(AN: *watches as Jevana eats all of the strawberries* Aw........... Oh well! *begins eating strawberries too,
then yelps and ducks as Jevana throws another tomato* Enough with the tomatoes, Jevana! At least
throw a..... a pumpkin or something! *notices all the odd looks* Hey! Pumpkin pie is yummy! *shakes
head* Anyway, thanks for all the support in the Watashi series. *grins* Yeah, I know, Jacks, not even
half-way finished and it's 70 pages long. *groans* I'm gonna kill myself doing this. And then there's the
SEQUEL......... *sighs* Well, enjoy! Ja! ~AC)
Chapter Fifteen: Chasing Demons
"But why can't I go?" Goten whined for the fifteenth time within the last ten minutes. Pan gave him
a quelling look, at which he cringed.
"Because Spyri doesn't trust you around Heidi," she said. "Remember that last incident?"
"I wasn't coming onto her!" Goten complained. "And I was the one who got slammed through a
door! Take pity on me!"
"Hm........." Bra interrupted, looking thoughtful. "Let me think for a second about when we should
pity you." She paused for about two heartbeats. "Never."
"Aw.........." Goten whined, hanging his head.
"Come on," said Bra, ignoring the half Saiya-jinn's moping, "let's go." Trunks and Rayne looked
up from their conversation, and stood. One by one, Rayne, Trunks, Pan, and Bra left the room, leaving
Goten all alone.
****************************************************************************************************************
Gohan stood, tense as he prepared himself to launch into the air.
"Remember, only obey my orders," he growled, then he was off in a blaze of white towards the
front doors of the prison. This time he was going to do it alone, and show the androids what they were up
against.
****************************************************************************************************************
"Do you really think we should do this?" questioned Marron hesitantly. "I mean, we haven't talked
it over with Gohan or Goku....." The woman looked up anxiously at the older woman, her blue eyes
concerned. Her nervous face was illuminated by the dim lighting in the large lab.
"Marron," Bulma sighed, "if I've told you why a dozen times before. We don't want to get
everyone's hopes up and fail, when if we fail, no one but us will be upset."
"If you say so," said Marron quietly, and the two got to work.
****************************************************************************************************************
Rayne watched as the other three disappeared around the corner, and grinned. Not that she didn't like
Heidi (well, she didn't like the giggling ditz too much), but she hadn't finished showing Mirai around. Still
grinning, she turned and strolled in the direction of the room she had put the lilac-maned man.
"Maybe he'll know some good curse words," she said cheerfully.
****************************************************************************************************************
While Marron was grappling her own questions, Mirai was in the room Rayne had dropped him off at, his
thoughts troubled. The lavender-haired man sat in a chair, motionless except for the steady rise and fall of
his T-shirt as he breathed.
Mirai Trunks Vegeta Briefs, President of Capsule Corporation since his mother had retired, had had a very
strange day. He had been on vacation, his first since he had destroyed Cell and the Androids. In his time,
it had been ten years since the first Androids, not thirty for this dimension, so it had been surprising to
see everyone he had seen so youthful six years before, almost forty years older. And how had he gotten
here? He had no clue, but he suspected it was a secret between the Eternal Dragon, Kami, and Goku. All
of a sudden Goku had appeared and summed up everything that had happened for twenty years in a
couple seconds. Then the Saiya-jinn had grabbed Mirai's arm, pressed his fingers to his forehead, and
batta bing batta boom he was in a new Androids-torn land. And he hadn't even had a chance to say
good-bye to-
"Kuso, I need a drink," he groaned aloud, rising from the chair. "I wonder if this Capsule Corp. has
any sherry or vodka. Maybe even a bar, like mine does." Mirai paused, and grinned mischievously. "Or if
Mother still hides that supply of sangria under her bed."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Mister Mirai. Do I suspect that General Goku's old friend is an alcoholic?
Sacrilege!" declared an amused voice from the doorway, and Mirai looked up.
"By the way, what's sangria? I can take you to the bar. We DO have one," Rayne informed him,
her dark brown eyes dancing. Mirai watched her eyes crinkle up at the corners, and found himself grinning
too.
"Sangria, also known as sangaree, is a sweet, chilled beverage of wine or other alchoholic
beverage and grated nutmeg," he informed her, still smiling.
"Cool!" Rayne declared, sticking her hands in her pockets. Then her face fell. "But I can't have
sangria, because I'm only seventeen." She raised an eyebrow. "I've been telling the doctor for years to let
kids sixteen and older to be allowed to drink alcohol, but she hasn't budged an inch. I have to wait until I'm
twenty-one."
"Sometimes it's a good thing to be an old man," Mirai teased, grinning. Rayne raised an eyebrow,
looking skeptical.
"You don't look old. How old are you?" she questioned curiously. Mirai grinned.
"I'm thirty-one," he said, and she laughed.
"You were fourteen when I was born. That means when you were twenty-one and drinking, I was
seven!" the Sirec girl said, shaking her head. Mirai grinned, and adopted an old man's quavering voice as
he spoke.
"Come on, you young'un, time to take this old-timer to the bar. These old bones need a pick-me-
up." When she didn't move and simply laughed, he mock-frowned. "Come, girl, get a move on. I'm dying
of thirst!"
