Mameko: Mother of Goku
A Dragonball Z Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah
Part Four : Majin Nation
Mameko stared at the green and white tiled floor and listened to what the other women were saying, but she was too afraid to talk. She had never cried in front of strangers before and didn't want to start now.
"How are you doing, Miss Saiyajin?"
"Huh?" she asked, started, still not used to the concept of a family name. "Fine."
The group leader cocked her head to the side and simply smiled. "When was the last time you left your house except for coming here today?"
Mameko blinked. How did she know she had been staying home? She blinked faster, feeling the tears prick up.
"I see."
The other women had been in the support group before she had joined and all looked kindly on the strange young woman with the tail. Each one of them had all lost a baby, too.
"Well, I think the goal you should set for yourself is to get out of that house!" The leader smiled. "Go to a movie or shopping with some girlfriends. Just once, not for long. See how that goes."
She nodded, but didn't reply.
.x.
Trunks' girlfriend Muzai and Koshi eyed each other as the three girls walked into the mall.
"I'm really glad you could come, Mameko-chan." Muzai smiled. "I heard you were under the weather. How are you feeling?"
"Oh," she sighed. "I'm fine."
Koshi just shook her head. They sat down on some round, uncomfortable seats. Each girl had an ice cream.
"Oh! Koshi! Come here, I want you to see this!" Muzai jumped up and grabbed her friend. "We'll be right back, Mameko-chan."
Mameko shrugged.
"Mu, what the hell?"
"Shh. Ok, what is up with her? She's not exactly a bag o' laughs. It's more than the flu, isn't it?"
"If there's anything more to it, I haven't a clue."
"Damn. She's a drag, Koshi."
"I know. I'm sorry. She called me up and asked if we were doing anything, that she really needed to go somewhere. So, I invited her." Koshi looked at Mameko's reflection in the shop window. "I'm kinda worried about her. It's like she's depressed, but whenever I ask her about it she just says..."
"…She's fine. Hmm." Muzai frowned. "Well. This has got to stop. I'm not hanging out with anyone that dull." She looked through the glass. Inside, a rather goth-looking shop attendant put a book in the display window. "I got it!"
"What?" Koshi asked. Muzai pointed to the book and jogged back to Mameko, dragging a reluctant Koshi back with her.
"Mameko! Wanna come out with us tonight?!"
Mameko had been watching her ice cream melt. "Huh?"
"Tonight. Out. Wanna?"
"Um..." She thought about it. "I dunno. I really should get back home."
"And do what, sit around by yourself?" Muzai shouted. "Come on!"
Again, Mameko regretted having to keep her relationship with Juunanagou a secret. "Well, what are you going to do?"
"Yeah, Mu. What are we going to do?" Koshi growled.
Muzai grinned evilly. "Ever heard of the legend of Sekkaku?"
.x.
Mameko shined her flashlight up at a sign hanging over a wrought-iron fence. She had been silent on the way over but had to speak up now. "Graveyard of the… what is that word?"
"Vampire!" Muzai grinned and turned her flashlight on under her chin. "Sekkaku, the Undead Mistress of the Night lies in this very graveyard!"
Koshi brushed by her and entered the cemetery. "Can we get this over with, please?"
"So, why are we here?"
Muzai rolled her eyes. "'Cause it's fun!"
"It is?" Koshi asked.
"It will be when we're screaming our heads off in terror!" She rubbed her hands together.
"I do not understand this Earthling desire to be frightened." Mameko sighed.
The girls wandered through the stones and stopped in front of a large, marble sarcophagus. 'Sekkaku' was etched into its surface.
"Here lies Sekkaku: legendary Vampire," Muzai whispered.
"Legendary, huh? How come I've never heard of her?"
"Not my fault you're uncultured."
Koshi glared at her.
Mameko had wandered off a little. She stared at a family monument. One of the members was only three days old when he died.
"Mameko?" Koshi asked. "Are you all right?"
"No."
Muzai stopped rolling her eyes and listened.
"I'm very depressed," she muttered.
Koshi put her hand on her shoulder. "We're here for you, Mameko-chan."
She nodded and smiled a little. 'Not yet,' she thought. 'I'm not ready yet.' "So what's this about a vampire?"
Muzai smiled and turned her flashlight back to light her face. "It is said that on this very night, every year, the stars are aligned just right. If Sekkaku is disturbed, she will wake and terrorize the world!"
Koshi raised a brow. "You're joking, right?"
"It's a legend! You think I'm making this up?!"
She folded her arms. "Yes."
"I am not! It's true! Sekkaku plagued Japan hundreds of years ago! People were so scared of her that they sealed her tomb with all those prayers and stuff!" She motioned to the paper seals that covered the stone, obviously carefully maintained by priests.
"It's superstitious hooey." Koshi scoffed.
"It is not!"
"It is TOO!!"
"It is NOT!!"
Mameko looked past them at the tomb. Her eyes widened and she raised her hand limply to point to something behind them.
"IT IS TOO!!!" Koshi screamed.
"It is not." another voice hissed. Mameko stuttered as she pointed. Rising out of the broken seals of her tomb was a woman dressed in a ragged kimono. Her skin was white and her hair was black. Her yellow eyes reflected in the light of their flashlights. The vampire's lips curled into a smile, revealing two pearly, white fangs.
Mameko, Koshi and Muzai screamed like children and ran through the cemetery, stumbling over grave markers.
"I told you she was real!!" Muzai called as she ran ahead of everyone.
Koshi growled. "What the hell are we doing!? Muzai! Mameko! Stop!" The girls did as they were told and looked to their leader. She turned and put her hands on her hips. "Bring it on, dead girl!"
