Power, Deception, Lies
Part IX
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"Mirai Trunks!" Gohan exclaimed in surprise at the ageless adolescent before him. "We haven't seen you since the androids…" Gohan stopped suddenly, seeing Eighteen's glare in response to that.
"What brings you back to the past?" Goku added.
"I came to warn you," Mirai said hurriedly, his eyes glancing at the beautiful unconscious Prince on the ground. "You're all in danger. Pilaf, Garlic, Cell and Frieza have awakened- as you can tell by Pilaf who almost hurt you- but they've got something up their sleeve."
"What is it?" Eighteen asked, curious.
"I don't know," Mirai continued his quick and awkward speech, speaking in a rushed continuous tone. "A dark force is moving across the earth- I can't tell exactly what it is, for its face has never been revealed to me. But I can tell you something- it's not any of those four goons I'm talking about. I tell you now to watch out, for I must warn you about Waterville."
"Waterville?" Videl mused. "That rings a bell… although…"
Mirai ignored her. "Waterville is an island famous for its ancient rule which has fallen under this darkness. It's mind-boggling how much death and disaster it has bestowed upon the island- several armies have been slain, the Queen and the advisor has disappeared, the King is wounded, and the Prince…"
Mirai paused, out of breath. Goku placed a friendly hand on his shoulder in worry, which immediately made Mirai spring up and continue, embarrassing himself for jumping a little at the hand which he'd unconsciously shaken off his shoulder.
"…The Prince and the Princess in my time has been drugged with some evil liquid-mist like the one Garlic used a few years ago, although the Prince was not fully drugged until some time after the Princess. I came here to stop Pilaf from doing it- but it seems like I'm too late."
"A… Prince?" Videl's eyes almost clouded over as she gazed at the unconscious young one on the ground, trying to swallow the words. "Marty is the Prince of an island?"
As though Videl had said the magic words, Marty regained consciousness, opening his eyes. Videl walked over to him in great relief, to see if he was alright-
"Videl!" Mirai yelled, "Stay away from him!"
-But it was too late. Marty sprang up unexpectedly and struck Videl hard across the face, which was not helping her earlier wounds. Videl fell over with a cry of pain, a pain both of her cheek and of her heart. Beautiful, angelic Marty- without the heart to even pick a leaf off the stalk of a rose, let alone disturb the caterpillar on it- why would he have hurt her?
Mirai ran forward and pulled Videl up harshly, although not meaning to. "The dark liquid is taking effect," he explained, standing protectively in front of the four Z warriors, as he eyed the teenager in front of him. It melted his heart with sympathy as he gazed at Marty- he remained beautiful of facial features, even though his eyes had darkened slightly with the shadow that was eating at his soul. His skin was still smooth and white- although now a little too white- and although his features were still breathtaking, the hint of coldness in this new expression was enough to send a shudder through anyone who laid eyes upon him.
'Martius, I'm sorry…' Mirai swallowed at the voice in his mind, a chill traveling down his spine. 'I can't undo the past…'
* * * * *
"You FOOL!" Cell snapped, as he struck the short and shrimpy Pilaf twice across the face. "You can't even defeat a little girly brat and you DARE to come back here?!"
Pilaf flinched, raising his good arm to protect himself from any more of Cell's attacks. "I don't know what happened," he panicked, speaking honestly. "I managed to drug the prince… but then something attacked me from behind and broke my arm…"
"Of all the stupidity…" Cell cursed under his breath, his fist itching to make contact with Pilaf's head. He tried almost unsuccessfully to regain his composure, for he knew Pilaf had at least done part of his job. "Go into the healing room, you may find something to heal your arm there."
"Thanks," Pilaf squeaked and ran across the room of the spaceship to a hallway, although having to dodge the extremely agitated blow that Cell was having difficulty suppressing.
"The rest of you," Cell shot a harsh look at Frieza and Garlic, "You come with me, and see what's going on."
