Pacific Dragon
~ Lady Eldaelen ~
Previously:
Videl stared at Gohan long enough for him to glance her way with an honestly curious, "What?"
But she had already leaned forward to kiss him.
- Start -
She was roused by an alarm and a blinking red emergency light that cut through the blackness of her room in time with the insistent buzzing. It was the room comm, one that had gotten little use after the initial familiarization lesson from Krillin. After the third round of alarms, the blinking light held steady and a voice filled the room.
"Videl, it's Krillin. Gohan's on his way up. We've got a situation brewing and it isn't normal even by our standards. Don't bother answering, I have to make another call."
The comm shut off, the alarm with it, and the regular room lights came to half brightness.
Videl glanced at the clock, confirming she'd barely gotten through one REM cycle before this adrenaline-filled wakeup call. They hadn't stayed on the roof much longer past the abrupt end to their conversation the previous evening. A unexpected rain shower pushed them inside, and the notice that their suits had been finished kept them up and busy in the science pool far longer than they would have usually stayed.
She rolled out of bed and started to dress out, honing in on a tightly controlled burst of energy making its way towards her direction, familiar to the point of comforting. When Gohan knocked and entered a minute later, seeing him line up with her sense of the energy brought a smile to her face. He matched her expression despite the harried appearance of the rest of him. Dark shadows smudged under his eyes and his posture was loose enough to appear foreign and unnatural; he was just as sleep-deprived as she. He handed her one of the three cups on a tray he balanced carefully in one hand, taking one for himself. They downed their bitter Senzu shots in one go, then Gohan handed her the last cup.
"We're not quite sure what's going on but we need to be ready for anything. We have to go get suited up."
As they headed towards Hope's ready room, Gohan filled her in as much as he was able.
"One of the proximity sensors was set off in Gingertown, but it wasn't triggered at the location. Someone manually tripped it from the observation room in town, almost like they were doing a routine check. So far no one has answered our attempts to contact them."
"And the observation rooms are supposed to be staffed all the time."
"Exactly."
Krillin was waiting for them in the ready room. He handed Gohan a data pad and updated verbally as the two pilots prepped.
"Still no contact with Gingertown. Vegeta and the Nameks are prepping, too. Goku's standing by, though, if you want him to check it out. Yamcha and I are ready for whatever, also."
"Gingertown is still pretty wooded, right? Especially around the outskirts?"
"Yeah."
"It's going to be hard to see anything while it's still dark. Sending Dad in early might alert a potential threat." Gohan puzzled out the situation aloud as he strapped on his bio-belt and turned around for the neural column to be connected. He elaborated a bit for Videl's benefit, "Instant Transmission causes a burst of detectible ki in both locations. We've tried to work around it, but we can still always detect him."
"How long until sunrise?" she asked.
"Another hour." Krillin replied.
Gohan studied her for a moment before smiling. He turned to Krillin and asked, "Are you and Yamcha up for an early morning swim?"
.
The Command Center was unusually full from what Videl could remember from her drifts. The boys were seated on desks near the windows and weren't their normal boisterous selves. They weren't used to being there for engagements, and were appropriately unsure of their place. But Krillin was going to be gone and Gohan could potentially have to leave any minute. Trunks and Goten were familiar enough with the equipment to man the comms if needed and if Bulma got really busy, Trunks could even oversee the most important data flows on Krillin's station.
Videl eased onto the desk next to Goten, leaving enough room for Bulma to access it but she was busy conferring with Gohan.
Gohan shifted uneasily on his feet. He was used to being in charge in this room, had been for years. But as a pilot now, Gohan was deferring to Bulma. They both looked a little apprehensive about the arrangement but there was no other choice.
"Krillin and Yamcha have scouters and they're going in on foot for recon. I sent Dad to prep with Vegeta, the Tornado is already on standby," Gohan murmured softly to Bulma. "We're keeping the bay doors closed. No additional outside activity. They'll tether and launch only if we've got a confirmed Kaiju from Krillin or Yamcha."