"Then let me lead the way, Ancient One," Rayne said with a giggle, offering her arm. "But since
you seem to have lost your cane, sir, lean upon my arm. Surely your old bones can't support your
weight?"
"Are you c-calling m-me old, young lady?" Mirai demanded in a strained, but amused voice as he
tried to keep from laughing. "Why, when I was your age, I had to walk FIFTEEN blocks to get to the
nearest bar." He paused, then said in a normal voice, "Well, actually, it was next door, but anyway...." He
continued with the old man's voice. "And do you think I complained? Did I? Come on girl, speak up!"
"No-no, sir," she managed between peals of laughter. "I-I'm sure you never did." Neither of them
noticed that they left Mirai's door standing wide open as they walked into the hallway.
"That's right!" Mirai declared. "At least you're smarter than you look, lass."
"Lass is an Irish word," said Rayne, puzzled. "You sound Japanese." Mirai raised an eyebrow,
and then adopted an Irish accent.
"Cum noo, me lass," he chuckled, "we Japanese ken speak en any accents we like. Ain't that
right, me laddie buck?" At the last sentence, he raised his still Irish-sounding voice towards a
Japanese-looking young man who was walking by. He looked no older than twenty or so.
The young man blinked, then said in a puzzled tone, but in perfect English with no trace of an
accent, "Excuse me sir, but I am Chinese. My name is Li-Won Kun. Now if you'll excuse me, I must
assist Doctor Bulma in something." Mirai gaped at him.
"Long time no see, Kun!" Rayne said cheerfully, and Kun blinked, recognition dawning. A warm
smile split his lips.
"Hello Rayne. I'd love to stay and talk, but I must be going. I'll see you later." Bidding them both
a polite good-bye, the Chinese boy left, leaving a stunned Mirai in his wake.
"Li-Won Kun was born in China, but has spent most of his life in either Australia, American, or
England. He's a genius, almost as smart as Doctor Bulma," Rayne said, smiling at Mirai's expression.
"Shall we continue, boyo?" Mirai blinked.
"Boyo?"
****************************************************************************************************************
"Heidi? Heidi?" Trunks called, knocking on the door. No answer. He turned to face the other two,
frowning. "Do you think maybe this is the wrong room number?"
"No," Pan said firmly, also frowning. "Rayne said number 716, and this is room number 716."
"Well, how are we supposed to get inside?" questioned Trunks, stepping away from the door. Pan
shrugged.
"I have no idea, Trunks!" the one-fourth Saiya-jinn sighed. "Maybe we should go look for your
mom or something...."
"Or just open the door," Bra suggested, trying the handle. The door opened with a quiet click, and
the blue-haired girl looked smug. "See? Not so hard."
"Shut up," her brother muttered under his breath, and Bra punched him. "Ow!"
Pan hid a grin, and then went through the open doorway. Before the other two could join her, she
suddenly leapt backward, looking shocked. Trunks stepped forward to steady her.
"Pan?" he asked cautiously, as Pan stared blankly into space for a moment. Then she blinked,
and frowned.
"Trunks, you stay outside," she declared briskly. "Bra, come help me with this little problem."
"Er, all right," Bra said, after exchanging bewildered looks with her brother. Without another word,
Pan yanked Bra inside, and the door slammed shut. Right in Trunks's face. And the son of Vegeta had
only three words to state his opinion of the matter.
"What the hell?"
****************************************************************************************************************
"Doctor? Madam? You asked for me?" The quiet voice shattered the silence, and the two women
jumped. Looking slightly pale, Bulma nodded, forced a smile on her lips.
"Yes, we did, Li-Won," she said. "Could you help us with this?" She waved a hand towards their
project, and the Chinese boy's eyes widened.
"Wow," he marveled, completely forgetting formalities. "Look at it. I've been trying to design such
a thing myself, but have never succeeded. I-" He halted, waving his hands helplessly. "Excellent, Doctor.
Simply excellent." Bulma's smile was less forced when she answered.
"Thank you, Li-Won, but we're having some trouble," she said, then added as the young man
stepped forward eagerly, "and please lock the door behind you."
"Anything, Doctor!"
****************************************************************************************************************
Gohan stood amid the rubble of what had once been the base, extremely pleased with himself. That had
been almost too easy. He turned to grin at his army, all of whom looked extremely put out.
"General, we didn't get to do anything!" complained a voice, which Gohan instantly recognized as
Spyri's. "That was no fun!"
"Sorry, soldier," said the general with a shrug. "I'll try to save a piece of the Android Army for you
next time."
"Good! Any orders, sir?" Spyri asked, and Gohan knew the idiot was grinning from ear to ear.
"Yes. Soldiers, round up all surviving enemies, and rescue any ex-prisoners," he ordered loudly,
and the army cheered, rushing forward to obey.
****************************************************************************************************************
"Kami help us!" Bra cried, staring at the scene in shock.
Heidi lay sprawled on the floor, half-way in and out of what looked to be a bathroom. The lovely woman's
face was pale and waxen, and sweat trickled down her face. The obviously ill woman breathed in short,
ragged gasps, accompanied by flinches of pain and the German doubling over, clutching her stomach.
"Stomach... hurts..." she gasped, and now looked slightly green. Pan rushed forward to help her.
