Chapter 35 - 18 Ways to Die
A/N: This was a sad chapter to write...It's a sequel to Artificial Hell, what happened when Mizuki left her house to find the Artificial Humans?
Well, you're about to find out.
I do not own Dragon Ball Z!
I do however own Mura, Kilo and Mizuki, plus Mizuki's origins!
Please ask permission before using them!
WARNING: Contains a little more violence than usual and some curses.
Other than that, enjoy!
Mizuki glared ahead of her as she walked out of her 'home,' glaring at the city in front of her as it was being destroyed, piece by piece.
Today she was going to dfeat Artificial Human #18 for her lost mate, Piccolo Daimao. She had sworn all those years ago that she would destroy that Barbie Doll for Piccolo and for all her other friends that had died trying to save this world.
She walked with long, determined strides, glaring ahead at the city as another explosion was let off and the screams of the survivors were heard.
Those sick bastards weren't killing the people, no they were destroying their homes, their families, then taking them down afterwards.
"I won't let you kill another soul..." She growled deep in her throat, kicking off into a run and then diving onto her hands, running like a wolf as a snarl ripped through her. "#18!"
~DBZ~
Both #18 and #17 laughed maliciously as they shot another building to the ground, no one around to stop their horrible assault on the once beautiful Earth.
"This gets more exciting by the day!" #17 said, chuckling darkly as he shot another building, watching as a mother and son fell from the window to the far floor below. "Oops, I guess we can add them to the score!"
However both the Artificial Humans hummed when the mother and son dissapeared with a shadowy figure carrying them.
"Where did they go?" #18 asked, before she gasped, a foot slamming hard into her back and knocking her to the ground.
#17 turned at the sound of his sister being hit and growled at who he saw. Only a few feet away on a slightly slanted, flat-tiled roof, was Mizuki, her eyes blood red and much more merciless than they had been a decade ago.
"Well, well..." #17 said with a chuckle as he crossed his arms, his sister flying up to float by his side. "If it isn't your pet dog, #18!"
Mizuki's snarl was so terrifying, even the Artificial Humans had to stop and blink. "Don't call me your pet!" She ground out, her Ki rising rapidly. "Because of you, I am alone AGAIN! Not only do I have no other Houlameks left to call family, I have no friends and my mate is DEAD! All because of you!"
#18 laughed and flicked her hair behind her ear. "Oh, the green guy! He was your mate?" She asked, crossing her arms and grinning maliciously. "Well, I would say you could do better, but looking at you now, puppy, I'm taking it back...You and that man-sized snot are perfect for each other!"
Mizuki's whole body shuddered at her insults and her eyes filled with tears. "S-stop!" She hissed, clenching her fists and trying to hold back the brunt of her anger, she would not honor Piccolo's memory if she just jumped into a fight and got herself killed.
"Stop what, oh, does talking about the genderless freak upset you?" #17 asked, flying down so he was floating right in front of her. "I heard he was a monster, a cruel tyrant who slaughtered millions at the 23rd Tenkaichi Tournament...How could someone like you ever love a slime ball like that?"
Mizuki snapped and she thrust her fist towards #17, who caught it instantly. "Now, now, if you were to snap, you wouldn't be honoring anyone, would you?" He taunted, laughing when she tried to hit him with her other fist, catching that one too. "Temper, temper...We might have to teach her a lesson #18!"
"I think we might!" #18 sneered, flying to #17 side as Mizuki pulled herself away from the male Artificial Human, his touch sickened her.
Mizuki turned to #18, making her hum. "You're the one I'm after...You ruined my life, you made me lose the one man I loved and all the friends I cherished so dearly! I will KILL you!"
Then Mizuki dove for #18, slamming her fist hard into the female Artificial Human's cheek, causing her to fly into a building, #17 laughed and flew high into the air for a better view, this was going to be good.
"Come out you bastard!" Mizuki roared, floating there, waiting for even a slight sign that #18 was going to attack. She wanted to fight fair, just like Piccolo would have, so she didn't want #18 to sneak up on her. "Only a coward fights like you do! Fight me face to face, fists and Ki, I want to watch you SUFFER!"
Her request was answered when #18 flew out of the broken building and stood in front of her, her jacket in tatters and her hair uneven on one side.
"You ruined my hair..." She said, tucking the slightly shorter strands behind her ear. "As an Artificial Human, my hair doesn't grow back..."
"Oh cry me a river!" Mizuki snarled, glaring at the whinging young woman in front of her. "I have no family, no friends and no one to talk to, you have your twin at least! ALL THE PEOPLE I LOVE ARE DEAD!"
Mizuki roared and slammed her fist into #18's cheek, sending the woman flying once more. "I want to have my friends back, Piccolo, Gohan, Goku and everyone else! Of course now the Dragon Balls are GONE, so I am ALONE AGAIN!"
