History Of The Twins 1:

If This Be Doomsday

The Red Ribbon Army. The very name made Tien think back to his old master Tao, one of the most useful assassins for the terrorist cell. It left a bitter taste in his mouth. Then he thought back to his friend Chiaotzu who had vanished so long ago, and that in turn filled Tien with a sense of longing and sadness.

"Yeah, those guys. My dad certainly isn't a fan..." Chi Chi said, glancing between Gohan and Tanip "I know they had a big expansion in northern territories um...Ten years ago? Anyway, they made an uneasy peace treaty with King Furry to prevent war between them and things have been normal ever since. What's the big deal about them?" she asked.

Gohan and Tanip exchanged glances and then Gohan looked to his father "Perhaps we need to go back a bit further. We'll tell you everything Uncle Raditz told us about the past when we were growing up."

"Fair enough. Go ahead." Kakarot replied. This situation was just so odd, but he'd let it all sink in later. His curiosity was piqued and he aimed to learn the truth.

"Okay, so like..." Tanip began, running her thumb lazily over the hilt of her katana "You already know about King Cold being Captain Ginyu and all the jazz. We hung back for a bit because Uncle Raditz was supposed to become a Super Saiyan against him and we just had to make sure that happened, you'll need it in the future." She nodded to her uncle and then continued "Now, dad and uncle did a pretty good job holding him off, but it was clear they couldn't win. So, in a stroke of genius Aunt Chi-"

"Why do you keep calling me that?" the Ox Princess asked abruptly, narrowing her eyes at Tanip. The loopy Saiyaness looked like a deer caught in the headlights, but thankfully her brother stepped in to stop her saying something too stupid.

"We refer to all of you in a similar manner." Gohan replied, his voice showing no hint of dishonesty "Uncle Tien, Uncle Krillin, Grandpa Kami."

Kami bristled at that "Grandpa?!" he asked indignantly, his cheeks purpling slightly.

Chi Chi seemed willing to accept that, but she still looked somewhat wary. Tanip continued on as if the interruption never happened "As I was saying...Aunt Chi formed a big ass Spirit Bomb and hit Ginyu with it from behind, and then the human warriors struck the bomb with a combined energy wave that managed to push him into the sun and killed him." she concluded. Tanip grinned "No casualties."

"So what happened to us after that?" Kakarot asked quietly, a frown on his face "When does the Red Ribbon Army come into the picture?"

Gohan glanced to his father, equally as serious and stoic. Father and son alright. "Soon after Cold was dealt with, these two pointed out the power vaccuum that would come into the galaxy now." he explained, gesturing to Jeice and Burter "All the slaughter and lawlessness and anarchy that would come about after."

Tanip grinned and cut in again "So! You, being the gallant heroic guy you are, set off into the galaxy to make a parliament and restore order to the galaxy."

That certainly came as a shock to Kakarot "And...What about the earth? Was I away from the planet for long? I couldn't leave my post for that long..."

"Well, you didn't have to, thankfully." Gohan replied, placing his hands on his hips. "Thankfully you learned a neat little trick in space that allowed you to easily transmit between Earth and the new parliament instantaneously. You'll get it when the time comes."

"My my...Sounds very handy..." Kakarot replied, stroking his chin slowly "A-anyway, please do go on. What happens next that makes the future so bad?"

The twins exchanged uneasy glances. Whatever they had to say clearly wasn't easy to talk about. Finally, Tanip spoke up "In three years time, you succumb to a heart disease." she began, sounding sombre for a change. Kakarot's eyes widened in shock, as did everyone elses. They held their tongues for the time being. Tanip was quick to continue "It's um...According to uncle Raditz in the future, it's a birth defect that one out of every eight Saiyans suffer from. Usually manifests in adulthood. My brother and I and uncle Raditz, thankfully are immune but you... You died from it, and with you went the Dragon Balls. And since you were comatose, you couldn't transfer them to anyone else...Shenron was gone."