Bulma pulled up their positions on Krillin's computer. They were making good time in the water, their ki virtually nonexistent on the sensors. Gohan took up pacing in front of the windows, calming both his and Videl's nerves. This was much more familiar.
"We've made it to shore," Krillin whispered lightly with his exhales. His voice over the comm quieted the entire room. "The sky is just starting to lighten. It won't be long for good visibility."
.
They walked a grid from the shore to the outskirts of town. Nothing appeared amiss until they got to the first house. There was a low picket fence, waist-high, around the entire property. Until they got close enough to see the whole lawn, it looked completely normal. But just inside the fence's shadow, there were three separate arrangements of clothes. Two small sundresses crowded with layers of lace. Matching sandals, matching teddy bears within arm distance of the dresses. Between the dresses and the fence, a full suit, necktie still knotted around the buttoned shirt collar, polished shoes glossy with morning dew.
"That is the creepiest thing I've ever seen," Yamcha whispered. Krillin nearly jumped, momentarily forgetting he was even there in his examination of the area.
"Bulma, can you guys see this?" he asked, tapping his scouter to transmit video and taking a slow sweep at the yard.
"Yeah, we see it. Any sign of life?"
"Not here. We'll take a look in the house."
The house yielded a surreal emptiness. Dinner still on the table, lights on, beds pulled down but not slept in.
Krillin and Yamcha searched the rest of the small neighborhood. They were all equally empty, with at least one set of bodiless clothes.
"Okay, guys. The sun's fully up. Why don't you start heading into downtown? We need to find out what is going on and why."
"Copy, Bulma," Krillin replied, "We're going silent until we see something else."
That was the last time they checked in.
.
Goku and Vegeta had finished prepping and made it to the Command Center to wait with everyone else and still no further word had come from Krillin or Yamcha. They were just about ready to go off on their own when the Senior Tech for the Fusion Fighter stood up and waved at the group. "Sirs, I just got a call from the Training Hall."
He flicked on the conference screen that hung on the back wall and tuned to the local news station broadcasted out of Gingertown. A tall insectoidal creature stood among several sets of empty pants suits draped over the reporter desk. He held Krillin and Yamcha, one in each hand. They were both unconscious.
"These two were pathetically tight lipped so I'll make you an offer," the creature spoke, staring straight into the camera. "The ones known as Seventeen and Eighteen for your scouts. You have twenty-four hours."
The message repeated on infinite loop.
.
Bulma was on the phone before the broadcast began again. "Yeah, we saw it too, Dad. I'd really feel better if you came over here… But our resources will be split if you stay… Of course I'd send someone over there! Just get in a car and fly over here… I'll have someone waiting at the South Gate. Please be careful- and steer clear of Gingertown. I can't send anyone your way without blowing both of our covers… See you soon."
She sent Gohan and Videl to wait for the Briefs and Eighteen at the South Gate. They traded their helmets for scouters and Bulma left the Command line on so they could hear the discussions over what to do.
"Can't I just transmit in, grab them, and leave?" Goku asked.
"No way. It's why we didn't want you doing the same to scout out the area in the first place. If that thing can detect ki -and we'd be stupid to think it can't- it could pick up on your popping in and out and pinpoint exactly where we are."
"But we can't just leave them there!"
"We won't, Goku."
.
Bulma's official scale for categorizing Kaiju went from Cat-0 to Cat-4.
They hadn't actually used the Cat-0, but Bulma summed up her intention for the category as something akin to kittens or bunnies or other completely harmless creatures that might, in their delicate state, survive the ascent to surface alive. Cat-4s were the biggest and strongest in a nonlinear logarithmic scale-up. But there was an unwritten category above even that.
"If it introduces itself, it's a Cat-5," Krillin joked at a strategy meeting not long after Goku had returned from the Rift.
"Does that mean Vegeta is a Cat-5?" Goku had asked.
"Technically, he didn't introduce himself, Nappa just kept dropping 'Vegeta' in conversation," Krillin pointed out. "For all we know, it was an alias and we've been calling him something arbitrary all this time."
