Disclaimer: Dragonball Z and its characters are all the property of Akira Toriyama, Funimation, Toei, and other rich people I can't really name right now. I'm just borrowing them for a while, but I promise I'll return them back as good as new when I'm done. However, I do own the original characters that will be showing up in this story.
Chapter Seven: Bitter Remembrance
"HA!" Gohan screamed, launching a kiai at a pair of reddish-orange beams looming down towards him. The two attacks collided midway in a brief explosion. This left him wide open, however, as Kuririn materialized beside him and struck out at him with a punch. Gohan barely raised his arm in time to block it. They then broke out in a shuffle of blows, neither able to land a strike straightaway. This happened a few more times until Kuririn reappeared a short distance away from the half-Saiyajin. Holding his hands up, he charged up two of his signature energy discs.
"KIENZAN!"
Gohan's dark eyes narrowed determinedly when the discs were propelled at him. Instead of trying to avoid them, he charged at them head on. Leaping up, he ascended on the energy discs like one would stairs. Kicking off the second disc, he jumped higher into the air over Kuririn. Crossing his hands over his head, he swiftly built up power for an attack.
"MASENKO!" he yelled, hurling down the yellow bolt.
Kuririn was hit squarely…and then jerked awake with a cry of surprise, as he was knocked out of the mental battlefield he and Gohan had been sparring on.
"I win!" Gohan cheered.
"Ah, man!" Kuririn lamented. "That makes three times in a row!"
Gohan laughed brightly.
The two were sitting on the floor in the lounge of the spaceship, passing up the time with some Image Training. Sitting nearby in a chair, Juuhachi-gou had been watching the two like a silent spectator, vaguely amused by Kuririn's reaction to losing yet again. On the other side of the room, Piccolo stood in front of a porthole, gazing out into deep space. In the meantime, Amara was in the Bridge piloting the ship, and Vegeta had made his way down towards the lower level of the ship a while ago and hasn't come up since.
While Juuhachi-gou was glad she didn't have to look at either of the royal siblings, it was Vegeta's face she was the most relieved she didn't have to see. The sight of him would only remind her of what they did the previous night, and that was something she really didn't want to think about right now.
Standing, Gohan said, "It's been quite some time since we left home. I wonder what Mom and everyone else is doing right now."
"Amara said that if nothing obstructed us, we would reach Kaosu by night," Kuririn replied, standing back to his feet, too. "So, don't worry. If we get through all of this okay, we'll be back home in no time."
"Kaosu," Gohan murmured contemplatively. He turned to his first martial arts teacher. "Hey, Piccolo?"
"Hm?" Stirred out of his thoughts by his young friend's voice, Piccolo glanced at him peripherally.
"Could you tell us more about this Chaos Realm where our new enemy comes from?"
Juuhachi-gou and Kuririn seemed interested in this as well.
Piccolo observed Gohan briefly, and then he turned his stare back toward the porthole.
"Fine," he complied after a while. "The Chaos Realm...a dimension comparable to that of Hell itself. It is the home of a race of evil demons who live off causing strife and violence. The symbol they wear on their chests, the Chaos symbol, are indicators that they belong to that world." A scowl set on Piccolo's face as he continued. "However, the Gods they worship are even worse."
"Gods?" Juuhachi-gou restated.
"The Kontonshin," came the response. "They are the Chaos Gods, gods of higher status than even Kaiou-sama."
Kuririn and Gohan looked impressed.
Piccolo nodded. "Kaiou-sama's duty is to oversee the entire quadrant of the galaxy where we live in. The Kontonshin, on the other hand, are given a more important occupation. The Kontonshin are agents of Chaos who throw the entire Universe into disharmony by creating possibilities. No matter how much pain and suffering they cause in the process. In fact, they thrive on it. In the shadows, they constantly wage war with their natural enemies, the agents of Cosmos, the Uchuushin, who upholds law and order."
"Wow! To think there are actually gods above Kaiou-sama," Gohan commented.
*Kaiou-sama?* Juuhachi-gou echoed in her mind. This was the first time she had heard that name. Just by Piccolo adding 'sama' to the end of this Kaiou person's name and hearing about Kaiou's duties, he was certainly higher up on the god hierarchy than Piccolo's other half, Kami, had been. Then again, even if she hadn't heard what a Kaiou's occupation was, the name "King of the Worlds" alone would have told her that.
"Those Kontonshin are gods I would definitely hate to meet," Kuririn remarked. "At least we're just dealing with a demon."
