(AN: Disclaimers are in the prologue. I ain't writing 'em. Also, I want to
thank the 31 (as of 9:25 PM 2/13) people have reviewed. Shame shame to the
372 people who didn't review! Tsk, tsk! Anyhow, sorry if this chapter is
short. Be warned, however, that this chapter has a doozy of a cliff hanger!
*evil grin AND laughter* Any suggestions for the next chapter is greatly
appreciated, since I'm on the third page of that chapter and am currently
expirencing total writer's block......... Also, I'm not gonna tell you who
ends up with who. *smirk* You'll see...... Anyway, enjoy! Ja ne!)
Chapter Two: There's a Hero-
Rayne led them through the deserted building up towards the sun.
"Here we go," she said, opening a door. The four shielded their eyes
against the brightness. When they could see, they looked around in horror.
The buildings they had once strolled by and admired for their beauty now
stood crumbling and deserted. The grass that the city had kept so nice and
green was now gone, replaced by dirt and mud. The paved road was now a mass
of dissolving rubble.
"What happened?" Pan asked with horror, inching closer to her uncle.
Goten held her to his side, staring around grimly. Bra clung onto Trunks's
hand, shivering. Trunks looked around, aghast.
"The androids happened," Rayne said, her voice abruptly bitter. Suddenly
a loud cry shattered the stillness, and a blue blur flew through the air to
wrap its around Rayne's neck. With a startled cry, Rayne staggered backwards.
Goten and Trunks tensed, ready for action. Then they stood, surprised, as
Rayne began to smile.
"Hey, buddy!" she said, a true smile forming on her lips. On closer
inspection, Trunks realized that blue blur was actually a creature. And that
creature looked awfully familiar...
"Rayne! I was so worried!" the blue creature squeaked, and instantly
Trunks recognized the creature.
"Puar!" he cried, staring at Yamucha's floating friend. The blue cat
looked up, and her jaw dropped.
"T-Trunks?" she stammered weakly. "G-Goten? P-Pan? B-Bra?" Trunks grinned
at the familiar blue cat.
"Good to see you, old friend," Goten said warmly as Puar detached herself
from Rayne's neck and floated before the four. Unexpectedly, Puar burst into
tears.
"Oh Goten! You look so much like Goku!" Puar wailed. "A-And Bra looks so
much Bulma...." Rayne frowned and dug around in her pockets for something.
"Here, Puar," Rayne said, pulling out a piece of an orange rag and
handing it to Puar. Puar buried her face into it, sniffling.
"What a touching reunion," a cold voice drawled, and Rayne's cheerful
look vanished in an instant, replaced by a look of rage. She spun around to
face the man who had stepped out of the shadows.
"Dean Morris," she spat, her voice suddenly loathing. "Fancy meeting you
here, Android-lover."
"Rayne Sirec," the man drawled, his cold blue eyes amused. "Nice to see
you also, rebel. Who are your friends?" Rayne didn't flinch.
"Neutrals," she said evenly. "You can't touch them." Morris looked
briefly disappointed, then smirked coldly.
"Then I'll just get to enjoy capturing the famous She Who Weeps who's
supposed to raise the Four who are to defeat the Mighty Androids," Morris
sneered, and powered up in a blaze of white light. To Trunks's shock, Rayne
began to power up with a scream.
"It's She Who Cries, idiot!" she screamed in a blaze of violet ki, then
threw herself at Morris. Trunks started forward, but was blocked by Puar, who
had dropped the orange rag.
"Don't! She's giving you this chance to escape! I'll show you where to
hide!" Yamucha's old follower whispered urgently. After hesitating for a
second, Trunks slowly nodded. The five watched as Rayne kicked at the other's
head, and Morris ducked, punching her in the face and send her flying several
feet.
"You'll pay for that, Android-underling!" Rayne screamed in rage as she
landed, and launched herself at him again. Her fist cracked against his jaw
and Morris was sent spinning. Even as Pan, Goten, and Bra began to follow
Puar, Trunks watched the blood trickling from Rayne's nose. Without even
checking, he knew Morris was much stronger than Rayne. With a sigh, he turned
and slowly followed Puar away.
"Good luck, hikyuu," he said quietly, and his whisper was echoed by Pan's
quiet, "Arigatou, Rayne-sama." Goten and Bra repeated Pan. The five
disappeared into the rubble, traveling for a long time in silence. Finally
Puar broke the strained quiet.
"Rayne will be all right," Puar said confidently, but Trunks could hear
the fear in her voice. "She always gets out of trouble....... somehow......
Just like Yamucha u-used to........" Her voice trembled, and once again the
azure cat burst into tears. Pan gently took the sobbing Puar into her arms,
and attempted to soothe her. Slowly the cat calmed and simply sniffled into
Pan's sleeve.