"Let me get you into the bathroom, Heidi, dear," she said, slipping an arm around the woman's
shoulders. Heidi nodded weakly, then groaned pitifully as Pan dragged her into the tiny bathroom. Upon
entering the tiled room, Heidi doubled over at the toilet and retched. Pan winced, and, remembering her
mother doing the same, began to gently message the sick woman's back, murmuring soft reassurances
to her. Finally Heidi stopped, and simply groaned. After a moment, she spoke, her words feeble.
"Sorry, Lady Pan. Morning sickness is terribly awful."
"That's all right-" Pan began, then stopped, realization striking her. "M-Morning sickness?" Heidi
weakly nodded.
"That's right. Hardy doesn't know it yet, but he's going to be- to be- Oh dear!" the German
groaned, and went back to her earlier action. Numbly, Pan ressumed messaging Heidi's back, silently
finishing Heidi's sentence.
Leonhard Spyri didn't know it yet, but he was going to be a father.
****************************************************************************************************************
"I'm bored!" Goten complained to no one. At least, he thought to no one.
"I can think up lots of things to make you not bored!" a bright little voice giggled, and a blond girl
peeked into the room.
"Hello Ikara," Goten said with a grin. Then a "Hello Krill" as a golden-brown head poked itself into
the room also.
"Hi!" the two children of Marron and Kare chorused, grinning. "Will you play a game?" Goten
shrugged. He didn't have anything else to do.
"Sure." Goten watched as the two, accompanied by the children Rayne had called Storm, Cloud,
Aurora, Rebeus, and Tristan. The children crowded around him, trapping the half Saiya-jinn.
"Great! We can play Robber!" Ikara announced happily. Goten raised an eyebrow.
"Robber?"
"Right!" Ikara giggled. "That's were we get to tie you up, 'cause we're the robbers and you're our
kidnapped victim!" To the ebony-haired man's astonishment, the oldest child there, the thirteen-year-old
Rebeus, pulled a rope from behind his back. Goten gulped.
"Er, maybe another game-" he began, but Krill shouted a single word.
"Victim!" The children pounced, and their laughter drowned out Goten's yells for help.
****************************************************************************************************************
"Here's the bar," Rayne said, sighing wistfully. Mirai stared around approvingly. The well-kept bar
was an entire room, brightly lit and filled to the brim with all sorts of different drinks.
The bartender chuckled. He was a portly fellow with a cheerful round face that one would expect of a
baker, not a bartender.
"Sorry, Rayne, but I've got orders from Doctor Bulma yourself that you're not allowed near the
bar," he said, waving at her to leave. "Sorry, my girl, but rules are rules."
"But Bill, I'm showing a guest around, and he asked for the bar!" Rayne wined, putting on a puppy
dog look. Bill didn't budge.
"Then he can stay, but you have to leave." Grumbling under her breath, Rayne stalked from the
room. Grinning, Mirai sat down on a stool.
"What would you like, sir?" Bill asked, grinning. Mirai raised an eyebrow.
"What would you suggest, sir?" he questioned. Bill chuckled.
"Well, my favorite's red currant rum," the bartender admitted.
"Then I'll have one of those," Mirai decided, and Bill smiled.
"Right away, sir!"
****************************************************************************************************************
"Come on, kids," Goten groaned, struggling against the rope the children were trapping him with.
"Let's play something else." He could easily break the rope, but that wouldn't be fun.
"No!" Ikara said firmly. "We're playing Robber! Now be a good victim and be quiet!" Goten hung
his head and sighed.
"This is going to be a long night..."
"Yep," Rebeus said with satisfaction as the other children laughed. "It sure is."
****************************************************************************************************************
"Big meanies.... I never get to do anything.... Wanna at least try it......" Rayne grumbled, frowning
as she ambled along. She figured that Mirai would be finished with his drink in twenty minutes, so she
would give him twenty minutes. But what to do during those twenty minutes........
"Bored!" she declared to the world, then set off to look for her brother and sister. Maybe they'd
have a fun game to play.
Little did she know how FUN the game actually was. Poor Goten.
****************************************************************************************************************
"Heidi, let me wash your face with a wet cloth," Bra offered, feeling useless. Heidi managed a
weak smile.
"That'd be nice, thank you," she whispered weakly. Bra ran a hand towel under cold water, and
pressed it to the sweating German's face.
"Thanks," Heidi sighed, then abruptly gagged.
"Sorry!" she whimpered, before leaning back towards the toilet. Bra and Pan both sighed.
"I am never going to have children," Bra declared, and Pan silently agreed. Then Bra grinned
wickedly as she saw Pan nod. "Don't tell Trunks that, dear. He wants to children."
"Well, he's a man, so who cares-" Pan paused, and eyed Bra suspiciously. "Why should Trunks
care what I think?" Bra giggled.
"Pannie-chan, it's SO obvious he likes you," she said, rolling her eyes. "I would say duh, but I'm
too polite to do so."
"Whatever," Pan muttered, but was surprised by the warmth rushing to her cheeks. Without
knowing why, she was blushing. Bra raised an eyebrow, but didn't say a word.
For which Pan was grateful.
****************************************************************************************************************
It had been too easy. Gohan knew that. But what he didn't expect was for it to turn from easy to
impossible.
The general clenched his fists in rage, and screamed, trying to control his panic, "Away! Forget
any orders! Find sanctuary! NOW!" The last word was a howl, as the half Saiya-jinn stared at the two dots
in the sky.
