Summary: No, things are not looking good for the Z-team. In the previous two chapters,
Bulma and Videl died, Gohan, Goten, Pan, Trunks, Chi Chi and Bra were seriously ill, and
Vegeta and Goku had brought those members of their family still alive to Dende's lookout,
hoping Dende could heal them...
Apocalypse
Chapter three
18 (Juuhachigou)
I stand at the freshly dug grave. Rare tears are rolling down my cheeks, and I feel like
there's a hole inside my heart. I'm incomplete. I feel the need to say something, but
anything can I think of is just a hollow sentence, not good enough for you. I'll just
think the words, for where you are now it will make no difference whether I speak or
think.
Thank you, Krillin, for being the kind, gentle person you were. Thank you for seeing
something good in me, for saving my life when you should have destroyed me. Thank you for
believing in me, trusting me. And most of all, thank you for loving me. All I had before
I met you was anger and hate, and you filled my life with love. I knew I would outlive
you, my husband, but I had never thought it would end like this. You should have seen
Marron grow up, and hopefully have kids of her own. I know you would have loved to have
grandchildren, as would I.
My mouth has turned very dry, and I know it's because the saliva glands are no longer
functioning. Slowly my body is shutting down, organ by organ, and there is nothing I can
do. Whatever is was that killed Krillin has infected me too, and if I had been fully
human, I too, would already have been dead by now.
I had been very ill, but all of a sudden the illness was over. I felt a little weird,
but otherwise fine. I know now that would have been the time where I would have died if
it weren't for my cybernetic parts. Now my biological parts are already starting to decay,
I can smell it. It makes me want to go inside and take a shower until I can no longer smell
that awful stench anymore, but I know it's no use. I should probably get inside now that I
can still walk.
I push back the panicky feeling I can feel in the pit of my stomach. I've always been
calm and composed, and I know panicking won't do my any good. There's still something I
have to do inside. Before I die.
With a last wistful look at the grave I whisper: "Farewell for now, Krillin."
When I get inside, I stare at the telephone for a while, but I've long time ago come to
the conclusion that there is no help. Krillin is dead, Marron is gravely ill, and I'm
too damned weak to do anything. The phone works fine but there's no one left to contact.
Every time I do a general Ki scan there are fewer and fewer ki signatures left. The
population of the entire planet is dying. I can feel it. It won't be long before I join
them. The cascade failure has already started, and the knowledge that I'll be dead within
a day is overwhelming my last remaining bit of self-control.
I get down on my knees, and feel like crying, but startled I realize I can't cry anymore.
I feel like crying, but my tear glands won't respond. The strange feeling I've had all day
is getting stronger by the minute. I can't really explain what it feels like to have your
body decaying while you're still alive, but it's the most horrible experience I've ever
had in my life. It makes being absorbed by Cell seem like a walk in the park. To know
that I'm dying, and to know there's absolutely NOTHING I can do about it... I realize I
might lose my mind if I continue thinking about this, but does it really matter if I do
lose my mind? No one will be left by that time, and even I won't live long enough to
regret my insanity. Destructing things has always made me feel better, and letting go of
my sanity will deliver me from the torment of my rapidly decaying body. NO, I can't give
in. Not yet. Marron is still alive. I must take care of her first.
I go upstairs, to Marron's bedroom. Amazingly she's still alive. Maybe she's more
resilient because she's still young, who knows? I sit down, and fetch the wet cloth I had
put down on the chair besides her bed before I had gotten down the stairs and buried
Krillin. She hasn't been conscious for two days, and I fear the dehydration will kill her
before the illness does. I decide to once again try to get her to drink something. To my
surprise she isn't struggling anymore, and she seems eager to drink. I'm glad I can do her
that small favor.
Still, I didn't come here to prolong her suffering. I gently kiss her warm forehead while
a Ki blast is gathering in my hand. The blast grows stronger and stronger, up till the
point it is strong enough to instantly vaporize her, taking the house and me with her.
The amount of energy it takes to make the blast is out of proportion, I used to be much
more powerful, but at the moment I'm grateful for even this relatively small amount of
power. It will put both of us out of our misery.
Just when I'm ready to fire the blast, Marron turns her head in my direction and opens
her eyes. "Daddy?" she whispers. Although her eyes are open I know she doesn't see me.