At that point in the conversation, the subject in question had muttered something completely unintelligible, threw a punch at Goku's head that was cheerfully dodged, and stalked out of the conference room.
No one saw him for three days.
Bulma was just glad he hadn't blasted his way out of the room like the last time he'd had enough of the idiots surrounding him.
.
The energy in the Command Center felt all wrong, which was saying a lot, considering Bulma could detect ki about as well as she could pick winning lottery numbers from a hat. She had a small group of security and science pool techs compiling as much as they could on Gingertown through the various detection cameras and systems installed around the area. Even though they were on standby, the Tornado focals were engaged with their monitoring and constant coordination to keep the system running smoothly. The other Jaeger crews were just restless awaiting firmer orders.
"Well, it hasn't introduced itself yet," Bulma said with a sigh, "but I think it's safe to call this one a Cat-5 event."
"But it didn't come out of the Rift," Goku pointed out.
"Neither did the androids."
"You gave them a category?" Videl asked.
"Not officially," Goku responded.
"Regardless, it's got a high-level brain. I'm calling Tornado to stand down."
.
They followed a long corridor to its dead end, deep under the lowest level of the Base Videl had been to before, and took up positions on either side of the narrow blast door.
"You haven't met Eighteen yet, have you?" Gohan asked while they waited. Videl shook her head no. "She's well, she's kind of like Vegeta in a lot of ways- but don't say that to either of them. I was gone when the androids first emerged. It was Trunks' and Goten's first real exposure to what we'd been fighting, or at least how we fight, for real. Seeing kids at the battle threw Eighteen off a bit. Having Krillin save her from deactivation confused her even more. Once she was 'free,' so to speak, she spent a long time struggling between embracing the human part of her or retreating to the android. Her brother chose the android."
"And she still wonders if she chose correctly," Videl followed up, thinking of Vegeta and of the confrontation still so fresh in Gohan's mind from their drifts. Gohan nodded.
The proximity sensor beeped and Gohan felt out the familiar kis of the doctor and his wife. He hit the receiving door release and a wall closed up behind them, leaving just enough space for a sleek aircar to pull in between it and the blast door. Another beep and the blast door opened. An air car pulled in, stopping just short of the wall. The blast door closed with a hiss as the seal engaged and the entrance locked up.
The Briefs and Eighteen exited and the doctor encapsulated the aircar, exchanging it for a glorified hovering golf cart he decapsulated in the aircar's place.
"Hello, kids. How are you holding up?" Dr. Briefs greeted as they all piled in the cart.
"Decently, sir," Gohan replied.
"Glad to hear it, son. I see you finally got a copilot suit of your own. How's drifting been?"
"Indescribable, sir," Gohan said, staring straight at Videl. Then he turned towards Eighteen. "And thanks for continuing to work with us. Without you, I'd never be able to drift."
She looked mildly surprised he'd spoken to her, nodding tersely but saying nothing.
"We'll get him back," Dr. Briefs murmured softly. His wife patted Eighteen's leg gently.
.
Dr. Briefs knew exactly where to go once the South Tunnel joined up with the rest of the underground labyrinth they used for transport. He pulled up by an unmarked door and encapsulated the hover cart after they all exited. The door opened into an elevator which Gohan activated with a key code. It took them to the narrow walkway along the outside of the back wall of the Command Center. Another key code at another unmarked door brought them directly into the Command Center itself.
Gohan and Videl lingered along the edges of the room while the Briefs reunited. Not long after, Goku and Vegeta reappeared from their Ready Room in more comfortable gear, having also been given the all clear to stand down from piloting. Gohan pulled Videl away, retreating to their own Ready Room to change. Their tech assistants weren't there so they helped each other. It wasn't awkward, the drift took care of any lingering possibilities for that. She'd dropped into too many memories of Gohan studying his reflection after battles, coming to terms with the changes new scars inflicted on what made him physically him. And she'd felt him drop into her own moments of teenage angst, scrutinizing her own body and her perceived shortcomings. Slightly more vain, but he hadn't judged, she hadn't pitied. There was a healthy appreciation for one another, but there was already too much mutual respect to act on anything. Yet.