"You shouldn't say that so lightly, Kuririn," Piccolo said gravely, turning around fully to face the bald man. "Remember, sometimes a demon can be even more terrifying than a god."
Kasou straightened herself on her throne. She had dismissed all of her underlings some time ago, wanting to be alone to think. Since her revival, she hadn't given herself much time for reflection. She had made herself busy right away by commanding her henchmen to invade the planets of this solar system and other systems to bring her the more violent members of those particular worlds. Those were the ones who had the most negative energy, which is what her kind lived off on, and she needed a lot in a short time to reclaim all of her strength. Turning her right palm up, blue electricity crackled around her hand as she checked to see how much of her power had returned to her.
*70 percent, eh?* she estimated. She shrugged in a "not too bad" manner. *Damn seal really did a number on me!*
It was Kaosu's opinion that while the Dragon Sphere may have been the most known weakness of her kind, the Nirvana Seal was much more dangerous. Unless exposed to a large amount of the orb's power, what damage the former caused was temporary compared to the effects the latter inflicted. Touching on the subject, it reminded her that culprit still had yet to be found. Not even her proficient Great Trinity could find him. Her 'special eyes' might have helped with that, but due to that ability of hers becoming limited, it was useless if the target was beyond the range of her vision. Kaosu's face twisted in anger. She tried her best to keep her emotions under control; for a moment, they almost got the better of her, as she had gripped the left arm of her chair so tightly that it started to crack. At length, she managed to recover her poise.
Letting her rage dictate her actions was the main cause of her misfortunes. That great war that led to her being banished to this lowly dimension in the first place, unable to return to the Chaos Realm. Then, lastly, being incarcerated after being defeated by a peon, an alien human, and two artificial humans. All of that took place because she had lost her cool in the heat of battle. Kaosu's countenance turned pensive as she thought back to how all of this began.
Along with two comrades, she had ruled a part of the Chaos Realm. There, no one could touch her. She had truly been invincible. Ironically, it was because of that invincibility that led to her ruination. Kasou had discovered that her comrades had been plotting to overthrow her behind her back, fearful she would one day try to seize complete control due to her power severely outstripping theirs. So they allied together and delivered the first strike against her before their fear could become a reality. Following a long and fierce battle, the two and their combined forces eventually but marginally managed to defeat her. Though they did a good deal of damage to Kaosu, she had still been too powerful for them to outright destroy, so her former cohorts used a potent magic spell to expel her from the Chaos Realm and into the Lower Realm forever. Naturally, Kaosu had been beyond livid about this! And since she couldn't take her anger out on those who had betrayed her, instead she took it out on three systems in the North Galaxy, destroying a number of worlds and anyone who dared to try and stop her.
Things would take an even bigger turn for the worse for Kaosu when she arrived on Planet Alphasei and was confronted by a female warrior who refused to back down from her...
Kaosu had been in the middle of throwing ki blasts at everything and any Alphaseijin that was in her line of vision when an energy blast came hurtling in out of the blue. Had she been in her right frame of mind, Kaosu would have noticed it and easily avoided it or negate it with a casual wave of her hand. The beam struck her in the back, causing Kaosu to jerk forward a bit. Not from the force of the attack, but from the sheer unexpectedness of it.
"One of these Lower Realm insects dare attack me?" she said disbelievingly to herself.
"Hey! Watch where you're firing those damn things!" a woman shouted at her.
Curious to see who would be bold enough to confront her, Kaosu turned to face her attacker. She stared blankly at the other woman, taking in her appearance from head to toe. From the woman's spiky black hair, to her dangerous and fearless jet-black eyes, to the gleaming silver and black armor she wore. The woman then sniffed the air and recognition of who was standing before her set in.
"Dear me, you're a Saiyajin!" Kaosu realized, her voice a mix of actual amazement and amusement. "I thought Furiiza wiped you all out years ago."
The Saiyajin woman bristled at that reminder. She then calmed herself back down and flashed Kaosu a cold smirk. "Well, as you can see, Furiiza didn't get all of us that day. And you're not just standing before any mere Saiyajin at that! I am Amara, the Saiyajin Princess!"
At that, Kaosu bowed mockingly toward the other woman. "Oh, lucky me! I'm standing in the presence of a princess of a dead world!" she said. Her voice was so sharp with condescension and sarcasm that one could it use as a sword in battle.
"Enough!" Amara barked, glowering at the stranger in frosty fury for mocking her and her dead people. "I think you need that big mouth of yours shut permanently!"