"Mommy? Where are you? It's so hot. I want to swim. Please mommy? Please?" Her eyes close
again and she starts to toss and turn.
I stand there, Ki blast in my hand, and I realize I can't do it. She's my daughter, and
even though her chances at survival are slim at best, it still isn't completely sure she
will die, and I can't take her chance to live away from her. The energy dissolves, and I
gently wipe the wet cloth over her forehead again. Is it my imagination or is she feeling
a little bit cooler now? It's probably a malfunction in my heath-sensors, but still,
Marron might live. I don't have the right to play God.
All of a sudden my left legs collapses under me, and I fall to the floor. I manage to
get up, and lie down on the bed next to Marron. Gathering the energy for the blast has
taken too much from me, I can't go on anymore. I don't know if I should stay here, but I
realize that's an irrelevant question, since I'm to weak to go somewhere else. I'll just
hope Marron won't be too scared if she sees my dead body when she wakes.
Krillin, it won't be long until we're reunited.
GOKU
My plan has failed. Dende kept trying to heal her until he was so week he actually lost
consciousness, but it was no use.
Chi Chi has died.
All the others are doing better and Gohan has actually reached consciousness again, but
Chi Chi...is gone. I had been with her all the time while Dende was trying to heal her,
but she never regained consciousness. I'm still holding her hand now, unwilling to accept
the truth. I place a last kiss on her cold lips and I feel like my heart has been broken
into a million tiny pieces, but my eyes remain completely dry. I can't cry now, I must
remain focused. They need me. Vegeta is completely out of it, the death of his wife has
hit him much harder then I had expected. Maybe below his arrogant, indifferent exterior
he really loved her. Who knows? Now that his kids are doing better he is completely
ignoring his environment, retreating in himself. I know that's not a good sign, but I
have other things on my mind right now, I'll have to deal with Vegeta some other time.
When I look in the direction of my oldest son, I can see he is sitting up straight,
carefully holding Pan in his arms. With a last wistful glance at Chi Chi I get up and
walk over to him. I am relieved to see Pans face has regained a normal color, and when I
put my hand on her forehead I can feel her temperature is back to normal as well.
Gohan looks at me, and hesitantly he asks: "Were's Videl?"
The hopeful look in his eyes is almost more than I can bear. How can I tell him she died?
I slowly shake my head. "I'm sorry son, but she didn't make it." Tears well up in his
eyes.
"I knew that, dad, but deep in my heart I kept on hoping it had all been a bad dream." He
looks in the direction I came from, and asks: "And mum?"
No matter how much I try, the tears can no longer be stopped. I can barely speak, but I
still manage to say: "She didn't make it either."
"Oh dad..." He gently puts Pan down and gets up. He hugs me, trying to hide his face in
my chest just like he used to do when he was a little boy, and after a moment of
hesitation I hug him back. Gohan is crying uncontrollably now, and I don't know what to
do, anything I could say would just be a hollow phrase, so I just hold him. At least we
still have each other, and Goten and Pan. After standing like that for quite some time
I'm starting to feel a little awkward. I'm not used to showing my emotions this openly,
and I take a step backwards. Gohan seems to get the message. He sniffs one more time and
wipes his tears away with his sleeve.
"OK, this is bad... But at least we can still wish them back with the Dragonballs, right
dad?"
"Huh? Oh yeah! You're right Gohan!" It had slipped my mind when Chi Chi had died, but he
is right. None of the people that had died had already been wished back, so there was no
reason why we shouldn't be able to wish them back. That's the first time I start thinking
about other people then the members of my family. What about Krillin? And Yamcha? And
Tien? Piccolo? If Krillin had died, it would be for good this time, because he had already
been wished back twice, with both the Earth and the Namekian Dragonballs. I need to know
how they are all doing!
"So Gohan, you're feeling better now aren't you?"
"Well, I'm still a little week, but I guess I can manage...we really should find out how
all the others are doing!" For a moment I wondered if he had read my mind, considering I
had been thinking the exact same thing just a few moments ago, but then I realized it was
only logical for him to think about all the others. He cares a great deal about them,
especially Piccolo. Gohan continued: "But if it's all the same to you, I'd rather wait
with that for a while, first I want to be sure Pan is all right."