Sekkaku didn't slow down. She charged Koshi, tackling her to the ground. Koshi snarled and held the fiend at bay.
"Get offa me!" she shouted and kicked her away.
Sekkaku recovered and got to her feet. "Ooh, aren't we strong?"
"Yes, we are." Koshi and the vampire locked eyes. Sekkaku grinned and stepped closer. Koshi's hands fell to her sides in submission.
"Koshi-sama...?" Mameko asked and stepped toward her. When she didn't respond, Mameko grabbed her friend and stood between her Princess and the vampire. "Stop it," she commanded.
Sekkaku frowned. "Aw, but I'm hungry!" she whined.
Muzai stepped forward. "Wow, you are real!"
"Well, Duh." The vampire rolled her eyes and began to look more human by the minute
Muzai poked her. "You don't feel dead."
"Could you please stop that?"
She continued to poke. Sekkaku hissed and lunged at her. Mameko popped her on the head with her fist. "Knock it off!"
"Ow! Come on, Lady! I've been asleep for hundreds of years! I'm starved!"
"Can't you suck on a cow or something?"
Sekkaku looked horrified. "Uck! No!"
"Well, then I guess I'm going to have to put a stop to your fiendish ways!" Mameko took a fighting stance.
Sekkaku sweat a little. "Er… hey, you're friend is coming to!" she pointed to Koshi and when Muzai and Mameko's backs were turned, she ran for it.
"Koshi-sama, are you alright?"
"Unnn..." Koshi shook her head. "What the hell happened?"
Muzai sat down on a marker. "Sekkaku mesmerized you."
"Where'd she go?"
"She got away!" Mameko growled.
Koshi started to laugh. The other girls looked at her funny. "Well, you were right, Muzai."
"I was?"
"That was fun."
They laughed. Mameko smiled. "Should we go after her?"
"She's dead. There's no life energy to trace. Besides, I have a feeling we'll see her again."
.x.
Muzai's air-car dropped Mameko off at the little cabin in the middle of the woods. She waved good-bye and jogged into the house. Juunanagou was waiting for her, sitting at the kitchen table, reading a book. He stood up.
"Did you have a good time?"
She smiled and embraced him. "Yes! Yes I did!"
.x.
The following Monday, Koshi met up with Muzai in the cafeteria at the school she and her friends attended. They got their lunches and sat down at a table.
"Hey guys!" chimed a green haired girl.
"Hey Leeli, how was your weekend?"
"Oh yeah. You had a date with Goten, didn't you?" Koshi remarked with her mouth full.
Leeli nodded. The plethora of tiny, hoop earrings that lined her tall, pointy ears jingled as she did so. "But he's such a prude! I swear he won't even French me!"
"That's too much information." Koshi swallowed.
Muzai just giggled thinking of the things she and her boyfriend Trunks did. Koshi gave her a knowing jab in the ribs.
"So, what did you guys end up doing this weekend?"
"Oh, not much," Muzai replied nonchalantly. "We cheered up Mameko and released a Vampire from her slumber."
"You know I haven't met your friend Mameko yet and I come again?"
Koshi rolled her eyes. 'She's such a drama queen,' she thought and pointed her thumb at Muzai. "This one thought it was a good idea to roam around in a graveyard at midnight and wake this sleeping demon-woman-vampire-thing. She's out there somewhere now, probably terrorizing some small… town..." Koshi trailed off and squinted in the direction of the cafeteria doors.
"Oh come on. You didn't even believe me!" Muzai pouted and sipped her milk.
"Wow, damn." Leeli blinked. "Serves me right for picking the wrong weekend to ditch you guys. So what was this vampire like?"
Muzai was still relishing the reaction she got. "She was pale. Had black hair sorta done up in braids, yellow eyes, kind of sexy, but still young looking. She might have been a teen when she was made a vampire."
Leeli looked where Koshi was gawking. "Hey, the vampire look must be in or that's the gothest chick I've seen in a long time." She pointed with her fork. Muzai turned around and nearly fell off the bench.
"Good afternoon. So good to see you again!"
"Va-va-vava-va..." Muzai stuttered. "Vampire!!"
"Shh," the vampire hissed and put her finger to her crimson lips. "Not so loud for pity's sake. You're going to make me look like a freak!"
"Too late," Koshi snarled and stood up to challenge the fiend.
"Relax, kids. I'm not here for a snack. I'm a student!" she chimed and held up her Orange Star High School daily planner.
"Holy crap." Muzai got up. "You're serious, aren't you?"
She nodded.
"What about feeding, I mean, you're gonna get hungry eventually!"
"I've taken care of it. Nobody dies." She put her books down on the table. "So," she grinned. "I don't think we've all been introduced. You two know me, but," she extended her hand to Leeli, "I'm Sekkaku."
Leeli took it cautiously. "Uh, I'm Leeli. You know Koshi and Muzai?"
Sekkaku nodded. "Where's the one with the blue hair?"
"Mameko's too old for school." Muzai managed to say.
"Pity."
Koshi remained standing and frowned at her. Sekkaku's adult figure and pale skin made the school uniform she wore stand out. "Aren't you a little old for school, yourself? If I recall, your marker said you died five hundred years ago."
Leeli choked a little on her milk.
"Pish posh. I can do whatever I want. I never got a high school education, so here I am!" She flashed a fang-rimmed grin
"You know, I was actually starting think school wasn't that bad," Koshi grumbled. "Why are you so interested in us, anyway?"
Sekkaku powered her face with a compact. Her image didn't appear in its small mirror. "Simple. You're stronger than I am. If we become friends, then I can rely on you for protection should the villagers form an angry mob."
