Disclaimer: Must we go through this? Oh, okay, but we most of us already knew that Dragonball Z and its many characters is owned by Akira Toriyama, Toei, and other people with more money than me. I only own the original characters, which really won't be that many.
Chapter Three: The Last Hope
"Finally, we're ready for take off!" Bulma enthused around the cigarette she was smoking. She smiled in self-achievement as she took a step back to admire the aircraft standing in front of her.
The Time Machine.
It was almost hard for her to believe that after years of research and planning and building, she was finally finished with her long-time project. Her dream. Building it had come with all kinds of difficulty. Because of the Jinzouningen, some of the parts she required had been hard to come by, forcing her to go back to the drawing board over and over again. However, in the end she had still managed to get what she needed. For the past three years she had studiously worked away on it, always telling herself that she wasn't just fooling herself and that this really would work. Now finished with the actual machine itself, she was very confident that it would work and knew she hadn't been wasting her time. Plus, working on this project had helped to distract her mind from lingering on things she would rather not think about.
Like Gohan's death.
She still couldn't believe that it had happened. Any day now, it felt like he would make one of his surprise visits...but she knew it wouldn't be happening. Koji had taken his death pretty hard; Gohan had been more than just his mentor and friend, he had also been his brother; being a half-Saiyajin as Koji was, Gohan had been the only one in this whole chaotic world that had truly understood him. But now he was gone. While Gohan's death had been hard on her as well, she knew she had to remain strong for both herself and her son, so she kept her emotions under control whenever Koji was around, crying only at night when she was in her bedroom. Though she knew neither of them had taken Gohan's death as hard as Chichi. Her heart ached as she could still remember her friend's wail of pain and anguish when she had to make that painful trip over to her house and tell her what had happened in person.
Bulma suddenly looked at her invention with renewed determination. *This is why I made the Time Machine in the first place. I never want another world to suffer like we've all been doing at the hands of the Artificial Humans. Nobody should live like this!*
As for her son, Koji had coped with Gohan's death in his own way. Inspired more than ever to defeat the cyborgs, Koji had trained arduously. Whenever a news report streamed through the pirate broadcast about the Jinzouningen attacking somewhere else, knowing how impatient he is, she had always feared he would have enough and try to take them on all by himself like Gohan had. But remarkably, Koji would always tune it out and just go off to train; yet another thing he had inherited from his father was his work ethic, that was for sure. She could tell that he gotten strong, even more so than Gohan had been- at least, that's what she would like to believe. To be honest, she thought that no matter how much training he did it wouldn't be enough against the stupendous strength of Juunana-gou and Juuhachi-gou.
Now she just had to let Koji know it was almost time to put the plan into action. Then, as if her thoughts had summoned him...
"Mother I'm home! I brought something better this time!"
Moments later, a now 17-year-old Koji came clambering down the steps into the lab, carrying a box of supplies on his left shoulder with one hand. While he still had a slight lankiness in his build, he was starting to fill out with more muscles, thanks to his training and his Saiyajin genes. He was now even taller than her.
"Great, you're home!" Bulma cheered, watching as her adopted son deposit the box of supplies he had brought home on the floor. "Guess what? The Time Machine's battery has finally finished charging up!"
"Oh?" Koji replied.
Slowly, Koji sauntered over to the Time Machine to take a closer look. He recalled how a long time Bulma had been desiring to build it, with the plan being that he would be the one using it once it was finished. Privately, he was amazed that she had completed it. Koji's eyes suddenly came to a halt on the middle of the machine where he noticed an emblem written across it.
"Mother, what does that mean right there?" Koji asked, rubbing his hand across the emblem. 'Hope 1'..."
Bulma's expression turned serious as she reached up to run a hand across the 'Hope 1' insignia on the side of the craft, almost reverently. She took a quick pull of her cigarette. Then, without taking her eyes off that logo, she replied, "Because that's what the Time Machine is. It's our hope...our last hope."
"Our last hope...?" Koji repeated, his red brows furrowing together. He suddenly remembered the last words he had heard Son Gohan speak before his death...words he had not spoke out loud ever since, instead keeping them buried in his heart as he aimed to get as strong as possible these last three years...
*Koji, you are the last hope...*
Bulma saw the look on her son's face. "Is something wrong, Koji?" she asked.
"Huh? Oh, it's nothing."
