~~I know a place where dreams are born
~~And time is never planned
~~It's not on any chart,
~~You must find it with your heart
~~Never never land
.
~~It might be miles beyond the moon
~~Or right there where you stand
~~Just have an open mind
~~And suddenly you'll find
~~Never never land
.
~~You'll have a treasure if you stay there
~~More precious far than gold
~~For once you have found your way there
~~You can never, never grow old
~~So come with me where dreams are born
~~And time is never planned
~~Just think of lovely things
~~And your heart will soon take wings
~~Forever
~~In never never land
**
Bardock burst through the double doors to the largest room (volume wise) he had entered as of yet. Aligned with marble statues of past kings and queens, the throne lay amidst cobwebs and dirt from misuse. If Bardock weren't so pissed, he may have marveled at the prospect of the room's past beauty.
Never allowing his guard down, Bardock walked into the room with soft, cautious steps. The webs stretched across the aisle way, making them impossible to miss.
A thought struck him. What if its a trap? He took off his helmet and threw it into the center of the room.
It bounced off the "webs."
"Here we go round the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush . . ."
Bardock jumped at the sound of the Puppet Master's voice. "Where are you," he shouted into the darkness.
"Aw, you don't like nursery rhymes," the voice from nowhere asked. "Too bad! They're my fav! How about this one? 'All work and no play makes Bardock a dull boy!'"
Bardock took a step back and ran into more thread. The PM's web now formed a wall around the Sayin, trapping him several feet from the door.
"'All play and no work makes Bardock a mere toy!'"
"Why don't you just show yerself and get this over with," challenged Bardock, body poised for action.
"Now why would I want to do that? Its much more fun to play with you! They say the Sayins are savage animals, but are also brilliant strategists. Let's see how one of their best can escape this mousetrap!"
Bardock powered up, having had enough of these games. He sent out a ki blast to the thick web behind him. The web didn't singe. "Ooooo, sorry! No can do! The web is like metal, and can only absorb your energy. You blast it-" The ki suddenly ricocheted back and hit the small of Bardock's back. "- and it blasts you!"
Strands of thread shot out from all around. Bardock jumped, trying not to hit the web. Performing some amazing acrobatics, he dodged the threads of web of the whole room, searching for a way out. But the doors had disappeared!
Stronger threads, thicker then the previous, shot out from different directions, and coiled around the battle-weary Bardock. He pulled at them, but they cut into his skin. Blood dripped down his arms, legs, and torso. Bardock screamed in pain.
**
**
"What did you find out," demanded Cole as the group raced through the palace.
"Ever hear of the story of Peter Pan," asked Tora.
"No," the rest said, except Fasha.
"Well," she said. "apparently its really popular on another planet. Its about a boy who never grew up, and played games for all of eternity in a mystical land ca-"
"So that's where the kid gets his name," asked Cole.
"Looks like it," muttered Fasha. Under her breath she added, "So rude!"
"MATTE!!" Zucina caught up with them. "Bardock ran this way!"
"On this same planet," continued Tora, "there's another story about a puppet who wanted to become a real boy. To do so, he had to perform good deeds."
"And?"
"And, that explains the puppet thing! This guy is controlling his puppets to take over the universe because he thinks saving people includes manipulating them, so they don't do bad things!"
"Yep," said Panbukin. "Pure psycho!"
Fasha sighed. "Its pitiful, really. He wants to become whole again."
"Whole?"
**
**
"The stupid Sayin monkey got caught in Peter's web," sang the Puppet Master's voice from all around [tune of 'Itsy Bitsy Spider']. "The stupid Sayin monkey screamed off his little head!"
Bardock reluctantly shut his mouth, now filling with blood from his ribs being crushed. The old wounds from the previous battle opened up, and Bardock's strength drained from pain and weariness.
'KUSO," he thought. 'Nothin' I do works! There has to be somethin' I ain't considered yet! Goddess, whatever it is, I'd better think of it fast!' Blood trickled down the web, the metal absorbing it. 'Absorb . . . YATTA!!!"
Bardock's muscles tensed. 'Shit, this is gonna hurt!' He took a deep breath, and screamed loudly as he powered up to his fullest. The blast from his body was absorbed by the web, causing it to spark from all sides.