"General?" Spyri questioned, confused.
"ANDROIDS, you idiots! Run! Run!" Gohan screamed, glaring at the Swiss. Spyri gulped and
bolted for safety, grabbing the stunned O'Malley. Out of the corner of his eyes, Gohan saw Kare and his
squad racing for cover. This scenario had repeated too many times- they'd all be killed by the androids,
except for Gohan, who'd be left to count his losses-
"I'm here, little buddy," a voice whispered, and Gohan managed to raise an eyebrow.
"Little buddy?" he repeated hoarsely, looking down at Krillin. "You've got to be kidding." The
monk grinned, and started to reply, and then the androids were upon them.
****************************************************************************************************************
Goku bolted to his feet at the same time Dende did, both looking horrified. This wasn't supposed to
happen. The prophecy had never-
"No!" the little Kami groaned. "Not now! Goku, please, you've got to-" But the Saiya-jinn was
already gone.
****************************************************************************************************************
Mirai was half-way through his rum when he suddenly knew Gohan and the others were in trouble. He
couldn't explain how he knew it, because Goku had already explained about the ki concealers, but
GOHAN WAS IN TROUBLE. Mirai leapt to his feet, his hand crushing the glass. He didn't even notice the
pieces of shattered glass embedded in his hand as he cursed.
"Kuso! I won't let this Gohan die! Not like my mentor died!" Then he felt, instinctively, that
someone was hurting Gohan, and he completely forgot that in his world Gohan had been dead for
seventeen years, that in this world Gohan was a grown man with a child, that he couldn't do anything to
stop either Gohan from being hurt. He was simply aware of the fact that GOHAN was being hurt, and that
Mirai had to stop whoever was.
"What the-" Bill began, then stared in shock as, with an enraged scream, Mirai powered up to
Super Saiya-jinn.
"Gohan!" Mirai yelled. "I'm coming!" Then the blazing gold fury was gone, leaving only a whole in
the ceiling to mark his departure.
****************************************************************************************************************
The children had just finished tying Goten's bonds when the young man stiffened.
"Damn!" he swore, experiencing the same odd feeling as Mirai. "Get me out of this! My brother's
in trouble." The children stared at him, and, for once in his life, Goten cursed at a child.
"Fuck this!" he screamed, and powered up to Super Saiya-jinn. "Get the hell out of my way!"
Without a word, they all backed away, and Goten crashed through the ceiling to join Mirai in the skies.
Later, Goten would go and apologize, but right now his brother was getting hurt. After losing his mother
and his sister-in-law, he was not going to lose his brother. And if he had to curse out a couple of children
to do it, so be it.
****************************************************************************************************************
Pan and Bra bolted upright at the same time. A split second later, Goku was there, white and anxious.
The Saiya-jinn stared grimly down at his granddaughter, and daughter of his close friend. He hadn't
wanted to do this, but Dende had deemed it necessary.
"We're going to need you two," he announced, and they latched onto him.
"We've got to go, Heidi!" Bra and Pan said in chorus, and then they were gone.
****************************************************************************************************************
With the anxious feeling hammering at his skull, Trunks finally lost all patience.
"I'm not waiting for you two!" he screamed, ignorant of the fact that the two were already at the
battlefield. Heidi came crawling from the room in time to stare at Trunks as his trendils of lavender rose
from his neck and gradually began to turn yellow.
With another yell, he was Super Saiya-jinn and gone, once more through a ceiling.
"Wow," Heidi gasped, then turned green and crawled desperately back towards the toilet.
****************************************************************************************************************
The battle was raging in full force by the time Trunks, Goten, and Mirai appeared at the ex-base. The
androids paused in their fighting and looked up as the three Super Saiya-jinn appeared in the sky, all
looking pissed off.
One of the androids, a middle-aged man with cold ice blue eyes and dark brown hair, sneered.
"Oh look, more little Golden Boys. How fun."
"For us, you mean," replied the other android, a twenty-or-so woman with curly blond hair and
flashing pale green eyes. Her lips formed a wicked smirk. "Ready to play, boys?" Mirai looked around.
Krillin's limp form was sprawled in the earth, motionless. Bra and Pan stood beside him, and Pan was
kneeling, checking for a pulse from the monk. Goku was glaring at the two androids with hate twisting his
gentle face, an expression Mirai had never seen on his face. He looked very beaten up, and was panting
for breath. Gohan lay unconscious on the ground, blood trickling from a large cut on his forehead.
When Mirai saw that, his rage immediately seemed to explode. For a moment, all he could feel or see
was the burning redness of his rage. Then the rage was gone, replaced by an icy fury.
"You two," he said clearly, clenching his fists in fury, as he landed beside Goku, "are about to go
to Hell."
The androids both smiled.
"We'll see about that," one of them remarked, and then battle resumed.
