." Two words: I quit. I suggest you look them up sometime."
Bulma Briefs
"Un-Important"
Chapter Six: The Revelation
"Where the hell are we?!" Vegeta demanded. His voice was strained, almost as if he were uneasy. With good reason. Despite his keen saiyan senses, his eyes were unable to adjust to the darkness. There was a total absence of light. Nothing was visible.
The others were just as nervous. Goku called out, "Umm… 'scuse me? Could you turn on the lights?" When there was a lack of an answer, he pleaded fervently, "Pleeeease?" Only silence remained. Krillin laughed nervously.
"This is getting weird."
Yamcha nodded in agreement. The movement was reflexive, and he blushed in the darkness when he realized that no one could see his pointless gesture of acquiescence. Almost immediately, a soft glow emitted in front of the fighters. It floated closer, growing in size, revealing the women who had cast them in into this abysmal darkness. But they had changed. Their robes had turned to white dresses, each matching their prospective fate.
Fingo had a laced up bodice with a full skirt and billowed out sleeves. Intricate silver threading crawled its way around her body in soft patterns. Rachiela had a low backed off-the-shoulder evening gown that had a delicate silver chain hanging on her hips. Tetris had donned what looked like long white strips of cloth sewn together, stopping at her bare feet in the front; and elongating to a short train in the back. Silver chains with moons and stars hung from her hair onto her bare shoulders and arms. Together, the fates looked to be ethereal both in presence and in spirit.
Piccolo was the first to speak, "Is there a particular reason that we are here? This darkness serves no purpose."
Fingo shrugged, "True. Intimidation tactic. But there is a reason you are here."
Rachiela nodded, "Yes. Welcome to the Chamber of Alternate Realities. Basically a controlled center of alternate universes. In this room, anything can happen."
With a wave of her hand, Fingo pulled up a small floating screen, like a TV, it's pictures changing with her words, "In this room, anything has, can, will and is happening. Alternate realities. For example, there are realities were all of you are saiyan. Some where Vegetasei had not been destroyed, even some where Frieza annihilated Namek and defeated Goku."
"This room is what we are going to use to prove some vital points." Fingo continued, "This room is the answer to your question."
Yamcha looked perplexed, "What question? All I said was that we'd still be here with or without Bulma." Fingo only smiled, then snapped, and the screen disappeared.
Tetris raised her hands, palms up, creating a small black flame. With her voice low and rhythmic, she spoke.
"Look into this flame. Clear your minds. Do not bring preconceived notions, nor shall you bring false pride. What you were, are, and shall be are irrelevant. For what lies in reality also shadows the surreal. Accept what fate brings before you…. This is a time she has spared you."
Almost against their own volition, the fighters' eyes were glued to the flame. Their minds cleared themselves of all thought.
And then their world went white.
***
Goku rubbed his eyes to rid himself of the irritation the lifht had caused him. He plopped unceremoniously onto the grass. Wait. Grass? He blinked. He was back in the woods of his home with Grandpa Gohan. As he continued to survey his surroundings he caught sight of Piccolo, Vegeta, Krillin, Yamcha, and the fates standing behind him. He turned to the fates.
"Why are we here? This is just the place where I lived as a kid."
Fingo laughed, "This was the day you met Bulma. See? There you are. Fishing." She pointed off to the left.
Sure enough the group stared agog at the miniature Goku carrying a large fish to his home. The older Goku laughed.
"Wow. I can't believe I forgot! Bulma ran me over with her airbike. .. In fact, she should arrive pretty soon."
The group turned expectantly towards the road, and waited. When about thirty minutes had passed Vegeta crossed his arms and huffed angrily.
"I thought she ran you over, Kakkarot!"
Goku shrugged, "I dunno Vegeta. She did! But she's not here…"
Vegeta snarled, "I can SEE that you imbecile!" He growled low in his throat.
