Fumetsu no Senshi Tachi Z
An Alternate Mirai Dragon Ball Z Fan Fiction by Aoikami Sarah
Written May 1st – September 15th 2000
Part Two - Chapter One
Popo, Gohan, Koneko and Polian looked on as the young Namekjin raised his hands, closed his eyes and chanted in his native tongue. The round stones at his feet began to hover off the ground. He called off their numbers. Soon, the grey orbs were orange and translucent. As he incanted the magic words, imbuing them with life once again, the balls pulsed with light. Small, red stars appeared in each one, and they began to spin around the new God. Dende opened his eyes at last and shouted the end of the spell. The restored Dragon Balls shot off in seven different directions and disappeared over the edge of the lookout.
Gohan shook his friend's hand. Dende and Mr. Popo waved good-bye as the new Z Warriors headed home.
.x.
Koneko beamed. "This is awesome! I can't believe everything's working out so well!"
"Knock on wood, kid," Polian muttered. "From what I hear, this planet is a bad luck magnet."
She looked dejected. Gohan made a face. "He's right. We never quite seem to be rid of evil. There's always a new threat waiting out there somewhere. That's why my friends and I used to train constantly. I was slacking a little when the Jinzouningen showed up, but I was just a kid."
Gohan's brows came together and formed a deep crevasse Koneko knew was built up from years of living under the Androids' oppression. She wanted to hear about his struggle, and his death, but she dared not push him yet.
.x.
It was evening by the time they got home. Bulma had dinner ready for them. Five places were set along a lab table with an old table cloth thrown over it. One of the places had only a tall glass of ice water at it. Koneko bounded in and was shocked by the domestic scene. Zen'i strained noodles over the sink and Bulma zipped from place to place as she prepared the meal.
"Mom?!" she cried. "What are you doing?"
Gohan came into the room behind her and made a similar exclamation. Bulma frowned and shook a spoon at them.
"Is it so hard to believe that I can cook?"
"Frankly, Bulma, yes it is!" Gohan grinned and dodged the spoon as she let it fly at his head. He laughed at this and she turned crimson with anger. "More unbelievably it smells good!" She couldn't help but smile and blush.
"Is this the way, Bulma-san?" Zen'i washed cold water over the noodles and put them in a serving dish.
"Yup. Just put that on the table."
Gohan grimaced at the thought of having an android touch his food, but an icy look from Bulma made him hold his tongue.
"This is so cool! Everyone together like this. Mom, is this what it's like to have a family?"
Bulma paused for a second and took in how strange this all was. They were like a family, sort of. There was the quiet one, the alpha-male, the daughter, the outsider, and the mother. "Yeah, I guess so, Koneko-chan."
.x.
Polian gritted his teeth. His protruding fang bit deeper into his lip as he concentrated. He hovered just above the surface of a lake, far off in the wilderness. The water began to depress in a spherical shape where his energy forced it down. Soundlessly, he pushed himself to the extreme and finally his aura popped white. He opened his eyes and grinned.
Zen'i cocked her head to the side. "Come on, Green-Bean. What's the hold up?"
"Just you wait. It's a little something Gohan told me his friend Piccolo used to do." Polian began to grunt with exertion as he flexed all of his muscles. Another set of arms sprung from his chest, then another, followed by two more sets of legs. Two more heads appeared and Polian split into three, full scale models of himself.
Zen'i raised an eyebrow. "Wow, Polian." She laced her fingers together and made cute eyes at him sarcastically. "You're three times the Bean!"
Two of the tri-form technique clones charged at her while the third one faded. Each took a side and rained blows down on the Jinzouningen which she blocked. Her eyes darted around, looking for the third one. When a good twenty seconds had gone by, and it had still not appeared, she became annoyed. Zen'i went on the offensive. This was just what Polian was looking for. The third clone swept in and kicked her in the lower back. Zen'i went flying forward. The other two didn't let up. She took several hits before recovering, but not quick enough to block the third's power attack.
Polian gathered his duplicates and became one again. The dust cleared and Zen'i hung in the air with her arms crossed.
"How'dja like that?" He smirked.
She didn't look pleased. "It was all right." She squeezed her arms tighter together.
"All right? That's the first time I've ever been able to hit you full on and you all you got to say is 'all right'?"
"That's what I said!" she barked defensively. "Let's go home."
Polian was shocked. Something was wrong. He scrutinized her and saw that she wasn't just sulking, she was hiding something. He floated in for a closer look and Zen'i turned her back on him. "Zen'i, I… Is it something I said?"