I agreed with him. I care a great deal about my friends, especially Krillin, but my
family is just much more important.
"You're right Gohan, and after all, we're not really in a hurry. There's nothing we can
do for them anyway, so we might as well wait here so see if Goten and Pan are going to be
all right and THEN go see how all the others are doing."
"And after that, we will go find the Dragonballs and wish everyone back, won't we Dad?"
He looked a little better now, and I was proud he was handling the situation so well.
"Yes, and then everything will be all right again." I had a strange feeling in the pit of
my stomach, but I pushed it aside and smiled at Gohan.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Meanwhile, on a space ship circling the earth, there was a small celebration being held.
Just one hour ago, the message of their success had been transmitted to the Swarm. It had
said:
"Annihilation complete. The dominant bipedal race has been exterminated; the few remaining
survivors will not cause us any trouble. Planet is ready for Vhnori colonization and
mineral stripping."
The Vhnori were an insectoid race, physically baring a strong resemblance to locusts.
They were organized in Swarms, each swarm ruled by a Queen. Beneath the Queen came her
fertile daughters, then the breeders (fertile males), then the soldiers, and finally,
lowest in the hierarchy, the scouts. Both the scouts and the soldiers were infertile.
No one knew where the Swarm had originated, nor did any member of the Vhnori race really
care. For as long as they could remember they had traveled the galaxy, searching for
planets that could sustain them. Once the planet's resources were completely exhausted,
they would leave, the search beginning anew. In their wake only dead planets remained,
void of all life or even useful elements.
All people aboard this vessel were scouts, which meant they were all expandable. They had
been in orbit for almost two years, all the while remaining cloaked, studying the planet
for defense systems, useful technology and that sort of things. They had only decloaked
twice, once to get some human guinea pigs to test the virus on, and once to actually
spread the completed virus. The virus had been Karn's invention. It had been specifically
designed to attack any living being with a certain genetic code that was only present in
human genome.
To his horror, it had worked perfectly. The entire population of this planet's dominant
race was exterminated. He should be shrilled like all the others because their task had
been successfully completed, but he wasn't. Ever since he was born he had been different.
He actually thought about the things he was ordered to do. At a very young age he had
learned that having an opinion of your own was very dangerous, and he had remained silent
ever since, careful not to reveal he was different. All he could feel right now was guilt.
A virus he had created had completely destroyed a sentient, intelligent race, all because
he didn't have the guts to speak up. He stood with his back to the others. They wouldn't
understand how he felt, and even if they would, nothing could be done about it now. It
was too late. He had the blood of 9 billion living creatures on his hands. OK, they had
only been lower life forms, mere mammals, but still...
Tol'gar walked up to him and her antennae twitched excitedly. "Honor and eternal glory to
you, Karn, for excelling at your task. This is the highest extermination ratio ever to be
recorded! It's a glorious day for the Swarm!"
Karn sighted. Why couldn't he be like her, and be content doing the Queen's biddings,
never thinking about the results of his actions. She was his friend, his only friend in
fact, but he couldn't talk about the way he felt. He had tried once before, and she had
insisted he be examined to see if he was still functioning properly. 'Just like she
should have,' he thought. 'A defective worker could pose a huge threat to the safety of
all members of the Swarm, I know she did the right thing, but what if they would have
found me defective?' He already knew the answer.
Termination.
The Vhnori were technically very advanced, mainly because of all the technology they
stole after they had wiped out it's inventors, but a worker was worth nothing, not worth
the time or trouble. It was much easier to just breed another one. 'Tol'gar knew that,'
he continued his train of thought, 'but still she did what she was supposed to do, even
though she knew it could have gotten me terminated. The really bad part is that I wouldn't
have had HER examined, even though she might prove a risk to us all. She's my friend,
and I want her to stay here with me.' Tol'Gar looked at him expectantly and he realized
he hadn't reacted to her praise yet. He merely made an unhappy sounding chirping sound
and said: "Yes, a glorious day indeed."
Tol'gar looked at him curiously, but he would say nothing more.
End of this chapter
In the next chapter, those not already dead recover, the search for the Dragonballs
starts, and some more info on the would-be conquerors of Earth... Oh, and Piccolo is in
it too. Yep, he's going to be one of the stars in this fic!