"Oh, goody," Frieza responded, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he grabbed a long silver sword leaning against the wall. Although he had not fully recovered from the effects of the excessive brandy consumption that made him insane the last time, his old attitude was beginning to return, which annoyed Cell.
As the three figures were about to step off the invisible-mode spaceship, a soft clicking like high-heeled shoes sounded behind them. Cell turned back, and seeing the beautiful young lady on the ship whose seductive smile was making his heart melt, smirked back at the girl who had just emerged from the shadows on the ship.
"What about me?" she said in a soft, naughty voice, running her slender fingers through her long, blond hair. "Am I coming too?"
"Not now," Cell replied, his pulse rate skyrocketing at the sight of the beauty before him. "Later. When I tell you to… you know what to do."
"Indeed," she smiled, before disappearing into the shadows once more. Cell grinned, proud of such an achievement, and beckoned his two companions to fly down the mountains, stepping off the ship and blasting off himself as fast as a rocket.
* * * * *
Marty stood before Mirai and the four Z warriors, who were shocked and frightened and sorrowful at the same time. Marty has changed and the fault isn't even his, Goku thought, sadness searing through his heart.
Marty remained ethereally breathtaking despite his conversion, as a cold smile appeared on his white face. "What's the matter, Videl?" he asked in his usual soft tone of voice, although with a hint of darkness in it. He ignored Mirai as he looked past his shoulder, straight through to the confused adolescent girl behind him. "I thought you couldn't stand seeing me down. I thought someone holy and sacred like me… shouldn't fall and be wounded. Well, I'm up now, aren't I? Aren't we gonna catch up?"
Videl fearfully stared at Marty, unconsciously backing away. However, she was even more surprised when three figures bolted out of the sky and landed behind Marty, a stupid grin spread across their alien faces.
"Garlic, Cell, Frieza," Goku muttered in shock, as the wind that the three evil ones had brought with them as they flew down still had not died away. "So it is true."
The three dark foes ignored him. "Here, Marty," Cell said, handing Marty a small green stone, which the Z warriors couldn't really make out because of its size… at least, it looked like a stone.
"Watch out," Mirai yelled suddenly, shocked by what he had just seen. "Those little green tablets were what turned the others into stone!"
"Stone?" Eighteen faltered in confusion. This was all getting slightly complicated, and she wasn't the only one who was now having a lot of difficulty understanding what was going on.
"Is that a challenge, pest?" Marty stepped forward with a neutral face, horrifying Mirai as he realized Marty was talking to him. "You think you're far more powerful than me? Oh, don't think so, son of the Prince of the Saiyans. This drug works wonders. I am far happier on the dark side than I've ever been, whining for others' approval and protection on the side of good."
"How do you know? You've only been evil for a few minutes," Mirai shot back, wondering how Marty had known he was Vegita's son. Did Cell and the others tell him while he was half-drugged, or had the drug…
"You're not yourself, you're under the influence of a shadow that is eating at your soul. And you know that I will stop you no matter what, for you are REALLY starting to irritate me. Can you even fight, for HEAVEN'S SAKE??"
"'Course I can, fool," Marty replied coldly, narrowing his eyes. "As son of the King of Waterville I did not train with weaponry under the master Sindor for nothing."
Mirai stiffened slightly at that name, and Marty smiled at the lavender-haired adolescent's response. "Yes… you know who I'm talking about. So, are we to fight, or no? Or do you need diapers, you pathetic, whimpering babe? From the looks of you, you can't even fight without your mother by your side. Oops! I forgot. She's DEAD! …In your time anyway, but still, she is DEAD, and perhaps it was good that she was slain."
Mirai, in his anger, pulled his sword savagely out of the scabbard that hung on his back, and ran towards Marty, his temper getting the better of him. But Marty just calmly smiled, grabbed the sword that Frieza held right out of his hands, and a silvery sound rang through the air as the swords clashed, shocking Mirai that Marty had been able to block that attack.