(AN: Cliffhanger! You're all going to hate me! And I'm in Europe from July 3-24, so I'm not going to be able
to post until then. Dreadfully sorry, everyone. I'll make it up, I promise. There's going to be lots of action in
here next chapter! Oh, and SharonToggle? I'll explain how Mirai got here in later chapters. Mirai has got a
vague idea of it, but he doesn't know the complete facts. Well, I don't know the complete facts. Only
Goku and Dende do, and they're not talking to me. *hangs head* Gotta go! Ja! ~AC)
then yelps and ducks as Jevana throws another tomato* Enough with the tomatoes, Jevana! At least
throw a..... a pumpkin or something! *notices all the odd looks* Hey! Pumpkin pie is yummy! *shakes
head* Anyway, thanks for all the support in the Watashi series. *grins* Yeah, I know, Jacks, not even
half-way finished and it's 70 pages long. *groans* I'm gonna kill myself doing this. And then there's the
SEQUEL......... *sighs* Well, enjoy! Ja! ~AC)
Chapter Fifteen: Chasing Demons
"But why can't I go?" Goten whined for the fifteenth time within the last ten minutes. Pan gave him
a quelling look, at which he cringed.
"Because Spyri doesn't trust you around Heidi," she said. "Remember that last incident?"
"I wasn't coming onto her!" Goten complained. "And I was the one who got slammed through a
door! Take pity on me!"
"Hm........." Bra interrupted, looking thoughtful. "Let me think for a second about when we should
pity you." She paused for about two heartbeats. "Never."
"Aw.........." Goten whined, hanging his head.
"Come on," said Bra, ignoring the half Saiya-jinn's moping, "let's go." Trunks and Rayne looked
up from their conversation, and stood. One by one, Rayne, Trunks, Pan, and Bra left the room, leaving
Goten all alone.
****************************************************************************************************************
Gohan stood, tense as he prepared himself to launch into the air.
"Remember, only obey my orders," he growled, then he was off in a blaze of white towards the
front doors of the prison. This time he was going to do it alone, and show the androids what they were up
against.
****************************************************************************************************************
"Do you really think we should do this?" questioned Marron hesitantly. "I mean, we haven't talked
it over with Gohan or Goku....." The woman looked up anxiously at the older woman, her blue eyes
concerned. Her nervous face was illuminated by the dim lighting in the large lab.
"Marron," Bulma sighed, "if I've told you why a dozen times before. We don't want to get
everyone's hopes up and fail, when if we fail, no one but us will be upset."
"If you say so," said Marron quietly, and the two got to work.
****************************************************************************************************************
Rayne watched as the other three disappeared around the corner, and grinned. Not that she didn't like
Heidi (well, she didn't like the giggling ditz too much), but she hadn't finished showing Mirai around. Still
grinning, she turned and strolled in the direction of the room she had put the lilac-maned man.
"Maybe he'll know some good curse words," she said cheerfully.
****************************************************************************************************************
While Marron was grappling her own questions, Mirai was in the room Rayne had dropped him off at, his
thoughts troubled. The lavender-haired man sat in a chair, motionless except for the steady rise and fall of
his T-shirt as he breathed.
Mirai Trunks Vegeta Briefs, President of Capsule Corporation since his mother had retired, had had a very
strange day. He had been on vacation, his first since he had destroyed Cell and the Androids. In his time,
it had been ten years since the first Androids, not thirty for this dimension, so it had been surprising to
see everyone he had seen so youthful six years before, almost forty years older. And how had he gotten
here? He had no clue, but he suspected it was a secret between the Eternal Dragon, Kami, and Goku. All
of a sudden Goku had appeared and summed up everything that had happened for twenty years in a
couple seconds. Then the Saiya-jinn had grabbed Mirai's arm, pressed his fingers to his forehead, and
batta bing batta boom he was in a new Androids-torn land. And he hadn't even had a chance to say
good-bye to-
"Kuso, I need a drink," he groaned aloud, rising from the chair. "I wonder if this Capsule Corp. has
any sherry or vodka. Maybe even a bar, like mine does." Mirai paused, and grinned mischievously. "Or if
Mother still hides that supply of sangria under her bed."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Mister Mirai. Do I suspect that General Goku's old friend is an alcoholic?
Sacrilege!" declared an amused voice from the doorway, and Mirai looked up.
"By the way, what's sangria? I can take you to the bar. We DO have one," Rayne informed him,
her dark brown eyes dancing. Mirai watched her eyes crinkle up at the corners, and found himself grinning
too.
"Sangria, also known as sangaree, is a sweet, chilled beverage of wine or other alchoholic
beverage and grated nutmeg," he informed her, still smiling.
"Cool!" Rayne declared, sticking her hands in her pockets. Then her face fell. "But I can't have
sangria, because I'm only seventeen." She raised an eyebrow. "I've been telling the doctor for years to let
kids sixteen and older to be allowed to drink alcohol, but she hasn't budged an inch. I have to wait until I'm
twenty-one."
"Sometimes it's a good thing to be an old man," Mirai teased, grinning. Rayne raised an eyebrow,
looking skeptical.
"You don't look old. How old are you?" she questioned curiously. Mirai grinned.
"I'm thirty-one," he said, and she laughed.
"You were fourteen when I was born. That means when you were twenty-one and drinking, I was
seven!" the Sirec girl said, shaking her head. Mirai grinned, and adopted an old man's quavering voice as
he spoke.
"Come on, you young'un, time to take this old-timer to the bar. These old bones need a pick-me-
up." When she didn't move and simply laughed, he mock-frowned. "Come, girl, get a move on. I'm dying
of thirst!"
"Then let me lead the way, Ancient One," Rayne said with a giggle, offering her arm. "But since
you seem to have lost your cane, sir, lean upon my arm. Surely your old bones can't support your
weight?"