Bulma and Videl died, Gohan, Goten, Pan, Trunks, Chi Chi and Bra were seriously ill, and
Vegeta and Goku had brought those members of their family still alive to Dende's lookout,
hoping Dende could heal them...
Apocalypse
Chapter three
18 (Juuhachigou)
I stand at the freshly dug grave. Rare tears are rolling down my cheeks, and I feel like
there's a hole inside my heart. I'm incomplete. I feel the need to say something, but
anything can I think of is just a hollow sentence, not good enough for you. I'll just
think the words, for where you are now it will make no difference whether I speak or
think.
Thank you, Krillin, for being the kind, gentle person you were. Thank you for seeing
something good in me, for saving my life when you should have destroyed me. Thank you for
believing in me, trusting me. And most of all, thank you for loving me. All I had before
I met you was anger and hate, and you filled my life with love. I knew I would outlive
you, my husband, but I had never thought it would end like this. You should have seen
Marron grow up, and hopefully have kids of her own. I know you would have loved to have
grandchildren, as would I.
My mouth has turned very dry, and I know it's because the saliva glands are no longer
functioning. Slowly my body is shutting down, organ by organ, and there is nothing I can
do. Whatever is was that killed Krillin has infected me too, and if I had been fully
human, I too, would already have been dead by now.
I had been very ill, but all of a sudden the illness was over. I felt a little weird,
but otherwise fine. I know now that would have been the time where I would have died if
it weren't for my cybernetic parts. Now my biological parts are already starting to decay,
I can smell it. It makes me want to go inside and take a shower until I can no longer smell
that awful stench anymore, but I know it's no use. I should probably get inside now that I
can still walk.
I push back the panicky feeling I can feel in the pit of my stomach. I've always been
calm and composed, and I know panicking won't do my any good. There's still something I
have to do inside. Before I die.
With a last wistful look at the grave I whisper: "Farewell for now, Krillin."
When I get inside, I stare at the telephone for a while, but I've long time ago come to
the conclusion that there is no help. Krillin is dead, Marron is gravely ill, and I'm
too damned weak to do anything. The phone works fine but there's no one left to contact.
Every time I do a general Ki scan there are fewer and fewer ki signatures left. The
population of the entire planet is dying. I can feel it. It won't be long before I join
them. The cascade failure has already started, and the knowledge that I'll be dead within
a day is overwhelming my last remaining bit of self-control.
I get down on my knees, and feel like crying, but startled I realize I can't cry anymore.
I feel like crying, but my tear glands won't respond. The strange feeling I've had all day
is getting stronger by the minute. I can't really explain what it feels like to have your
body decaying while you're still alive, but it's the most horrible experience I've ever
had in my life. It makes being absorbed by Cell seem like a walk in the park. To know
that I'm dying, and to know there's absolutely NOTHING I can do about it... I realize I
might lose my mind if I continue thinking about this, but does it really matter if I do
lose my mind? No one will be left by that time, and even I won't live long enough to
regret my insanity. Destructing things has always made me feel better, and letting go of
my sanity will deliver me from the torment of my rapidly decaying body. NO, I can't give
in. Not yet. Marron is still alive. I must take care of her first.
I go upstairs, to Marron's bedroom. Amazingly she's still alive. Maybe she's more
resilient because she's still young, who knows? I sit down, and fetch the wet cloth I had
put down on the chair besides her bed before I had gotten down the stairs and buried
Krillin. She hasn't been conscious for two days, and I fear the dehydration will kill her
before the illness does. I decide to once again try to get her to drink something. To my
surprise she isn't struggling anymore, and she seems eager to drink. I'm glad I can do her
that small favor.
Still, I didn't come here to prolong her suffering. I gently kiss her warm forehead while
a Ki blast is gathering in my hand. The blast grows stronger and stronger, up till the
point it is strong enough to instantly vaporize her, taking the house and me with her.
The amount of energy it takes to make the blast is out of proportion, I used to be much
more powerful, but at the moment I'm grateful for even this relatively small amount of
power. It will put both of us out of our misery.
Just when I'm ready to fire the blast, Marron turns her head in my direction and opens
her eyes. "Daddy?" she whispers. Although her eyes are open I know she doesn't see me.