"Wha-what are you doing," came the worried voice.
The ki sparks broke the walls, shattered the statues, and singed the web lines.
"STOP!!!"
Even as the ki forced back to him, Bardock took the blast and used it yet again until the entire surroundings demolished. No pillars or statues, no support for the web.
Bardock landed hard on his hands and knees, bloodied and battered. Still fully powered up, he floated above the ground, drew back his hand, and set up his strongest move. "SOLAR STRIKE!!!!!" The small gold ki ball shot out of his hand, and hit the throne (which gave off the most ki energy).
Exhausted, Bardock collapsed, drifting off into darkness.
**
**
"Bardock! Bardock!"
He opened his eyes to stare into bright, sable eyes, sparkling from joy at his movement. Zucina held him in her lap, trying to wake him. Her smile, so rare yet infectious, made Bardock want to kiss her.
Tora's voice was nearby. "Oy! Is he awake yet?"
Bardock snapped back to reality and blushed at his previous thoughts. To cover it up, he said, "Zuni-chan, you oughta wear that dress more often! People will finally know yer a girl!"
SMACK!! Zucina hit his jaw and stood up, knocking him down again. "Last time I worry about YOUR bloody safety!!"
Tora, Panbukin, Totepo (silently), and Fasha laughed. Cole only sighed. "You two . . ."
Warren came from behind and helped Bardock sit up. His stuffing literally had been knocked out of him; some was showing from a rip in his side. "Kid! You okay?!"
"He'll be fine," said Julianne, a bandage on her head and arm. "You're going to need some patching up, though. The others are getting the medicine and bandages now."
"Arigato," said Bardock, trying to ignore his intense pain. "Becomin' repetitious, ne?" He looked around. The castle had been destroyed from the interior, thanks to the force of the Solar Strike. He and his comrades were in the middle of the rubble. Many villagers and fighters sifted through the debris.
"Find anything yet," asked a warrior to Pikon.
"Not yet," the general said. "Our ships must be in the dungeons."
"Try that area there," called out Tora, pointing toward the entrance. "There's a secret trap door."
Bardock closed his eyes a moment to relax, but kept thinking about Peter. "Cole," he called to his mentor, "d'ya know what happened to the Puppet Master?"
Cole paused. "Can ya walk?"
"I think so." Cole held out his hand and lifted him off the ground, ignoring the dripping blood. He pulled Bardock's arm over his shoulder, and supported his weight. "Here. I think you oughta hear this."
They slowly processed toward the largest group of animals, huddled around something. "Remember the story Julianne showed you," Cole asked his student.
"Yeah."
"Well, the book didn't know the whole thing. The prince never fully recovered. He just got worse and worse. Eventually, they hooked him up to life support. The fever supposedly fried his brain.
"Instead, the prince hooked his mind up to the system, and created all of the chaos that's been going on. What you've seen was an illusion, a digital illusion. Its like he immortalized himself as a child. He wanted a way to live out his life. That stuff about a wizard's complete bullshit; everything was done by computer. Even the dog was grown genetically altered.
"But his mind DID get messed up because of that fever. He went insane, believing all creatures should be controlled to maintain peace in the universe. And he, as the true hero, would force others to submit to his will. A bedtime story he read dictated that if he did such a good deed, he'd 'turn into a real boy' again."
They stopped abruptly, staying out of sight of the object the villagers surrounded. Cole gazed at Bardock seriously, in his 'This-Is-For-Your-Own-Good' looks. "Knowing you, my friend, you've grown a little attached to the kid, despite all he's done. Your heart's got a nasty habit of doing that. Just wanted to warn ya - well - you aren't gonna like what you see."
Pikon, who followed them, stepped in front of them and pushed a path through the group. "Make way," he shouted. "Make way for the hero of the universe!"
If Bardock were paying attention, he would have laughed at the extremely ironic title. Instead, he kept his focus on the box in front of him.
The throne, or what he thought was a throne, really opened up like a toy chest with a monitor on the lid. Inside was a middle-aged alien, blue, four armed, skinny, and hooked to dozens of wires and tubes. Long gray hair and a beard wrapped around his face, dirty and disheveled. The vacant eyes stared off into space.