She turned blue between the eyes and her lips wriggled. "No!" She spun around. "You ruined my shirt!"
He noticed now the fringes hanging down from the white-and-black-stripped shirt she always wore. Her hands were cupping her bare breasts. Polian rolled his eyes. "I can't believe you're embarrassed that your flesh is exposed." He puffed out his own pink and green chest slightly.
She blinked at him. "Oh… There are no female Namekjin, are there?"
He shook his head and pointed at her. "So I take it those are female?"
Zen'i blushed furiously as he stared at her. "Yes. Well, there's more to it than that." She turned away from him and took off her jacket. She used this to cover herself in front and pushed her hair back behind her ear. "It's late. We'd better get back."
.x.
"Wow! This feels great!" Koneko twisted and stretched, feeling the alien fabric against her skin. The armor was so light she could hardly tell that she was wearing it. "I'm glad one size fits all!"
"More like it fits because you're built like a twelve-year-old boy." Zen'i smirked and avoided the boot which Koneko threw at her head. It whizzed through the closet door past Bulma as she turned the corner.
"What is going on in here, girls?" She picked up the boot and stared at it. "Wh-where did you find…" Bulma stuttered. She looked to her daughter and gaped.
"Like it?" Koneko posed, grinning, but her joy ebbed as she saw how upset her mother was. "Mom?"
"Oh…" Zen'i leaned over and whispered to her. "That was Vegeta's armor."
"No. That one wasn't his," Bulma explained calmly, regaining her composure. "There's a whole bunch of them in different sizes. I made them because the material was so unique. They were for the Z Warriors. I think that one was a dud because it didn't fit anyone."
"Is it ok if I have it?"
Bulma bit her lip. "I suppose. It's just weird." She grabbed a basket of laundry and awkwardly left the room.
Koneko looked to Zen'i. "Was that a yes? I'm new to this whole Mom-language thing."
The android simply shrugged.
.x.
A few days later, Gohan and Koneko trained many miles away from the android and the alien. They sparred lightly, making jokes and playing games more than actually training. Koneko wasn't as fast or strong as he was, but was learning quickly. She shouted and tried to dodge him as he came in behind her. As she burst forward, his fingers just managed to grasp the ends of her long hair.
"Ow!"
"Oh! I'm sorry!" Gohan let her go and she spun around and punched him lightly on the arm.
Laughing, she darted away through the clouds again. "Tag, you're it!"
"I can't believe I fell for it!" Gohan hung his head and grumbled. He floated back down to the ground and put his fists on his hips. "Koneko! You win!"
She swooped down and hovered just out of his reach. "Really?"
He was looking off at the eastern horizon as he nodded absently. Koneko touched down beside him and looked up into his eyes. His mind was far away. "Gohan? You ok?"
"Yeah." He sighed. "Just thinking about the past."
Koneko sat down on the grass and pulled her knees up to her chest. "It must have been tough for you. I at least didn't have anyone to lose." He stood where he was and closed his eyes. "Who did you lose, Gohan?"
He turned to the girl and looked down on her. Her eyes were soft and friendly, and too old for her teenage body. He sat down beside her and continued to look east. "Everyone but Bulma."
He then proceeded to tell her about the last days of the Z Warriors, May 12th, the day the Jinzouningen arrived - the day his hope died. "I couldn't believe I was alive and they were all dead. Bulma was a wreck, but she still had you. I went back to my mother's house and let her take care of me for a while after I buried them all."
"How old were you?" Koneko knew very well that Gohan was far older than she.
"I was ten."
She bit her lip. She hardly remembered the various trials and tribulations she had been through most of her life. They all blurred into one solid hardship until the day Zen'i spared her from her brother. Gohan's memories had sharp edges. He, like her mother, had known peace. She tried to work these memories out of him now.
"Your father died before they showed up, didn't he?"
He nodded.
"That must have been so hard on you and your mom!" Koneko realized that he hardly ever spoke of his family and had been living at Capsule since she met him. Mrs. Son must have been long dead. "Did it break her heart?"
"Nah. She was stronger than that." He looked to Koneko and smiled, knowing the girl wouldn't stop asking questions until she knew everything. He leaned back on his elbows. "I went to live with my mother and I thought that Bulma would be ok. I didn't even know she lost you for a few years. After a while, I started working out again. I wanted to be ready for another confrontation with them. I tried to get myself up to Super Saiyajin like my father and yours had been able to do. Once I reached Super Saiyajin, I started to fight them. They seemed to like it, because they left me alive after every encounter. I was always able to pop a Senzu and come back another day."