"Mommy? Where are you? It's so hot. I want to swim. Please mommy? Please?" Her eyes close
again and she starts to toss and turn.
I stand there, Ki blast in my hand, and I realize I can't do it. She's my daughter, and
even though her chances at survival are slim at best, it still isn't completely sure she
will die, and I can't take her chance to live away from her. The energy dissolves, and I
gently wipe the wet cloth over her forehead again. Is it my imagination or is she feeling
a little bit cooler now? It's probably a malfunction in my heath-sensors, but still,
Marron might live. I don't have the right to play God.
All of a sudden my left legs collapses under me, and I fall to the floor. I manage to
get up, and lie down on the bed next to Marron. Gathering the energy for the blast has
taken too much from me, I can't go on anymore. I don't know if I should stay here, but I
realize that's an irrelevant question, since I'm to weak to go somewhere else. I'll just
hope Marron won't be too scared if she sees my dead body when she wakes.
Krillin, it won't be long until we're reunited.
GOKU
My plan has failed. Dende kept trying to heal her until he was so week he actually lost
consciousness, but it was no use.
Chi Chi has died.
All the others are doing better and Gohan has actually reached consciousness again, but
Chi Chi...is gone. I had been with her all the time while Dende was trying to heal her,
but she never regained consciousness. I'm still holding her hand now, unwilling to accept
the truth. I place a last kiss on her cold lips and I feel like my heart has been broken
into a million tiny pieces, but my eyes remain completely dry. I can't cry now, I must
remain focused. They need me. Vegeta is completely out of it, the death of his wife has
hit him much harder then I had expected. Maybe below his arrogant, indifferent exterior
he really loved her. Who knows? Now that his kids are doing better he is completely
ignoring his environment, retreating in himself. I know that's not a good sign, but I
have other things on my mind right now, I'll have to deal with Vegeta some other time.
When I look in the direction of my oldest son, I can see he is sitting up straight,
carefully holding Pan in his arms. With a last wistful glance at Chi Chi I get up and
walk over to him. I am relieved to see Pans face has regained a normal color, and when I
put my hand on her forehead I can feel her temperature is back to normal as well.
Gohan looks at me, and hesitantly he asks: "Were's Videl?"
The hopeful look in his eyes is almost more than I can bear. How can I tell him she died?
I slowly shake my head. "I'm sorry son, but she didn't make it." Tears well up in his
eyes.
"I knew that, dad, but deep in my heart I kept on hoping it had all been a bad dream." He
looks in the direction I came from, and asks: "And mum?"
No matter how much I try, the tears can no longer be stopped. I can barely speak, but I
still manage to say: "She didn't make it either."
"Oh dad..." He gently puts Pan down and gets up. He hugs me, trying to hide his face in
my chest just like he used to do when he was a little boy, and after a moment of
hesitation I hug him back. Gohan is crying uncontrollably now, and I don't know what to
do, anything I could say would just be a hollow phrase, so I just hold him. At least we
still have each other, and Goten and Pan. After standing like that for quite some time
I'm starting to feel a little awkward. I'm not used to showing my emotions this openly,
and I take a step backwards. Gohan seems to get the message. He sniffs one more time and
wipes his tears away with his sleeve.
"OK, this is bad... But at least we can still wish them back with the Dragonballs, right
dad?"
"Huh? Oh yeah! You're right Gohan!" It had slipped my mind when Chi Chi had died, but he
is right. None of the people that had died had already been wished back, so there was no
reason why we shouldn't be able to wish them back. That's the first time I start thinking
about other people then the members of my family. What about Krillin? And Yamcha? And
Tien? Piccolo? If Krillin had died, it would be for good this time, because he had already
been wished back twice, with both the Earth and the Namekian Dragonballs. I need to know
how they are all doing!
"So Gohan, you're feeling better now aren't you?"
"Well, I'm still a little week, but I guess I can manage...we really should find out how
all the others are doing!" For a moment I wondered if he had read my mind, considering I
had been thinking the exact same thing just a few moments ago, but then I realized it was
only logical for him to think about all the others. He cares a great deal about them,
especially Piccolo. Gohan continued: "But if it's all the same to you, I'd rather wait
with that for a while, first I want to be sure Pan is all right."