"Well, she's straight forward, isn't she?" Leeli raised her brows.
Sekkaku shrugged. "I know what I want and how to get it. Simple."
"Why would we want to be friends with a blood-sucker like you?" Koshi snarled.
Muzai noticed everyone checking the gorgeous vampire out.
"For one, I'm the new girl. I'll be enormously popular for a while and by the looks of it, you guys could use the clout."
Leeli and Koshi just stared, mouths agape, not knowing how to counter such a remark. She had absolutely no tact whatsoever. Muzai on the other hand smiled.
"Ok."
"Muzai?!"
Koshi slammed her hand down on the table. "Ok?! Just like
that?!"
"Just like that. She absolutely right, Kosh." Muzai
replied. "I'll be friends with you, Sekkaku!"
"Great! Thank you, Mu!" The vampire beamed.
"Mu…" Koshi flopped down in her seat and pushed the remnants of her lunch around her plate while grumbling to herself. Leeli continued to stare until the bell rang.
.x.
Mameko slid into bed next to her android early one weekday evening and snuggled close. It was just cool enough that they could sleep with the covers on and tight to each other.
"Hm..."
"Hm?" he replied.
"You were in the mine today."
He laughed a little. "Yes I was. What, can you smell how dirty I am?"
"You're not dirty. I can smell the earth. The deep soil. It's different than topsoil. I can tell if you've been out in the trees, or if you went into the city or how long ago you had a bath."
"Really? 'Cause you've got a Saiyajin nose?"
"That and you have no biological scent. I can distinguish the smells more clearly."
Juunana looked at her in the dark. "I have no scent?"
"No, you have no scent. You're an android. You don't perspire and stuff, so you don't have a scent."
He frowned. "I don't think you have a scent."
"You just can't discern it. Trust me. I do."
"Are you saying that your nose is better than mine?"
She laughed. "Yes." He went silent. "Aw..." She tickled him. He might have been artificial, but he still had his vulnerabilities.
"Mame- Mame- Mameko ss- sstopit! Hahaha..."
She giggled with delight and pinned him to the bed. Mameko shot him a big, cheesy grin she knew that he could see and kissed him. He put his arms around her. He looked into her blue eyes and smoothed his hand over her coarse, blue hair.
"I love you."
"Same here."
"I wanted to ask you. What did couples on Vegeta-sei do?"
She laughed. "The same thing we do! What, do you think we are, animals?"
"Nonono! I mean did they get married?"
"Oh. Well. Marriage was more for the royals and such. The rest of us didn't really have any reason for pomp and circumstance."
"Oh."
"Why?"
"Just wondering."
Mameko liked this subject. She didn't want him to get off of it. "If a couple was in love and intended to remain a couple as long as they both lived, they would bond."
"Bond?"
She nodded. "What do Earthlings do?"
"Well, um…" He blushed, thankful for the darkness. "It depends on the culture, but most people around here have a religious ceremony and a reception which their friends and families attend."
"It's public?" she asked, astounded.
"Mmhm."
"How odd. Well, since we don't have families, per-se and not so many friends, perhaps bonding would be best. That is..." she stopped herself too late.
"You mean you want to?" he asked, his artificial heart crawling up into his throat.
"Well, that is, if you want to?"
"Hang on." He got up from under her and jogged out of the room. He returned moments later, flicked on the lights and jumped back on the bed.
"An Earthling man usually gives one of these," he started as he opened a small box containing a shining stone on a golden band, "to the woman he wants to marry."
Mameko watched in awe as he took the jewel out of the box.
"What is it?"
"It's a diamond ring." Juunanagou let her examine it.
"Diamond... You mean this is the rock that you mine?"
Juunanagou laughed. "Well, this is what it looks like after it's cut."
"It's beautiful! Did this one come from your mine?"
He nodded. "Just after I met you, I selected this one. I thought that you would like it. I never thought..." Juunana blushed. "Mameko, would you marry me?"
Her tail flopped back and forth nervously on the bed. She nodded. "Yes. Yes!"
"Now," Juunanagou leaned back. "Tell me about this Saiyajin bond..."
.x.
Three weeks later, Muzai invited her friends on a picnic by the side of a lake in the countryside just south of the city. Muzai, Leeli and Mameko lay on beach towels and sun-bathed. Koshi sat under a nearby tree and watched the water. Sekkaku sat under an umbrella and sucked on a blood donor bag as if it were a Capri-Sun.
"Ahhhh. This is the life!" she sighed, tossing the empty bag aside.
"Mmm. I love the country! Mameko, you're so lucky that you live out there."
"It's nice, but I was a city girl on Vegeta-sei. I sort of miss it."
"Hmm..." Koshi looked up at the blue sky. "Vegeta-sei. Man, I wish I could have seen it."
"It was nothing like this world. Not that this one is worse. It's wonderful!"
"Yeah it is..." Leeli whispered. All five girls stared at the sky.
As they sighed and took in the peace of their surroundings, they felt at ease.
"It's almost too perfect. Too calm..." Muzai commented.
"Too quiet." Koshi straightened up. "No birds," she whispered.
All five girls were now on alert.
"What is it?"
"I dunno." Koshi stood up. In the next second, they got their answer. A falling object streaked across the sky and landed just a mile away.
"Holy crap!" Sekkaku clutched her umbrella and leapt to her feet as the other girls took to the air. "Hey guys, wait up! I can't fly!!!" she chased after them on foot.
Sekkaku panted as she came up on the scene. In a crater lay a round, metal ball. The hatch was open. Leeli, Muzai, Koshi and Mameko were already investigating.
"What the hell is that?!" Sekkaku wheezed.