Kami stepped forth. He eyed both of the time travellers and then replied "And what of me? I could restore the Dragon Balls, couldn't I?" Again the twins shifted uncertain glances.

"We'll get to that. We have alot of information to cover..." Gohan cut in. He crossed his arms and gave a shuddering sigh. This would get so much harder to talk about as it went on. "Father, when you went there was chaos in the parliament you founded. While you were never cruel your power kept everyone in line and stopped any potential uprisings or power grabs...but when people found out you died, one man by the name of Kanchapp sowed dissent and discord among the paliament and that erupted into an all out galactic civil war."

"One of the first things you did when you got into power dad, was to cover up and destroy any information relating to the Namekian Dragon Balls, just to stop others from coming after them. However that also meant we couldn't send messages to Jeice and Burter out into space to go get them, because if we did we'd be putting the Namekians in danger again." Tanip explained.

"Even if we did have them, we couldn't bring you back to life because you died of natural causes." Gohan added.

Kakarot stumbled back slightly and then took a seat on one large rock "I...That is alot to take in...Tragic..." his words came out softly, as if in disbelief of everything his future offspring were saying.

Tanip frowned at her father "Trust us, it only gets worse from here on out."

"How so? Things already sound pretty dire." Tien replied. "And you haven't even mentioned where the Red Ribbon come into the picture."

Gohan frowned, looking far older than he actually was. "Yes, I suppose we should get onto that. Soon there'll be an insurrection inside the army, a figure called the Emperor will kill and replace Commander Red. With his power and access to the powerful androids and battle jackets created by Dr. Gero, he'll launch an invasion on other parts of the globe. "

"The worst of them are a group of lieutenants called the Redcoats. His four most powerful androids, and a right bunch of sadists." Tanip cut in, starting to visibly seethe with anger.

"My sister and I never saw the Emperor in person but we know he has some sort of psychic control over the robots and was somehow able to identify all of the most powerful warriors on Earth." the young half-Saiyan suddenly glanced toward Kami "And they started with you."

It was about a week ago since Kakarot died in his sleep and Kami had still been wandering the world, flying over hills and valleys and cities. He knew he had to return to the Lookout, he knew that he had to take up the duty of Guardian of Earth again, and that he'd need to restore the dragon model of Shenron again. But right now he couldn't bring himself to do that, he was too deep in mourning.

His son had just died.

The Namekian had lived over 300 years, and this tragedy was the worst thing he had endured in quite some time. To his right he could see the sprawling metropolis of South City. He briefly contemplated going down there...but the irony was that the guardian of earth would be a pariah and an outcast among the people of the planet.

Kami let his gaze linger on the city for a few moments longer. It seemed odd for some reason that South City was...glowing?

There was a sudden eruption of energy that lit the horizon all shades of red and orange. A column of fire rose up into the sky from the centre of the city, and Kami watched in a mix of awe and horror as explosions spread across the city.

"What the hell?!" Kami gasped in shock. He couldn't sense any ki signatures at all, so what could be doing this? Didn't matter, he'd know soon enough. Kami's white aura flared up around his body, his white gi flapping up with it, and then he flew toward the city as fast as he could with a powerful sonic boom behind him.

When he reached the city, the chaos was even more horrifying up close. Vents of fire rose up from the skycrapers, the smaller buildings had been utterly pounded into rubble. Large clouds of choking black smoke were billowing up into the sky and forming a massive black cloud, shielding light from shining into the city. Kami's pointed ears were tuned in to the frantic shrieks of the terrified and the dying...Just what the hell was happening here?!

"Well lookie here. I told y'all, if we make a big enough ruckus then one of them would come out of hiding." a deep Southern accent called from the street directly below where Kami was flying. The Namekian turned in the air and let his gazerest on those who had seemingly caused this random carnage.

