Fumetsu no Senshi Tachi Z

An Alternate Mirai Dragon Ball Z Fan Fiction by Aoikami Sarah

Part One - Chapter Three

"You did it, didn't you?! You beat them! He said you would!" Bulma babbled into her daughter's shoulder as she hugged her and cried.

Koneko didn't let go, but made a face. "What do you mean, he said I would?"

Bulma backed away so she could look her in the eyes. "The Jinzouningen! You defeated them, didn't you?"

"Yes, but how did you know? Who told you?"

"Your father." Bulma sniffed and sat down at the fountain. "Don't get your hopes up." She noticed the toppled statue. "He's dead."

"I know. Zen'i told me."

"Zen'i?" Bulma looked up and shaded her eyes against the setting sun. Koneko motioned for her friend to come closer.

Bulma gaped at the Jinzouningen. "You…"

Realizing that her mother recognized her Koneko began to try to explain, but Bulma furrowed her brows and cut her off. "You spared me," she said to the blond. "Was she the reason why?"

Zen'i nodded. "Koneko, before you changed me, I almost killed this woman but I saw that she had the same bracelet you hand and I couldn't bring myself to. I spared you to play with you, but when I saved her, it was the first time I had ever spared someone for no good reason. I knew from that point that there was something to be done - that I could change."

The older woman looked back and forth from the android to the girl. "How? Did you reprogram her?" Koneko nodded and her mother burst out into tears again. "Oh, I knew it! When Vegeta said you were doing something I was so afraid that you were fighting but you're smart, just like me! I knew it!!"

"Well…" Koneko scratched her head and laughed a little. "That, too."

"Smart and tough," Zen'i added. "I don't think I could have defeated Juunanagou without her."

Bulma winced. "Is he dead or offline or something?"

Zen'i nodded.

"So…" The older woman began to smile from ear to ear. "It's over?" The girls nodded. "It's over!!" Bulma stood and motioned for her daughter to help her up. She stood on the lip of the fountain. "Everyone! Listen to me! It's over!! The Jinzouningen are no more! I swear to you! For a week now, there have been no attacks! It's because for a week now, they have been dead!!"

"Mother, that's not entirely true!" Koneko hissed at her and pointed to Zen'i.

"Oh, what they don't know can't hurt 'em!" A large crowd began to gather and murmur their dubiousness. "A brave warrior has at last arisen and rid our world of the Artificial Humans forever!"

"How do you know?!" shouted one man.

"Yeah, where's the proof? I'm not getting my hopes up again!"

Zen'i pushed past Koneko and stepped up next to Bulma "Because I destroyed one of them myself." She held up her brother's orange neckerchief for everyone to see. Some of them who recognized her cried out. She grasped Bulma by the waist and set her down next to Koneko. "Take your mother to safety."

"What are you going to do?"

Zen'i stepped down from the fountain and let her arms rest at her sides. "Nothing."

The crowd began to press in. Bulma looked confused as her daughter picked her up and ran away form the square. People shouted obscenities and threats until that the Jinzouningen wasn't going to fight back. Then they fell on her.

Bulma craned her neck to see. "What's going on? What is she doing?"

Koneko frowned and watched the violence she knew she couldn't stop. "For the last week, I've seen the way she stares at people. I've seen the guilt in her eyes and I know how heavy her heart is. She wants to be punished."

Bulma gawked at the mob as fists and feet collided. "Her heart," she whispered.

"Mother?"

"Yes?"

"If father is dead, how did he tell you I was alive?"

.x.

As the sun set, Koneko could take it no more. She pulled the last five men and women off the Jinzouningen. "That's enough. No matter how much you hit her, it won't change what's happened."

Zen'i lay in the fetal position on the ground. Her clothes were tattered and filthy. Koneko sat down beside her as she uncurled. "And it certainly won't make you feel better," she scowled.

"A little better," she replied, righted herself and hugged her knees. Her artificial body was unharmed.

Bulma leaned on her cane and frowned at them. "It'll take a long time for them to forgive."

"But they'll never forget," Zen'i added and stood.

Bulma limped towards them.

"Do you need help, Mother?"

"Nah." She waved with her right hand. "It's been like this since…" She bit her lip. "That's a story for another time, huh?" she muttered to herself. "Well, it's getting dark." Koneko nodded and stood. She gave her friend a hand up. "Let's go home, guys."

.x.