"Tora left the computer on," explained Cole, his voice far back in a corner of Bardock's mind. "It keeps him alive."
"I say he should be turned in to the local warlord," said one warrior alien.
"He should be killed," said Archie, somewhere in the crowd.
"Show him some mercy," pleaded Warren at Bardock's heels.
General Pikon raised a hand to silence the crowd. "Lieutenant Bardock defeated him honorably in battle. It is his decision, and his alone, that we must all rely on. Lieutenant?"
Bardock took his time in answering. He eventually agreed with Warren, asking the villagers to preserve his life and look into finding a cure. Pikon offered to question scientists in his galaxy about the prince's condition. "Very noble of you not to have him killed," he said, smiling. "Sayins must be more complex then their reputation gives them."
Cole patted his friend's arm. "Not all Sayins."
"OY," Zucina yelled from a distance. "We found some extra pods! One is prepped with a rejuvenator for Bardock! And we got Stinky back online!"
"Great," yelled Cole.
"But first," announced Julianne, "you are invited to be the guests of honor at our celebratory banquet all day today!"
Tora held his stomach. "As long as there's no candy!"
Cole laughed. "I doubt we'll turn this planet in to Freiza," he thought aloud before addressing Bardock again. "Ready to celebrate?"
"Gimme a few minutes," he said, flashing Cole a smile. "I can stand now. You go join the others."
Cole gave a nod, and helped his still shaky pupil to stand erect. Warren, still under Bardock, tried to help also by pushing on his legs to steady them. "Better?"
"Yeah thanks. Go on an' join the party, an' take Warren with you."
"Okay, but I'm giving you a half hour to get yourself cleaned and bandaged up. Kikitoru?"
"Yes sir." He bent down and gave Warren a pat on the head. "Thanks fer everything, kid." As Cole ran off, taking Warren with him, Bardock focused his gaze on the toy chest, containing his fallen enemy. Pikon's words of wisdom floated in his head. ". . . more complex then their reputation gives them."
Some people believe there is a firm line between good and evil, as in white and black. But, in truth (according to Bardock and Una), there were shades of gray also. Bardock himself was not purely good, nor purely evil.
Bardock put a hand on the edge of Peter's case. "Time to grow up, Peter. I hope ya can appreciate what I did for ya."
As if to reply, words appeared on the screen above the Puppet Master's head:
Merrily merrily merrily merrily
Life is but a dream.
.
Owari
.
.
~~Sweet dreams are made of this
~~Who am I to disagree?
~~Travel the world and the seven seas
~~Everybody's looking for something
.
~~Some of them want to use you
~~Some of them want to get used by you
~~Some of them want to abuse you
~~Some of them want to be abused
.
.
*************************
***********Cast***********
***(in order of appearance)***
Zucina - Lucy Lawless [Xena: Warrior Princess]
Cole - Daniel Abarca [my brother]
Panbukin - Scott McNeil [Season 1: Nappa/Piccolo]
Tora - Rob Paulson [Yakko, Pinky, Raphael, the Mask, etc. The man is a voice actor god!]
Fasha - E. G. Daily [Tommy Pickles, Buttercup, etc.]
Bardock - Masako Nozawa [original Bardock voice; I wouldn't let Sonny Strait touch Bardock again with a ten-foot-pole!]
Stinky - G. Gordon Baer [Guilliam from Outlaw Star]
Elena - Elena Harris [my good friend]
Archie - Brian Drummond [Season 1: Vegeta]
Warren - Ian Hawk [Jim from Outlaw Star]
Julianne - Lisa Williams [another good friend]
Narrator - Jim Dale [narrator to the Harry Potter books on tape]
Gardenia - Elizabeth Mendoza [yet another friend]
The Puppet Master - Laura Baily [Chibi Trunks]
Pikon - ??? [Season 6: Pikon]
**Songs**
"World of Pure Imagination" from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Music and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley
"Kid's Game" from the musical BLOOD BROTHERS
Music and lyrics by Willy Russell
"Never Neverland" from the musical Peter Pan
Music by Mark Charlap & Jule Styne; Lyrics by Carolyn Leigh
"Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of These)"
Artist: Marilyn Manson
~~And time is never planned
~~It's not on any chart,
~~You must find it with your heart
~~Never never land
.