There were four, and none of them looked alike. The only thing they had in common were their long crimson pea coats, a black version of the Red Ribbon Army logos on the left breast. The one who had adressed him was a noral sized man, probably around Kakarot's height, with steely eyes, a crooked smirk and shoulder-length silver hair. On his head he wore a black officers cap with the RRA logo proudly dispayed on the front of the cap.

To his right stood a midget that Kami almost mistook for a child for a moment due to his stunted stature. His skin was a deep purple, he wore a wide-brimmed black hat and had the most cartoonish sausage lips Kami had ever seen.

Behind those two stood a giant. He had chalky white skin, his face taut and hard with a barely contained rage. His ebony hair, a direct contrast to his snow white flesh, was pulled back into a tight braid that stretched all the way down to his waistline. Even through the baggy fabric of his coat, Kami was willing to bet that this pale giant was built like some sort of Grecian statue.

And beside him stood another giant of a man who was somehow even taller than the ivory titan. Possibly the tallest man that Kami had ever seen! He had caucasian skin and a bright red mohawk of hair that only added to his awesome height. His face was...hollow, almost. Like a face made of porcelain, utterly unmoving. He seemed...sad, almost.

"Are you the ones behind all this?!" Kami snapped, a vein of rage popping up on his green brow. There was something off about these four, he could sense absolutely no energy off of them. It wasn't like they were suppressing their energy, it was more like there was nothing there before him.

The silver haired one gave an icy chuckle and glanced to his companions "You hear that 15? Green bean here wants to know if we did all this."

"Tch. What a dumbass." the purple-skinned stranger, evidently named '15' remarked. "13, why're we wasting time talking? Didn't we come here for a brawl?"

It seemed that the one with the silver hair was called '13'...were they all numbers? Why would they name themselves like that? "Yeah yeah, I'm just tryin' to have a lil' fun is all. Alright, 16, 14, let's get ready to do this. I call first crack at him!"

13 suddenly vanished from view, and before Kami even realised it he was in the air beside him. "How-" Kami' question was cut short when 13's gloved fist cracked him across the face like a bolt of lightning, sending the Namekian crashing through several buildings before he smashed into the pavement of a soot-covered street.

Kami forced himself onto one knee, grunting in immense pain, his chest heaving for breath "So fast...how can he have that kind of speed but be undetectable?" he asked with a grunt. Suddenly the one called 13 was floating above him, a sadistic grin on his face. kami had been training and growing stronger, but he still couldn't see 13's movements at all right now.

"I'll let ya in on a little secret Green Bean." the southerner remarked slowly rotating through the air until he was floating upside down "Me and my friends ain't even human. We're androids...you can call us redcoats."

"Androids...?" Kami asked, standing up fully. That would explain the lack of an energy signature...but what was making them so powerful?

13 dashed forth again and drove his knee into Kami's face, launching him up into the sky until he managed to right himself. Then 15, the midget, slammed into his back with a powerful shoulder charge, making Kami yell out in agony. His small fists packed quite an impact as Kami soon learned, rapid fire punches striking him in the back and staggering him through the air.

Kami managed to gather his wits long enough to swing an elbow back into 15's face, shattering his sunglasses and sending him careening through the window of nearby building. The respite was brief, 14 came at him yelling like a mad beast and drove his gargantuan fist into Kami's face, launching him downward through the air.

13 suddenly intercepted him and kicked him up into the air, and then 14 punched him back down again. He was knocked back and forth by the two malicious machines, being beaten bloody back and forth like a green soccer ball.

One of 14's giant hands wrapped around Kami's ankles and flung him into a nearby skyscraper. Kami smashed clean through several storeys of the building before he crashed face first into the asphalt again, skidding face-first to an incredibly painful halt.

With a huffing breath Kami got to his feet and dropped into a shaky fighting stance. His clothes were covered in tears and tatters, and he could feel hot purple blood oozing from cuts across his body. "I don't plan on dying today..." Kami growled. His muscles bulged and his white aura shot up around his body. His size and muscle mass increased abruptly, swelling until his giant Namek ability left him three times larger than normal.