"It's a Saiyajin space pod. An old one." Mameko jumped down into the crater.
"Be careful, Maks!" Leeli called after her.
Mameko looked in. The occupant was nowhere to be found. Mameko sat in the seat and started to manipulate the ship's computer. "This ship was locked down almost five hundred years ago!" she shouted to her friends.
"Is that possible?" Koshi barked back.
"Yes." She floated back to the rim of the crater. "The Saiyajin acquired their technology a long time ago. But whatever was in this thing must have bailed as soon as it landed."
Muzai shuddered. "Do you think it's a Saiyajin?"
"I hope so." Mameko stared at the ship.
"Do you think it's cute?" chirped a foreign voice.
"Well I..." Mameko turned and looked to the source. A short, black haired, pre-teen girl with enormous ears like Leeli's, a dark tail like Koshi's and a blue, five-pointed star in the middle of her forehead smirked at the girls.
"Hi!" she chimed. "I'm Kristel!"
Muzai and Sekkaku hugged each other and shrieked in fear. Leeli, Koshi and Mameko stared in awe.
"Hm. I didn't think I'd find Saiyajin here, interesting." She eyed Mameko and Koshi. Leeli took a step back. "Ooh..." her dark eyes glistened. "And you two!" Muzai and Sekkaku shrieked again as the young girl ran up to them. "A Cyborg and a Zombie, cool!" She whipped out an electronic device and began scanning them.
Sekkaku hid behind Muzai. "I'm Vampire not a Zombie!" she barked.
"Oi!" Koshi boiled over. "Just who the hell are you!?"
"I'm Kristel!" she bubbled again. She turned her attention back to Sekkaku. "Will you be my guinea pig?"
The vampire shrieked and ducked down further behind Muzai who only rolled her eyes and folded her arms.
Mameko blinked. "So, are you a Saiyajin?"
"Sort of. I'm more like the Grandmother of all Saiyajin," she said off the cuff and flew down into the crater. She gathered some things out of the pod and returned to them. "Take me to your leader!" she beamed. In her arms were various unidentified devices.
"I think you should speak with my father." Koshi frowned and folded her arms.
Mameko observed the devices. "I think she should speak with Bulma-san."
Kristel cocked her head to the side and giggled. Sekkaku poked her head around Muzai. Kristel just laughed some more. Muzai, Koshi and Mameko escorted the newcomer to Capsule Corp. Leeli picked up Sekkaku and followed at a safe distance.
.x.
"Explain to me again how your parents have let a complete stranger, never mind a lunatic, stay at your house!" Sekkaku griped at lunch the next Monday.
Koshi kept her eyes and voice low. "First of all, it's not like she's living in my house. She's set up this underground lab. My mother is ecstatic to have someone to talk science with. Kristel's some kind of insane, ancient, Saiyajin genius. My father has given his approval for whatever reason he has, so I agree with his decision."
Sekkaku was silent. "Oh." She filed her nails.
"Oh! Koshi! Is it time yet for, you know...?" Muzai poked her.
"I suppose so." Koshi cleared her throat. "It has recently come to my attention that there is a way we can get more powerful very quickly and look like bad-asses while we're at it."
"Oh...?" Leeli asked.
Koshi nodded and leaned in. "It's called Majin," she whispered. "Mameko and Muzai are already on board. How about it, Leeli, Sekkaku?"
"Well, what is this Majin?" Leeli asked.
Sekkaku grinned. "It's a charm. One can have the Majin 'I' placed on them and gain incredible power. I'm in, Kosh!"
Koshi blinked. "Excellent!"
Leeli looked unconvinced. "Does it hurt?"
"Not if you're willing, or at least that's what my father said."
"Is it permanent?"
"No." Sekkaku leaned in. "You can be de-charmed."
"Uh, sure then," Leeli caved in under the peer pressure. "I suppose so."
"Great! Tonight after school we'll meet at my house." Koshi looked smug and happy, but Leeli couldn't help but think that this was a bad idea.
.x.
Koshi's room was simple and very clean. Her bed was tucked so tightly you could bounce a quarter off of it. There were some photographs framed on the walls, but other than that it was free of decoration. Her schoolwork was neatly placed on her desk, awaiting completion. She sat on her bed and grinned like a Cheshire cat.
"So," she nearly purred. "Are we all in?"
Leeli, Muzai, Sekkaku, Mameko and Kristel nodded solemnly. Their leader picked up what looked like a glass cell phone and without pressing any buttons called the person on the other end.
"Oh, Popo-san? We need you!"
"What is that?" Kristel cooed.
"It's the Popo Phone. A while ago when we went up to see him to wish for something, he was so pleased he let us have this direct line," Muzai said and shuddered. "He's a genie. We can wish for anything we want, whenever we want."
"Wow! That's amazing!" Mameko cheered.
Leeli put her hand on her shoulder. "There is but one price." She shook her head. "We think long and hard before asking."
Koshi put the phone down. "Let's go."
"My goodness!" Sekkaku blinked. "What can possibly be so terrible to not want your wishes to come true!?"
The girls were suddenly whisked away to Kami's lookout. Mr. Popo was waiting for them, drooling in anticipation.
Sekkaku, Kristel and Mameko shouted at him in alarm.
"Ok!" he shouted with glee. "Who gonna rub Popo belly!?"
"Oh! Is that all!?" Mameko waved as she stepped up the round genie. It was Koshi, Muzai and Leeli's turn to cry out in disgust.
"What?" she shrugged. "Right here?" Mameko asked, pointed to his exposed and rounded stomach and crouched down.
"Uh huh!"
"Oh kay!" She rubbed him so fast it nearly burned him.