Bulma turned back to her creation. "I haven't been able to test the machine during the eight month charge up," she said, "and I'm pretty sure it'll work, but...It's just too bad that the old lab was destroyed. I could have made a much better Time Machine, however, at least now we can get the medicine to Son-kun in the past. That's where all of this started."
There was a long pause in the room. Then Koji spoke.
"Mother…is this trip really necessary?"
"What?" Bulma replied, not expecting such a question.
"I think I'm strong enough to beat the Jinzouningen now," Koji replied. "We don't need to go study them in the past."
Bulma gave her him a scathing look. "Now you're being too naive. It's true that you've gotten astoundingly strong, but have you forgotten how Gohan was killed three years ago? I don't think you're that amazingly different than Gohan back then!"
"Well, you're wrong!" Koji argued, looking toward her, his expression a frightening mirror image of his late father whenever he scowled. "Mother, quite frankly this time I've got confidence! I can defeat them!"
Bulma made a disgusted sound in throat, unable to believe how arrogant Koji was being all of a sudden. Then she remembered who his father was and amended that thought- she could believe it! Her mouth moved to say something else when a sudden broadcast on the radio interrupted them.
"News Flash! The Jinzouningen have appeared again, and are attacking two cities this time! Locations are Parsley City and Bridge Town!"
"Oh, no!" Bulma said ruefully, feeling sorry for the people of those cities.
"Wait a minute," Koji said as something occurred to him. "He said that the Jinzouningen are attacking both Bridge Town and Parsley, which would mean that they're separated."
"Yeah. So?" Bulma asked.
"You know, Bridge Town's not that far from here…" Koji said, an unnatural terrible smile sliding across his face.
Bulma saw the look on her son's face, and she immediately know what he was up to.
"You can't!" she told him. "Please, Koji, don't go over there. Using the Time Machine is the only way!"
"No!" Koji said adamantly. "Those people need me, and I'm not about to turn my back on them. Gohan wouldn't!"
His mind completely made up, Koji turned around and dashed out of the room. Bulma ran after him until she got to the doorway.
"NO! STOP!" she yelled. Unsurprisingly, she got no answer. Bulma huffed in frustration.
Meanwhile, Koji came dashing out of the house in a black Capsule Corp jacket, hooking his scabbard onto his back. He flew off into battle.
"All right, it's time!" he declared. "I'll avenge the deaths of Father, Gohan-san, and everyone else that was killed! Just you wait Jinzouningen!"
On the heel of those words, he transformed and moved faster.
The sight over in Bridge Town-well, what was left of it-was both devastating and heartrending. During these past years of terror, Bridge Town had been yet another city that had been fortunate enough to be overlooked by the Artificial Humans. And now just like almost every other civilization on the planet...it was nothing more than a large, bone-chilling gravesite for the citizens who had once inhabited the city. The only signs of life that could be discerned in the demolished city were the cyborgs themselves- no, today it was only just one, actually.
For the first time in their twenty year-long rampage, Juunana-gou and Juuhachi-gou had decided to pursue more of the surviving humans separately. Actually, it had been Juuhachi-gou who had insisted on it. Juunana-gou wasn't for the idea at first, seeing as how they had always killed the humans and other flesh and blood creatures together. However, when Juuhachi-gou had made it out to be a new game between them like they usually did, telling him that first one who razed a city down to the ground would be the winner, that had somewhat assuaged him. But she still remembered that look of distrust she saw on his face before they went off in different directions.
Juuhachi-gou sighed at that memory, as she kicked over an upturned convertible like it was nothing more than a pebble. Her and her brother had once been so close, like twin siblings should, though even more so after they were forced to become what they were today and their hatred of the humans. But now where was a wedge between them...a wedge she had created due to her conflicting feelings about her son. She still hadn't been able to tell Juunana-gou about Koji being her and Vegeta's son. While a part of her really wanted to, she was always held back by...fear.
Scowling in vexation, she turned toward a partially standing half building and flung a pink-white energy beam at it, as if it had insulted her, blasting it into much debris. The Jinzouningen in her hated herself for feeling actual fear. She wasn't so supposed to feel fear! She was supposed to inspire fear into others! But no matter how much she didn't want to be, she was actually afraid of telling her brother about Koji. One reason was because she was afraid he would leave her if she told him she had conceived a child with a flesh and blood human, especially one who was supposed to be their enemy; although, not telling him about it may still make him leave her. And the other reason she was afraid to tell him...she was scared he would try to help stop her warring cyborg and human natures by taking care of her problem himself. Even though the android within her wanted very much to eliminate the boy, her human nature refused her to do so with equal strength.