Gohan disconnected the lines from her helmet and belt to neural column, pulling the articulated piece away slowly to keep the contacts from shocking Videl too badly. He placed it back in its case and accepted the helmet and belt next, returning them to their own holders. He rifled through the shelves for a set of clothes for her to wear as she peeled off the under suit and handed the armful over without turning away.
She undid his neural column lines before she started dressing out so he could pull off his own helmet and belt. He waited until she finished and could remove his neural column. By the time he peeled off his own under suit, she had a set of clothes waiting, long sleeved shirt on top. When they finally returned to the Command Center, they unconsciously altered their gaits to stay in perfect step the entire way back.
.
"Do you still have contact with your brother?" Bulma asked Eighteen.
"Not regularly. I haven't visited him in over a year. He still doesn't understand why I didn't join him."
"Do you think he would have seen this?"
"The last time I found him he was living in the woods, no electricity, not really much of anything in the amenities department. Probably not, unless he's gone through some major life changes."
"Sirs," the Senior Comm Tech interrupted. "We've got someone being patched through from Capsule Corp's lines. He called over there, claiming he's trying to get through to his sister? He's got one of Dr. Briefs' access codes."
Bulma cleared Krillin's screens and brought up the incoming vid of a deceptively young face, impassive blue eyes framed by straight black hair. "I need to speak to my sister. They told me I could use this number in an emergency."
"They?"
"My sister and the old man."
"What old-" Bulma asked, turning towards Eighteen. Her parents had come up on either side of the android. "Dad?"
"I wasn't going to leave her with no way of contacting the only family she's got left."
"This is all very touching, but am I going to talk to my sister or not?"
Bulma shot her father a stern look of expected discussion later before moving out of the way so Eighteen could be in full view of the vid screen.
"Finally," Seventeen breathed as Eighteen settled in the chair. "Sister."
Eighteen relaxed but didn't respond.
"It's him, isn't it? He's the one you'd think of, when I asked you for an example."
Eighteen began to cry.
"Shit. Hello? Hey, can someone let me in?"
"What? Where are you?" Bulma asked, peeking around the android and her own mother, who'd been quick to offer Eighteen a hanky.
"North side of the Base, just before the fence. I got here as quickly as I could."
"Sure, we'll have someone escort you in-"
"Full disclosure," Seventeen interrupted. "I'm, uh, I'm not alone."
.
Videl pulled up the hover cart just outside the North entrance fence. Gohan hopped out as a lone figure approached.
"Gohan."
"Seventeen."
"You're my escort?"
"Afraid so. You said there were others with you?"
"Yes." He inclined his head and from behind a nearby tree strode a woman carrying a baby.
"You brought hostages?!"
"No," the android said with a scowl that wouldn't have looked out of place on Vegeta. "This is my wife and daughter."
The woman handed the baby over to Gohan with less hesitation than he expected.
"My husband said you'd probably ask for her. We're not plotting against you."
"Uh, sure... um, okay?"
Gohan got in behind Videl, Seventeen next to him and his wife in the front passenger seat. The baby cooed and waved tiny fists at the fingers Gohan wiggled above her.
"I forgot how small they start out," he murmured, deftly readjusting his hold when she started to fuss.
"You're a natural. Do you two have any kids?"
"Oh, we're not-" Videl and Gohan both pinked instantly as they talked over each other. "We're just drift partners."
"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to assume."
"It's okay."
"I'm ten years older than my brother," Gohan explained. "I had a lot of opportunities to help when he was a baby."
"Ah, the older brother. You two still get on? Now that he's grown a bit?"
"Yeah, he's a great kid."
.
When they returned, the Command Center had been cleared of all the senior leads. The Nameks were also conspicuously absent though Gohan could feel them just outside. Seventeen and his wife glanced around uneasily until Eighteen stepped forward from the elder Briefs' huddle.