"Ow! Ow ow! Careful!" Popo shouted and jumped back.
"You said for me to rub you. I did it!"
"Not like that!"
"Fine!" Mameko snarled, anxious to find out what this Majin thing was all about. "Like this!?" she rubbed him the right way, and he nearly got carried away.
"Stop stop stop! Too much!"
"How 'bout now?"
"All right! You an animal!"
Mameko growled. "I'm a Saiyajin!
"Same difference!"
When the rest of the girls had stopped laughing, Koshi stepped forward.
"Popo-san. We wish to become charmed with the power of Majin."
"What?!" He nearly fell over. "You know what that did to your father, don't you!?"
"Yeah," she waved. "He's the one that suggested it, actually."
Popo blinked. "Well, ok. I suppose." He lifted his fat arms and curled his hands into fists. "You shall be... MAJIN!" His fists flew open and it seemed like nothing happened.
All six girls blinked.
"That... was it?" Sekkaku deadpanned.
"I sort of feel antsy. Like I wanna kick something," Leeli commented.
Mameko turned and looked at her friends. "Ah! M's!" she cried.
They all saw each other's M on their foreheads and cheered. Suddenly, all six stopped and stared ahead. Their mouths hung open loosely.
"Do you feel that!?" Kristel asked.
"What the hell is happening!?" Muzai shouted.
Koshi tilted back her head and laughed, evilly. "Yes! The power! The amazing power! It's just as Father described it!"
Sekkaku grinned. "Ooh! I likey!"
Mameko flexed her muscles. The veins on her arms stood out a little as she did. "Alright! I might be able to break Super Saiyajin with this power!"
Koshi nodded.
Leeli remained silent. Her Majin M creased with worry.
.x.
"Honey, I'm home!" Juunanagou chimed as he hung his coat on the hook. The house was dark. The faint sound of music on the radio warbled out from the living room.
"Mameko?" he called. "Where are you?" The android felt out for her and sensed she was in the bedroom. He knew that she had gone to meet with her girlfriends today about something secret they were cooking up, but what was it?
"Mame…k-ko…?" he stuttered as he turned the corner.
She giggled darkly. "Well, what do you think?" She was wearing black lingerie and sitting on her folded legs on their bed. Candles illuminated the room. Her tail flicked back and forth anxiously.
"I, uh..." He began to approach her then noticed the character on her forehead. "Mameko! You've become Majin!"
The look of horror on his face made her heart rise up into her throat.
"Is that bad?" she asked, innocently.
"Well yeah! I heard years ago Vegeta almost killed Goku 'cause he was Majin! That's like pure evil!"
"This is different!" she protested. "We chose to be this way. We're not evil! Well, not entirely evil, anyway."
He relaxed his shoulders. She was herself, all right. "So you're ok?"
Mameko smiled. "Yes." Then she pouted. "I thought you'd like this..."
"Well, I like this," he said and indicated to the room and to her.
"You wanna come over here and show me just how much you do?"
Juunanagou grinned and went to her.
"Yes, come over to the dark side!" she cackled in a Hungarian accent and giggled darkly again.
.x.
A week later Mameko and Kristel sat side by side and waited in the tall grass in a field just to the south of Juunanagou's cabin. Their tails were twisted together.
"Ok, ready… set..." Kristel chanted. The tips of each of their tails pointed at the other. "Go!"
The tail tips battled it out, hitting and dodging until Kristel's tail pinned Mameko's. "One, Two, Three I win!" she cheered.
"Best 5 out of 7!" Mameko yelled and readied her tail.
"Uck, knock that off, you Saiyajin whackjobs." Sekkaku shuddered as she appeared seemingly out of nowhere, holding her sun parasol over her head. She looked down her sunglasses at them.
"What? It's the same thing as thumb-wrestling." Kristel pointed out.
"No, it's not."
Koshi, Muzai and Leeli touched down behind her and joined them.
"Koshi-sama, is tail-wresting weird?" Mameko asked.
"Yes,"
Sekkaku stuck her tong out and singed it in the sunlight. Mameko pointed and laughed.
"Ok, ok. This meeting of Majin Nation now comes to order!" Koshi flopped down in the grass and folded her arms. "Leeli, please read back the minutes from the last meeting."
"Ok, uh..." She flipped open a Badzmaru notebook and recited. "Well, we failed to convince Trunks to join, played some video games and watched Weiß Kreuz."
"And that is exactly why meetings won't be held at Capsule anymore." Koshi grumbled.
"It was time for Omi!" Sekkaku shouted. "I can't help it if you scheduled the meeting against my Omi-kun!"
"He's not real, Sekkaku," Muzai nudged her.
"You're just saying that 'cause you've got a real life bishounen!"
"Maybe!" Mu beamed. Little images of Trunks floated around her head.
"Guys!" Koshi shouted. A vein bulged from her forehead. "We are supposed to be planning to take over the world, here!"
"A thousand apologies, Koshi-sama!"
"I have been doing some thinking about our little quest and it strikes me that if we were to try to take the world by force, we should surely fail."
"What?!" Mameko shouted.
"Whenever this world is in trouble, Mameko-san, your son saves it. We cannot defeat Kakarotto."
"Maybe you can't," Muzai flexed her biceps. "But the rest of us aren't in love with him so..." she was cut short as Koshi's fist came down in her head. "Ouch," she whispered and fell over.
"In love?" Mameko blinked.
"NEVERMIND! The point is we have a major obstacle in the way of anything serious we'd try."
"You're in love with my Kakarotto?" Mameko blinked some more.
Muzai grabbed Koshi's cheeks and pulled. "Oh, yes! She waits for the day that Chi-chi drops dead so Goku can be all hers!"