That is if he was still even alive. Ever since that incident at Super World, Juuhachi-gou had always wondered if he had survived Juunana-gou's assault. At first, she believed he might after all when Gohan had reappeared before them days later, although she still had her doubts when she saw Gohan no longer had a left arm.
"DAMMIT!" she screamed furiously loud to dead city. Tendrils of red electricity engulfed her body and then shot out in every direction like energy bolts, destroying anything in her path. Just as soon as she stopped, she was abruptly hit by more forgotten memories...
-The man's arm was like a steal band as he wrapped it around her waist, pulling her close to him. He crushed his lips against hers, his tongue easily sliding into her mouth to join hers in a passionate dance.
-She watched as her unexpected lover put back on his clothes. When he was fully clothed again, he walked off without so much as saying one word or barely a glance back at her, leaving her naked and alone on the ground.
When the last memory had finally ended, Juuhachi-gou had to brace herself against a wall, breathing in exertion. Her heart was actually racing.
"When will all this end!?" she asked herself aloud. She didn't really expect an answer.
"It all ends here, Mother!" came the unexpected response.
Juuhachi-gou's pale eyes broadened. Looking up, she watched with a strange mingle of shock, joy, dread, and anger as Koji alighted on the ruined ground not too far from her, glowering pure hatred towards her. A merciless grin, one that just looked so wrong on him, split his handsome face in half.
"Aren't I the lucky one? Just the machine I was hoping to run into," Koji said, his voice low, cold, and intense at the same time.
For a long moment, she just gawped at him. She hadn't seen her son in years, wondering for many days and nights if he was even still alive. So to see him not only appear in front of her at all, but as nearly a grown man left her absolutely stunned. Shaking her head, Juuhachi-gou managed to get a hold of herself, and she fixed her obstinate son with a scowl of her own.
"What do you want?" she demanded, although she already knew what the answer was going to be.
"Well, Mother," Koji spat, "I was hoping you and me could finally have a heart-to-heart I've always wanted. But since you have no heart, I'll let my fists and my sword do the talking for me!"
His words sparked anger within Juuhachi-gou.
"Stupid boy! Wake up!" she snapped. "Last time wasn't enough? When is it going to get through to you that you are no match against us? You will never be able to beat us! No matter how many times you face us, you will always lose. Now, I'm going to give you the chance to just walk away, and I'd advised you to take it." Looking away, she said, "Don't be an idiot...like your Father and Gohan."
At the horrible reminder that the only friend he'd ever known and the father he never got to know had been taken away from him, Koji's blood boiled with red rage.
"How dare you!? I'll never forgive you for taking them away from me!" he barked, his Super Saiyajin aura blazing fiercely around him now. The furious teenager lunged across the gap between him and his mother.
As he swiftly approached, Juuhachi-gou shook her head. "Fool. You no common sense whatsoever. Well, as your mother, I'll just have to beat some into you."
Suiting words to action, she leapt up to meet him head on. Right away, Koji's right fist rocketed out towards Juuhachi-gou for a cross, but Juuhachi-gou easily blocked it and lashed out with a wicked punch of her own, driving her fist into the side of his face. Koji let out a low grunt as he went careening backwards towards the ground, though he managed to flip himself over and land on his feet. Juuhachi-gou continued onward towards him. Briskly, Koji moved his hands around in intricate patterns and unleashed a large blue-white ki beam. Juuhachi-gou dematerialized to dodge it and rematerialized afterwards. She disappeared once more when he fired another ki blast at her, then rematerialized right before him. Koji reared his fist back and went for another punch. Juuhachi-gou caught his fist, and then his other hand when he tried to hit her from the left side.
"Just give up while you still can!" Juuhachi-gou growled at him. She released his right hand to punch him backwards into a pile of rubble. Koji quickly exploded out of the debris, unsheathing his sword as he dove back in at her.
"I don't care if you did give me life, I won't stop until I see you dead!" he bellowed angrily. He swung his sword at her repeatedly, and each time he missed her. "You're not my mother anyway! No real mother would put their child through such much pain!"
Juuhachi-gou gasped as his spiteful words struck something with in her. And another memory came...
The young woman flew hastily through the air, but not as fast as she really could go due to her tiny passenger. In her arms she carried her baby son, bound adequately in a soft, white blanket to keep him warm. As she gazed down at him, she smiled when she saw him grinning; he was obviously enjoying himself.