"Are you c-calling m-me old, young lady?" Mirai demanded in a strained, but amused voice as he
tried to keep from laughing. "Why, when I was your age, I had to walk FIFTEEN blocks to get to the
nearest bar." He paused, then said in a normal voice, "Well, actually, it was next door, but anyway...." He
continued with the old man's voice. "And do you think I complained? Did I? Come on girl, speak up!"
"No-no, sir," she managed between peals of laughter. "I-I'm sure you never did." Neither of them
noticed that they left Mirai's door standing wide open as they walked into the hallway.
"That's right!" Mirai declared. "At least you're smarter than you look, lass."
"Lass is an Irish word," said Rayne, puzzled. "You sound Japanese." Mirai raised an eyebrow,
and then adopted an Irish accent.
"Cum noo, me lass," he chuckled, "we Japanese ken speak en any accents we like. Ain't that
right, me laddie buck?" At the last sentence, he raised his still Irish-sounding voice towards a
Japanese-looking young man who was walking by. He looked no older than twenty or so.
The young man blinked, then said in a puzzled tone, but in perfect English with no trace of an
accent, "Excuse me sir, but I am Chinese. My name is Li-Won Kun. Now if you'll excuse me, I must
assist Doctor Bulma in something." Mirai gaped at him.
"Long time no see, Kun!" Rayne said cheerfully, and Kun blinked, recognition dawning. A warm
smile split his lips.
"Hello Rayne. I'd love to stay and talk, but I must be going. I'll see you later." Bidding them both
a polite good-bye, the Chinese boy left, leaving a stunned Mirai in his wake.
"Li-Won Kun was born in China, but has spent most of his life in either Australia, American, or
England. He's a genius, almost as smart as Doctor Bulma," Rayne said, smiling at Mirai's expression.
"Shall we continue, boyo?" Mirai blinked.
"Boyo?"
****************************************************************************************************************
"Heidi? Heidi?" Trunks called, knocking on the door. No answer. He turned to face the other two,
frowning. "Do you think maybe this is the wrong room number?"
"No," Pan said firmly, also frowning. "Rayne said number 716, and this is room number 716."
"Well, how are we supposed to get inside?" questioned Trunks, stepping away from the door. Pan
shrugged.
"I have no idea, Trunks!" the one-fourth Saiya-jinn sighed. "Maybe we should go look for your
mom or something...."
"Or just open the door," Bra suggested, trying the handle. The door opened with a quiet click, and
the blue-haired girl looked smug. "See? Not so hard."
"Shut up," her brother muttered under his breath, and Bra punched him. "Ow!"
Pan hid a grin, and then went through the open doorway. Before the other two could join her, she
suddenly leapt backward, looking shocked. Trunks stepped forward to steady her.
"Pan?" he asked cautiously, as Pan stared blankly into space for a moment. Then she blinked,
and frowned.
"Trunks, you stay outside," she declared briskly. "Bra, come help me with this little problem."
"Er, all right," Bra said, after exchanging bewildered looks with her brother. Without another word,
Pan yanked Bra inside, and the door slammed shut. Right in Trunks's face. And the son of Vegeta had
only three words to state his opinion of the matter.
"What the hell?"
****************************************************************************************************************
"Doctor? Madam? You asked for me?" The quiet voice shattered the silence, and the two women
jumped. Looking slightly pale, Bulma nodded, forced a smile on her lips.
"Yes, we did, Li-Won," she said. "Could you help us with this?" She waved a hand towards their
project, and the Chinese boy's eyes widened.
"Wow," he marveled, completely forgetting formalities. "Look at it. I've been trying to design such
a thing myself, but have never succeeded. I-" He halted, waving his hands helplessly. "Excellent, Doctor.
Simply excellent." Bulma's smile was less forced when she answered.
"Thank you, Li-Won, but we're having some trouble," she said, then added as the young man
stepped forward eagerly, "and please lock the door behind you."
"Anything, Doctor!"
****************************************************************************************************************
Gohan stood amid the rubble of what had once been the base, extremely pleased with himself. That had
been almost too easy. He turned to grin at his army, all of whom looked extremely put out.
"General, we didn't get to do anything!" complained a voice, which Gohan instantly recognized as
Spyri's. "That was no fun!"
"Sorry, soldier," said the general with a shrug. "I'll try to save a piece of the Android Army for you
next time."
"Good! Any orders, sir?" Spyri asked, and Gohan knew the idiot was grinning from ear to ear.
"Yes. Soldiers, round up all surviving enemies, and rescue any ex-prisoners," he ordered loudly,
and the army cheered, rushing forward to obey.
****************************************************************************************************************
"Kami help us!" Bra cried, staring at the scene in shock.
Heidi lay sprawled on the floor, half-way in and out of what looked to be a bathroom. The lovely woman's
face was pale and waxen, and sweat trickled down her face. The obviously ill woman breathed in short,
ragged gasps, accompanied by flinches of pain and the German doubling over, clutching her stomach.
"Stomach... hurts..." she gasped, and now looked slightly green. Pan rushed forward to help her.