Maybe with a tripled power level, he stood a chance...maybe.

14 dashed at him like a bolt of lightning, but Kami raised a large arm in time to block the incoming punch, the ground shattering beneath him from the impact. Kami punched the android across the face and then just as quickly he struck him with the back of his knuckles. As the ivory giant was reeling back, Kami's large fist smached into his ribs and sent him crashing into a car that was crushed under his tremendous weight.

While Kami couldn't sense 13, his pointed ears could certainly hear him coming. The Namekian shot one arm up, stretching it out at a ludicrous speed and driving his fist into 13's face, catching the android off guard. His elongated arm caught 13 by the ankle and then smashed him into the pavement, shattering it to bits on impact.

Just as Kami retracted his arm he was struck from behind by 15. The midget was ludicrously fast, striking Kami from all sides like a pinball and his small frame made him even harder to catch. 15 kneed Kami between the shoulder blades and then grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt as he fell forward, before flinging him down one long street at incredible speed.

Kami flipped through the air and managed to land feet-first at the end of the road, his heels grinding up the asphalt on impact. Kami glanced to his side and saw a small crowd of cowering citizens, watching him with wide eyes filled with terror. "Go, run!" the Namekian ordered. He turned his head again and saw 13 firing off a red wave of energy just as the crowd started running.

The wave approached Kami as fast as an attack from Frieza himself, and the Namekian quickly shoved his hands out in an attempt to cushion the blast from the citizens. Then, abruptly, it swerved around his body and struck the civilians, vaporising them in a massive wave of fire.

Kami stared at the sight, moouth agape. Nothing remained of those people, who they were or what they did in life. They probably awoke that morning with the bet of intentions, and in the blink of an eye they were gone. Poof.

"Whoopsie. I think my targetin' optics must be malfunctioning." 13 remarked with an icy chuckle.

Kami's gaze lingered, unmoving from the spot where once stood many. How many more would die if these machines weren't stopped? Ah...But even individually, Kami probably could not win. And with their numbers he had zero chance of a victory.

'Kakarot would never give up.'

That thought was enough to spur Kami into action. "I'll fight to my last breath to keep these people safe...no matter how futile..." the towering Namekian growled, flying forth as fast as he could.

A gold bullet of ki flew from Kami's fanged maw and exploded against 13's chest, flinging him backward a few metres. His pointed ear twitched from an incoming noise, and Kami shot his leg out and kicked the incoming 15 into the husk of one small burnt house. 14 was on him like a bolt of white lightning, and Kami desperately tried to shop at his neck with a sideways chop from his strong green hands...

His hand crunched against 14's upraised arm, like striking a beam of solid steel. Kami's hand bounced backward, and the giant pushed his advantage by punching the towering Namekian in the stomach with enough force to lift his feet a few inches off the ground.

One of 15's massive hands wrapped around the top of Kami's green head, before rapidly flinging him up into the air. As Kami tumbled up into the sky he could see 13 and 15 climbing from the surrounding wreckage, mostly unharmed. Had they been toying with him all this while? Suddenly the Namekian's gaze was focused on the sky and settled on the form of the machine called 16 high above him. How odd, he had avoided the fight thus far.

That sadness still marked his face, as he slowly removed his right forearm with a small *Clink* Beneath that gauntlet that was his fist, behind the area of free space where his red sleeve fluttered about, Kami could faintly see what looked like a cannon.

A bolt of gold light flew from the cannon with such speed that, from Kami's point of view at least, it moved almost instantaneously. It struck the former Guardian in the chest and then blew a hole clean through his torso.

"When you died, we lost all hope of restoring Shenron..." Gohan said softly. Kami looked white for a moment. How else would you react if you were told how you were going to die? "And it got worse from there. The Red Ribbon Army spread like a virus after that, their power armoured units crushing whatever arms King Furry could push out. The redcoats spearheaded most assaults, making RRA victories laughably easy."