*Don't worry little one. I might not be able to get away from this, but I'm going to make sure you do," she promised. "I'm going to take you where you'll be safe...*
Just as she was returning back to the present moment, Juuhachi-gou leaped back as quickly as she could to avoid Koji's advancing blade. While it didn't touch her body, she did lose a few strands of her hair. It was just like three years ago.
"My hair!" Juuhachi-gou gasped in horror and anger.
With a savage war cry, Koji aimed to drive his sword through his unwanted birth mother. He was halfway there, when there was suddenly a jolt. Shock slacked Koji's features. On the other end of his sword, and standing between a stunned looking Juuhachi-gou, was Juunana-gou, staring back up at the half-Saiyajin in amusement. He was still holding the end of Koji's sword.
"Well, if isn't Red!" Juunana-gou said, grinning.
"J-Juunana-gou? What are you doing here?" Juuhachi-gou asked. Though secretly, there was a part of her that was relieved to see him there.
Juunana-gou looked back at his sister. "From now on, we stick to staying together; obviously you're not ready to be on your own. Especially when you're fighting against this boy," he said. Juuhachi-gou didn't miss the disdain she heard in his voice.
With a growl, Koji tugged his sword free and took a swing at Juunana-gou. Juunana-gou did a backflip to avoid the sword this time, then right after used his momentum to smoothly spin himself around and lunged back at the half-Saiyajin, catching him in the chin with a vicious kick. Grinning nastily, Juunana-gou followed up with a sharp roundhouse kick to the head, unknowingly sending his own nephew crashing into some rubble.
"Juunana-gou, wait!" Juuhachi-gou called, taking an uncertain step forward.
"No, stay back!" he barked at her. "I don't know what it is, because you're so damn stubborn that you won't even confide in your own brother about whatever it is you're hiding, but something about this boy makes you too unfocused. He's mine!"
Right after that, Juunana-gou thrust his right hand out. He sent a couple of ki blasts after him, watching with a pleased expression as the spot exploded.
"That's the end of him!" he said haughtily. He never noticed the look of fear on his sister's face behind him.
In the next instant, Juunana had received quite a shock, when Koji had erupted out of the smoke and made a beeline towards him. Koji caught his uncle in the stomach with a ferocious kick that made him curl up, then a kick to the face that forced him to stand up straight again, and lastly a wicked punch that to send him hurtling into one of the very few buildings still standing. Rising into the air, Koji gathered power in both hands and flung it at the building, watching satisfactorily as it went up in smoke and fire. Koji grinned triumphantly, his face resembling an uncanny mix of his father and uncle.
"Yatta! I did it!" he cheered.
Promptly, the smile faded, when the smoke cleared Juunana-gou stood back up to his feet, unscathed.
"Hey, what exactly did you do?" Juunana-gou asked sneeringly. "Could you let me in on it?"
With another growl, Koji unleashed a volley of ki blasts on the cyborg. He was panting now, but he hoped that had been to-oh, no! Down below, an unfazed Juunana-gou walked back into view.
Koji could only stare. "What am I up against? This is crazy!"
Over where she had been left, momentarily forgotten, Juuhachi-gou watched the battle between her brother and her son, feeling torn. A part of her was delighting in watching her brother make this flesh-and-blood creature realize that he stands no chance whatsoever against them...but another part of her was afraid that if this continued on, her son would end up getting hurt. Or even worse…
Juunana-gou crooked a finger the teenager invitingly. Snarling, Koji unleashed an even larger barrage of ki blasts on the Jinzouningen. Once again, Juunana-gou never tried to move, as ki blasts rained down all around him, chewing and wrecking the ground even more with explosions. After that, Koji couldn't even marshal up enough ki to stay up in the air. He dropped to his knees on the ground, heavily fatigued.
"I'm really spent..." he panted. "I shouldn't have put so much into that last attack."
"Hey, don't fall out on me just yet, kid," Juunana-gou said, charging. "The fun's just starting!"
Smirking, Juunana-gou smashed his fist against Koji's face, sending him crashing inside the building behind him. Koji rolled to a stop when he bumped into something. Looking up, his eyes widened when he saw his uncle staring down at him in deadly amusement. For the next several minutes, Juunana-gou alternately taunted and abused the teenager. Because of this, the cold hard truth really hit Koji in the face: he was still nowhere near strong enough to beat the Jinzouningen. He couldn't even beat one of them alone! His adopted mother had been right! He tried to flee from him, but no matter wherever he went, Juunana-gou would always be there to greet him with another harsh punch or kick.
