Chapter thirty-four - Ascension
Earth, Capsule Corp:
Matrix looked around the dimly light room at the computer terminals and machinery. It gave her the feeling of being back in Gero's lab, a feeling she despised. Though in the week she'd spent with Bulma she'd realized not everyone was like Gero. Bulma had her reservations about repairing the two of them but had done so anyway. It had only taken the woman about four hours to fix them both. Since then she'd left the two stay at Capsule Corp while she and her father worked on the Space Ship.
After hearing where the others had gone Matrix had insisted on going after them. The challenge presented by both Buu and Glacier was to enticing to the part Sai-jin Android to pass up. Mainframe had agreed, though she felt for other reasons. She knew little of her own past, or Mainframe's. Gero had kept few records on their lives as Humans but they both had memories that would surface now and again. Mainframe, even as a Human, had hated them. He'd not had the easy life, not compared to what Matrix could remember of her life.
Picking up the mirror that sat on the desk before her she looked at herself. It had been ten years since Gero had kidnapped her, no, not her, the Human she had been, yet she still looked like a teen. From what she remembered, and what she'd found on the internet, she'd been a student at Orange Star High. An athlete, the star player for their Basketball and Soccer teams. "Brandi." she said softly looking at her face trying to place the life that went with the name.
Mainframe had learned little of his past life, and something he'd found made him stop looking at it altogether. All Matrix knew was that they'd been brother and sister, just like seventeen and eighteen had been. She dropped the mirror back onto the desk and silently yelled at herself for looking back at what she'd lost. She had a new life now, she should forget her old life and try to make the best of her new one.
***
Deep Space, Hiroshi's ship:
They'd been in space a week already, and during that time they'd convinced their stow-away, Hercule, that they were in space. They were still working on convincing him about KI. Videl worked on that when Vegeta wasn't insisting she train with him, something Gohan found odd since the Sai-jin Prince typically wanted to train alone. No one was sure exactly why Vegeta was working Videl so hard but they could see the improvement in her strength everyday.
At the moment Gohan, Hiroshi, Videl, and Hercule where all on the main bridge. Gohan had been amazed lately at how normal Hercule could be. Of course he hadn't been boasting lately, at least not since he'd seen Gohan lift a ten ton crate with ease and Videl had beaten him in their spar match without trouble.
"So could you explain this KI thing again?" he asked.
Videl sighed. "It's an energy that everyone has. It's what gives you your strength and endurance. Once you learn to control it you can get stronger fast, and beyond normal physical limitations. It's why we're so strong and how we can fly."
Hiroshi nodded. "I've got an idea." he walked over to a computer console and brought up a program. "This ship, like most ships, is equipped with scouter technology. It allows us to detect a person's KI and determine just how much they have. Maybe a numerical value will help explain."
"Sort of like the punching machines from the tournament?" Hercule asked.
Videl nodded. "Kind of. But that required you to hit it, this just scans the strength of your aura."
Hiroshi activated the system. "I'm at rest so my power wont be anywhere near my actual strength, since I know how to suppress it, same with Gohan. You and Videl will get exact readings." A moment later the computer beeped and three outlines appeared. The first was distinctly Gohan and inside it read 5,000. The second was Hiroshi's and inside was 10,000. The third was Hercule's which read 87. Lastly was Videl's out line which read 885.
"Wow... Videl's that much stronger than me? And your numbers are huge!"
Gohan just nodded. "We're even stronger than that, but it would overload the system if we were at full power. Now Videl's that strong because of three things. One, she knows about her KI and can train with it allowing it her to get much stronger. Second, I trained with her for the tournament so she got an even bigger workout than she would have otherwise. Third, Vegeta's been training her... and he's.... not the easiest teacher."
"So um... how strong are most people?" Hercule asked.
"The average Human power level is only 5." Gohan said. "But Tien, Yamcha, and Krillin, all friends of mine, are in the thousands somewhere."
Hercule nodded. "And just how strong are you two?"
Gohan glanced sideways at Hiroshi for a moment. Hiroshi smiled. "Well... let's just say that the system on the ship wont overload until around thirty million."
"Thir... thirty million! That's amazing!"
Suddenly a siren blared throughout the ship. Hiroshi quickly checked the external scanners and found seven space pods bearing down on them. Each pod bore two symbols. One was Glacier's emblem, the other was the emblem of Fortan, one of Glacier's captains. "Not good." Hiroshi said. "Fortan's team is stronger than Shiko's, and bigger." He looked over a map quickly. "There, we'll land on Tadagor. Their pods are faster than us so we have no choice but to fight them or let them ram our ship and smash it into pieces."
***
Deep Space, Zanis's ship:
Zanis watched as his sister's pod was brought on board, along with Brolly's. He watched as his men pulled his sister Shiko from her space pod. He too had ice blue skin and red eyes, but his hair was red as well. He also stood seven foot tall. Making his way to his sister he bent down to look her in the eye. "You okay?" he asked softly.
She nodded. "What about Brolly?"
"I'll take care of him sis, don't worry. You need to get to the regen tank."
"But..."
"No buts." he stood up and nodded to his men who carried her off down the ships halls to the regen rooms. Then he turned to Brolly's pod which was being opened just now. His men where pitched backwards by a massive energy surge as the door opened. Quickly they moved in again and helped Brolly out of his pod.
"What in the hell..." Zanis whispered wide eyed. Brolly was glowing with light green, gold, and blue energy that was swirling around his entire body. His hair was tinged with gold in places but still mostly black. Red lightning like energy encircled his body like a snake. "I've never seen this before... I don't get it..." He nodded quickly to his men and they escorted Brolly to a regen tank.