Koshi grabbed Muzai's cheeks and pulled. "We're both Saiyajin, dipstick! We'll both out-live Chi-chi by decades anyway!"
Kristel rolled in the grass, clutching her sides with laughter.
Sekkaku held her hand up to her mouth as she too laughed. "Hm… I think I have an idea…"Koshi was too busy beating up Muzai to pay attention to her so she grinned and kept her musings to herself. "Won't she be pleased!" Sekkaku giggled to herself.
"Ok, is this meeting over?" Mameko stood and looked wistfully towards her house.
"Sheesh! Can you do five minutes without him!?" Muzai asked.
Mameko laughed. "Not recently!" She rubbed her forehead. "This thing makes me absolutely insatiable!"
"You stay the hell away from my Trunks!"
"Wouldn't dream of it, Mu-mu."
Koshi looked at Muzai. "Damn it. There's something I was supposed to tell you."
Kristel popped up in front of her. "Trunks wants to see you tonight on the top of the Capsule Dome."
"Do you know everything?" Koshi snarled.
"Uh-huh!" she chimed.
"Fine. Meeting adjourned!" Koshi turned to take off into the sky and gasped. A flash of light whizzed by her ear, exploding the ground just behind her. The Majin girls prepared to fight.
"All right! Who did that!?" Koshi growled.
A figured descended out of the clouds.
"I did!" The young, black haired woman was wearing Saiyajin armor. She sneered and pointed her finger at the group. "I've been looking everywhere for you, Sister. I had to come all the way to this dimension to find you!"
"Sister?" Mameko shouted. "Who?"
The girls all turned and looked at each other. Only one still stared at the newcomer. Leeli dropped to her knees. Her eyes were wide. "I- I remember now!"
"Forgotten what?!" Muzai grabbed her friend's shoulders.
"When I came here three years ago I didn't know where I came from, only who I was! Gohan-san was kind enough to take me in, but all this time, I was supposed to be on a quest!" She gnashed her teeth. "How could I have forgotten?!"
The newcomer laughed evilly. "So you failed, is that it? There's no way you can stop what has already begun. And now that I'm here, I'll bring the Dark to this world too!"
"The Dark?" Sekkaku stepped forward. "Leeli, who is that girl?!"
"That's Leela," she said, getting to her feet. "My little sister!"
.x.
Leeli fell to the ground, astounded and stared up at her sister. The rest of Majin Nation took a stance and waited for their leader's order.
Sekkaku furrowed her brows. "Um, be right back." The Vampire stepped back and vanished in a puff of smoke.
Koshi noticed this out of the corner of her eye. Her attention was all on the intruder. "Take a number, Sweetheart. We got dibs on this planet!"
Leela put her hands on her hips and laughed. "The Dark will consume you all. There is no reason for you to bother."
"It's true!" Leeli shouted in terror. "In our dimension the Dark was unstoppable! Everyone fell to its evil power."
"Everyone but you, Leeli, you pathetic coward!" Leela shouted. "You ran away like a little child while Mother, Father and I fought in vain against the Dark."
"I had to!" she cried. "Kami-sama called me to the lookout. He knew the only way to save Earth was to leave it!"
"To flee it, you mean!" Leela pulled a thin vile of purple liquid out of the gap between her breastplate and her chest. "No matter. I have found you at last, Sister-dear. Come," she uncapped the vile. "Open wide. I have just enough for you and all your little friends." A thin wisp of smoke swirled around the vile. Before Leela could react, it materialized into an alabaster hand.
"I'll take that!" Sekkaku chimed. Her hand joined the rest of her body a few yards from Leela. "Ooh, pretty purple. Does it taste like grape?" she wondered out loud.
Leela scoffed. "Go ahead and give it a taste, I think you'll find it quite refreshing."
The vampire shrugged and downed the whole thing.
Koshi screamed. "Sekkaku, what are you doing?!"
Sekkaku blinked. "Ew, you totally lied. That was gross." She strolled back over to her friends and adjusted her sunglasses. "So, are we gonna kick her ass or what?"
Leela blinked incredulously at her. "How...?"
Mameko, Muzai and Kristel sighed. Koshi just laughed. "That's right, she's dead. No poison can hurt her! Good job, Sekkaku."
"Thanks, Kosh."
Koshi didn't take her eyes off Leela. "All right, Leeli. Since she's your sister, I think you should have the honor of fighting her."
Leeli gasped and looked up at her leader. "Koshi, I can't!"
"You mean she's too powerful or are you defying me?"
Mameko stepped forward and put her hand on Koshi's shoulder. "I think at this time, Leeli is struggling to comprehend what's happened. She won't be effective in a fight. Allow me to go first, Koshi-sama."
Kristel helped Leeli to her feet. "Leeli, you said something about Kami-sama that intrigued me. I'd like to discuss something with him right now. Would you join me?"
She nodded absently. She indicated to Kristel to help Leeli to her feet.
"You're running away again, Sister?!" Leela shouted and powered up.
"Fight me first!" Mameko yelled and stepped between the sisters. "Unless you're afraid to face a full-blooded Saiyajin." She too powered up.
Leela sneered. "I fear nothing. Let's see what you've got."
.x.
Kristel and Leeli flew as fast as they could to the lookout.
"I must have had my memory erased when I came through the portal!" Leeli talked to herself.
"So there's a dimensional portal at the lookout!" Kristel grinned. "Just as I suspected. I only hope that Leela didn't interact with Popo and Kami-sama when she came through."
"Oh no!" Leeli shouted. "If they have been exposed to the Dark there's no telling what kind of trouble this could mean for the Earth!"
.x.