*If I had listen to Bulma-kaasan, I wouldn't be in this mess right now!* Koji managed to think self-loathingly.
Some time later, Koji could be seen smashing through the side of the building and hitting the hard terrain with a painful-sounding thud near a river. He didn't move. A moment later, Juunana-gou touched down a few feet away. Juunana-gou looked down in cold satisfaction at his handwork.
"Juunana-gou!" Juuhachi-gou finally spoke up, approaching. She had seen more than enough. If she didn't do something, that brother of hers really would kill that idiot offspring of hers. She summarily ignored the voice that asked what was wrong with that. "That's enough, already. Can't you see that he's done?"
Juunana-gou regarded his sister, and then studied Koji. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Let's go."
Just as he was about to turn around to leave...he suddenly heard a groan behind them. Quickly looking down, they saw Koji struggling back up to his feet. The twins stared in surprise.
"Incredible. After all of that, you still have some life left in you." Juunana-gou sounded genuinely halfway impressed. "You're interesting say the least, kid. A lot more than that Vegeta guy, or Son Gohan had been. While I enjoyed myself in those fights, it seemed like just as the fun really began, I end up killing them."
Koji's blue-green eyes broadened at the statement.
"You...were the one who killed my Father and Gohan?" he asked slowly.
"Eh? Vegeta was your father?" Juunana-gou asked, looking stunned. He laughed. "No wonder I always thought you two favored each other. But yes, it was me who killed Vegeta and Gohan. Don't worry, though, you'll be joining them soon enough."
Koji was fixed to the spot on the ground where he stood, his brain still trying to comprehend what he just heard. It was Juunana-gou that had killed his father and his friend- master?...Juuhachi-gou had nothing to do it with?
Juuhachi-gou was still watching silently, wondering how her son would react to finding out that it was Juunana-gou who had killed Vegeta and Gohan. Naturally, it wasn't good, as Koji's face shifted from shock to fury. Screaming, Koji flew back in at the dark-haired man. Grinning, Juunana-gou simply extended out his right index finger and fired a thin beam of ki at his nephew, sending Koji's battered form flying all the way over to the other side of the river. Juunana-gou followed, touching down beside the half-Saiyajin. Juunana-gou used his right foot to lift Koji's head up so they could see his face, which was covered in blood and bruises.
"Oops, looks like I used too much force again!" Juunana-gou laughed. He's really dead now.
Landing behind them, Juuhachi-gou quietly gasped at his statement.
But then, to her and her brother's shock, Koji started to move again.
"This brat really is tough," Juunana-gou said.
"I don't believe it," Juuhachi-gou said in shock. *He's still trying to move after all of that? Remarkable!*
"Why?" Koji breathed out. Through his half-lidded eyes, he looked sidelong and saw that Juuhachi-gou had arrived. "Why are you two...doing this?"
"Well, if you must know so badly," Juunana-gou said, smirking. "Dr. Gero created the two of us for world domination, but we don't care about any of that."
"It's just that whenever we see any of you humans, it angers us because we used to be humans ourselves," Juuhachi-gou explained. "Since we can never be like you again, we wanted to make sure there are no humans left all."
Koji stared up at the pair in shock and growing fury. That's why they were doing this? That's why his father, Gohan, the other Z-Senshi, and all those innocent people had to die?
"That's why you are doing this?" Koji demanded, new strength and rage flowing through him. He suddenly found that he could stand again. "You monsters! That's why you're doing this? How could you? All those people…All those children. What makes this even worse...is that my own Mother had a hand in all of this!"
"Mother?" Juunana-gou echoed, staring at the half-Saiyajin as if he had lost his mind. He then laughed as if he'd just heard the funniest joke. "Did you hear that, Juuhachi-gou? He called you his Mother. Ain't that a laugh? I think I hit him in the head too many times."
When Juunana-gou turned to his sister, he expected her to be laughing about this as well. Instead, however, he found her frowning back at Koji, who was still glaring utter death and revulsion at her underneath his bruises. At first, he didn't think anything of it. Then, slowly, he stopped laughing when he suddenly noticed something a bit disturbing- a bit of a similarity between Juuhachi-gou and the boy. His eyes drew down in a frown as he started to look back and forth from his sister to the boy and back again, wondering what was going on here.