"It'll be okay, Puar," Pan whispered. "We'll make it okay." Puar slowly
stopped sniffling and looked up towards Pan's serious dark eyes.
"Now," Pan said quietly. "May we go see my grandfather now? Rayne will
meet us there." Puar took a ragged breath.
"Okay," she said shakily. "Follow me." The five grim figures melted into
the rubble as an explosion echoed their departure.
************************************************************************
Rayne dragged herself up from the hole in the earth her body had created.
She spit dirt from her mouth, and glowered at Morris.
"How could you join with the androids?" she spat, wiping the blood and
dirt from her lips. Why did the bad guys always have to be so damn strong?
Why couldn't the bad guys be weak for once?
"Longer life expectancy," Morris said with a shrug. "I'll live a lot
longer than you." Rayne smiled coldly.
"We'll see about that," she sneered, and got into a fighting stance.
Morris lunged for her, and once again they began to fight. Rayne powered up
to fifty percent, hoping that Morris wasn't as strong as she thought he was.
Rayne managed to punch him on the stomach, and he doubled over.
"Hah!" she yelled, slamming her fists into the back of his neck. Morris
fell to his knees, gagging. Rayne pummeled his neck and head a couple of
times, then leapt back as his gagging stopped. Morris got to his feet, and
slowly look up at her. Rayne's eyes narrowed at his smirk.
"You've gotten stronger since we last fought," he commented, wiping the
blood off his cheek.
"Of course. Have you?" Rayne sneered, and charged with a scream.
************************************************************************
"We should rest for a little while. Sleeping for twenty years must have
left your muscles pretty weak," Puar said, and they crept into a deserted and
crumbling house.
"Hai, exactly," Pan sighed, stretching her aching muscles. "We need a
small break."
"No one's disagreeing," Goten said cheerfully, seeming to have regained
his spirits. "Why don't we chat?"
"Hai, what have you been doing for the last few years, Puar?" Bra asked.
"Well, after Yamucha d-died, I hung out with Bulma for a year until I met
Rayne. We instantly became friends, and I've been hanging out with her,
Cloud, and Storm ever since." Puar's voice stumbled over the word 'died' as
if it was still hard for him to accept that his comrade and best friend was
dead.
"Storm? Cloud?" Trunks said, cocking an eyebrow.
"Her little brother and sister. Cloud is her little brother, and Storm is
her little sister," Puar explained. Her eyes grew sad and misty as she
continued, "Quite sad, actually. When Rayne was twelve, Cloud two, and Storm
three, their entire family was murdered by the androids while Gohan was
visiting. Gohan fought the three androids by himself, but was injured. Goku
arrived just in time to take the fatal blow for him, but he ended up in a
coma instead. Rayne's mother, Icicle, and father, Damson, were killed by the
strongest android within the first few minutes of the battle. Rayne's little
sister Snow was murdered a few minutes later. Rayne's older brother Thunder
was killed protecting Cloud and Storm. Rayne's other older brother Bolt was
murdered helping Gohan against the androids before Goku arrived. Rayne had
been beaten near death, protecting her twin sister Fall, who was killed
anyway while Rayne was unconscious. I guess that's why Rayne was so intent of
awaking you. She feels she owes it to Gohan to wake his only living relatives
up because she thinks she caused him to lose his father. Rayne's also good
friends with Bulma, and knew how much she missed you. Icicle and Damson were
good friends with Gohan and Goku, being the leading rebels of their large
group. Yes, the death of the Sirec family was a hard blow to rebels
everywhere."
"That's sad," Pan and Bra exclaimed at the same time.
"Rayne shouldn't blame herself for Goku's coma," Trunks said. "Goku would
have done that for anyone."
"Try telling Rayne that," Puar sighed, and was silent for the rest of the
break.
************************************************************************
Rayne bit back a scream of agony as Morris's blow snapped her humerus.
She cursed and fell to her knees, the pain making her feel faint.
"Ready to give up, traitor?" Morris sneered, raising another fist. Rayne
glared up at him through her darkened gaze. "I'll take that as a no." His
fist plowed into her side, snapping some ribs. This time Rayne couldn't hold
back and she screamed. Morris smirked as her cry echoed through the street.
"Your pain is so satisfying," he commented coldly. "I've been waiting
forever to do this to you."
"Fuck you!" Rayne swore as she cradled her broken arm to her chest,
wheezing in agony.
"Such language," Morris taunted. "Didn't your parents teach you to
respect your elders and betters? Oh, that's right, your foolish rebel parents
are dead-"
Shaking her head to clear it, Rayne whispered faintly, "Go to hell,
Morris." Using up the last of her strength, she stood and aimed her hand at
him.