"A Senzu?"
Gohan raised his brows. "Oh! You don't know about them! Senzus are these little beans that restore your health one hundred percent. Very handy, at least until you run out."
He sobered. "One day, when I was helping the victims of another attack, I met this girl." He was far off again. Koneko imagined he was picturing what he was saying. "Her name was Videl. She came home to live with me and my mom. Eventually, we found a man who had been a judge, who thought we were nuts, to marry us. We hadn't be married a week when…"
"They attacked?" Koneko offered after a long pause.
He nodded. "I don't know which one did it. The whole house was leveled. I couldn't even tell who was who!" He growled and clawed the earth as the emotion built up. "I buried them next to the Z's." Gohan sighed. "While I was there, just finishing up, Bulma came to visit them. I was surprised to see her in the shape she was in, and to learn you had been lost. I was angry. There was no way I was gonna let her go,too." He made a face, having forgotten who he was talking to. Gohan laughed nervously and summed up quickly. "Then I ran outta beans and bought the farm!"
Koneko snorted at the joke quietly, but didn't smile. "I can see why you keep your distance around Zen'i." She stood and hugged herself.
"She's fighting Polian right now, isn't she?" Gohan asked, annoyed.
"Yeah. They're turning out to be better friends than she and I were."
He scowled. "I've noticed that."
Koneko looked nervous. She wished that he could see what she had seen; that the android was free of the initiative which forced her to do what she did. Perhaps he just needed time to heal. She sighed and lay back on the tall grass.
"She's not a number anymore. She's free," Koneko began but gasped suddenly. This started Gohan, but he was more startled when she leapt up into the air and began flailing her arms and legs, screaming bloody murder.
"What?! Koneko, what is it?!"
"A bug! Ah, getitoffme!!" She patted every square inch of her body, trying to locate the offending insect. Gohan's keen eyes saw something small and green hop off the terrified girl. He caught it in his cupped hands and blinked from it to her before bursting out laughing. She calmed down and blushed furiously.
"You freaked out that bad over a grasshopper?"
She folded her arms and pouted. "I hate bugs."
Gohan dangled the insect by its legs and chased her home with it, laughing all the way.
.x.
After dinner that evening, Zen'i was silent and left without saying good night to anyone. When she arrived at her little house on the outskirts of town, she was surprised to find Polian there. He was hiding something behind his back.
She glared at him for an answer. He merely gave her that 'I can play that game too' look. "All right, what do you want?" she asked coldly.
"Well if you're gonna be a bitch then I'll just take the present back."
Her eyes lit up. "Present?"
He smirked. "Close your eyes and say the magic word."
She made a face and put out her hand. "Now."
He laughed and gave her the gift.
"A new shirt!" Zen'i cried and turned her back on him. He was annoyed for a second before she pulled off the bright green shirt she was wearing and put on the new white-with-striped-arms shirt he had given her. "Thank you, Polian," she smiled softly.
"That's better. Now, you gonna tell me what crawled up your ass and died this afternoon?"
She was used to his friendly abuses and didn't bat and eye. She sighed and offered him a chair. "I miss my brother."
.x.
A little over six months passed, and the Capsule Corporation, as well as the rest of the world began to rise from the ashes. A new dome structure was just being constructed to the north of the underground labs in the heart of the Western Capitol, which was now being called Shin Hoshi City. The inhabitants wanted to name it Briefstown. She was deeply honored, but Bulma refused, citing that she was not the only person who helped others during the Jinzouningen holocaust.
.x.
To the north, many miles from any human population, deep in the lower level of a cave, a man paced back and forth in front of an overgrown test tube. His clothes were greyish and filthy. His hands were covered with grime. He rubbed these together, turned and glared at the tube again. A green LED timer on the massive computer behind him counted down from 00:00:52:19:022.
"Less than an hour," he hissed. He put his back against the super computer and slid down to sit on the floor. "You brilliant bastard. I can't believe we're working together, Father," he said out loud to the decapitated, cybernetic head of his creator. Gero started blankly at the generation tube. "In a short while, I'll finish your directive. Even if she is stronger than me, Juuhachi won't be able to stop me." He nodded to the tank before him. "This bad boy'll make it easy, don't you think, Father?"
There was, as usual, no response from the long dead scientist.