The fates smiled. "You haven't caught on yet have you? This is an alternate reality. There IS no Bulma Briefs. Only an old scientist, about to sell out his company to a competitor." Fingo explained.
Yamcha widened his eyes, "You mean theres NO Bulma whatsoever? She's just…nonexistent?"
Vegeta rolled his eyes, "Idiot. That's what they said. The question is, why are we here? This is a pointless waste of time."
Tetris rounded on Vegeta, "We will deal with you later, prince. So just shut up and deal."
Vegeta clamped his mouth shut and scowled, he would make all of them pay dearly for their insults to him. But right now they were the only ones who could ease an unfamiliar ache in his chest, with the return of his woman.
Tetris huffed and turned to face the group, "We are about to transverse ahead in time. You are able to walk freely amongst the people. You are nothing but a mere shadow. We are going many years into the future, three years after Goku meets Master Roshi. Now-"
Goku interrupted her, "But I met Master Roshi and Krillin a few months from this time!"
Tetris squared her eyes at Goku, "You never met Bulma. Therefore you never went on the Dragonball quest. The only reason you even meet Roshi is because you depleted almost all the game and fish in this area. Your search for food led you to Roshi's island. Roshi already has one pupil, Krillin. Who is considerably stronger than you, due to longer and more rigorous training. Despite your saiyan heritage."
"You mean I'm STRONGER than GOKU in this reality? Just cause Bulma's not here? Mondo Cool! Geez man, if I'da known that, I would have steered clear of her!"
The fates only narrowed their eyes. Fingo humphed, "We'll see how long you say that. Besides, you aren't stronger than him for long. A saiyan's nature is hard to keep hidden."
The crestfallen look on Krillin's face nearly made the fates giggle. Tetris grinned and then turned to her left. Using both of her hands, she outlined a doorway, the edges glowing a bright blue. When the final side connected the inside of the large rectangle turned black and she stepped through, motioning for the others to follow.
***
The sky was darker and covered in red lined black clouds. The sand on Roshi's island was coarse and scorched, like constant battles had been fought on the island. Roshi's small house was shabby and slanted, the shutters were hanging haphazardly off of the hinges. Krillin gulped.
"Where is everybody? I thought Goku and I were going to be here."
Rachiela carefully treaded through the random debris on the sands, and stepped into the house. The rest followed her. She glanced around the house, searching for something. She smiled when her eyes caught sight of an endtable overturned. She bent back one of the upturned legs and a panel opened in the floor. She levitated herself down the hole, calling back as she did.
"This tunnel was built buy Dr. Briefs, before he died, for the resistance. It's a safe house, with training facilities, food, and lodgings enough for most of orange city, for eons."
Yamcha looked baffled, "Resistance? Of what?"
Fingo followed, as well as everyone else, and explained the history.
"Pilaf. Since you all never looked for the dragonballs, Pilaf was relatively unrivaled in the search for them. Well, lo and behold, he got them all, and he was named Emperor of the World. However, the Red Ribbon Army wasn't too happy that Pilaf got the Dragonballs before them. So…They assassinated him and appointed Dr. Gero as the new Emperor. Gero made a hoard of android armies, all designed to destroy any resistance towards the R.R. Army's invasion. Unfortunately, there was a lot of resistance. Nearly two thirds of the earth's population was killed. A small resistance was formed by Master Roshi and his two students. Their goal was to train humans, till they were at the breaking point, ruthlessly to kill the android armies. And then came Piccolo Daimou. He of course, wanted to be ruler, and immortal. The resistance tried to kill him, but were unable. He destroyed their old base, as well as most of the group themselves. But the resistance survived, and destroyed the dragonballs before Piccolo Daimou could gather them all. He still became ruler by succession, but he is growing older."
The group remained silent. The tunnel ended and two huge metal doors opened up, revealing a labyrinth of underground tunnels. The fates led them directly through the maze, to the heart of the compound. When they all arrived, a meeting was in progress. And all but Piccolo and Vegeta, saw their alternate counterparts.