The underground lab was surprisingly cheery for being artificially lit and utilitarian. The girls marveled at the multitude of equipment. "This is the lab," Bulma explained. "The living quarters are down this hall and the kitchen is that way." She showed them around. "Come here!" She took her daughter's hand. "I want to show you something I've been working on."

When Bulma turned on the lights one of the chambers was revealed to be an enormous hangar. In the middle of this was a tall, ergonomic looking contraption. It was grey and unpainted except for the word 'hope' slathered in black by hand on its side. The girls were obviously impressed. Bulma beamed and waited for a response.

"It's huge!" Koneko stammered.

"It's grey," Zen'i monotoned.

"What is it, Mother?"

Bulma steadied herself with her cane. "It's a spaceship of course!"

"Ah! Yeah, I knew that!" Koneko laughed nervously.

"I've been waiting for five years to launch this baby."

"Why?"

"We destroyed any ships trying to leave Earth," Zen'i admitted.

"But, Mother, where do you need to go that you need such a huge ship?"

"Well, the size unfortunately coincides with how fast I need this thing to go. I found that the propulsion units took so much fuel, the body had to be quite large."

"She meant where not why," Zen'i helped.

"Oh, here, let me show you!" Bulma blushed. It had been so long since she had talked shop with anyone who could talk back. She rummaged through a cluttered desk and found a notebook-sized digital star map. "Well, as you can see, Old Namek-Sei used to be where this nebula is now, and that's over 4,000 light-years from Earth, but New Namek-Sei is over 11,000 light-years away, so you can see why I had to make this sucker crank!"

Koneko raised an eyebrow. Zen'i's expression remained unchanged. "Nam-ek?"

Bulma's eyes bugged slightly. "Oh, wow. Are you guys in for a surprise!"

.x.

The three women buckled themselves in to the three seats on the bridge. They wore blue and white space-suits and serious looks. Bulma took the controls and the ship prepared for liftoff. As lights came on and the sound of the propulsion system became louder, she pressed a series of buttons and the ceiling divided into two parts and slid back. The ship lifted slowly off the ground and pointed at the sky. "Hold on," she gritted her teeth and smiled wide.

All three held their right fists to their chests and then threw them out at the sky. "To Namek!!"

.x.

The Jinzouningen sat on her bed in the sleeping quarters on the ship, hugging one knee. "So these Dragon Balls are on Namek?"

Bulma nodded.

"Wow." Koneko stared at her mother as she unfolded her reason for going to this far away planet. "Your life has been so amazing!"

She made a pitiful face. "That's not the word I use to describe it."

Zen'i saw the way the woman stared at Koneko and got up. "I'm going to watch the stars fly by." She left them to catch up.

Koneko held her mother's hand. "Mother? What was Father like?"

She laughed at little and bowed her head. "Strong, proud," she listed. "Alone." Her eyes glistened as she looked up. "Evil!" She laughed again. She had already told Koneko the story of his arrival and fight with Goku.

The girl shook her head. "How weird. I'm still getting used to the fact that my father was from another planet."

"Well," Bulma mused. "He can't be evil anymore, since he's in heaven."

"So, it was him who told me to find you?"

"It had to be. Did he call you by your name?"

"He called me 'Girl'."

"That would be him."

"Did you love him?" Koneko whispered.

Bulma closed her eyes. "I didn't get a chance to find out if I did."

.x.

A month later, the women looked out of the huge window as Bulma slowed the craft. The stars stopped whizzing by and before their eyes appeared a yellow-green orb.

"Is that it?" Zen'i asked.

"I guess so. I've never actually seen it but it's in the same orbit where I mapped it eighteen years ago." Bulma brought the ship in for a landing. It sank gently into the atmosphere and landed gracefully. "Woof, am I good!" she exclaimed. Zen'i raised an eyebrow at Koneko, knowingly. The girl shrugged.

A circular panel depressed and the three women descended to the ground. There was a small grouping of white, rounded and pointed buildings in front of them. "Looks like Namek," Bulma reassured them and herself. Wind blew through the strange, bluish trees. Not a single living being was in sight. "Hello?" She hobbled toward one of the houses. "Anyone home?" Her heart started to palpitate. What if something had happened to her friends? It wouldn't be too hard to believe, seeing what had happened to her own planet, but the buildings were intact. "Guys? It's me, Bulma!"

Zen'i and Koneko were on guard. They could feel eyes watching them. At last a green head poked out from around a corner. Bulma wasn't sure if she was relieved or startled as the sound of murmuring reached their ears.