"Let me get you into the bathroom, Heidi, dear," she said, slipping an arm around the woman's
shoulders. Heidi nodded weakly, then groaned pitifully as Pan dragged her into the tiny bathroom. Upon
entering the tiled room, Heidi doubled over at the toilet and retched. Pan winced, and, remembering her
mother doing the same, began to gently message the sick woman's back, murmuring soft reassurances
to her. Finally Heidi stopped, and simply groaned. After a moment, she spoke, her words feeble.
"Sorry, Lady Pan. Morning sickness is terribly awful."
"That's all right-" Pan began, then stopped, realization striking her. "M-Morning sickness?" Heidi
weakly nodded.
"That's right. Hardy doesn't know it yet, but he's going to be- to be- Oh dear!" the German
groaned, and went back to her earlier action. Numbly, Pan ressumed messaging Heidi's back, silently
finishing Heidi's sentence.
Leonhard Spyri didn't know it yet, but he was going to be a father.
****************************************************************************************************************
"I'm bored!" Goten complained to no one. At least, he thought to no one.
"I can think up lots of things to make you not bored!" a bright little voice giggled, and a blond girl
peeked into the room.
"Hello Ikara," Goten said with a grin. Then a "Hello Krill" as a golden-brown head poked itself into
the room also.
"Hi!" the two children of Marron and Kare chorused, grinning. "Will you play a game?" Goten
shrugged. He didn't have anything else to do.
"Sure." Goten watched as the two, accompanied by the children Rayne had called Storm, Cloud,
Aurora, Rebeus, and Tristan. The children crowded around him, trapping the half Saiya-jinn.
"Great! We can play Robber!" Ikara announced happily. Goten raised an eyebrow.
"Robber?"
"Right!" Ikara giggled. "That's were we get to tie you up, 'cause we're the robbers and you're our
kidnapped victim!" To the ebony-haired man's astonishment, the oldest child there, the thirteen-year-old
Rebeus, pulled a rope from behind his back. Goten gulped.
"Er, maybe another game-" he began, but Krill shouted a single word.
"Victim!" The children pounced, and their laughter drowned out Goten's yells for help.
****************************************************************************************************************
"Here's the bar," Rayne said, sighing wistfully. Mirai stared around approvingly. The well-kept bar
was an entire room, brightly lit and filled to the brim with all sorts of different drinks.
The bartender chuckled. He was a portly fellow with a cheerful round face that one would expect of a
baker, not a bartender.
"Sorry, Rayne, but I've got orders from Doctor Bulma yourself that you're not allowed near the
bar," he said, waving at her to leave. "Sorry, my girl, but rules are rules."
"But Bill, I'm showing a guest around, and he asked for the bar!" Rayne wined, putting on a puppy
dog look. Bill didn't budge.
"Then he can stay, but you have to leave." Grumbling under her breath, Rayne stalked from the
room. Grinning, Mirai sat down on a stool.
"What would you like, sir?" Bill asked, grinning. Mirai raised an eyebrow.
"What would you suggest, sir?" he questioned. Bill chuckled.
"Well, my favorite's red currant rum," the bartender admitted.
"Then I'll have one of those," Mirai decided, and Bill smiled.
"Right away, sir!"
****************************************************************************************************************
"Come on, kids," Goten groaned, struggling against the rope the children were trapping him with.
"Let's play something else." He could easily break the rope, but that wouldn't be fun.
"No!" Ikara said firmly. "We're playing Robber! Now be a good victim and be quiet!" Goten hung
his head and sighed.
"This is going to be a long night..."
"Yep," Rebeus said with satisfaction as the other children laughed. "It sure is."
****************************************************************************************************************
"Big meanies.... I never get to do anything.... Wanna at least try it......" Rayne grumbled, frowning
as she ambled along. She figured that Mirai would be finished with his drink in twenty minutes, so she
would give him twenty minutes. But what to do during those twenty minutes........
"Bored!" she declared to the world, then set off to look for her brother and sister. Maybe they'd
have a fun game to play.
Little did she know how FUN the game actually was. Poor Goten.
****************************************************************************************************************
"Heidi, let me wash your face with a wet cloth," Bra offered, feeling useless. Heidi managed a
weak smile.
"That'd be nice, thank you," she whispered weakly. Bra ran a hand towel under cold water, and
pressed it to the sweating German's face.
"Thanks," Heidi sighed, then abruptly gagged.
"Sorry!" she whimpered, before leaning back towards the toilet. Bra and Pan both sighed.
"I am never going to have children," Bra declared, and Pan silently agreed. Then Bra grinned
wickedly as she saw Pan nod. "Don't tell Trunks that, dear. He wants to children."
"Well, he's a man, so who cares-" Pan paused, and eyed Bra suspiciously. "Why should Trunks
care what I think?" Bra giggled.
"Pannie-chan, it's SO obvious he likes you," she said, rolling her eyes. "I would say duh, but I'm
too polite to do so."
"Whatever," Pan muttered, but was surprised by the warmth rushing to her cheeks. Without
knowing why, she was blushing. Bra raised an eyebrow, but didn't say a word.
For which Pan was grateful.
****************************************************************************************************************
It had been too easy. Gohan knew that. But what he didn't expect was for it to turn from easy to
impossible.
The general clenched his fists in rage, and screamed, trying to control his panic, "Away! Forget
any orders! Find sanctuary! NOW!" The last word was a howl, as the half Saiya-jinn stared at the two dots
in the sky.