First the strange boy calls her his Mother, and now he's seeing a similarity between them? Was his enhanced eyesight starting to malfunction? Just as he was thinking that, Juunana-gou suddenly remembered Juuhachi-gou's strange behavior after they came across Koji the first time. He was recalling how she would often appear lost in thought at times, how she had become so secretive and would snap at him every time he tried to ask her what she was hiding, and her hesitation at killing the boy that day when they fought him and Gohan at the amusement park. Realization then fully sunk in.
"He's...your son!?" Juunana-gou asked slowly, gawping at his twin sister.
Juuhachi-gou didn't meet his eyes.
"When did this happen?" Juunana-gou demanded. "Why haven't told me about this before?"
"She can tell you about it while you both are in Hell!" Koji said. Rising up with surprising quickness despite his injuries, he lunged at his mother and uncle again.
"I've had enough of you!" Juunana-gou said spitefully. Dropping low, he swept Koji's feet out from under him and then sent him smashing into the hard packed earth with a double axe handle across his back. Nastily, he pressed down on the side of Koji's head with his right foot, grinding his shoe against his skull. Unable to take the abuse any longer, Koji slipped out of Super Saiyajin form, his hair turning back to red. The sight of him only made Juunana-gou's distaste towards him grow. He then looked deliberately towards his sister.
"Neesan, you have a choice to make," he told her, looking more serious at that moment than his sister had ever seen him. "Where does you allegiance lay? With me, your twin brother-the only one in this entire universe that really cares about you? Or your filthy human spawn?"
Juuhachi-gou's mouth opened as if she was about to say something, but then it quickly closed like a fish, as she really took her brother's ultimatum into consideration. For a long moment, her expression became too dark to read. Then they cleared, full of cold malice.
"Remove your foot off his head..." she told him. "Since I am the one who brought him into this world… then I should be the one to take him out."
Juunana-gou looked appeased. "Good," he said, as he took his foot off Koji's skull. "I knew you would make the right choice. We are family, after all"
Ignoring him, Juuhachi-gou stepped between her brother and the half-unconscious Koji. As she paused for a space of a minute, she gazed down at her son, feeling torn as she had on the day she had to give him up. She shook her head- this had to be done! Raising her hands towards the sky, Juuhachi-gou's voice raised several octaves as she charged up her power. With a final scream, she launched the attack on her son. Koji screamed in pain, his whole world becoming agony as everything spun around him in a sickening, dizzying rate until he finally loss consciousness.
Koji was having that old dream again. It was the same one where he tried to run as fast as he could to catch up to his father, who always had his back turned to him and facing forward; if he could catch up to him, then he could finally see what his father's face looked like- that was what he believed every time he had the dream. As Koji grew stronger over the years, whenever he had that dream the gap had started to close, and was able to make out his father's features more and more; like his stiff, upswept black hair and the blue bodysuit he wore. But something was wrong here. As he kept trying to run towards his father, his father kept moving further and further away.
"Father! Wait for me!" he called.
Just then, when he took another step forward, the ground gave away underneath him to a giant cavity. The teenager plummeted uncontrollably into it, screaming-
Koji immediately woke up. He tried to sit up, but a spike of pain through his body stopped him.
"Koji!" said a very recognizable voice, full of relief.
"M-Mother?" Looking sidelong, he saw Bulma draw up beside him, looking very relieved. At that moment, Koji thought he had never been glad to see her face as he was now. Glancing around the room, Koji was surprised to see that he was lying in what looked like a hospital room. But...how was that possible? He should be dead! As he became fully aware of himself, he fully remembered Juuhachi-gou charging up an energy blast that would surely do him in, and then the world becoming pain when it hit. So how did he get back here?
Abruptly, to his surprise, his foster mother's face shifted from abatement to anger.
"Well, I hope this has taught you a lesson!" Bulma scolded, at the same time carefully and gently bringing him back down on the bed. "Really, trying to fight them all alone no matter what; you're just as bad as that father of yours...or that Yamucha! Or Gohan...!" Almost immediately after she spoke those harsh words, Bulma's angry countenance shattered and tears slipped from her eyes.