"It is!" called one of the elders as he emerged. "It's alright! It's Bulma-san!" A few dozen green-skinned individuals emerged from their hiding places and smiled at the women. Bulma turned to her comrades and nodded. "These are Namekjin!" she smiled.

Koneko blinked rapidly. "My life just keeps getting weirder and weirder."

The men of various ages all took turns clasping the older woman's hand. Finally, the elder of the village inquired for his people, "What brings you at long last to New Namek-sei?"

Her smile faded. "My friends, I have some bad news…"

.x.

More Namekjin had gathered in the hour that it took Bulma to explain the Earth's troubles. They all listened patiently. Most of them were old enough to have known the blue-green planet they had called home for a year. A younger Namek came forward when she had finished.

"They're all gone? All the Z warriors?" He was much more upset than his fellows.

The phrase caught Bulma's attention. "Dende?"

"Yes, Bulma-san." The healer bowed to her. "Even Son Gohan is no more?"

She nodded solemnly.

The elder came forward. "So you have come for the Dragon Balls."

"Yes, if it's at all possible, we would like to ask…"

"We've already assembled them as your were speaking." He stood aside and seven other older Namekjin approached and placed the balls at their feet.

"Well, what are we waiting for?!" Koneko grinned and broke the seriousness.

.x.

Dende spread his arms and summoned the Namek dragon. Even Zen'i looked impressed at how enormous and spectacular it was. The sky darkened and his voice boomed across the land in the sing-songy Namek language. Dende nodded to Bulma to tell him the wish.

"We wish that the dragon restore to life everyone who was killed by a Jinzouningen!"

The healer repeated the wish in his tongue. "Polunga says he can only restore the lives of those killed in the last Earth year."

She nodded "I know."

Polunga uttered a phrase Bulma remembered and knew to be 'your wish is granted.' She sighed deeply.

"What's your next wish, Bulma-san?"

"Next wish?" Zen'i and Koneko's eyes bulged.

"Oh, how could I forget something like that? We have two more wishes!"

Koneko beamed and jumped forward. "I have one! Make my mother as old as she was the day before she lost me!"

Bulma stared at her daughter gratefully and touched the deep scar on her cheek. Dende nodded and raised his arms. "Wait wait wait! Can we make it an even twenty-five?" Koneko blinked at her. "I was thirty-nine when I had you!"

"Alright." Dende blushed a little and made the wish.

Bulma's eyes went wide as she levitated off the ground. Her cane dropped out of her hand. Light swirled from her head to her feet and she slowly sank back down. Koneko stared at her. Bulma opened her eyes and reached up to touch her face. She shouted with joy as she felt where the scar used to be. She hugged her daughter and cried.

The dragon grumbled. "What is your third wish?" Dende translated.

All three women looked at each other. They shrugged.

"Well, I can think of a couple silly things, but nothing I should waste a wish on." Bulma admitted.

"You got anything?" Koneko asked Zen'i. The android shrugged.

Dende looked nervous. The dragon spoke to him again. He seemed shocked by what he said. "Th-thank you! I will do as you ask." A swirl of light spiraled down from the dragon and entered the young Namek. The Dragon Balls rose into the air and Polunga retracted inside them. They scattered across Namek once more.

Zen'i followed the traces of the orbs longer than anyone else could. "Did the wish go wasted?"

"No," Dende blushed again. "He gave it to me to use later on one condition." The other Namekjin listened carefully. "Since Earth hosted our nation we owe it and you, Bulma-san, a deep debt of gratitude. And, since Earth has lost its guardian, it would be my honor to fill that position."

Bulma's eyes brimmed over with tears. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Another young Namek pushed his way to the front of the crowd. "You're not going anywhere." He stood with his arms crossed. He was obviously the other type of Namekjin - a warrior. Dende turned to him, shocked. The Namek Nation murmured. One of the warrior's fangs protruded over his lower lip, and he smirked. "Not without me, anyway." All of Namek sighed.

"If you really want to…" Dende tried to hide his glee. "Bulma-san, is it alright if my friend comes along?"

"Sure! We could use more warriors! What's your name?"

The taller, strong-looking Namekjin grinned. "I'm called Polian."

.x.