Goku was battle hardened and scarred. His hair was cut short in the front, but his spikes were pulled into a long ponytail in the back. Six deep scars ran diagonally across his face, pulling his once boyish face into a permanent grotesque grimace. Webbed scars on his arms showed where someone, or something had ripped chunks of his flesh out. His left shoulder was cybernetic, wires and gears crisscrossing, making him look like a new age Frankenstein.
Krillin's face looked relatively unscarred, save for a long cybernetic spine that was bolted onto his neck. His shirt was off, showing spinal extensions, serving for ribs. Around the implant was spidery white scars, proving everyone's suspicions. His spine had been ripped out.
Yamcha's hair was shaved all on the right side, and his jet black hair hung in long spikes. His right eye was gouged out, with a black animatronic one in it's place. His left leg was completely robotic, fluids running into the pistons through thin clear tubes.
The rest of the group of alternate fighters looked just as bad, if not worse. Not one human among them looked amused, or even grateful to be alive. All seemed to be waiting for death to come…they were waiting with open arms for eternal sleep.
Fingo turned to the fighters. "This is what kind of future you had. Life was tedious. Everyday one of these fighters commit suicide."
Tetris looked at the warriors, "These warriors…They have no idea that their struggles were all for nothing." She looked up, seemingly through the plaster, the steel, the three miles of ocean up to the sky. "All for nothing….. He's here."
A tremor rocked the compound and the alternate warriors flew en masse through the maze and up to the surface. With morbid fascination, the fates and fighters followed. Above on land, the island was in flames. On one side, were the deadened fighters. On the other; a silhouette the spectators knew all too well…Radditz.
No questions were asked. No witty banter. There was an understanding between the alien and the others. They fought a long hard bloody battle. The human survivors against the alien invader. But as history repeated itself for the fates and fascinated fighters. This time, there wasn't anyone to kill Radditz.
The alien flew up into the sky, his energy skyrocketing. In less than a minute, the earth exploded.
***
They were back in the room of Alternate Realities. All their senses seemed heightened, everything was darker, the concrete floor seemed colder. But no one's mind was focused on their surroundings.
Silence reigned. None of the fighters said a word. There was an understanding. They all understood. Bulma didn't single handedly save the world. No way. But, she was in no way worthless. She was the catalyst that saved the world. In her own selfish, bossy, overbearing way, she had saved them all.
Still one question remained in the mind of one fighter. "Umm…what about Vegeta?" Goku inquired.
Fingo's eyes made a slow trail to Goku's face, "His future was quite different to yours. Although his life remained relatively the same up until Radditz's return from earth."
Tetris looked up at Vegeta, "You never went to earth. Or Namek. Your service under Frieza continued for two more decades. You built up a contingent of officers…and you rebelled. Everyone died, except for you. Frieza allowed you to live…but just barely. Frieza overran the universe, various sectors ruled by the Ice family. You never became a Super saiyan. You died in a dank cell, in the bowels of the Ice Palace."
Vegeta's hands clenched. He never got the chance to ascend. He didn't even get the honor of dying a warrior's death. Fate had dealt him a cruel hand once again. Rage bubbled within him. These three women were the cause of his eternal torment. They were the ones who had fated him to work under Frieza. They were the ones who caused Kakkarot to ascend before him, to constantly be one step ahead of him. They were the ones who caused his eternal shame.
Howling out his rage he lunged towards the nearest fate. Rachiela. With his aura going golden, he attacked her. His fist lunged out at her face, connecting with her jaw. She flew backwards and fell in a heap at Piccolo's feet. The fighters tried to stop him, but his rage was so great, none could touch him. At this moment, he was the supreme.
His next target was Fingo. She saw him coming and somehow conjured a sword into her hands. She wielded it expertly, blocking his attacks, and getting in a few of her own. She lunged into him and he grabbed the blade with both of his hands, and snapped it in half. He pulled the hilt towards him, as well as Fingo and grabbed her around the neck. With one hand on her chin, and the other at the base of her neck, he jerked her head to the left, breaking her neck with a sickening crack.