Mameko jabbed her fist into Leela's face, but the teen dodged. Mameko spun to kick her, but she leapt over her and sneered.
Mameko snarled. "Sit still!"
"Catch me if you can, freak."
"Who's calling who a freak, freak!" she growled back and missed a couple more times. Aggravated, Mameko backed off and seethed, "you don't know what you're getting into, sister." She flexed and allowed her Majin powers to blossom. Mameko screamed and charged at the wide-eyed stranger.
Muzai and Sekkaku clenched their fists, the desire to fight burring through their veins.
Mameko tackled Leela and slammed her through a smallish grove of trees. The tree trunks splintered as they flew. She then punched the girl into the Earth and hovered a few feet above the tree line. "Ha!" She shouted. "How ya like that?"
Leela burst out of the crater and fought Mameko hand to hand in the air. The other Majins looked on.
Sekkaku shaded her eyes. "Damn. How is that girl able to take so much damage?"
"I dunno." Muzai shrugged. "I've never seen Leeli fight like that."
"That Leela girl is pure evil. Even as a Majin, Leeli is too nice to fight like that," Koshi muttered in reply without glancing away from the fight.
"So, ready to give up yet? Or shall I finish you off?" Mameko asked as she grabbed Leela in a head lock.
"Would you really kill your dear little friend's only sister?" Leela mocked.
"Feh. I am firstly a Saiyajin. We aren't a very sympathetic race in battle," she laughed. "And I am secondly a Majin, which means, if you do not concede defeat, you die."
Leela relaxed, throwing Mameko off guard. "Who said anything about concessions?" she hissed and threw Mameko over her shoulder. The older woman crashed down into the forest. Leela lighted a few yards away from the remaining Majins.
"Ok, who's next?"
Mameko burst out of the woods and raised her hands to attack.
"Mameko! Enough!" Koshi barked.
She stopped dead. "Yes, Koshi-sama!" she obeyed and touched down.
"Well, well. Aren't we the little Generalissimo."
"I am their Princess. Koshi Oujosama."
"Really? Then I should pay my respects to my ruler before I destroy her." Leela bowed deeply and sarcastically.
"What are you talking about?" Koshi narrowed her eyes.
Leela blinked. "You mean to tell me you've been around my sister all this time and you didn't know?"
Sekkaku looked exasperated. "Didn't know what, Biatch? Get to the friggin point!"
"Hm," Leela grinned. "Never mind."
"Fine." Koshi grinned right back. "Muzai, beat it out of her."
"Yes! Koshi-sama!"
"Aw, come on, let me!" Sekkaku pleaded.
"Wait your turn."
"Yes, Koshi-sama," the vampire whined.
.x.
"Shhh!" Kristel put her finger to her lips. "There's no telling if they've been exposed to the Dark. We'll have to break in."
"Break in!? To God's Palace?!" Leeli tip-toed behind her. "This is nuts!"
"We gotta do what we gotta do!" she hissed.
"And just what is that?" Leeli hissed back.
"Find the Ultra Holy Water and make off with it!"
They crept around the columns and kept their eyes open for any signs of Kami or his attendant. Popo was out front watering the plants. They crawled on their hands and knees behind a hedge and scooted into the palace proper. Once inside, they stood and walked slowly down the long corridors.
"Where is the Ultra Holy Water?" Leeli asked in a whisper.
"I have no idea."
"Great."
They peeked into several rooms. One contained scrolls, another strange statuary. One set of doors was immense. Leeli went to open it.
"That's the room of Spirit and Time," Kristel said, stopping her hand.
"Are you sure?"
"Pretty sure," Kristel answered and moved on before Leeli could ask any more questions.
The last door along the hallway was half open. Kristel poked her head inside. "Ahh! Finally!"
There were innumerable vases and bowels, vials and canisters, urns and goblets, all full of water in the long, thin room. Shelves lined the walls, supporting the jars of water.
"That's just great," Leeli sighed. "Which one is it?"
"Which one is what?" a voice asked from behind them.
Both girls screamed and held on to each other.
"What's the matter?!" Dende shouted back, startled.
"Well.. we... we thought.. well..." Leeli stuttered, trying to explain, but keeping her guard up. Something about God wasn't right.
"And why are you sneaking around?" He raised a brow at the girls.
"You see..." Kristel started to explain. Leeli backed up and looked feverishly around the room.
'The pots are all so different! Which one is the right one?' she thought. 'Which one contains the Ultra Holy Water I was supposed to find years ago!'
"Leeli," Dende asked, trying to push past Kristel. "What are you doing, Leeli?"
Kristel stood in his way and continued to explain their reason for being there. "So this girl appeared out of nowhere and..."
Leeli turned and ran further into the enormous room, scanning the shelves for something that looked holy.
"LEELI!" Dende shouted and pushed past Kristel. She stuck her foot out and tripped him. Kami growled and scrambled to his feet. Kristel reached out to grab him but found herself pulled off the ground by a surprisingly strong Mr. Popo.
"Leeli! He's coming!" Kristel called.
"Damn it!" she hissed. "Which one is it!?" Dende's footfalls were getting closer. She grabbed a vase and threw its contents on the young God. No good. He kept coming. Again and again she tried this tactic, and again and again it failed. Finally, she reached the end. Leeli backed up against the wall and shook her head. 'It can't end like this!'
"Leeli, why are you running from me?" Dende asked, and evil timbre to his voice.
"Kami-sama! Please!" she cringed as he stepped forward. Her hand touched a smooth sculpted vase. In a last ditch effort, she grabbed it and threw the water in it at him. The sneer fell from his face. He dropped to his knees.
"Leeli? What happened to me?"
