Bloodlines VI

Disclaimer: Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon do not belong to me, I make no money from this work of fanfiction.

This is dedicated to Cimorene D, who refused to give up on me.

            Bardock wondered what was wrong with him.

            Ever since he had met Serenity and bonded with her, missions had never been the same. Instead of the thrill of fighting, of getting his knuckles wet with blood… he felt anger. Pathetic anger that he was fighting people who not only couldn't give him a proper challenge, but were dying for nothing. People, not objects to hit…

            "Dammit," he muttered. This was the kind of attitude that would get him killed. Not by the enemy- they were too weak. By his own people…

            Then again, and he smirked, his 'people', his crew, were all expressing the same kind of dissatisfaction with their battles that he was. No way were they going to give up fighting period- just this useless fighting of people weaker than they were.

            "So, why are we here again?" asked Toma, fiddling with an earring.

            "We are here to clear out the planet 'cause Furiza thinks there is something about this planet that will give him psychic powers."

            "Furiza with psychic powers? Now, there is my worst nightmare come to life… on the flip side, it might help him finally figure out that his lipstick doesn't look all that great…" muttered Seripa, shuddering.

            The rest of the team looked uneasy. What had been going lately had bothered them all, and they turned to Bardock for reassurance. He had none to give.

            "I hate this as much as you. Our hands are tied. No one is strong enough to beat that asshole yet. This will make him stronger… and… " He looked away.

            "Yeah, it ain't as fun as it used to be, is it?"

            He sighed, and shook his head.

            "Tonight is the full moon on Kanasaa. We shouldn't have any problems. Let's get the chicken shit party over with…"

~*~*~*~*~*~

            Bardock stared at the moon above him, not really seeing it after a moment, as its light filled his mind and body, causing him to grow, expand, become a monstrous, hairy ape. He started on his rampage, killing heedlessly, grateful for the animal rage that blocked conscious thought. He didn't want to really remember it this time, and he let himself be subsumed by it.

            He was shocked when another image took its place.

            Serenity was hiding, in a gardening shed.

            She'd removed her robe, which she had taken to wearing to hide her gravid form, and it pooled, beside her feet. She'd ripped the spandex of her clothing and was gasping in pain, squatting, waiting for her child to be born.

            Images slipped in between, of the occasional warrior almost getting past his defenses and fighting, while phantom pain would rip through him, causing him to become clumsy.

            Contractions ripped through her, as she waited, waited for the king to leave on another mission.

            She had known of her son's impending birth and all that it implied… Implied what? He asked himself, confused.

            The prince was off planet… That, and Bardock's other sons…

            OTHER sons? What was she talking about?

            Pain filled the world, and the Princess decided she would never make fun of Bardock about his link to his first mate again.

            Time passed…

            How many hours, she did not know. The pains would go and come, getting worse and worse. Then her water broke, soaking her legs, and she shook from the pain.

            She couldn't hold it anymore- she screamed, a long, harsh wail that cut the air.

            Bardock bellowed, a bestial cry, swatting at the warriors sent to stop him.

            Suddenly there was a shiver in the air around him, and he turned to see the full moon start dip beneath the horizon.

            In his mind, as he dropped to his knees, he could feel her first born pass from her body, squalling, protesting its abrupt arrival into this cold uncaring universe from his mother's warm, safe womb.

            The fight was over, so he thought.

~*~*~*~*~

            Images swirled through his mind like shards of glass. His son, growing up and facing… something. Serenity, wearing a strange skirt…

            The most terrifying image was that of the planet Vegeta being destroyed…

            No- it couldn't be… It couldn't!

            The images continued, unabated, not matter how much he wished for them to stop. Serenity, in the arms of a masked man, his son…

            His son?

            The boy in Serenity's arms was… his?

            He wished he could feel tears going down his face right then…

            His eyes… his eyes… where open?

            Suddenly he realized he was in a healing tank- and memories flooded him. He remembered easily defeating the fish people- then remembered one attacking him.