"But they took a real sadistic glee in killing you guys. Made a sport out of it." Tanip remarked. She gestured to Krillin and Yamcha "15 and 14 ambushed you guys at Kame house, slaughtered you guys and Master Roshi and the Gohan my brother was named after. Raditz later retrieved the power pole from the ruins and it came into my brothers possession."

Gohan nodded, gesturing to the pole lazily, before continuing "They killed Yajirobe out in the wastes, and his sword was soon retrieved and given to my sister. Nam died defending his village. Tien...God I don't know how to describe it. It's like the Emperor hated you most out of all of us. When Uncle Raditz found where you died, he found a mangled body and a partially flayed three-eyed skull."

"God..." Tien whispered. A cold sweat had broken across his body. Dying wasn't the worst thing, it was knowing he would die in such a gruesome way.

"And what about me? And Chi Chi for that matter?" Raditz asked. Chi Chi was curious now too. Had she been killed off or did she manage to escape the Androids?

Tanip replied, glancing mournfully at both of them "Well you see...soon after the RRA started their invasion, you moved me, my brother and our mom to Kami's Lookout to keep us safe from the slaughter. You and Aunt Chi took to training both of us, because we were both born with high power levels and had plenty of potential." her voice began to crack slightly, and she had to look away from the two to stop from breaking down crying "You both...did what you could to help people escape the RRA and halt their advance...but in one battle 13 killed Aunt Chi, and then he blinded Uncle Raditz before leaving him for dead...But he should have checked to see if the job was done. Uncle lived on after that incident..."

"We three worked on saving people from the Emperor whever we could and brought them to the Lookout for safety...But after a time we realised that this would never be enough to kill the regime stomping down on us. Mom built a time machine for my brother and I, and we used that to come back here and warn you."

"Enough." Kakarot said sternly, drawing the attention of those around him "I've heard enough for one day, and I think if I hear anymore I'm going to throw up. I appreciate that you came here to warn us, and we'll certainly make preparations...but it seems I'm already doomed no matter what I do."

Gohan, for a change, smiled at his father. "Not quite. Mom has a present for you." he said, reaching for a hard white case on his belt. His hand rummaged inside it for a moment and then his hand pulled out a small vial filled with a purple liquid. "When you start falling ill in three years time, this will be the thing that saves your life."

Kakarot eyed the vial closely, surprised by that reveal. The gears were turning in his head at this point, thinking of precautions he could make to prevent this awful future from coming to be.

"I got a question for you two." Raditz said, stepping past his brother and glancing at the two teens from the future. "How exactly did you two become Super Saiyans? I take it from the way you act that it had something to do with me."

Tanip frowned and focused her gaze on the dusty ground. Gohan looked to his uncle and gave a small sigh "Yes...It happened after you died..."

A/N: Next time, the second part of History Of The Twins, where we see the oppressive Red Ribbon Regime, and learn the trgic origins of the twins transformation.

-Jack: Cooler and his attack got launched into space, and then his attack blew up in his face. Sort of like the ending to the first Cooler movie.

-NaturalGeiling: Kakarot wanted his daughter to have a Saiyan name. Carrots, burdocks, radishes and turnips all come from the same family of vegetables. I don't see how the name Tanip is some insane leap in logic.

-SSJInferno: Jeice beat him to death off-screen.

-SupersaiyaninfinityGohan: The Gohan of this timeline looks a little like the adult Gohan of canon, but with short spiky purple hair.

-Jokermask18: In canon, Goku wound up crushing the RRA because he was wrapped up in their scheme for the Dragon Balls. In this timeline, Gohan didn't bother looking for the four-star ball again after the Pilaf saga, so the RRA continued to exist and Commander Red got his wish to be taller.

-Ultimate Black Ace: The twins are about as powerful as Trunks was when he originally returned from the future.