"I am a master swordsman and archer, child," the Prince of Waterville mocked, seeing the exploding anger highlighted on Mirai's flushed cheeks. "…For my island rules with the ways of the old, and it is the ancient ways that give us power."
"Well, that makes you less powerful, for I have the ability to attack with energy, while you can't," Mirai replied with a twinge of irritation, suddenly realizing he shouldn't have said that with Cell, Frieza and Garlic standing behind Marty.
The swords clashed again, as Goku, Gohan, Eighteen and Videl leapt out of the way, Marty seemingly maneuvering Mirai to the ground. Mirai grew desperate as he realized that Marty wasn't lying when he had claimed to have learnt the ways of the swordsman and was a master at the blade. Mirai completely abandoned his honor as Marty managed to make him fall on his back, blasting a bright orange energy ball at the island Prince he was dueling with.
However, Marty had not revealed the true extent of his power. He passed the green tablet he held into his other hand that held his sword, and with his newly free hand released a purple beam of energy from his palm, much to the horror of the four Z warriors and Mirai who had been successfully maneuvered onto the ground. The large purple beam swallowed up Mirai's orange ball, and hit Mirai's shoulder, a large bang exploding through the air and smoke flying up from where the beam hit.
Mirai suppressed his scream of pain, as he saw the blood gushing out of his shoulder. To his horror, the next thing he saw was Marty's long, smooth sword, pressed against his neck.
"I have the ability to attack with energy, while you can't," Marty mocked, forcing an evil laugh of satisfaction out of the three evil foes behind him. "I advise that you really get to know your foes better, before accusations like that slip your tongue."
In desperation mixed with anger, Mirai slammed the sharp blade from his neck, cursing himself as he deeply cut his hand. But he paid it no heed as he grabbed the little green capsule from Marty's other hand, and slipped it into Marty's mouth with a bleeding hand clamped over it, violently startling Marty who didn't expect it.
Marty tried to shake his attacker free, as he feared for his life. The young Prince's head began to spin as he felt the dissolving tablet run down his throat, and he felt his body going coldly limp… the sword fell out of his hand, and he felt Mirai's hand release him as he fell to the ground. Marty's mouth was open, shaped into a cry of despair, but it never came out. He had already turned to stone.
Horror immediately shot through the Z warriors as Marty turned silver. Their eyes blurred with tears of despair as hundreds of thoughts rushed through all their minds at once. Marty… beautiful, kind, gentle, teasing, bewitching… he was gone, and they could not even remember the final words he'd said to them. Sorrow pained at Videl's heart as she intensely tried to stifle a fierce sob, feeling the strength almost drained from her as she restrained the weakness to fall to her knees.
The three dark ones were also shocked, as Mirai turned a threatening glance that pierced them. Cell narrowed his eyes, grabbed the stone statue of Marty on the ground, and flew like a rocket up the large mountain that bordered the Fields, Frieza and Garlic following disgustedly behind.
Cell angrily flew up the mountain with the stone Prince in his arms, furious at the defeat. He landed at the hidden site at the mountaintop, where their invisible spaceship lay, and felt around thin air for the door, gaining raised eyebrows from Frieza and Garlic at the very mentally unhealthy look.
Cell finally found the door, and entered the invisible-mode ship, the entire ship suddenly becoming visible to him as he entered, although from outside where Frieza and Garlic were, it looked as though Cell walked into thin air and disappeared. Frieza and Garlic shrugged their shoulders and followed behind, hearing the rich, sweet laughter of the beautiful blond maiden that was on the ship with them.
What the two aliens saw as they entered was Cell fuming at the blond one, who was laughing at him and the stone Prince in his arms cruelly. Pilaf cringed as he stood behind the maiden, his bruised and bloody arm finally immobilized with soft white bandages.
"So my soft, kind-hearted, unworthy brother failed in his duty?" the Princess of Waterville purred, her eyes widening with a glint of coldness shining through them. "…Never leave a man to do a woman's job."
To be continued…