The Houlamek dove into the debris and #17 watched with a soft whistle as Mizuki pulled #18 from the wreckage and continued to punch her hard in the face, holding her top with the other hand.
"Give! Me! My! Life! BACK!" She shot #18 in the face with a Ki blast and the Houlamek warrior watched as she hit a building, slamming hard into the surface.
Mizuki floated there, panting hard, her rage still evident in her eyes, but she had learned to control her wolf form long after Piccolo's death, she would not turn into a vicious animal, that would not honor anyone, and she would just lose herself.
"That was rather fun!" #18 said, pulling herself out of the human shaped dent and floating back up to Mizuki's eye level. "Now the serious fight begins..."
Then suddenly the fray began as Mizuki blocked a punch from #18 and tried to punch her too, fists appearing and dissapearing, back and forth with urgent anger, neither of them letting up with their assaults, not even when some punches landed, they continued without delay.
#17 had to admit, this was a rather exciting match, even just to watch, both Mizuki and #18 were matched, power vs. viscious anger both trying to prove who was the stronger one.
Mizuki did a backflip when #18 went to kick her in the face and slammed her foot hard into the Artificial Human's chin, sending her flying up into the air. "Makankosappo!" Mizuki roared, shooting a spiralling, silver beam from two fingertips.
#18 recovered before the attack hit and managed to dodge it, shooting several Ki blasts at Mizuki, who dodged some of them and hissed when one hit her knee, burning the clothing of her leg to her skin.
That was going to hurt when she took off her Gi pants later.
"I won't let a small injury like this stop me!" Mizuki snarled, dissapearing from sight before appearing behind #18, grabbing her from behind and flying high into the air.
"Let go of me, Mutt!" #18 snarled and Mizuki smirked. "As you wish!" She said, turning quickly and cutting off the Ki balance keeping her in the air, plumetting hard towards the ground below.
"Wh-what are you doing?! You're going to kill us both!"
"No..." Mizuki said, glancing down to see the ground just shy of them. "You're the one who's going to die!" She let go of #18 and stopped herself from falling with a sudden surge of Ki, watching as the Artificial Human slammed hard into the solid ground.
#17 hummed when no one returned from the dust, had she in fact killed his sister? "#18, you still alive down there?" He asked and smirked when a figure burst from the rubble, now wearing tattered clothes and covered in blood and scratches.
"That was a good shot!" #18 said, smirking, she was lucky she couldn't feel any pain. "If I had any pain receptors, it would have been hard to recover from that one!"
"Freaks!" Mizuki snarled as she shot at #18 again, a blur of kicks and punches as #18 dodged every one of them, now completely serious. "You're monsters, you should even exist!"
#18 caught Mizuki's fist and broke it with one tight grip, making her scream. How?! How had the machine gotten such an advantage so quickly?!
"Are you finished already?" #18 asked with a light teasing in her voice, now breaking Mizuki's arm, making her cry out even louder. "That's right, scream!"
Mizuki cursed several times mentally and slammed her foot hard into #18's stomach, causing her to bend at the waist and drop the Houlamek, who landed hard on the ground below.
"M-my arm!" She hissed, unable to force herself up without use of her left arm, which flopped uselessly when she raised her shoulder. "You bastard!"
Mizuki rolled over and jumped to her feet, holding her arm tightly, unable to fight with it. #18 just stared down at her, a frown on her face, like she was bored.
The Houlamek let out a gutteral snarl and dove into the air, for the Artificial Human before her. However her fist was caught easily and she felt her hand began to sting as #18's grip got tighter.
"No! Not after I've waited so long to kill you!" She roared, headbutting the Artificial Human so hard, she felt her own consciousness fade slightly as both of them fell to the floor and landed hard on the stone below.
#17 laughed and stood on a roof high above them, the perfect place to watch such a fight. All the survivors were even watching this specticle, what an amazing match between the two female fighters.
Mizuki groaned as she got to her feet, her consciousness just beginning to clear, and the first thing she saw, was #18 heading straight for her.
The Houlamek gasped as a strong punch hit her hard in the stomach, before she vomitted silver blood. "Y-you monster!" She gasped, dropping to her knees and holding her stomach.
"You're lucky I'm not using my full power..." #18 said, crossing her arms. "If I were, you'd be dead right now, that's how I killed your mate, after all..."
Mizuki gasped, and her eyes began to fill with tears at the memory of Piccolo's body. "Wh-what?!"
"I killed him with a simple kick, didn't you see the blood on his abdomen?" #18 asked, then chuckled and kicked Mizuki hard, making her fall onto her back.