"General?" Spyri questioned, confused.
"ANDROIDS, you idiots! Run! Run!" Gohan screamed, glaring at the Swiss. Spyri gulped and
bolted for safety, grabbing the stunned O'Malley. Out of the corner of his eyes, Gohan saw Kare and his
squad racing for cover. This scenario had repeated too many times- they'd all be killed by the androids,
except for Gohan, who'd be left to count his losses-
"I'm here, little buddy," a voice whispered, and Gohan managed to raise an eyebrow.
"Little buddy?" he repeated hoarsely, looking down at Krillin. "You've got to be kidding." The
monk grinned, and started to reply, and then the androids were upon them.
****************************************************************************************************************
Goku bolted to his feet at the same time Dende did, both looking horrified. This wasn't supposed to
happen. The prophecy had never-
"No!" the little Kami groaned. "Not now! Goku, please, you've got to-" But the Saiya-jinn was
already gone.
****************************************************************************************************************
Mirai was half-way through his rum when he suddenly knew Gohan and the others were in trouble. He
couldn't explain how he knew it, because Goku had already explained about the ki concealers, but
GOHAN WAS IN TROUBLE. Mirai leapt to his feet, his hand crushing the glass. He didn't even notice the
pieces of shattered glass embedded in his hand as he cursed.
"Kuso! I won't let this Gohan die! Not like my mentor died!" Then he felt, instinctively, that
someone was hurting Gohan, and he completely forgot that in his world Gohan had been dead for
seventeen years, that in this world Gohan was a grown man with a child, that he couldn't do anything to
stop either Gohan from being hurt. He was simply aware of the fact that GOHAN was being hurt, and that
Mirai had to stop whoever was.
"What the-" Bill began, then stared in shock as, with an enraged scream, Mirai powered up to
Super Saiya-jinn.
"Gohan!" Mirai yelled. "I'm coming!" Then the blazing gold fury was gone, leaving only a whole in
the ceiling to mark his departure.
****************************************************************************************************************
The children had just finished tying Goten's bonds when the young man stiffened.
"Damn!" he swore, experiencing the same odd feeling as Mirai. "Get me out of this! My brother's
in trouble." The children stared at him, and, for once in his life, Goten cursed at a child.
"Fuck this!" he screamed, and powered up to Super Saiya-jinn. "Get the hell out of my way!"
Without a word, they all backed away, and Goten crashed through the ceiling to join Mirai in the skies.
Later, Goten would go and apologize, but right now his brother was getting hurt. After losing his mother
and his sister-in-law, he was not going to lose his brother. And if he had to curse out a couple of children
to do it, so be it.
****************************************************************************************************************
Pan and Bra bolted upright at the same time. A split second later, Goku was there, white and anxious.
The Saiya-jinn stared grimly down at his granddaughter, and daughter of his close friend. He hadn't
wanted to do this, but Dende had deemed it necessary.
"We're going to need you two," he announced, and they latched onto him.
"We've got to go, Heidi!" Bra and Pan said in chorus, and then they were gone.
****************************************************************************************************************
With the anxious feeling hammering at his skull, Trunks finally lost all patience.
"I'm not waiting for you two!" he screamed, ignorant of the fact that the two were already at the
battlefield. Heidi came crawling from the room in time to stare at Trunks as his trendils of lavender rose
from his neck and gradually began to turn yellow.
With another yell, he was Super Saiya-jinn and gone, once more through a ceiling.
"Wow," Heidi gasped, then turned green and crawled desperately back towards the toilet.
****************************************************************************************************************
The battle was raging in full force by the time Trunks, Goten, and Mirai appeared at the ex-base. The
androids paused in their fighting and looked up as the three Super Saiya-jinn appeared in the sky, all
looking pissed off.
One of the androids, a middle-aged man with cold ice blue eyes and dark brown hair, sneered.
"Oh look, more little Golden Boys. How fun."
"For us, you mean," replied the other android, a twenty-or-so woman with curly blond hair and
flashing pale green eyes. Her lips formed a wicked smirk. "Ready to play, boys?" Mirai looked around.
Krillin's limp form was sprawled in the earth, motionless. Bra and Pan stood beside him, and Pan was
kneeling, checking for a pulse from the monk. Goku was glaring at the two androids with hate twisting his
gentle face, an expression Mirai had never seen on his face. He looked very beaten up, and was panting
for breath. Gohan lay unconscious on the ground, blood trickling from a large cut on his forehead.
When Mirai saw that, his rage immediately seemed to explode. For a moment, all he could feel or see
was the burning redness of his rage. Then the rage was gone, replaced by an icy fury.
"You two," he said clearly, clenching his fists in fury, as he landed beside Goku, "are about to go
to Hell."
The androids both smiled.
"We'll see about that," one of them remarked, and then battle resumed.
(AN: Cliffhanger! You're all going to hate me! And I'm in Europe from July 3-24, so I'm not going to be able
to post until then. Dreadfully sorry, everyone. I'll make it up, I promise. There's going to be lots of action in
here next chapter! Oh, and SharonToggle? I'll explain how Mirai got here in later chapters. Mirai has got a
vague idea of it, but he doesn't know the complete facts. Well, I don't know the complete facts. Only
Goku and Dende do, and they're not talking to me. *hangs head* Gotta go! Ja! ~AC)