Then Kaosu flung her head back and brayed sheer mocking laughter at Amara, tickled by the Saiyajin's challenge. The Princess fumed in ire before her, very close to running out of her already short supply of patience. After she had eventually sobered, Kaosu gave her a serious look.
"Listen well, little princess, because this will be your only warning," she said, her tone turning frigid. "I am Kaosu! I know you Saiyajin can't help engaging in violence, but I'm one opponent you want no part of. Particularly not today with the mood I'm in. So, you really only have two choices: either you stand there and let me put you out of your misery, or you can try to fight me and still die like the rest of these people! Though, being familiar with your race as I am, I know you're too stupid to take the first option!"
"It seems that you're right after all," Amara answered after an intermission. Suddenly, an evil smirk split her face in half. "I AM that stupid!"
Amara advanced. Kaosu attempted to sidestep the oncoming Saiyajin, but to her surprise, Amara predicted the move, spinning at the end of her lunge to catch Kaosu in the face with the back of her elbow, sending her flying through the air. Smug, Amara flew right after her. Disappearing then reappearing behind her, Amara attacked with a vicious knee strike to the spine, and then slammed her other knee into Kaosu's face. A double axe handle sent Kaosu back down to earth to crash into a half-crumbled building- a result of Kaosu's handwork earlier. The impact of the other woman's drop caused the rest of the building to come showering down and bury her.
The Saiyajin had no time to gloat, because a moment later, the rubble from the fallen building went scattering in different directions from a whirlwind-like force, and standing in the center of it all was the woman herself, engulfed in a black-white nimbus that resembled that of a Saiyajin aura. Even with the between them, Amara could still see that "is that the best you got?" expression on the other woman's face.
Becoming annoyed, Amara started to launch a series of ki blasts on Kaosu, who took the blasts head on, becoming enshrouded in smoke. Calling forth even more power and shaping it into a green-white ki sphere, she screamed,"GALAXY BUSTER!" She then fired the sphere forward in the form of a tremendous energy wave, exploding violently as soon as it hit the target.
Again, Amara couldn't waste time celebrating as Kaosu was still on her feet.
"Is that all, little princess?" she mocked. "Evidently, that 'business' from earlier has really slowed me down, because there's no way a weakling like you would normally be able to touch me like this." A cold smile coiled her features when she caught Amara's expression- it was one of someone realizing a little too late they were up against something too big for them to handle. "In honor of your performance, I'll praise you by getting a little serious!"
After those words, Kaosu clenched her fists and reared her head back, inhaling deeply. As she flung her head forward, she exhaled just as deeply, unleashing an intense column of fire. Amara swiftly moved out of the way when the flames lanced out at her with deadly intentions, causing it to fly harmlessly towards the planet's atmosphere and into space.
The attack had been nothing more but a distraction as the red-haired woman appeared before her, catching her off guard. Before Amara could make any move, Kaosu rammed her knee into Amara's stomach. The Princess's eyes flew wide again and blood spurted from her mouth, as she doubled over from the excruciating pain coursing through her body. With a growl, Kaosu brought her fist down on Amara's back like a hammer, and she plummeted out of the sky. Kaosu intercepted Amara's inevitable crash on the ground, catching her by the throat with one hand.
"I'll give you this at least," she said, "you really do live up to the title of Saiyajin Princess. If it wasn't for the color of your features, it would've been easy to believe you were a Super Saiyajin. But I guess it doesn't really matter now, huh?"
Drawing back her free hand and curling it into a fist, she prepared to punch the Saiyajin's head completely off. Amara could do nothing more then hang helplessly in Kaosu's hand. Then-
"HAAAA!"
"Huh?" Kaosu said, looking sideways in confusion when she heard another battle-cry. However, the only thing she saw was the heel of someone's shoe as she was viciously kicked in the face. She let out a small cry of surprise, as the blow forced her to release her hold on Amara and launched her backwards into the side of another building. She was instantly buried in wreckage again.
Almost right away, Kaosu erupted out of the pile of rubble like lava out of a volcano, performing a series of rapid flips before touching down on the ground. She quickly set her sights on the two newcomers who'd had the stupid audacity to interfere with her. Shock struck her after assessing the two unfamiliar people. It wasn't because they were twins, an attractive, young man with chin-length black hair and an enviously beautiful, young woman with medium blonde hair, with catlike blue eyes. It wasn't because they both looked as if they were eighteen, nor was it because they were both garbed in strange attire. It had to do with the scent of flesh fused with metal they both reeked of.