~~It might be miles beyond the moon
~~Or right there where you stand
~~Just have an open mind
~~And suddenly you'll find
~~Never never land
.
~~You'll have a treasure if you stay there
~~More precious far than gold
~~For once you have found your way there
~~You can never, never grow old
~~So come with me where dreams are born
~~And time is never planned
~~Just think of lovely things
~~And your heart will soon take wings
~~Forever
~~In never never land
**
Bardock burst through the double doors to the largest room (volume wise) he had entered as of yet. Aligned with marble statues of past kings and queens, the throne lay amidst cobwebs and dirt from misuse. If Bardock weren't so pissed, he may have marveled at the prospect of the room's past beauty.
Never allowing his guard down, Bardock walked into the room with soft, cautious steps. The webs stretched across the aisle way, making them impossible to miss.
A thought struck him. What if its a trap? He took off his helmet and threw it into the center of the room.
It bounced off the "webs."
"Here we go round the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush . . ."
Bardock jumped at the sound of the Puppet Master's voice. "Where are you," he shouted into the darkness.
"Aw, you don't like nursery rhymes," the voice from nowhere asked. "Too bad! They're my fav! How about this one? 'All work and no play makes Bardock a dull boy!'"
Bardock took a step back and ran into more thread. The PM's web now formed a wall around the Sayin, trapping him several feet from the door.
"'All play and no work makes Bardock a mere toy!'"
"Why don't you just show yerself and get this over with," challenged Bardock, body poised for action.
"Now why would I want to do that? Its much more fun to play with you! They say the Sayins are savage animals, but are also brilliant strategists. Let's see how one of their best can escape this mousetrap!"
Bardock powered up, having had enough of these games. He sent out a ki blast to the thick web behind him. The web didn't singe. "Ooooo, sorry! No can do! The web is like metal, and can only absorb your energy. You blast it-" The ki suddenly ricocheted back and hit the small of Bardock's back. "- and it blasts you!"
Strands of thread shot out from all around. Bardock jumped, trying not to hit the web. Performing some amazing acrobatics, he dodged the threads of web of the whole room, searching for a way out. But the doors had disappeared!
Stronger threads, thicker then the previous, shot out from different directions, and coiled around the battle-weary Bardock. He pulled at them, but they cut into his skin. Blood dripped down his arms, legs, and torso. Bardock screamed in pain.
**
**
"What did you find out," demanded Cole as the group raced through the palace.
"Ever hear of the story of Peter Pan," asked Tora.
"No," the rest said, except Fasha.
"Well," she said. "apparently its really popular on another planet. Its about a boy who never grew up, and played games for all of eternity in a mystical land ca-"
"So that's where the kid gets his name," asked Cole.
"Looks like it," muttered Fasha. Under her breath she added, "So rude!"
"MATTE!!" Zucina caught up with them. "Bardock ran this way!"
"On this same planet," continued Tora, "there's another story about a puppet who wanted to become a real boy. To do so, he had to perform good deeds."
"And?"
"And, that explains the puppet thing! This guy is controlling his puppets to take over the universe because he thinks saving people includes manipulating them, so they don't do bad things!"
"Yep," said Panbukin. "Pure psycho!"
Fasha sighed. "Its pitiful, really. He wants to become whole again."
"Whole?"
**
**
"The stupid Sayin monkey got caught in Peter's web," sang the Puppet Master's voice from all around [tune of 'Itsy Bitsy Spider']. "The stupid Sayin monkey screamed off his little head!"
Bardock reluctantly shut his mouth, now filling with blood from his ribs being crushed. The old wounds from the previous battle opened up, and Bardock's strength drained from pain and weariness.
'KUSO," he thought. 'Nothin' I do works! There has to be somethin' I ain't considered yet! Goddess, whatever it is, I'd better think of it fast!' Blood trickled down the web, the metal absorbing it. 'Absorb . . . YATTA!!!"
Bardock's muscles tensed. 'Shit, this is gonna hurt!' He took a deep breath, and screamed loudly as he powered up to his fullest. The blast from his body was absorbed by the web, causing it to spark from all sides.