His eyes sought out his last tormentor. She was crouched at Rachiela's slumped form, trying to pull her up onto her feet. He smiled and straightened his hand, palm facing them. Before Tetris could pull her out of the way, the beam hit Rachiela's chest. Tetris nearly gagged at the sight of her friends' dead bodies. She looked at him, and crouched into a fighting stance. He attacked. She leapt over him and rolled back into a crouch. Kicks and punches were thrown at a furious pace. Vegeta kicked up and caught her in the chin. She fell with a crash onto the floor, almost immediately Vegeta placed a foot on her back. He brought his foot up, "This is for the hand that fate has dealt me." With that he crunched his foot down on her back, shattering it on impact.
The fighters looked at Vegeta in horror. The darkness began to flicker, as well as the bodies of the fates. Piccolo looked upwards in thought, "What will happen, if you kill fate?"
Colors swirled around the fighters, an invisible wind bit at their faces. And as soon as it had started, it stopped. Only the fighters remained.
"You know, I hope you had fun doing that. Now I have this really sore spot on my back."
The fighters turned with shock. Standing behind them, looking royally pissed, were the fates. Looking relatively unharmed. Vegeta could only stare, but as his eyes connected with theirs, he found himself frozen on the spot. He couldn't move at all.
Rachiela, followed by Fingo and Tetris walked up to a shell shocked Vegeta.
"You jackass. Fate is FATE. We give what we see fit." To punctuate her words Rachiela slapped him hard across the face.
"Just think of how much more we could've put on your pitiful life. Hell, we could've made Goku your damn brother!" Fingo spat out. She slapped him and walked off as well.
"And AS FATE we give you only as much as you can handle. So just shut the hell up, and quit effing whining about whatever the hell is up your ass!" Tetris yelled, and she slapped him too.
When they released their hold on him, Vegeta scowled and opened his mouth to speak. But Rachiela cut him off.
"You say one word, and I will personally send you to a universe where you and Goku are lovers. You got that? Not one word."
Visibly paling Vegeta complied. The fates opened a doorway and led the fighters out, grumbling to themselves. The new room was different, dark but lit by an unseen source. In the middle of the room was a large circle with intricate carvings inside of it. And sleeping inside the circle was Bulma.
Fingo walked over to her and gently shook her awake. "It's time."
Bulma stood up groggily, never moving outside the circle. Without warning Goku ran up to her and hugged her.
"I'm sorry Bulma. You're one of my best friends and I don't want you to leave! I still wanna come over to your house and eat!"
Krillin toed the floor nervously, "Umm Bulma? Look, about earlier…that was really crappy of us to say all of that stuff. I mean, you aren't that bad. Okay? Oh yeah. And we should've listened to you about the bat things…. You could've saved us a lot of trouble…"
Yamcha looked at her for a moment then shrugged, "I'm not going to lie, Bulma. You aren't perfect. You really are a bossy know it all… But then…we aren't perfect either. Our arrogance is going to lead us to our downfall… But…thanks."
Vegeta crossed his arms and glared at her. "Let's go home, woman."
Bulma's eyes until then had been tearing up, and gratefulness had begun swelling up inside her. But at her husband's gruff voice everything inside of her hardened and iced over. She turned to him, "No."
He growled and spoke through clenched teeth, "NOW."
Fingo looked pointedly at Vegeta, "Don't you have something to say to your WIFE?"
He shook his head and planted his feet firmly on the ground.
"No."
***
AN: Haha! If you think it's done…..YOU'RE WRONG! We've still got a lot of work to do! Sorry about the lack of updating! Summer break is over, and I have limited computer time. The most I can use it is at school. And sometimes I am unable to get on to FF.net. So be patient. There are only a few more chapters left.
Sorry if I scared you all with the 'death' of the fates. Heh. Anyways, review!!!!