"You never were any fun, you know, Gero?" Number Seventeen pouted and dozed off.
.x.
Koneko strolled out in to the sunshine and stretched. "Come on, guys. Let's get a move on!"
Zen'i and Polian followed her out the back door. It was a perfect day. Small, white, fluffy clouds dotted the distant horizon.
"Gohan, come on. The day's a-wastin'!" Polian called to the hidden door after they had stood waiting for him for a few minutes.
"You guys go ahead! I er… I have a little bit of a headache!"
Polian shrugged. Koneko stuck out her tongue but took off without him. Zen'i looked to the door and rolled her eyes before following the others to their favorite place to spar.
Inside the house Bulma put her hands on her hips. "A headache?"
"Sorry, I choked!"
She smiled back at him.
.x.
The sound of water burbling woke Juunanagou only minutes before the timer was to go off. He jumped to his feet and grinned wide. "Finally!" He laughed like mad and banged on the glass with joy. "Wake up, you big old walking apocalypse!!"
At the command of the computer, the liquid began to drain away from the form within. "Come on, come on." Juunanagou hopped up and down from one foot to the other impatiently.
Its eyes opened. It flexed its muscles. It stared at the android. "You are Number Seventeen," it stated.
Juunanagou blinked and stopped dancing. "Uh, yeah. Hey, you can talk. I didn't really expect you would." He scratched his head. "You're Artificial Human Cell," he pointed at the monster before him. "And you're pretty fugly."
Cell squinted but stood still as robotic arms removed the glass tube as if the monster within was a cake.
"So hey, let's go destroy every living thing on the planet!"
Cell grinned. "Where is Number Eighteen?"
Juunanagou made a face. "Probably with her little friends," he said in a snotty tone.
"She is stronger than I am. She is stronger than you." The seven foot tall, green, bug-like creature stepped slowly out of the open tube. "But together, we can defeat her."
"Sure thing, Cell baby!" Juunanagou patted him on the shoulder. His guard was down. He didn't see the pointy tail widen into a funnel shape. By the time the android reacted, the sucker was consuming him. He cried out, but only Gero's head paid witness.
Cell screamed as his power level skyrocketed. His features became more humanoid. His grin was far more sinister. "Now, let's find your sister. I must become the perfect power!"
.x.
Bulma closed her eyes as Gohan's lips met hers. 'Alone, at last,' she thought and ran her fingers through his short, black hair. "It's been so long."
"Mmhm. We didn't get much of a chance before I cashed in, did we?"
She giggled, but was startled as he suddenly pulled back. She opened her eyes and saw him looking in horror at the wall past her. "Gohan, what is it?" Bulma spun and tried to see what was so important.
"Wh-what the hell was that?!" he cried.
"What was what?"
He used his heightened senses to feel out the sudden boost in power level, but just as quickly as it had appeared it was gone. "Holy crap! That was huge and it wasn't anywhere near the others!"
"Gohan!" Bulma was becoming frustrated. She grabbed his shoulders and forced him to look at her. "What is going on?"
"I don't know, Bulma. I've got to get to the others. There's something out there, something incredibly powerful. This can't be good." It was his turn to take her by the shoulders. "Go down into the lab to the shelter and stay there until we get back. I'm going to take a car out to the others." He pointed to the door and ran out to the hangar.
"A car, but why?"
"Please! Just do it!" Gohan yelled as he hopped into a Capsule car and took off after the other Z Senshi.
.x.
Polian's fist connected with Zen'i's palm. The Jinzouningen grinned and powered up. Polian grinned back and revealed what he had been hiding. The energy seemed to materialize instantly from his other hand. As she went to dodge, all three warriors felt the distant power up. Polian's blast flew out of his hand and whizzed past Zen'i's left ear.
"What the hell was that?!" The Namekjin shouted.
Koneko balled her fists and joined them. "Some kinda crazy power!"
"Gohan?" he grimaced.
"I wish." Zen'i faced north and furrowed her brows.
.x.
The radio swished and whizzled as Bulma scanned the frequencies. Soon, she found what she was looking for: an emergency newscast.
"...All inhabitants in a 300 mile radius are urged to take shelter immediately. Turn your reception devices down and remain hidden until further notice."
Bulma stared unblinking at the device. "Oh, God, what is it this time?!"
"...the Northern Capitol appears to have been beset upon by a… giant… locust!"