"Eat this, Android-lover," she said, and fired a blast that contained all
of her energy. Immediately she felt dizzy, and crumpled back to her knees.
She barely heard Morris's scream of agony as the blast burned his face and
arms.
"You'll pay for that," Morris panted, obviously in agony. He marched over
to her and punched her across the face. She didn't react as her broken nose
sent lightning bolts of pain up to her brain. She was only faintly aware of
Morris pummeling her, breaking more ribs and bruising her entire face. Rayne
saw through her faint vision as Morris grabbed her broken arm and twisted it
savagely. She was aware of someone screaming, and slowly realized it was her.
Then her vision completely dimmed, and everything was painless and dark.
************************************************************************
"We're almost there," Puar said, a few feet ahead of the four. They
trudged through the mud, until Trunks suddenly yelled, "Look! It's Capsule
Corporation!"
"Home!" Bra yelled, and broke into a run. Goten and Pan quickly followed.
Trunks waited until Puar had landed on his shoulder before racing towards his
home. As he neared it, the sickening feeling his stomach grew. Half of
Capsule Corp. lay in ruins, the rest overgrown with ivy.
"What happened?" Trunks asked Yamucha's old companion. Puar sighed softly
before answering.
"The androids," she said simply. "Slow down and I'll take you to the
secret sanctuary." As the four lined up and followed the azure cat, Trunks
couldn't help but wonder what his mother looked like after twenty years.
************************************************************************
Rayne awoke in a cell amid gentle laughter.
"You're gonna fry, girl," an amused voice said. "Scarring Morris like
that? The androids' favorite pet? You're gonna be sent to the next dimension
instantly." Rayne cracked her swollen eyes open to stare at the figure in
front of her. The first thing she realized about the figure was that he had
chains, so he was a prisoner too. The second thing was that he was SHORT.
Rayne attempted to smirk.
"It was worth it," she managed through throbbing lips. The man smiled.
"It probably was, but he beat you up pretty bad," he said, taking in her
appearance.
"Well, I accomplished my mission," she mumbled. The man frowned slightly.
"Mission?"
"The people I were protecting are safe."
"Who're they?" The man's gaze was earnest.
"Prince Trunks. Lord Goten. Princess Bra. Lady Pan," she mumbled, knowing
only a rebel would know the Four Last's names. The man's eyes brightened, and
he grinned.
"Goku's son? Vegeta's son and daughter? Gohan's daughter?" he whispered
excitedly. Rayne nodded painfully, and he laughed quietly.
"Is Goku alive?" the man questioned. Rayne now was absolutely certain
that he wasn't an android-lover. All the android lovers knew that the mighty
Goku was in an unwakable coma.
"Coma," she mumbled. "Son Gohan's okay. Everyone else dead or missing."
The man's eyes widened, and he choked out, "Goku? In a coma? Damn it!" He
clenched his fists. "I wish I could get out of here and help Gohan." Rayne
raised an eyebrow, and he scowled. "I CAN help." He offered her something.
"You look like you need some water," he said, holding a small bowl up.
Rayne nodded, the movement making her head spin. He pressed it to her lips,
and she drank slowly. The cold water cleared her eyes, and she blinked.
"Thanks," she said, speaking not quite so painful now.
"Welcome," he said, grinning.
"I'm Rayne," she said, knowing if anyone was listening, they already knew
that. The man grinned, and offered her a hand to gently shake her uninjured
arm.
"I used to be a Z fighter," he said, "And Goku's best friend." Rayne
stared in wonder at the scarred short man. He was scarred from fights, but
she had assumed they had been from surviving the androids' prison. He
couldn't be-
"But," Rayne began weakly, "that means you'd be-"
"-Krillin," the short man finished, grinning. Rayne stared into the man's
dark, dark eyes and wondered at the coincidence of it.
(AN: Sorry for bugging y'all again, but I wish to plead that cliffhangers are
NICE......... *voice trails off* Okay, so cliffhangers are evil, I write 'em
anyway! Even if I hate them........ *growl* Please don't hurt me! Remember,
suggestions are greatly needed! I'll have the next chapter up in a couple
days once y'all help clear my writer's block. Let's just say you get to meet
some INTERESTING characters....... *chuckles* Oh, and in case any of y'all
were wondering, this story in currently at 17 pages..... drat, that's short!
But I have around 20 more chapters to go, no exaggeration. I know the ending,
but not what leads up to it............ Heh. Very annoying, I can tell you.
Also an extremely important question I need answered:
Who do you want me to put in the next following chapters? From the past.
Examples: Krillin and Puar.
Thanks! Ja ne! -Annclaire