to her, and she found the sound strangely comforting.

"You knew this was coming."

"Yes, I know."

There was a pause in which she contemplated the answer she had given. Was that really the truth... or, was it just easier to admit defeat and try to forget about everything? She wasn't sure that there would be such a thing as forgetting, now. The voice spoke again, and it was distorted by the weight that seemed to press into her soul.

"But you didn't stop it?"

"I couldn't. Not this time..."

--

Natalie stood outside the living quarters at Capsule Corporation, watching the sun creep closer to the horizon. It was winter, and the evening air was cold and crisp. Every now and then, a few snowflakes would drift into her field of vision, but she suspected that it was likely a result of the trees shuddering slightly, as if they were trying to keep warm themselves. She knew she was probably imagining it, but she could almost swear that this winter was the coldest one yet. Then again, she said that every year.

"Mama!"

The tiny voice pierced her bubble of thought and reality rushed back in. She looked down and saw two flushed faces grinning up at her.

"Kira. Gideon." Natalie spoke, matter-of-factly.

"We built a snow fort. Want to come see?" Kira beamed, her expression full of childlike eagerness and excitement.

Natalie supposed she could indulge her children one last time this evening. "Sure, but only for a few minutes. It's almost time for you two to come inside and warm up before bedtime."

Kira and Gideon groaned in unison, but Natalie remained unfazed. They trekked through the back yard for several paces until she could make out what appeared to be a large pile of snow in the distance. The kids ran ahead, beckoning her to follow. Natalie finally drew close enough to make out the more... defined features. Even up close, it was just a large pile of snow.

"Don't you want to look inside?" Gideon asked, hardly containing his excitement.

She obliged, unsure as to why the kids seemed so beside themselves with glee. As she craned her neck to peer inside the back of the structure, it suddenly exploded outward in an enormous cloud of white. Natalie fell backward and shrieked, throwing her hands up as she was covered in a thick layer of snow.

Then, laughter. The kids... and an adult male. She instantly shot to her feet and shook off as much of the cold powder as she could, glaring forward.

"SIRIUS! What on Dende's green earth are you doing!?"

The tall, black-haired man stood before her, doubled over with laughter. Kira and Gideon flanked him, giggling.

"You should see yourself!" Sirius said as he tried to catch his breath. "I can't believe you didn't even sense me! You really are letting yourself go, aren't you?"

Natalie's temper flared and she moved forward to give her brother a piece of her mind... and a fist in the face. Sirius backed up and ducked out of her reach.

"Mama, Uncle Sirius got you! It was all his idea, too!" Kira exclaimed. Natalie turned to face her daughter, swallowing her irritation.

"Okay, okay... very funny. Kira, why don't you and your brother go inside and start getting ready for bed while I deal with Uncle Sirius?" Natalie smirked and glanced over her shoulder at her older brother, who was brushing himself off.

"But we're not even tired!" Kira protested, crossing her arms indignantly. Gideon nodded in agreement.

"It's not up for debate! Your father can help you until I am finished here." Natalie retorted firmly. The two kids decided not to press their luck any further and turned to head for the building, their boots crunching in the snow as they walked side by side.

"You're not really mad, are you?" Sirius asked, then paused thoughtfully. "Oh, even if you are... your expression was worth it!"

Natalie turned back to her brother after making certain that her children were indeed indoors.

"Very funny. Where is your better half this evening?" she asked.

"Ceres? She's working late. I thought I'd come over and pick at your leftovers."

"Leftovers... with a house full of Saiyajins? I hope you're kidding."

Sirius looked slightly disappointed. Natalie slapped him on the back and pushed him forward playfully.

"I'm sure we can find you something. If not, just crash Reena's place, she ALWAYS has something good to eat." she consoled, turning toward Capsule Corp once more. "Let's go inside. I am chilled to the bone, no thanks to YOU."

--

Trunks, meanwhile, was trying to negotiate with his daughter.

"Papa, it's your turn to tell me a story!" Kira spoke in a demanding tone as she curled up under a heavy blanket. Trunks was sitting on the bed next to her. The girl had a point... Natalie had been on story duty for the past week because he had been busy helping his mom with the company after hours.

"Are you sure you don't want me to read you a book instead? " he asked, reaching for something from Kira's large collection.

"No, I like your stories better. Can you tell me the one about the White Angel again?" Kira shifted positions and sighed softly, indicating that she was ready to settle down and drift off to sleep to the sound of her father's voice.

Trunks leaned back against the wall and spoke softly. As Kira became still, her dreaming mind was filled with the story of the beautiful White Angel who had once saved the world from destruction with her legendary power.