"Wha-what are you doing," came the worried voice.
The ki sparks broke the walls, shattered the statues, and singed the web lines.
"STOP!!!"
Even as the ki forced back to him, Bardock took the blast and used it yet again until the entire surroundings demolished. No pillars or statues, no support for the web.
Bardock landed hard on his hands and knees, bloodied and battered. Still fully powered up, he floated above the ground, drew back his hand, and set up his strongest move. "SOLAR STRIKE!!!!!" The small gold ki ball shot out of his hand, and hit the throne (which gave off the most ki energy).
Exhausted, Bardock collapsed, drifting off into darkness.
**
**
"Bardock! Bardock!"
He opened his eyes to stare into bright, sable eyes, sparkling from joy at his movement. Zucina held him in her lap, trying to wake him. Her smile, so rare yet infectious, made Bardock want to kiss her.
Tora's voice was nearby. "Oy! Is he awake yet?"
Bardock snapped back to reality and blushed at his previous thoughts. To cover it up, he said, "Zuni-chan, you oughta wear that dress more often! People will finally know yer a girl!"
SMACK!! Zucina hit his jaw and stood up, knocking him down again. "Last time I worry about YOUR bloody safety!!"
Tora, Panbukin, Totepo (silently), and Fasha laughed. Cole only sighed. "You two . . ."
Warren came from behind and helped Bardock sit up. His stuffing literally had been knocked out of him; some was showing from a rip in his side. "Kid! You okay?!"
"He'll be fine," said Julianne, a bandage on her head and arm. "You're going to need some patching up, though. The others are getting the medicine and bandages now."
"Arigato," said Bardock, trying to ignore his intense pain. "Becomin' repetitious, ne?" He looked around. The castle had been destroyed from the interior, thanks to the force of the Solar Strike. He and his comrades were in the middle of the rubble. Many villagers and fighters sifted through the debris.
"Find anything yet," asked a warrior to Pikon.
"Not yet," the general said. "Our ships must be in the dungeons."
"Try that area there," called out Tora, pointing toward the entrance. "There's a secret trap door."
Bardock closed his eyes a moment to relax, but kept thinking about Peter. "Cole," he called to his mentor, "d'ya know what happened to the Puppet Master?"
Cole paused. "Can ya walk?"
"I think so." Cole held out his hand and lifted him off the ground, ignoring the dripping blood. He pulled Bardock's arm over his shoulder, and supported his weight. "Here. I think you oughta hear this."
They slowly processed toward the largest group of animals, huddled around something. "Remember the story Julianne showed you," Cole asked his student.
"Yeah."
"Well, the book didn't know the whole thing. The prince never fully recovered. He just got worse and worse. Eventually, they hooked him up to life support. The fever supposedly fried his brain.
"Instead, the prince hooked his mind up to the system, and created all of the chaos that's been going on. What you've seen was an illusion, a digital illusion. Its like he immortalized himself as a child. He wanted a way to live out his life. That stuff about a wizard's complete bullshit; everything was done by computer. Even the dog was grown genetically altered.
"But his mind DID get messed up because of that fever. He went insane, believing all creatures should be controlled to maintain peace in the universe. And he, as the true hero, would force others to submit to his will. A bedtime story he read dictated that if he did such a good deed, he'd 'turn into a real boy' again."
They stopped abruptly, staying out of sight of the object the villagers surrounded. Cole gazed at Bardock seriously, in his 'This-Is-For-Your-Own-Good' looks. "Knowing you, my friend, you've grown a little attached to the kid, despite all he's done. Your heart's got a nasty habit of doing that. Just wanted to warn ya - well - you aren't gonna like what you see."
Pikon, who followed them, stepped in front of them and pushed a path through the group. "Make way," he shouted. "Make way for the hero of the universe!"
If Bardock were paying attention, he would have laughed at the extremely ironic title. Instead, he kept his focus on the box in front of him.
The throne, or what he thought was a throne, really opened up like a toy chest with a monitor on the lid. Inside was a middle-aged alien, blue, four armed, skinny, and hooked to dozens of wires and tubes. Long gray hair and a beard wrapped around his face, dirty and disheveled. The vacant eyes stared off into space.