Zen'i stared out at the blackness and watched the stars and planets whiz by. She knew exactly how fast they were traveling and was impressed by Bulma's ingenuity. She narrowed her eyes and calculated the distance to Earth and the ETA from that figure. Only three more days left. She tried to think about how many lives her brother and she had taken in the last year. She couldn't come up with an exact number. It was marginal compared to the volume of kills they had made in the last 15 years. This thought made something uncomfortable stir in her. Perhaps this genius woman could help her with such an anomaly.

.x.

At last the crew of spaceship Hope assembled on the bridge. They strapped themselves in to their seats and made the final preparations. The ship slowed and Earth was at last visible, huge and blue-green before them. Everyone was amazed by its beauty.

"That is Earth?" Polian asked.

"Yup," Bulma sighed. "Doesn't look like anything's wrong from up here, does it?"

The descent to Earth was as smooth as glass just like the descent to Namek. The ship set down in the open bay from which it had departed. The doors closed over it and the engines whispered off.

"Welcome to Earth!" Koneko jumped out and helped Dende down the rather sizable gap between the door and the hangar floor. Bulma was the last one out and she hesitated before remembering her physical condition. She giggled and hopped down. Koneko beamed at her and she beamed back.

"Ok, I'm gonna go out and see what's up. Or rather, who's up!" Bulma announced. "Wanna come with?"

Zen'i, Polian and Koneko looked to each other. Dende spoke up for all of them. "I would like to come with you, Bulma-san. I believe these three warriors have been locked up in a spaceship for a month with little to no exercise…"

"Two months!" Koneko and Zen'i added.

"…And would like to expend some energy."

Bulma made a face as if to say, 'you guys are gonna get into trouble, aren't you?' but shrugged her shoulders and showed Dende the way to her air-car.

The three Senshi bolted out of the building and headed for a good place to spar.

.x.

Men and women toiled side by side, repairing buildings, planting crops; rebuilding their world. An older man struggled up hill with a wheelbarrow full of bricks. He was about to lose the load when a young, black haired man grabbed a handle and lifted the whole thing off the ground.

"I got it!" he chimed and smiled at the grateful man.

"Why, thank you, young man!"

"No problem!" he retorted, and took the barrow in one arm and three bags of cement under the other to the top of the hill. He set these down and looked out at his surroundings. A lot of the people who worked in the city today were survivors. There were few of the resurrected like himself. It had taken a while for them to come out of the woodworks. Many people still were confused and frightened, fearing they were in hell. He alone knew that it was over. He could only guess who had finally destroyed the Jinzouningen or how exactly he had come back to life. He searched every day for a sign.

Suddenly, his senses picked up the flicker of one high level ki then another. Two people, fighting each other. He concentrated. "To the west!" he cried out and blasted off after the sign.

.x.

Polian cracked his knuckles. "Alright, Zen'i. Let's see what you're made of."

Koneko smirked awkwardly and tried not to laugh. Her friend bowed to the Namek and struck a pose. "I'm ready."

Polian found out quickly just what she was made of as his fist landed on something a lot harder than flesh. He cursed under his breath and buffeted her with punches and kicks, all of which she blocked. Just as he was getting annoyed that she wasn't fighting back, she attacked. One punch to his exposed, pink abdomen sent him flying.

"Zen'i!" Koneko shouted angrily as Polian slammed into a rock wall. The dust cleared and he flew back to the girls.

Zen'i pushed her hair back in place. "Oh, ye of little faith. I didn't use full force."

Polian rubbed his stomach. "That's quite a punch."

"Thanks," she replied.

"I had no idea humans were so strong."

Koneko bit her lip and tried not to laugh. Zen'i simply raised an eyebrow. "That's because I'm a Jinzouningen."

"What?" Polian had been told the Artificial Humans were to blame for the suffering on Earth.

Koneko jumped up and explained the situation to him. In all that time on the spaceship she didn't think that the Namekjin wasn't aware of her friend's physiognomy.

"Alright, that's different." Polian folded his arms and scrutinized the young woman. "How about you?" he asked Koneko and took a stance.

"I'm not entirely human…"

Polian sighed. "Oh, whatever. Let's dance!"

.x.

As they fought, Zen'i looked on. She was a little miffed that the Namekjin wasn't fast enough to hit her. She'd have to train him herself. She mused on this, shrugged and rejoined the fight. She tapped Koneko on the shoulder as if to interrupt the dance and began to show Polian some new steps for a moment before something caught her attention.

"Don't all look at once," she said loud enough for the both of them to hear. "But we have company."

Indeed, someone was flying straight towards them. Polian made sure this wasn't a trick to distract him before turning to look. "Friend of yours?"