--

Natalie walked down the hallway with something nagging at the back of her mind. She passed the door to Kira's bedroom and saw that the lights were out but the door was cracked ever so slightly. As she carefully leaned her head toward the door she could hear Trunks' muffled voice, no doubt telling a bedtime story of some kind. Natalie smirked and then noticed that the light in Gideon's room was still on, but the door was closed. Frowning, she knocked once and then entered.

Gideon was sitting on his bed in his pajamas, staring silently out the window. He didn't even seem to acknowledge her presence.

"Hey." Natalie said, taking a few steps toward him. He turned to face her.

"Hey, mom."

"Is something the matter? You looked like you were in a world of your own." she said, sitting on the floor next to his bed.

Gideon looked away again. "Well..."

She could tell by his expression that he wanted to say something but was debating it in his head. There was a period of uncomfortable silence before Gideon opened his mouth to speak again.

"Mom, is something bad going to happen?" he asked, still gazing out the dark window into nothingness.

Natalie looked positively taken aback. Why in the world would he...

Then, a voice came from the door. "Hey you two."

They both turned to see Trunks standing in the hall with his arms folded, a gentle smile on his face. Natalie promptly stood up and looked down at her son. On cue, he settled onto his back and pulled the covers up to his neck obediently as his mother kissed him on the forehead.

"Goodnight. Please... sleep well." Natalie said, and something Gideon couldn't identify flashed across her eyes. She turned and walked out in silence.

Gideon watched after her, and her words repeated themselves in his mind. Please sleep well. It almost sounded as though she had been pleading with him. At that moment he realized that she had never answered his question. Rolling over, he twitched his right eye and the light turned itself off.

--

Trunks put his arm around Natalie's shoulders as they walked down the stairs to their private living room. Ever since the birth of Gideon six years prior, they had added on a small, additional wing to the main living quarters so that they would have a place of their own, separate from where Bulma and Vegeta resided.

"So, now that the kids are in bed..." Trunks looked at her and his lips curled into a crooked smile. Natalie sighed.

"You know that my brother is here, right? I mean, not RIGHT here, but he is here. In the main building. I don't just want to leave him there with... your parents."

Trunks let his arm fall off her shoulder in defeat. If the mood were a little different, perhaps he could bring himself to laugh at the situation: it almost seemed as though there were some kind of divine force working against the two of them having any time alone lately.

Natalie looked up at him and shrugged her shoulders. Just then, the door in the hallway that led to the main quarters flew open forcibly and Sirius strode through, looking irritated. Vegeta followed, brandishing what looked to Natalie like a large chicken leg.

".. many times do I have to tell you, boy-"

Sirius sighed and rolled his eyes. "Yes, I know, DON'T raid the fridge without asking!"

"Damn right you don't! I've been saving this all day, you're lucky you hadn't actually eaten it by the time I found you." Vegeta seethed. Natalie stepped between the two of them.

"Honestly... don't you two have a little more decency!? Barging in on us like that..."

The Saiyajin prince rounded on her. "This has nothing to do with you, girl!"

"It does now that you two have forced your way into our living quarters!"

"You only live here because we allow you to, ungrateful brat!"

"Ha! Since when did YOU take over Capsule Corporation!?"

"Why you-"

Trunks grabbed Natalie's arm and dragged her away from his father before any more damage could be done. "Would you two shut up? The kids are trying to sleep upstairs!"

Natalie snapped out of her fury and suddenly looked quite embarrassed. After all these years, she still let Vegeta push her buttons.

Vegeta broke the silence by biting down on his chicken leg. Natalie knew he was doing it to get to Sirius, and judging by the fluctuations in her brother's ki as his annoyance grew, it was working. She moved forward to shove both of them out of her living room but Trunks' grip on her arm remained steadfast. She bristled in annoyance and shrugged him off, then turned and walked back outside and stood on the deck, facing away from them.

"Dad, just for once, could you try to not stir her up? You know how she is..." Trunks sighed, running a hand through his hair in annoyance. Vegeta snorted and swallowed another bite of chicken, much to Sirius' chagrin.

"That girl deserves it, and she knows it... and now she's going to pout outside. Heh, fitting..." Vegeta turned and walked back through the hallway and into Capsule Corp's main living quarters. Sirius slammed the door with telekinesis and then turned to face Trunks, irritation painted all over his features.

"Sometimes I find it amazing that you have turned out as level-headed as you are..."

--

Natalie stood outside defiantly, trying to will her body not to shiver in the piercing cold. She had left without even thinking to grab her jacket, of course. She didn't want to talk to any of them at the moment, not even her husband. In fact, she would be perfectly fine never speaking to another arrogant Saiyajin ever again.

"That can be arranged..."

She jumped and spun around, eyes scanning the dark silhouette of the building against the star-splattered sky. Nothing. She slowly turned and looked out at the trees in the yard. Still, nothing. She couldn't sense anyone – or anything - nearby. After a long pause, she reluctantly reached for the handle on the back door and jerked her hand back quickly. It was unusually cold...