"Brother."
"Sister."
"It's so wonderful to finally meet you!" his wife exclaimed, reaching out to embrace Eighteen. "I wasn't sure this day would ever come. Terrible circumstances, but I couldn't imagine our children not knowing their aunt."
Bulma's mother had made her way to Gohan's side and practically had the baby in her own arms already. "Oh how precious. She has your eyes, dear," she declared to Eighteen.
"You're the naturalist, aren't you?" Dr. Briefs asked. "The one studying the impacts of Kaiju xenobiology as an invasive species?"
"Uh, yes, I've taken a sabbatical for a while," she gestured to the baby, "but that's been the focus of my work since the Rift opened."
"We've read all your articles," Dr. Briefs replied, nodding approvingly.
"They're wonderful," his wife agreed, abandoning any sense of pretense to pluck the baby directly from Gohan's arms. "Aren't you just a darling! Let's go find you some place quiet to play, yeah?"
.
"Sister, this thing is our responsibility. It asked for us specifically."
"Dr. Gero?"
"That's what I was thinking."
"Hold on, when you said it was your responsibility…" Goku asked.
"I meant we'll take care of it."
"That thing wants you for who knows what purposes. I'm not sure that's a good idea."
"Well I'm not going to hide out and wait to see what happens. I've got a family now, well, more family. I will do anything to keep them safe."
"Even if that means staying here?"
"Not going to happen."
"We can't afford to have you captured, too."
"I didn't come here to stay behind. This is our fight!"
"I'm not risking Krillin and Yamcha like that."
Seventeen's eyes darted to his sister just slow enough for Goku to catch.
"That will not be an issue." Eighteen spoke up. She squared her shoulders and leveled a glare at Goku. "My brother and I will be fighting this thing, make no mistake of that. Whether or not you all join us is up to you."
.
It was a compromise, but the best one they could agree upon before Seventeen and Eighteen just up and left. The androids and Vegeta made their way towards Gingertown, with the Nameks following at half speed as backup. Videl, Gohan, and Goku took an aircar the opposite direction. As they felt Vegeta's approach, Videl slowed the car to a stop and swung it around towards the Base.
"Ready," she whispered.
"Ready," Gohan replied.
Goku nodded and a moment later, Vegeta's voice sounded through their scouters. "Now!"
Goku vanished.
Videl's hand rested trigger-light over the controls. Gohan perched on the back of the front seat, staring intently at the empty space in the back of the car. He tensed, Videl gripped the shifter, and Goku reappeared.
"Go! Go!" Goku yelled, dropping his burdens in the back seat before he disappeared again.
Videl slammed the car into drive and Gohan jumped in the back seat to check on the newly deposited Krillin and Yamcha. He assessed their vitals as Videl pushed the limits of the car. They were breathing, and aside from darkening bruises at the base of their necks, appeared relatively uninjured.
"En route to the Med Center," Videl murmured into her scouter.
"Copy," Bulma replied. "The others are engaging in Gingertown."
"Active fighting?" Gohan asked.
"Goku and and Vegeta's power levels are stable. They're talking to the… thing. Want me to patch you through?"
"Not yet." Gohan steadied Krillin and Yamcha as Videl swung a hard left in through the open delivery dock.
"Videl, I'm not sure this shortcut is wide enough for an aircar," he warned.
"We'll fit," she replied, speeding up and laying on the horn as they passed through a pedestrian tunnel. Another turn brought them to an even narrower passage. Gohan peered as close as he dared to the car's side, the walls mere inches away.
"Watch out!" "Videl yelled as she blared the horn again. "Damn! Gohan, duck!"
Gohan reacted instantly, folding himself over as Videl jerked the aircar up and nearly scraped the ceiling. Below, a Base worker shrieked in surprise as they passed over her.
"Sorry!" Gohan yelled when they cleared her and Videl brought the car lower.
Videl pulled up to the Med Center, killing the engine as she hit the brakes. There was a team already waiting and after Videl and Gohan helped load them on stretchers, the techs whisked Krillin and Yamcha inside.