Mizuki hissed and squeezed her eyes shut. So that was how Piccolo was killed, a blow to the abdoman? "Y-you killed my best friend, my mate and now you think you've won?" She gasped, blood spitting with her words as she was kicked again, rolling onto her stomach and vomiting more blood. "I-I haven't even began to tap into my full power!"
"Nonsense, you've been fighting as hard as you could from the get go!" #18 said, then began kicking Mizuki, over and over, wanting her to suffer in her last moments.
Mizuki was crying out, screaming in pain, she had been lying, the only power she had was too dangerous to let loose, all that anger from the death of her mate would be put into her wolf form, and with all these survivors, if she were to use it, she would have been the one to wipe out the Human race.
#18 stopped kicking Mizuki when her screams finally died down into whimpers and she huffed, floating into the air. "I think it's about time you went to the Other World and say hello to your mate..."
Mizuki felt tears spill down her cheeks at the thought of Piccolo standing there with open arms, waiting for her to jump into them after so long of being apart.
Of course then she remembered that to be there, she would have to die, and if Piccolo learned that, she would not be met with open arms, but with the anger of a dissapointed man who believed she could defeat them.
"N-no!" Mizuki gasped, making both Artificial Humans hum as she placed her one usable hand on the ground and began to push herself up, tears and blood dripping from her face. "Not now...Not when the man I love would rather me be alive!"
#18 gasped as Mizuki got to her feet, glaring at the young woman with anger shining in her eyes, along with tears and love. She wanted to see her mate, obviously, but she wouldn't see him if it meant giving up her own life to do so.
"I want to see Piccolo-sama again!" Mizuki said, turning to her enemy with her eyes determined and her tail swishing rapidly behind her. "However to do so, I would have to sacrifice myself and Piccolo-sama would never forgive me! I will not give up!"
"You didn't have friends, or a love of your own, so I don't expect you to understand..." Mizuki said, looking at the ground and squeezing her eyes shut in an attempt to stop the tears, but they fell anyway, tapping against the ground below. "But they were my life, they were EVERYTHING to me! And you-" She swallowed the croak in her voice. "You killed them all! My race is dead, my family is dead, my friends are dead and Piccolo-sama..." She gritted her teeth and clenched her fist, turning her head slightly to the side as pain filled her form. "Piccolo-sama was the only person I truly felt understood me, the only one who felt as lonely as I did!"
#17 and #18 huffed and glared down at her, not caring for her little speech, but allowing her to continue, even they had the morality to let this one rather remarkable fighter have her last words.
"I fell in love, and I bonded with him!" Mizuki said, stepping forward with her hand on her chest. "I fell in love with a Namek who was the most loyal man I had ever met! He fell in love with me and I fell in love with him! I was happy, for the first time since I lost my entire planet, I felt like I had a home and you two, you destroyed it, along with this planet I deemed my new world!"
"For Piccolo-sama, Gohan and all my other friends, I will defeat you! I made a vow, and I never, NEVER break my vows!"
#18 smirked and crooked her fingers. "Then come at me!"
Mizuki roared and kicked off from the ground, a dark and determined howl filling her lips. She was fighting for her love, her lonliness, and for everyone left alive on this planet.
Only, it wasn't enough.
#18 pulled her hand back and shot a large blast of Ki at Mizuki, who gasped and tried to avoid it, but #18 laughed and flicked her finger causing the Ki Blast to increase in speed and also to make it follow Mizuki!
Mizuki turned to blast that Ki from the sky, but wasn't quick enough as she gasped and it forced it's way through her chest, destroying her heart and lungs instantly.
#17 and #18 watched with throws of laughter as Mizuki's body hit the floor, her eyes blank and blood spilling from both her mouth and her chest.
Mizuki was dead.
~DBZ~
Piccolo was sat under a tree on Grand Kaio-sama's world, relaxing as he meditated with his halo floating silently above his head.
Mizuki was still alive and that made him feel at peace, she had survived the fall of the world, and hopefully she would stay alive for years to come.
"Piccolo-san!"
Piccolo hummed and opened an eye to see an adult Gohan run up to him, the scar evident on his cheek. "What is it, Gohan?" The Namek asked, closing his eye once more.
"Piccolo-san it's Mizuki-chan!"
The Namek's eyes snapped open and he stared at his student with shock. "What about her?!" He asked, getting to his feet, his heart sinking with the knowledge of what he was about to hear.
"She's here! She's in Yama-sama's Judgement Room right now!"
Piccolo didn't wait for anymore information, he took off into the air towards the airport, where he would fly to Yama-sama's to finally see his love again.
It had been a decade since he had seen her last, even though it pained him to see her dead permanently, he missed holding her in his arms, he missed how her eyes are actually naturally blood red and how she could change them to a vibrant cyan blue whenever she transformed to camoflage herself.