She sighed and explained it to him as they ran back to Popo and Kristel.
.x.
Muzai cracked her knuckles.
"And what do you think you can do to me, human?"
Mu lowered her head and laughed lightly. "Human, right." She burst forward and threw punches Leela, which the girl blocked, but with each powerful hit, she was pushed back, creating long divots in the ground.
She stopped blocking with her hands and jumped up to block with her legs. When she arched to bring her hands down on Muzai's head she was surprised to come face to face with her. She had spun around in anticipation and grinned at her.
"Ah ah ah!" she scolded, reached out and grabbed her head, pulling it towards her own in a massive head-butt.
Leela sprawled and wobbled before she recovered. Blood oozed from her forehead. She wiped it away and cursed. "What the hell are you made out of!?"
Muzai giggled and rubbed her bindi. "That's none of your business, Little Miss Secrets!"
"Fine." Leela monotoned. "Why don't you fight me, Your Highness," she spat. "Rather have your minion's do your dirty work?"
Koshi scowled. "Leeli is my friend. I do not wish to kill her sister, but if I fought you, or let one of 'my minions' finish their fight with you, you would die."
"Give me a break!" she scoffed.
"Koshi-sama! Shall I continue?" Muzai shouted.
She nodded and the fight went on.
.x.
Leeli and Kristel left the lookout and flew full-tilt towards the Northern Woods. Kristel could see the anxiety written on Leeli's face. She only hoped that her evil sister was still breathing when they got there.
.x.
Sekkaku wrung her parasol in her hands and bounced with the eagerness to fight. "Come on, come on, Muzai," she hissed. "It's been way more than 10 minutes, Koshi!" she whined.
Koshi simply held up her hand, commanding her to wait longer.
"Gah!"
Muzai avoided a punch and grabbed Leela's arm, throwing her over her head and slamming her into the ground. The Cyborg's lip curled up and she held her palm out.
"I'm done playing. How 'bout you?"
Leela panted but didn't reply. Her eyes burned with hatred. She suddenly spied two forms moving in fast from the west.
"Muzai!!" Leeli screamed. "Please don't!!"
"Ah! Crap!" Sekkaku moaned. "That's just not fair!"
Muzai stepped back, but kept a watchful eye on her defeated foe. "Relax," she folded her arms as Leeli and Kristel touched down, running towards them. "We were just playing cat and mouse with her. No biggie."
Leela was obviously a little shocked to hear this as the reality of how powerful the Majin girls were finally began to sink in.
"So," Koshi approached Leeli. "Were you successful?"
"Yes, Koshi-sama." Kristel held out the vase which held the never-ending Ultra Holy Water.
Koshi nodded to Muzai and Mameko who contained Leeli's twin down to the ground. Sekkaku backed up, the smell of the holy water repelling her.
"You can't defeat the Dark! It already has our world! It will only be a matter of time before..."
"Oh, shut up!" Muzai barked.
"It's already over. I poured this water into the dimensional gate at Kami's palace. The spirit winds will take care of the rest." Leeli knelt beside her struggling sister. "The Dark has faded, Leela. Please come back." She poured the water onto her face. Although she closed her mouth, the permeating quality of the magic liquid did the trick.
Leela stopped struggling. The girls held her down until she opened her eyes.
"Leeli...?" she whispered. "You did it. At long last you did it!" Tears rolled down her cheeks.
The sisters hugged. Koshi commended her warriors' good jobs and Sekkaku sat off to the side and ripped out grass in frustration.
.x.
Assembled at the lookout, Majin Nation stood and listened to Kami-sama speak of the other world and the good that they had done to save it.
"Kinda looks bad in a way, don't cha think?" Muzai whispered to Mameko. "I mean, we're trying to take over our own world, after all."
"Oh well. Maybe this will help lull everyone into a false sense of security." She shrugged and wondered if their plot to dominate the world was really more than just a joke. Koshi had been quite serious on the battlefield today. Like a true Saiyajin leader. Mameko shook her head. This was all just in fun, wasn't it?
"Come on, Leeli! Father and Mother are probably worried sick about us, especially you!"
Leeli wrung her hands. "Well, this is all so sudden!"
"You know," Dende put his hand on her shoulder. "This portal will be here forever. You can come back anytime you want."
"I can?!"
Dende nodded.
"Well, then I'll go now, but I'll be back really soon! I've met so many nice people here." She looked to Koshi for approval. "If that's ok?"
Koshi nodded.
Leeli and Leela held hands and walked towards the portal. They really did look alike. They had roughly the same build, same height, same long, pointy ears, only Leela's hair was black and Leeli's was green.
"Wait!" Muzai called out just before they crossed over. "Leela, I still want to know!" The girls looked at her, confused.
"Yes!" Koshi barked. "You cannot go until you tell us! What is it we don't know about you and Leeli?"
"Oh!" Leeli laughed.
Leela smiled. "Our mother is a Saiyajin named Kana and..."
"...Our father is Piccolo!" Leeli finished and both girls stepped into the portal.
"Later!!..."
Popo, Dende and Majin Nation stood speechless, their jaws hung open in surprise. Kristel was the only one who kept her composure. "You didn't know that?"
Koshi turned and bellowed at her, "DO YOU KNOW EVERYTHING!?"
Kristel laughed as Koshi chased her around the lookout, demanding an explanation.
Mameko sighed. "Yup, it's just gotta be all in good fun!"
Note: Muzai was a Cyborg (not a Jinzouningen) played by Danye from Nebraska. Leeli was a Saiyajin/Namek played by Ingrid from Alaska. Sekkaku was a vampire played by Audrey from Canada.
To be continued…