"I doubt it." Zen'i gave him a chance to defend himself before she swatted the Namekjin into the ground.

Koneko shuddered and swung around to face Zen'i. "You don't suppose it's…?"

She narrowed her eyes. "My brother? Impossible. Besides, the being approaching us is human."

Koneko fretted. "Well, not if the wish said…"

Polian cracked his knuckles. "He's almost here. Whoever he is, he's in for a hell of a fight!"

Koneko grimaced and clenched her fists.

.x.

Bulma and Dende arrived in the heart of the city. She jumped out of the car and they walked through the streets. Many people were out on this sunny day, repairing and gathering supplies. There was an air of relief, but many hushed whispers as the young woman and the green-skinned man with the antenna passed by.

"Is that you, Briefs-san?" an older woman asked as she came forward.

She nodded and blushed. Bulma hadn't thought about how people would react to her condition. The woman stared at Dende.

"Oh, this is my friend Dende. He's going to be our new God!"

The woman continued to stare, dumbfounded, long after they had walked away.

Dende noticed that not a single building had escaped destruction. There were a few still standing, but all were in bad enough shape to have to be demolished. "Bulma-san? Is it all like this?"

Bulma seemed to be looking for something. Dende had to clear his throat and ask twice before she remembered he was there. "Yes, I'm afraid so. I wouldn't have asked you to take this job myself, Dende. Our world is in serious pain."

"And I am a healer, Bulma-san," the young Namek added.

She looked to him and smiled. "You're going to make a great God."

.x.

The young man glared at the three Senshi and tried to make sense of what he saw. "I thought you were no more, Jinzouningen!" he shouted.

"Look, whoever you are, I'm getting tired of telling people this but she's alright," Koneko barked.

Polian emerged from the hole he had been slammed into moments before the man arrived and flew back to them. "Well, well. What have we here? A human at last?" he asked in his rough, deep voice.

The black haired man's eyes bulged out of his head. "Wh-Who the hell are you?!"

"Who are you?" Koneko demanded angrily.

"I asked first!"

"My name is Polian and if you're the Earthling welcome wagon, then come on and welcome me!" he growled and smirked, inviting him to fight.

"I don't want to fight you, I want her!" he yelled back and pointed to Zen'i. She frowned, but neither said nor did anything.

"You'll have to go through me, pal."

"Are you nuts?!" He couldn't believe what was going on. Maybe everyone was right and he was in hell "Enough of this, you're mine, Juuhachigou!"

Koneko was startled that he knew her designation. She was even more startled when the man began powering up. His eyes turned green, his hair turned gold and he charged at the android. Koneko shook off her shock as they began to fight. Zen'i was blocking, but took a few hits. She tried to avoid him. As she took a kick to the stomach and a punch to the jaw she was sent flying into a near by rock outcropping.

The teenage girl had seen enough. She charged up and turned on the Super Saiyajin. "That's enough! Leave her alone!!" Koneko shouted as she barreled at him. He turned, gasped at the sight and took a head-butt to the chest.

"Wh-who…? How…?" he choked as he caught his breath.

"No! Who the hell are you?!"

Polian flew closer as he saw that the fight was over.

"My name is Son Gohan."

Zen'i emerged from the rock. She came up from behind him. "I killed him," she admitted. "I guess it was less than a year ago." As always, she sounded completely unfazed.

"Son Gohan?" The name sounded familiar to Koneko.

"He fought alongside your father and the other Z-Senshi." Zen'i informed her.

Gohan stared at the girl and powered down. "Your father? Not…" He realized who she was.

She did the same, reluctantly. Koneko finally placed the name. "Oh, you're Son Goku's son! Mother told me about you."

"You're Bra?"

"Well, that's what Mother named me, but I'm called Koneko."

Polian folded his arms and cocked his head to the side. "I guess being dead for a year throws you out of the loop."

Gohan shook his head and laughed in disbelief. "This is so messed up. I feel like I'm dreaming. Vegeta's kid is alive, there's a Namekjin on Earth…" He looked to Zen'i and frowned. "Or maybe I'm having a nightmare."

She was unmoved.

"Come on, I'm sure Mother wants to see you!"

"Are you kidding?! I've been looking for Bulma for a month now!"

"We've been away," Koneko pointed her thumb at Polian and smiled wide. "Let's go!" She led them home. Polian followed her. Gohan waited till Zen'i followed them so that he could keep his eye on her and they headed back to Capsule.