Koji's eyes widened. Except for that time they cried together over the death of Gohan, he usually never saw his mother cry. She might be just an ordinary human, but she was surprisingly strong and hardy. Just like the Jinzouningen, allowing yourself to be fooled by Bulma Briefs' outward appearance was a big mistake. If one wanted proof, Koji would just direct them to that wealthy jerk who came to their house once trying to bribe Bulma into using the Time Machine for his own benefits instead of the whole planet as she intended once she was finished. Bulma had retorted his offer by impressively tossing him out of the house through the window, chasing him off with some threatening words afterwards. However, to see her cry now, the impact of just how much he had worried her with his foolish actions him.
*I really am too naive,* he realized, frowning. A moment later, he asked, "Kaasan? How did I get here?"
"I don't know," Bulma answered, shaking her head while rubbing the tears from her eyes. "Five days ago, I received a phone call from this hospital that you had been found outside on their doorstep pretty beat-up, though luckily you were just unconscious. When I first got the call, for a split-second, I thought I had lost someone else I cared about, but thank Kami-sama that wasn't the case!" She took her right hand to gently brush the bangs out of his face, which only fell back into place after she did so.
Normally, Koji might have been surprised to learn he had been sleeping for five days, but what was on his mind was the mystery of who brought him to this hospital. Was he somehow able to drag himself there as far as to the door before blacking out again, and that's why he couldn't remember? He believed that had to be the only conclusion. After all, no one else could have possibly brought him there...Could they?
A sudden thought started to worm its way into his head. Koji fiercely dismissed it, not even giving it a chance to really take form.
"You were right, Bulma-kaasan," he said after a pause, looking up at the ceiling. "I never should have tried to face the cyborgs on my own. The gap between us is still huge...It's nothing short of a miracle that I'm even alive now."
Bulma remained silent, sensing he had more to say.
"K-Kaasan...is he really that great- Son Goku-san?" Koji asked. He turned to look Bulma directly in the eye. "If I take him the medicine...do you really think he can make that much of a difference against the Jinzouningen?"
"Oh, absolutely!" Bulma said without hesitation, elated that her son wanted to go through with the plan after all. "Son-kun really is an amazing man! Whenever the world was in trouble, he always found some way to save the day in the end, no matter how impossible it seemed...He just has this incredible aura about him that makes you feel like everything would turn out all right whenever he was around. Once you meet him for yourself, you'll understand."
Son Goku. For as long as he could remember, both his mother and Gohan had always told him of Goku's legendary strength. All this time, he had personally thought that maybe they had been exaggerating. While he could tell from the picture of the late Saiyajin that he was strong, Koji had believed that this Goku person just couldn't be stronger than Gohan or even his late father, no matter what Gohan or Bulma told him otherwise. But now that using the Time Machine to give Goku the medicine to combat that heart disease that would lead to his death, Koji found himself wanting to believe in this Son Goku. He wanted to believe in him as much as mother does...as much as his master had.
"Mother, do you think I'll finally get to meet Father as well?" Koji suddenly asked, smiling. He missed the crease in Bulma's brow at the mention of the deceased Saiyajin Prince.
"Probably...but I warn you: don't expect too much from him," Bulma said sternly. "But for right now, worry about getting yourself healed up, and then we'll take the medicine to Son-kun, okay?"
Koji nodded. "Okay."
The young warrior smiled, found himself looking forward to going to the Past already.
*At last, Father, I'll get to see your face," he thought. His expression then turned serious. *And Son Goku-san...I hope everyone is right about you. Forgive me, Gohan-san. I really don't have what it takes to save this world by myself..."
A month later, Bulma and a more than fully healed Koji stood outside the house under a beautiful, blue sky. Standing beside them was the Time Machine itself, ready to go.
"You be careful back there, son," Bulma was telling him
Koji gave her an assuring smile and nodded. "Yes!"
Mother and son then shared a hug goodbye. It was a long moment before they pulled apart.
"I'm going, Kaasan!" Koji said determinedly.
"I'm counting on you, Koji!" Bulma replied, smiling as she clenched her right fist resolutely.
Within moments, Koji was strapping himself to the seat, now completely secured within the timecraft. He started up the machine; the engine emitted a soft whine, proceeded by the thrusters kicking on, and soon the craft began to slowly rise off the ground. Looking out the window, he smiled down at his mother and waved. Bulma waved back as well. The timecraft was now rising higher and higher into the air until he could no longer see Bulma back on the ground. In the next instant, he had vanished with the Time Machine within the temporal mists.
"There he goes..." Bulma murmured. She then smiled. "But I won't worry, because I know he'll be in good hands. Watch over him for me, Son-kun."
To Be Continued