"Jinzouningen?" she said, looking closed to puzzled as she could get when she realized what they were. Loudly she inquired, "What damn pocket dimension did you two crawl out of?"
The twins regarded her with matching looks of amusement.
"Oh, we come from a quaint little place called Earth," the boy replied sarcastically.
"We saw you two having so much fun over here, we wanted to come join in!" the girl added.
Kaosu cackled. "What a surprise! You vermin that live in this Lower Realm really amuse me!" Her lips curled into an evil smirk as her eyes transiently flicked from Amara, who was hunched over the ground breathing hungrily for air, and back to the Artificial Humans. "You see that woman right there on the ground? She's a Saiyajin, one of the most ruthless race this Universe has ever produced. But look at the shape she's in for daring to oppose me! So what can you two automatons possibly do?"
The two glanced at her blankly for a second. Their eyes then met, and they abruptly exploded with disdainful laughter of their own. It was Kaosu's turn to lift an eyebrow this time.
"Did I say something funny?" she asked.
Both the twins' faces were twisted in superior looks. Smiling arrogantly, the boy said, "Yeah, you putting us in the same league as the Saiyajin! We're much better! We're much more ruthless than any Saiyajin can dare hope to dream to be! We're far better than any other race out there in the universe, including you. I am Juunana-gou and that's my sister Juuhachi-gou. We Jinzouningen are the most supreme beings ever created!"
"We never tire and we don't need to eat," his sister, Juuhachi-gou said. Spitefully, she added, "And we also never age…unlike you, old woman!"
"Why, you little..." she hissed dangerously, her sneering expression transmuting into legitimate anger. "Talking big to me like that, the both of you!"
Kaosu rocketed forward, closing the expanse between her and the Jinzouningen faster than a heartbeat. Just as she swung at both of them, both Juunana-gou and Juuhachi-gou darted off in separate directions at a speed that exceeded her own.
"W-what!?" Kaosu stammered when she hit empty air. She missed! She couldn't believe she had missed! "Those bastards slowed me down a lot more than I thought!"
Thinking of her former cohorts reminded her of why she was in the middle of what was really a meaningless battle, in the grand scheme of things, and she raged over it again. Unluckily for her, this left her opened for Juunana-gou to attack with a double axe handle to the side of her face, the blow sending her flying to the side. As she went hurtling through the air yet again, she never noticed Juuhachi-gou materialize a few feet in front of her. Wearing a nasty grin, Juuhachi-gou lashed out at the woman with a vicious kick as soon as she came in close range, knocking her head sharply to the side. And before Kaosu could even recover from the second attack, Juunana-gou snuck up and delivered a brutal knee strike to her gut.
In the next instant, Kaosu came barreling out of the sky after another well-placed kick from Juuhachi-gou. Kaosu made a crash that was both painful-looking and painful-sounding, whipping up a big cloud of rock fragments and other earth materials. While Juuhachi-gou and Juunana-gou had watched the whole scene with a look of utter boredom, Amara gawped at the spot Kaosu had landed in before turning that same look upward toward the two Jinzouningen.
If there was any speculation as to if Kaosu had been put down for good, it had rapidly been put to an end when she erupted from the crater her body had dent into the terrain. She seemed extremely furious.
"Enough! I will tolerate this insolence no longer!" Kaosu snarled wrathfully, her hands crackling with energy. "I had intended to hurt you a little like I did the Saiyajin, but I can no longer forgive you! All of you, along with this world…DISAPPEAR!"
Kaosu raised her hand to discharge her attack-
"Hold it right there, you devil!" a new deep, regal voice interjected.
Stopping, Kaosu pivoted at once, querying who was interfering with her now. She didn't have to wonder for long. A pale light materialized a stone's throw away from her, and in that light stood a rather interesting man. Although he was clearly otherworldly, at the same time he could pass for a human man pushing over seventy, and yet he looked as healthy and strong as Juunana-gou did. He donned blue robes with a white, long-sleeved shirt underneath, and his pants were tucked inside a pair of gold boots. Long, gray hair slipped out from beneath a blue turban passed his shoulders. In his right hand, he held a remarkable bronze trident, with the three prongs drenched in supernatural flames. Kaosu reacted to his appearance with the choler of one forced to deal with someone they absolutely detested.
"You!? You dare appear before me as well!?" she exclaimed in outrage. A grim notion came to her. "Wait, if you're here, then does that mean she's here as well!?"