.x.

Bulma and Dende returned from their trip into the urban center as dinner time was rolling around. As they approached the underground headquarters, Bulma noticed Dende looked worried. She asked him what the matter was.

"When do I, er, become God?"

"Good question, kiddo. I dunno. I guess we'll have to figure it out on our own. Too bad there's no one left who knows where Kami's look-out is."

The Namekjin cried out as the car suddenly dipped down toward the earth. Just after it looked like they should have crashed into the ground, he opened his eyes and saw that they were in a garage.

"Sorry," Bulma apologized. "It's a hologram so the bad guys can't find where the entrance is. I guess I can turn in off now!" She jumped out of the car. "You want some water, Dende?"

"Yes, please, Bulma-san," Dende said, as polite as ever, still clutching his chest. They heard voices coming from kitchen. "I guess the fighters are back."

The voices hushed as they came around the corner. Koneko, Zen'i and Polian sat at the island countertop. Koneko munched on some crackers, Polian sipped some water and Zen'i filed her nails. "Hi Mom," she half choked as she swallowed the crackers and smiled.

"Ok, what did you do?" Bulma asked and folded her arms.

"Do? Nothing!" Koneko replied, unable to keep her smile down.

Bulma shifted her weight. "Ok, so it's not bad. What is it? You guys are hiding something and I'm gonna find out what it is." She frowned and examined each of their faces. She got nothing from the Namekjin or the Jinzouningen, but her daughter's face got progressively sillier as she tried not to give away the surprise. Her eyes locked on her mothers and her cheeks puffed out. She let out a muffled 'eep'. Polian got out of his seat and silenced his healer friend as he saw the surprise sneak out of his hiding place. "What is it, Koneko?" Bulma grew impatient. Koneko thought she was going to burst.

Finally, Gohan inched up behind Bulma and quickly put his hands over her eyes. She shrieked and Koneko let out her breath in a huge, long sigh. "Guess who?!" he asked.

The voice was unmistakable, but she lifted her hands and touched his arms to be sure before guessing. "G-G-Gohan?!" she stammered.

He let her go and she spun and stared at him. His silly grin melted into one of pleasant surprise. "Bulma, what happened?" He gently touched her face where the scar had been then noticed that the entire package was different.

The woman's tears glistened in her eyes. "I'm twenty five," she whispered. "And you're alive!"

Zen'i raised an eyebrow at them. Dende blinked rapidly and vocalized his glee. "Son Gohan!"

Gohan turned and looked at the Namekjin. "Dende?!"

"Yes, my friend!"

"Wow! What are you doing here?"

"He's going to be our God! Isn't that great!" Koneko cheered.

"So great!"

Bulma clapped her hands together. "Excellent! Gohan, you can take him to Mr. Popo, right?"

"Sure. Right now?"

The healer shrugged. "I might as well get started right away. This world needs so much help."

"It sure does." Gohan beamed at him. It had been so long since last they had seen each other. Gohan was a man, now, and although Dende appeared to be one, too, he knew that Namekjin life spans were even longer than Saiyajin. He was still a boy according to Namek standards. "You ready to go?"

"Yes!"

"Can we come, too?" Koneko asked for her friends.

Zen'i spoke up for herself before Gohan could disapprove. "I'll stay behind with Bulma-san."

Gohan obviously didn't like the idea, but would rather her not come with them. He could not tolerate the idea of a murderer in the house of God. He looked to Bulma. She smiled, so glad that someone was looking out for her for a change. She nodded her approval and he led the others out of the complex. "Hurry back!" she called out after them.

.x.

They chased the setting sun and ascended into the clouds. Soon, the spindle-like tower was visible. Gohan smiled at Dende as they came in for a landing. Mr. Popo, clutching his hands together tightly and smiling from ear to pitch-black ear, was waiting for them.

Somewhere far from the tower, far from the underground Capsule Corporation headquarters someone worked diligently at a huge console. Sparks flew this way and that as the man made final repairs and adjustments. Eerie, green and blue LEDs flickered in the dim light. A large, glass container stood in the middle of the room holding a milky substance. The man tucked a stray strand of hair behind his ear and looked up at this. An evil smile spread across his lips and he began a laugh which started as a quiet, sardonic chuckle, but built its way up into a full, raucous, mad-scientist cackle. "See, Father!" he bellowed to the air. "I'll do it! I'll finish it! I'll finish them all!"

END Part One

To be continued…