"Tora left the computer on," explained Cole, his voice far back in a corner of Bardock's mind. "It keeps him alive."
"I say he should be turned in to the local warlord," said one warrior alien.
"He should be killed," said Archie, somewhere in the crowd.
"Show him some mercy," pleaded Warren at Bardock's heels.
General Pikon raised a hand to silence the crowd. "Lieutenant Bardock defeated him honorably in battle. It is his decision, and his alone, that we must all rely on. Lieutenant?"
Bardock took his time in answering. He eventually agreed with Warren, asking the villagers to preserve his life and look into finding a cure. Pikon offered to question scientists in his galaxy about the prince's condition. "Very noble of you not to have him killed," he said, smiling. "Sayins must be more complex then their reputation gives them."
Cole patted his friend's arm. "Not all Sayins."
"OY," Zucina yelled from a distance. "We found some extra pods! One is prepped with a rejuvenator for Bardock! And we got Stinky back online!"
"Great," yelled Cole.
"But first," announced Julianne, "you are invited to be the guests of honor at our celebratory banquet all day today!"
Tora held his stomach. "As long as there's no candy!"
Cole laughed. "I doubt we'll turn this planet in to Freiza," he thought aloud before addressing Bardock again. "Ready to celebrate?"
"Gimme a few minutes," he said, flashing Cole a smile. "I can stand now. You go join the others."
Cole gave a nod, and helped his still shaky pupil to stand erect. Warren, still under Bardock, tried to help also by pushing on his legs to steady them. "Better?"
"Yeah thanks. Go on an' join the party, an' take Warren with you."
"Okay, but I'm giving you a half hour to get yourself cleaned and bandaged up. Kikitoru?"
"Yes sir." He bent down and gave Warren a pat on the head. "Thanks fer everything, kid." As Cole ran off, taking Warren with him, Bardock focused his gaze on the toy chest, containing his fallen enemy. Pikon's words of wisdom floated in his head. ". . . more complex then their reputation gives them."
Some people believe there is a firm line between good and evil, as in white and black. But, in truth (according to Bardock and Una), there were shades of gray also. Bardock himself was not purely good, nor purely evil.
Bardock put a hand on the edge of Peter's case. "Time to grow up, Peter. I hope ya can appreciate what I did for ya."
As if to reply, words appeared on the screen above the Puppet Master's head:
Merrily merrily merrily merrily
Life is but a dream.
.
Owari
.
.
~~Sweet dreams are made of this
~~Who am I to disagree?
~~Travel the world and the seven seas
~~Everybody's looking for something
.
~~Some of them want to use you
~~Some of them want to get used by you
~~Some of them want to abuse you
~~Some of them want to be abused
.
.
*************************
***********Cast***********
***(in order of appearance)***
Zucina - Lucy Lawless [Xena: Warrior Princess]
Cole - Daniel Abarca [my brother]
Panbukin - Scott McNeil [Season 1: Nappa/Piccolo]
Tora - Rob Paulson [Yakko, Pinky, Raphael, the Mask, etc. The man is a voice actor god!]
Fasha - E. G. Daily [Tommy Pickles, Buttercup, etc.]
Bardock - Masako Nozawa [original Bardock voice; I wouldn't let Sonny Strait touch Bardock again with a ten-foot-pole!]
Stinky - G. Gordon Baer [Guilliam from Outlaw Star]
Elena - Elena Harris [my good friend]
Archie - Brian Drummond [Season 1: Vegeta]
Warren - Ian Hawk [Jim from Outlaw Star]
Julianne - Lisa Williams [another good friend]
Narrator - Jim Dale [narrator to the Harry Potter books on tape]
Gardenia - Elizabeth Mendoza [yet another friend]
The Puppet Master - Laura Baily [Chibi Trunks]
Pikon - ??? [Season 6: Pikon]
**Songs**
"World of Pure Imagination" from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Music and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley
"Kid's Game" from the musical BLOOD BROTHERS
Music and lyrics by Willy Russell
"Never Neverland" from the musical Peter Pan
Music by Mark Charlap & Jule Styne; Lyrics by Carolyn Leigh
"Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of These)"
Artist: Marilyn Manson