I agreed with him. I care a great deal about my friends, especially Krillin, but my
family is just much more important.
"You're right Gohan, and after all, we're not really in a hurry. There's nothing we can
do for them anyway, so we might as well wait here so see if Goten and Pan are going to be
all right and THEN go see how all the others are doing."
"And after that, we will go find the Dragonballs and wish everyone back, won't we Dad?"
He looked a little better now, and I was proud he was handling the situation so well.
"Yes, and then everything will be all right again." I had a strange feeling in the pit of
my stomach, but I pushed it aside and smiled at Gohan.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Meanwhile, on a space ship circling the earth, there was a small celebration being held.
Just one hour ago, the message of their success had been transmitted to the Swarm. It had
said:
"Annihilation complete. The dominant bipedal race has been exterminated; the few remaining
survivors will not cause us any trouble. Planet is ready for Vhnori colonization and
mineral stripping."
The Vhnori were an insectoid race, physically baring a strong resemblance to locusts.
They were organized in Swarms, each swarm ruled by a Queen. Beneath the Queen came her
fertile daughters, then the breeders (fertile males), then the soldiers, and finally,
lowest in the hierarchy, the scouts. Both the scouts and the soldiers were infertile.
No one knew where the Swarm had originated, nor did any member of the Vhnori race really
care. For as long as they could remember they had traveled the galaxy, searching for
planets that could sustain them. Once the planet's resources were completely exhausted,
they would leave, the search beginning anew. In their wake only dead planets remained,
void of all life or even useful elements.
All people aboard this vessel were scouts, which meant they were all expandable. They had
been in orbit for almost two years, all the while remaining cloaked, studying the planet
for defense systems, useful technology and that sort of things. They had only decloaked
twice, once to get some human guinea pigs to test the virus on, and once to actually
spread the completed virus. The virus had been Karn's invention. It had been specifically
designed to attack any living being with a certain genetic code that was only present in
human genome.
To his horror, it had worked perfectly. The entire population of this planet's dominant
race was exterminated. He should be shrilled like all the others because their task had
been successfully completed, but he wasn't. Ever since he was born he had been different.
He actually thought about the things he was ordered to do. At a very young age he had
learned that having an opinion of your own was very dangerous, and he had remained silent
ever since, careful not to reveal he was different. All he could feel right now was guilt.
A virus he had created had completely destroyed a sentient, intelligent race, all because
he didn't have the guts to speak up. He stood with his back to the others. They wouldn't
understand how he felt, and even if they would, nothing could be done about it now. It
was too late. He had the blood of 9 billion living creatures on his hands. OK, they had
only been lower life forms, mere mammals, but still...
Tol'gar walked up to him and her antennae twitched excitedly. "Honor and eternal glory to
you, Karn, for excelling at your task. This is the highest extermination ratio ever to be
recorded! It's a glorious day for the Swarm!"
Karn sighted. Why couldn't he be like her, and be content doing the Queen's biddings,
never thinking about the results of his actions. She was his friend, his only friend in
fact, but he couldn't talk about the way he felt. He had tried once before, and she had
insisted he be examined to see if he was still functioning properly. 'Just like she
should have,' he thought. 'A defective worker could pose a huge threat to the safety of
all members of the Swarm, I know she did the right thing, but what if they would have
found me defective?' He already knew the answer.
Termination.
The Vhnori were technically very advanced, mainly because of all the technology they
stole after they had wiped out it's inventors, but a worker was worth nothing, not worth
the time or trouble. It was much easier to just breed another one. 'Tol'gar knew that,'
he continued his train of thought, 'but still she did what she was supposed to do, even
though she knew it could have gotten me terminated. The really bad part is that I wouldn't
have had HER examined, even though she might prove a risk to us all. She's my friend,
and I want her to stay here with me.' Tol'Gar looked at him expectantly and he realized
he hadn't reacted to her praise yet. He merely made an unhappy sounding chirping sound
and said: "Yes, a glorious day indeed."
Tol'gar looked at him curiously, but he would say nothing more.
End of this chapter
In the next chapter, those not already dead recover, the search for the Dragonballs
starts, and some more info on the would-be conquerors of Earth... Oh, and Piccolo is in
it too. Yep, he's going to be one of the stars in this fic!