The man's mouth curled into a thin smile beneath his grayish goatee- it wasn't a very nice smile. "No, but her ladyship sends her regards!"
Succeeding his words, the man held out his right hand, and a pearly light flared gently in his palm. When it vanished, resting in his palm now was a bronze sphere with a bronze dragon statuette running across it.
"The Dr-Dragon Sphere!" Kaosu stuttered dismayingly. All of the fury she had been brimming with had completely drained from her face, and now she looked authentically alarmed.
Almost as if her voice had caused the reaction, the Dragon Sphere began to glow an eerie gold, intermixed with tendrils of mauve electricity. That radiance then shot forward and hit Kaosu dead on, drawing out a scream of genuine pain as the energy bolt engulfed her. Then, pulling out a small, red crystal, the man began doing a spellspeech in an unknown language. Shortly, Kaosu heard a noise like thunder rumbling somewhere far off, and crimson light ensuingly swirled into existence around her in a vicious whirlwind. And, in what may very well be the last time, Kaosu let out a cry of pure infuriation and fear as the lights solidified around her...
Returning to the here and now, Kaosu scowled at that memory. She had already felt defeated when she was forced from her own home, but the feeling magnified when that interloper had the audacity to seal her away. Kaosu had actually thought it would be the end of her, that she had been completely beaten. But she should've known that the power of Chaos wouldn't abandon her. After all, she was its prized daughter...
Kaosu slipped back into awareness. What in the world was going on here? Why was she standing in a cave? Hadn't she been battling against her former allies for betraying her? And why did her whole body feel so stiff?
She started to stretch but winced from the movement as she was abruptly overcome by a strong wave of exhaustion. She fell down on one knee, and while she did so, her foot brushed against something like glass and she glanced down curiously. Her brows creased in confusion when she took in the pile of shimmering, broken red gemstones surrounding her feet. She knew what this was! She'd seen it so many times, it was practically ingrained permanently in her brain. This was the Nirvana Seal! Her eyes flew wide as a horrid thought came to her. Had she been trapped in one of those things?
"Kaosu-sama?"
She didn't even grace the person to act startled, as she realized that she wasn't alone in this unfamiliar cave like she thought she was. Lifting her head and looking forward, Kaosu was more mildly confused and curious than surprised at the group of odd-looking people standing in front of her. Three of them had the air of some kind of authority surrounding them, and flanking them were several horrid, wingless bat-like creatures in armor. Kaosu gasped as she was soon hit with recognition. She knew them!
"I-it's you!" she said in shock. "My Chaos Soldiers!"
"It's wonderful that you remember us, your majesty!" Fuwa said, genuflecting in reverence toward her master. Konran, Anaki and the foot soldiers followed her lead.
"What are you all doing here? I thought you were back in the Chaos Realm?" Kaosu asked. She tried to stand, but stumbled. Anaki and Konran both hastily rushed over to help Kaosu back up to her feet.
"We were, however, we refused to keep obeying those bastards!" Anaki said brusquely. Some of the grunts made noises of agreement.
"And so we left to come be with you!" Fuwa added.
"Our one and true leader will always be you, Kaosu-sama! " Konran said passionately. "But what happened to you? We were all quite shocked when we finally found you on this planet and in such a state!"
Briefly, Kaosu tried to remember what happened to her as well. Then everything came back to her. In her memories, she saw herself being double-crossed by her own kind and banished to this dimension that she deemed trash, then destroying planet after planet when she went on a furious rampage, but when she arrived on one particular planet, she was confronted by a Saiyajin woman, a pair of cyborgs, and finally one of her mortal enemies who had showed up with the Dragon Sphere in his possession. And while he'd had her subdued, he performed a sealing spell on her, and the last thing she remembered was seeing bright lights appearing around her. After recalling all of that, red fury warped Kaosu's face.
"Yes, I remember what happened to me!" she said at last. "That damned man did this to me! And that Saiyajin and those cyborgs are to blame for this as well! This is absolutely unforgivable! They'll all pay!" she screamed furiously; although her animosity wasn't directed at them, her minions couldn't help but to feel nervous. They actually felt sorry for the ones who'd been foolish enough to cross their mistress...
In the present, Kaosu rose and walked around her throne toward the wall on the left side. That part of the wall swung open like a pair of doors, leading out into infinite blackness. She walked forth, the wall closing back up behind her. When she stepped out onto the other side shortly, she came out onto a balcony and gazed up at the stars, her eyes directly falling upon the otherworldly star shining down on the planet. It was her Star of Chaos.