~DBZ~
Mizuki sat on the plane to Grand Kaio-sama's world, she didn't want to go there, she wanted to see her love again, but Yama-sama insisted that she go to that world and do something for him.
It was strange, he never told her what he wanted her to do.
An hour passed before the plane finally landed and Mizuki stood up and walked out, her tail swishing behind her as she searched for anyone who could help her.
Of course her eyes fell upon someone she was hoping to see more than anyone else, he stood before her, cape, turban and green skin, his frown not as strong as usual and an emotion she couldn't place in his eyes.
"P-Piccolo-sama..." Mizuki breathed, staring at her mate with both fear and love, not wanting to see anything else but his sculpted face and strong form. Tears were welling in her eyes and she had no control over them, it had been way too long since she had last seen his face, and her final memories of him were of his dead eyes and blood covered corpse.
Piccolo didn't speak, however the frown on his lips curled into a smile she hadn't seen for over ten years, a smile, to this day, that made butterfies flutter in her stomach and a nervousness she had felt with no other man awaken.
She stood there, unable to move, unable to think, unable to breathe as her mate stood before her, not moving either, like this moment was too much and any more would break them.
Piccolo took a step forward, then another, taking up a slow pace towards her, his body moving elegantly, yet his muscles tense, as if he was holding himself back.
Mizuki felt the tears finally fall, it was just like Piccolo to try and hide how much he missed her. She took a hesitant step forward herself, then another before she broke out into a sprint towards the man she had been without for twice the time she had known him.
Piccolo's smile widened as he opened his arms and she dove against his chest, her arms tightening around him in an embrace so strong, it was like she was never going to let go.
The Namek sighed and stroked her head, wanting to keep her there forever. She was his heart, his soul, his undeniable love and he knew that he would never feel the same for another.
These long years had been unbearable, and even though it was horrible that she had died, he was glad she was in his arms again, her small, warm body against his own as he held her just a little tighter, the arm around her waist pulling her closer.
"I-I missed you..." She whispered, sobbing into his Gi, soaking the thick fabric with her tears, of course Piccolo couldn't have cared less about that, he was too busy focussing on the woman he had fallen in love with. "T-ten years, ten l-long, painful years..." She hugged him just a little tighter, unable to get any tighter as the Namek was build like a tank, only a lot harder.
"It's alright now..." Piccolo soothed her, playing gently with one of her ears, one thing he missed about her was when her ears would twitch during their fights, those large wolf ears that matched the color of her cyan blue hair. "We're reunited, we won't be apart again..."
"Th-the last memory I h-had of you..." Mizuki rasped, inhaling sharply several times during those words. "W-was when I f-found you...You were dead! I-I had to live without you, cope w-without you!"
Piccolo felt his strong heart crack at her broken tone and decided he couldn't take her tears anymore as he crouched slightly and wrapped both arms around her, lifting her up and burying his face into her shoulder.
Oh how he had missed her height, how she was so small in comparison to him.
Mizuki's arms locked around his neck, burying her own face into his shoulder as he stroked her back with one hand and held her up with his other, incredibly strong arm.
"That doesn't matter anymore..." Piccolo reassured her, his voice muffled by the flesh of her neck, his eyes closed and his face relaxed as he finally felt her in his arms once more, fully and almost suffocatingly against his form, both holding the other with most of their strength, having only just the right amount of sense left to stop them from crushing one another.
"All that matters is we are together again...I'm never letting to go again, understand?" Piccolo asked, feeling her tears wet his shoulder, she was still crying. "You're my mate, the one person who truly understands and loves me for who I am, and I feel the same for you, these last ten years, they've been hell..."
Mizuki inhaled with sharp breaths and felt the warmth of her love calm her slowly. No one else could make her feel so secure, so loved, so precious. Only the Namek before her had that ability.
Piccolo waited until her sharp intakes of air had calmed enough and then pulled away from her slightly, so he was staring into her blood red eyes.
Oh how he missed everything about her.
The tall, green love of her life gently, and oh so slowly, pulled her closer until her face was just millimetres from his own. He didn't care if Gohan had followed him, if anyone else he knew was watching, all that mattered in this one moment was Mizuki, his mate, his friend, and his one true love.
Mizuki watched as Piccolo tilted his head to the right and captured her lips with his own, pulling her almost impossibly close as he felt the lips of his lover for the first time in ten years.
The Houlamek sighed and in an instant responded with a long held love she only ever remembered and hadn't felt. It was like she was floating, unable to fall and not wanting to land, she was finally with her love.
And she was never going to leave him again.
A/N: What did you think? I love the ending, it took me two days to come up with the right ending for this chapter! I thought it would be good to put the fight scene between #18 and Mizuki in a good amount of detail, so I hope it was good.
Please review, your comments and advice are appreciated and welcome!
Thank you!