There was a muffled voice from inside, and she tilted her head to see a concerned Trunks standing on the other side of the door. The door handle turned and she was whisked inside as Trunks wrapped his warm arms around her.

"Natalie, I know my dad is a pain... but did you really have to run off like that?" He asked, burying his face in her hair. "You're trembling..."

She quickly stood back.

"Yes, it's quite chilly out there. I..." Natalie's eyes darted over the sofa, where her brother was sitting. His blue eyes were locked onto hers knowingly, and her heart leaped. Trunks looked between the two of them, confused. Sirius stood up slowly.

"Carina..."

"Sirius, no." She said firmly, holding her hand up to stop him, but he ignored her.

"Don't do this." He demanded. "What is happening?"

Natalie shook her head fervently. "Nothing. Why must you ALWAYS worry about me?"

"You're being irrational. Put your pride aside and tell me-"

His voice blurred out of her mind as the world spun around her. She could vaguely make out the faraway voices of her brother and husband, but they were drowned out by the roar of the blood rushing through her brain. The scene before her warped and bended into a twisted rainbow of light and color. Hands gripping her shoulders. The feeling of falling, spinning out of control, ground rushing up to meet her...

--

Darkness. Consciousness.

She could feel the dual sensations of lying on a soft surface and floating in nothingness. As she was trying to discern between the two worlds, something grabbed on and jerked her into reality. There was a burning sensation behind her eyes, and she suddenly realized that someone was hovering over her with a hand on her forehead.

"I think she's coming back," spoke a hushed voice that Natalie instantly recognized as belonging to Trunks. She willed her body to sit but it would not respond to her command.

"Let me look at her." Sirius spoke softly.

Where Trunks' hands had burned into her like fire, Sirius' grip sent chills reverberating into her core, causing her to shudder uncontrollably.

"DON'T!" she gasped.

Sirius pinned her down where she lay and put up a psychic barrier against her. She looked up at him fearfully and his icy blue eyes seemed to glow in the dark as he whispered incomprehensible strings of words. Something twinged in her heart and she was suddenly overcome with a blinding, murderous rage. Lights danced behind her eyes as she struggled against him with everything she had. Then, as soon as it had come upon her, it rushed out of her mind and she fell back into the bed completely drained. The only sound in the room was her slow, steady breathing.

Slowly, like a dissipating fog, her mind began to clear.

"What... just happened?" Trunks finally spoke. "Anyone care to tell me?"

Sirius was trembling himself as he slowly pulled away from his sister and stood up. He had been very lucky to catch it in time. His mind raced as he tried to come up with some sort of explanation for what had happened. He knew what it had been, but why... from where... ?

"Sirius..." Natalie spoke weakly, sitting up and leaning against the wall. The dim light that shone in from the hallway revealed beads of sweat clinging to her forehead. Her eyes were frightened, out of focus. For the first time in many years, he felt afraid.

Trunks cleared his throat to get Sirius' attention.

"She was being possessed." Sirius said quickly, trying to come to terms with the words that had come out of mouth. Trunks' surprised face slowly melted into horror.

"She what?"

"You heard me. I don't know who or why. If we hadn't been here..."

Trunks instantly thought of Orion, but he wasn't sure why. That in itself was enough to unsettle him. Surely, that was not possible. Orion was dead, he couldn't do something like that... could he? After all this time?

As if Sirius had read his thoughts (and perhaps he had), he spoke up. "I know what you're afraid of, and unfortunately I can't tell you one way or another who was responsible for this. All I can say is that we are going to have to guard her very carefully for a while. She has lapsed in her psychic training because we have been living in peaceful times. She's vulnerable."

The Saiyajin Prince clenched his fists at his sides. He had grown up with enemy after relentless enemy threatening his home and the ones he loved, but never before had he felt so... helpless. He cursed himself and his lack of abilities... he couldn't protect her like the other Sidrajins could. They had powers that he couldn't even begin to understand, much less try to emulate.

Sirius could feel Trunks' anger growing and looked at him warningly. Without a word, Natalie stood from the bed and stumbled over to Trunks. Before anyone could stop her, she pressed herself into his chest and gripped him tightly. He responded with a strong embrace and she suddenly felt incredibly small in his arms. His protective instincts overtook him and he wanted to find out exactly who was doing this so he could show them a new definition of suffering and agony.

Natalie pulled back and looked up at him. He was relieved to find that she no longer held a dazed, confused expression and was looking more and more like herself again.

"Are you okay?" he asked, noting that even in the dim light her green eyes seemed to shine fiercely with determination, and he chided himself for feeling so helpless. They had always overcome everything together.

She nodded. "Fine. I have a splitting headache, but what else is new?" Natalie allowed herself to laugh for the first time all evening.