            It told him that he had the ability to see the future now… He tried to grapple with this memory as the tank drained. It had to be a load of shit. It had to be.

            "Commander Bardock, sir!" came the voice of an attendant. He turned, and saw the alien gesturing for him to get his close.

            "Where's my crew?" Bardock asked, still somewhat disoriented.

            "Oh, they decided they could handle this job without you and left already. Hey, did you hear about…?" The rest of the attendant's words were reduced to background noise as a sudden terror ripped its way through Bardock's heart. They were in danger…

            Without another word he took off to the laugh pad, but stopped dead when he heard a baby cry. Staring, wondering where this strange sense of fate or doom, or whatever it was, came from; he walked down to see a baby in an incubator, screaming at the top of his lungs.

            "His name is Kakarrot," said a voice from behind him, and Bardock whirled around to look, freezing when he saw whom it was.

            "Serenity…" he whispered, and pulled her close. He buried his nose in her hair, inhaling her scent, then pulled away, and looked at her.

            "Is… is he?" he choked out, looking back at the boy… who looked exactly like him, except for a faint crescent moon on his forehead.

            Serenity smiled and nodded at him. He swallowed, hard.

            "The King, does he know?"

            "He hasn't been here, though he is due back later today," she whispered. "I'll take care of it."

            Bardock felt the sudden terror hit him again at her words, and looked around. "I have to go; my crew needs me."

            Serenity didn't say anything, as she watched his back, while he turned and ran to the pods. She wondered if she should cry for them, and leaned back against a wall, weariness overwhelming her. Oddly, she felt like laughing, and went around to get her little boy, who had stopped crying when he saw her, and cooed. He was wild, almost savage with anyone else, but with her, he was the sweetest of babies. She smiled down at him as she pulled down her top to nurse him, and he hungrily ate, making little grunts of happiness.

            The many doctors and nurses that ran around, tending the babies looked at her oddly, but knew now to leave her alone. This beautiful alien was too kind to question for long.

            Kakarrot was finished with his breakfast, and yawned, cuddling up against her, and she smiled down at him again, even as another wave of weakness washed over her. Whimpering, she closed her eyes, feelings and images from Bardock assaulting her.

            How can this be? She asked herself, realizing that some of the flashes from him were of their son- grown, the way she had seen him, only from the from the confusion in his mind, he didn't really know this.

            Sighing, she managed to stumble out of the nursery, clutching her son to her chest. It seemed to take forever, while she struggled down those halls, to the place where babies were sent out to other planets.

            "Oh, great Serenity," she murmured, tears streaking her face. "They're all dead!" The shock and mental anguish that assaulted her mind from Bardock's caused her to double over, and she could feel a soft whimper from Kakarrot as he looked up at her. He started to cry- his mommy, the one who smelled nice and was warm, and gave him food and love, was sad, and that was bad. Even a few hours old, and he already knew it. Serenity paused to comfort him.

            She was so tired…

            Blood hadn't stopped its trickle down her legs, since the baby's birth. She'd been hemorrhaging- and she hadn't done anything to stop it. She knew it was a matter of time now.

            No one had stopped her thus far…

            "WOMAN? What are you doing here?" yelled a young voice.

            Turning weakly, she saw Prince Vegeta, accompanied, as always, by Raditz. His official bodyguard was Nappa- a large, stupid brute. But Raditz, while weaker, was smarter, something even so young a prince could appreciate.

            Serenity quickly put Kakarrot in a pod. "I am saving the future," she murmured, with absolute certainty. She staggered over to the controls, and gave the coordinates for earth. There was loud squalling from the pod.

            Prince Vegeta looked in at the baby. "Why are you sending him off? My father is so stupid he'd never notice this wasn't his child…"

            Sighing wearily, Serenity stroked her son's face one last time. "If you value your life, Vegeta, Raditz, get off world, now. I don't know how much time there is left. Something is going to happen, I don't know what."