.
Vegeta remained silent during most of the obligatory exchanging of pleasantries. Upon sight of the androids, the thing had, well, Vegeta supposed it had smiled. The rather beaky mouth prevented a true musculature-based expression, but it was close enough. The thing, whatever it was, eagerly welcomed them all, though its sights remained focused on the androids. Its eyes ranged over them ferally, but that wasn't what gave Vegeta the creeps.
He snuck a glance to Kakarott's side, unsure if he was feeling the same. Kakarott's gaze remains fixed on the unfolding scene, but just before Vegeta turned his own attention back, Kakarott's eyes darted to the side and locked with his for the briefest of moments. They were just as troubled.
Vegeta's back was to the Base, where Bulma and Trunks and the rest of his and Kakarott's family remained. He could feel Gohan's presence whisper thin underneath the boy's natural shielding abilities. He could feel him, though, still around the Base according to the plan, just as they'd agreed to.
And yet…
The thing in front of him, all beaky grin and predatory gaze, the thing would shift its weight or wave an arm to talk or blink and reassess them all, and Vegeta would feel Gohan.
.
Krillin jerked awake and instantly regretted it. He squeezed his eyes shut, which did absolutely nothing to quell the headache and throbbing pain in his neck. A thin, strong hand covered his own clenched fist and Krillin relaxed enough to carefully squeeze it back.
"Oh man. This is worse than waking up from a beating of Vegeta's." Yamcha groaned nearby.
"I won't tell him you said that." Gohan replied.
"Not so loud," Krillin croaked out. The hand withdrew and a moment later a glass was pressed into his empty grip.
"Thanks, Chi Chi," Krillin said, taking a drink of the proffered water.
"We're still in a situation," Gohan spoke, softer than before. "Any information on what happened to you two?"
"That thing is stronger than it looks," Yamcha warned. "Don't underestimate it."
"Got that. Anything else?"
Krillin opened his eyes, heart sinking to his feet.
"It wants Seventeen and Eighteen."
.
"So Gero created you," Seventeen summarized. "That makes you, what? Twenty? Twenty-one?"
"I am Cell." Beak-mouth clarified. The announcement didn't quite reach its eyes, and for one chilling moment, Vegeta thought of Frieza.
"You're not an android," Eighteen replied.
"No, I'm not. Gero had moved beyond simple artifices of androids when he began work on his masterpiece. Gero genetically engineered me from the ground up, from all the elite fighters this backwater planet has seen."
.
"Gero couldn't compete with your Jaegers, but in the nano-technology field, he is unmatched."
"I knew it!" Dr. Briefs exclaimed, fist pumping in the air as Bulma shushed him. "That's where all the micro- and bio-engineers had been going."
"Dad! That thing's still talking!"
"Krillin and Yamcha are awake," Gohan's voice filtered in over the comm. "They've got intel on the-"
"Yeah, yeah. It's talking, too," Bulma interrupted. "Get up here when you can."
.
- End -
Notes: Sorry, untold number of support personnel, Mrs. Briefs, and Seventeen's ladies, I have a problem with name generating. I think that's why I'm partial to fanfic, because everyone's pre-monikered (not too fond of creating OCs for the same reason, either). Then again, you do occasionally end up with characters like Renesmee, Katniss, and Albus Severus, but it's a hobby-pational hazard I'll take to not have to come up with my own. Naming the stupid Jaegers for this story just about killed me only five pages in. Also… spoiler alert for extended universe talk starting now… I'm a rather lackadaisical fan, the amount of canon I've consumed isn't even half of the behemoth that is Dragonball. That being said, I have taken great pleasure in reading summaries and reviews and wikis to fill in the gaps. Does it crack anyone else up that Vegeta's got a polar opposite little brother who shows up so he can get his big brother to beat up the baddies? Or that Seventeen legit settled down in a reserve and married a zoologist? Maybe that's just me? Canon is sometimes stranger than (fan)fiction.
Happy New Year!
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