*My star, huh,* she thought, frowning. The expression came about as she once again looked back on her old life in the Chaos Realm. In their respective territory, each ruler had their own Star of Chaos so everyone would know whose domain they were entering. Hers was red, which the symbol worn on her armor and the armor of her legion was patterned after. *I didn't notice it at the time when I had a new base created here on this world, but does this mean that somewhere along the way, I've unconsciously accepted this menial dimension as my new Realm?*
It certainly seemed that way. She had also had her throne room modeled after her old one back in the Chaos Realm. From the time of her resurrection, she had never once directed her focus on finding a way to return to her home. The only things that have been on her mind were bringing herself back to her full strength and annihilating those who have offended her. Presently, those specific individuals, which included Amara and Juuhachi-gou, were racing to her planet right now. That was why she didn't get upset when Amara had got away from right under her nose.
"I guess that's how it is now," she murmured in resignation. Successively, she stood straight and held her hands out towards the sky in a grand gesture. "So, from this day forward, I declare this Lower Realm as my own! Once I'm done with Amara and her party, I will bring this entire Universe under my control and turn it into a place more hellish than even the Chaos Realm itself!"
Unbeknownst to her, Kaosu's moment just now was captured on the video screen of a large monitor system. In a hidden location, the man who was watching her grimaced.
"Think again, Kaosu!" he said gravely. Looking around, his eyes fell upon a large glass coffin-like case, and the woman resting inside it. The resolve on his face grew. "I won't allow you to do such a thing!"
His eyes then shifted toward the monitor next to one he was watching Kaosu on. This one showed the ship Amara, Juuhachi-gou, and the Z-Senshi were in.
Armon knew it was time for him to make his presence known again.
Juuhachi-gou was walking through the corridor on the second deck of the ship. Since she and the others left Earth, she hadn't really had a chance to be alone, so she was grateful for having some privacy at last. She had left Piccolo, Kuririn, and Gohan back up in the lounge room. Amara was still in the Bridge, as she had not too long ago went there to ask how much further they had to go until they arrived at their enemy's world. And Vegeta was…well, she really didn't care where he was or doing. Since she awoke that morning, she had been trying not to think of the man at all. Because it would only remind her of the night they shared at Capsule Corp before all of this started.
Just thinking about what she'd done with the Saiyajin Prince made her skin sear with shame and anger. It wasn't because it was a bad experience or anything. In fact, Vegeta was surprisingly very well adept in bed. It was just the principle of it all that made her feel so disgusted with herself. She still had no idea how it even happen. One moment they were arguing, then they were kissing, and then she was inviting him to her bedroom. A slight shudder ran through Juuhachi-gou and a blush stained her face as unwelcome memories of that night in her room rose up in her head. Even now she could vividly recall the taste and smell of that accursed man as they kissed...the feel of his naked body pressed against her own...his mouth and hands driving her wild for that final joining...
*Stop that!* the Jinzouningen part of her admonished. She violently forced her emotions back under control. What was wrong with her? She had to get a grip on herself!
How could she have allowed her hormones to cloud her judgment so severely? How could she have sex with the very same man who was responsible for her being captured by Cell because he wanted a good fight? That only sent another wave of self-loathing through the blonde-haired woman. In spite of her feelings, though, it quietly astounded her on some level that she could still do things normal women could do. Something other than her love for shopping, that is. Thinking about it, in a way, she actually owed Vegeta now, and that made her hate herself even more for what happened.
Juuhachi-gou was still angrily mulling over that when she paused after getting midway down the hall, noting the solid walls on either side of her giving away to glass windows. And outside those windows, was a beautiful view of the star-capped dark sky of space.
It had been such a long time since she'd traveled in space. It brought back to mind the first days she and her brother had been activated, back when Dr. Gero had taken them into space so he could test their strength without fear of being disturbed by anyone. Chiefly by Son Goku or one of his compatriots before he was ready to send them off into real battle against the scientist's enemies. In turn, it also brought back to mind her missing brother, and that made her stop looking out the window altogether and resume walking. She just didn't want to think about her brother anymore. Because it only reminded her that she would never see him again.
Momentarily, her augmented instincts had acted a second too slow before she became aware of danger coming towards her. Because as she was passing by an open room, a hand suddenly shot out of the darkness, grabbed her by the arm and pulled her inside, the door closing immediately after...
To Be Continued