            Both looked at her skeptically.

            Frowning at them, she sent all the love she could to his mind, comfort and peace. He would be safe soon, and she prayed that whoever found him would love him like she did.

            Then she closed the pod, and stabbed her finger at the launch button.

            Her son went streaking away, and she collapsed to the ground, wailing, because she would never see him again…

            "What is your PROBLEM woman?" Vegeta snorted, looking at her.

            She turned to glare at him. "I am saving your life. Vegeta- I don't know what the future holds for you… " Without warning she hugged him, hugged him tightly while he struggled, and slowly accepted her embrace. He'd never been hugged before, but he liked the feeling it gave him. He inhaled her sweet fragrance, feeling for the first time, loved and safe…

            Serenity took the opportunity to teleport him away, to safety.

            Then she smiled at Raditz, and did the same to him.

            Her vision went gray with the loss of strength, and she held on to consciousness with her teeth and toenails, and struggled to get to someplace… anyplace.

            She finally blacked out, on a stairwell, seeing Bardock fighting for his life, in her mind's eye…

~*~*~*~*~

            "Kitten?" asked a voice, calling her back from the flat, gray place she had been in. She didn't really want to go- she hurt too much.

            "SERENITY!" said that same, shaky voice, and she opened her eyes, to see Bardock, a bloody mess.

            "Oh, Bardock, I am so sorry…" she murmured, and touched his face. She couldn't heal him- she had no strength left for anything, even keeping her own heart beating for much longer.

            He didn't seem to know that. He hefted her arm over his shoulder, and dragged her up to standing, and got them both to a balcony.

            "Furiza is coming," he coughed, blood frothing his lips. Serenity nodded.

            "I can still stop him," she heard him gasp, and she shook her head.

            "Love… you can't. You can't… "

            "I must! I can't let him destroy my world!"

            She grabbed his face then, and kissed him, holding him with everything she had.

            He kissed her back, just as fervently.

            Both of them panted as they pulled away.

            "This is goodbye, you know," she whispered, leaning into his shoulder. "You'll die."

            Bardock closed his eyes, knowing what she said he was true, though he stubbornly denied it.

            "I have to try, kitten. I have to."

            Serenity smiled, and Bardock saw how pale she was for the first time, how sickly…

            "Both of us will, won't we," he murmured, as she fell into his arms, no longer seeing anything.

            He could feel her spirit straining against the bonds that held it. He closed his eyes, and hugged her, tears and blood masking his face.

            She said something, and he leaned over, to hear her. "Bardock… take… favor with you, and my love…" her fingers plucked weakly at her clothing, and he gently tore a bit of it free, and clutched it tightly.

            "Go… my Knight…" she said inaudibly, and then her soul slipped free, leaving her frail mortal shell behind.

            Bardock keened, head tossed back, and he placed her on the ground. His world was crumbling around him, and he shot into the air, the focus of his rage in front of him.

            An army stood between him and his goal. He didn't care- armies meant nothing to him. He plowed in.

            He saw nothing but the massive ship in front of him. Struggling, he stopped when it opened, revealing the pale, horned being that was the source of his nightmares.

            "Furiza!" he roared, staring into his eyes. "I have something to tell you, maggot! YOU WILL DIE! If not by my hand, then that of Kakarrot! KAKARROT IS COMING! "

            He barely flinched when Furiza raised his finger, and a ball of ki grew at the tip of it.

            He charged up a blast, knowing that it would be like spitting on a fire to put it out… a kitten hissing at a tiger. The blast was tossed- and absorbed into the massive energy ball…

            That bastard kills his own people like they are nothing- even his elites… Bardock thought, and peace fell over him.

            "Our redemption for the sin of working for you is coming, monster," he said calmly, even as the explosion caught him up, and he was consumed…

            He smiled up into the eyes of his killer.

            "KAKARROT!"

To be continued.