"A what?!" She jumped up and flicked on her broadcast terminal. "Attention! This is a rebroadcast of a report I just heard from Radio North..." she informed her area with a high powered transmitter which reached a wide radius from the suburbs of Shin Hoshi to the western wilderness.
.x.
Gohan cringed in his car as he heard Bulma's voice. He floored it to the sparring grounds.
.x.
In the north, Cell dropped yet another emaciated corpse to the ground. His energy stores were growing. From Juunanagou's memory, he had taken the information about Koneko and Juuhachigou and expected a fight when he would meet them. He would need to be stronger. He needed Eighteen.
.x.
"Gohan!" Koneko ran at the craft. "What was that?"
"I dunno but it's headed north."
Polian pounded his right fist into his left. "Then let's go."
"No, not yet." Zen'i seated herself in the car and switched on the CB radio. "Bulma-san, can you hear me?"
"Zen'i?" came the staticy reply.
"The monster's power up came from the north. From Gero's lab."
The Z's gasped. "Are you sure?" Gohan asked.
"Positive. I don't know what it is, but maybe while we're trying to fight it, you can do some research."
"Where's the lab?" she replied gravely.
Zen'i gave her directions and hung up. Gohan glared at her. "What?"
"Don't involve Bulma in this."
Zen'i climbed out of the car and stared Gohan down. She was growing tired of his distrust, but knew that she could do nothing about it. The scars ran too deep. "Whatever was there has already reached the Northern Capital. Besides, if she can figure something out about this thing, we could be at an incredible advantage."
The Namekjin cleared his throat. "So, are we gonna kick some ass or what?"
"Hopefully." Gohan blasted off for the north, followed by the other warriors.
.x.
The lab was well hidden but Bulma had the coordinates straight out of the Jinzouningen's perfect memory and located it easily. Dusty and forgotten, it was full of equipment. Bulma saw that the chambers marked 17 and 18 were open. There were others which had been bashed in and the androids within were destroyed. She could only guess what had happened here so many years ago. A headless body, covered with dust lay in a corner. Bulma approached it carefully and discovered (judging by the circuitry exposed at the neck) that this was another unfortunate Jinzouningen. Undaunted, she continued her search.
At the back of the room was a door off its hinges. Stairs hewn from the living rock led from that point down. "I bet the monster came from there," she said to herself. It was dark and creepy, but she had brought a flashlight.
The lower lab was huge, cluttered and not as neatly crafted as the upper one. The walls were rough and various pipes and insulated cables snaked around this way and that. On the left was an oversized, inverted, glass tube hovering over its base. Bulma frowned and got down to business.
.x.
The city was intact. That was the first thing that threw them off as they landed. The second was the silence. A car horn sounded without end in the distance, but there was no traffic, no din of life coming from the large metropolis.
"Where the hell is everyone?" Polian listened for any sign of life with his extra sensitive ears.
Koneko walked over to a car and pulled something out. "They're gone." She held up a pair of pants, a shirt and a hat. Soon, they noticed little piles of clothes everywhere.
"You mean to tell me that whatever this thing is just snatched people right out of their clothes?" Polian scoffed.
"You got a better idea?"
Zen'i pouted and flicked her head to the left suddenly. "There."
"I hear it, too," Gohan whispered and balled his hands into fists.
They all turned and for a few seconds and stood in silence, waiting for whatever was hiding just a few feet away behind a building to come out.
"Come on! Show yourself!" Polian shouted, frustrated.
From out of the shadows, a tall form emerged. It was the locust-looking creature from the reports, much more hideous than they had expected and much more humanoid. It dragged the body of young girl behind it.
Koneko gritted her teeth and lunged forward but Gohan stopped her with a motion. "Wait."
"But…!"
"Wait," he repeated and watched the creature's approach.
Finally it stopped and dropped the child. She moaned lightly as she hit the ground.
"She's still alive!" Koneko gasped and tried to approach again.
The creature swished its long, pointed tail around then plunged the tip of this into the girl's back. The Z Warriors cried out in shock, but watched, with horrified fixation as it seemed to literally suck the life out of the girl. Within seconds, she was emaciated then translucent then gone.
Koneko hissed with anger, tears streamed down her cheeks. "Now can I kill it?!"
The creature answered for her. "Yes, Koneko. You can try to kill me, now."
Everyone gasped at its reaction. "How do you know my name?!" Koneko growled. "What the hell are you?!"
It bowed deeply and its fish-like mouth grinned. Straightening, it put two fingers to its forehead and began charging up. "I am Jinzouningen Cell."
To be continued…