Shiko's injuries healed in just under an hour and she was released. Brolly was still listed in critical and still had the same odd appearance. "I don't get it either." She said as Zanis entered the room. "I don't know what's wrong with him."
She stayed in the room for two hours before there was any sign of recovery from Brolly. His appearance stabilized for a moment as did his vitals. She looked up in time to see the sudden glare of golden light from within the tank. Quickly she stepped back realizing that Brolly had recovered and it wouldn't be to safe beside the tank. She was proven right a moment later as the regen tank exploded. As the debris and dust settled she stared at him in shock. He was in his transformed state, only his hair was longer and sticking straight up now, unlike the spikes he normal had. His muscles were larger, and he looked taller. Then she saw the wisps of blue lightning dance around his body and she knew what had happened, he'd transformed again, just like that guy he'd fought back on Earth.
Earth, Capsule Corp:
Matrix looked around the dimly light room at the computer terminals and machinery. It gave her the feeling of being back in Gero's lab, a feeling she despised. Though in the week she'd spent with Bulma she'd realized not everyone was like Gero. Bulma had her reservations about repairing the two of them but had done so anyway. It had only taken the woman about four hours to fix them both. Since then she'd left the two stay at Capsule Corp while she and her father worked on the Space Ship.
After hearing where the others had gone Matrix had insisted on going after them. The challenge presented by both Buu and Glacier was to enticing to the part Sai-jin Android to pass up. Mainframe had agreed, though she felt for other reasons. She knew little of her own past, or Mainframe's. Gero had kept few records on their lives as Humans but they both had memories that would surface now and again. Mainframe, even as a Human, had hated them. He'd not had the easy life, not compared to what Matrix could remember of her life.
Picking up the mirror that sat on the desk before her she looked at herself. It had been ten years since Gero had kidnapped her, no, not her, the Human she had been, yet she still looked like a teen. From what she remembered, and what she'd found on the internet, she'd been a student at Orange Star High. An athlete, the star player for their Basketball and Soccer teams. "Brandi." she said softly looking at her face trying to place the life that went with the name.
Mainframe had learned little of his past life, and something he'd found made him stop looking at it altogether. All Matrix knew was that they'd been brother and sister, just like seventeen and eighteen had been. She dropped the mirror back onto the desk and silently yelled at herself for looking back at what she'd lost. She had a new life now, she should forget her old life and try to make the best of her new one.
***
Deep Space, Hiroshi's ship:
They'd been in space a week already, and during that time they'd convinced their stow-away, Hercule, that they were in space. They were still working on convincing him about KI. Videl worked on that when Vegeta wasn't insisting she train with him, something Gohan found odd since the Sai-jin Prince typically wanted to train alone. No one was sure exactly why Vegeta was working Videl so hard but they could see the improvement in her strength everyday.
At the moment Gohan, Hiroshi, Videl, and Hercule where all on the main bridge. Gohan had been amazed lately at how normal Hercule could be. Of course he hadn't been boasting lately, at least not since he'd seen Gohan lift a ten ton crate with ease and Videl had beaten him in their spar match without trouble.
"So could you explain this KI thing again?" he asked.
Videl sighed. "It's an energy that everyone has. It's what gives you your strength and endurance. Once you learn to control it you can get stronger fast, and beyond normal physical limitations. It's why we're so strong and how we can fly."
Hiroshi nodded. "I've got an idea." he walked over to a computer console and brought up a program. "This ship, like most ships, is equipped with scouter technology. It allows us to detect a person's KI and determine just how much they have. Maybe a numerical value will help explain."
"Sort of like the punching machines from the tournament?" Hercule asked.
Videl nodded. "Kind of. But that required you to hit it, this just scans the strength of your aura."
Hiroshi activated the system. "I'm at rest so my power wont be anywhere near my actual strength, since I know how to suppress it, same with Gohan. You and Videl will get exact readings." A moment later the computer beeped and three outlines appeared. The first was distinctly Gohan and inside it read 5,000. The second was Hiroshi's and inside was 10,000. The third was Hercule's which read 87. Lastly was Videl's out line which read 885.
"Wow... Videl's that much stronger than me? And your numbers are huge!"
Gohan just nodded. "We're even stronger than that, but it would overload the system if we were at full power. Now Videl's that strong because of three things. One, she knows about her KI and can train with it allowing it her to get much stronger. Second, I trained with her for the tournament so she got an even bigger workout than she would have otherwise. Third, Vegeta's been training her... and he's.... not the easiest teacher."
"So um... how strong are most people?" Hercule asked.
"The average Human power level is only 5." Gohan said. "But Tien, Yamcha, and Krillin, all friends of mine, are in the thousands somewhere."
Hercule nodded. "And just how strong are you two?"
Gohan glanced sideways at Hiroshi for a moment. Hiroshi smiled. "Well... let's just say that the system on the ship wont overload until around thirty million."
"Thir... thirty million! That's amazing!"
Suddenly a siren blared throughout the ship. Hiroshi quickly checked the external scanners and found seven space pods bearing down on them. Each pod bore two symbols. One was Glacier's emblem, the other was the emblem of Fortan, one of Glacier's captains. "Not good." Hiroshi said. "Fortan's team is stronger than Shiko's, and bigger." He looked over a map quickly. "There, we'll land on Tadagor. Their pods are faster than us so we have no choice but to fight them or let them ram our ship and smash it into pieces."
***
Deep Space, Zanis's ship:
Zanis watched as his sister's pod was brought on board, along with Brolly's. He watched as his men pulled his sister Shiko from her space pod. He too had ice blue skin and red eyes, but his hair was red as well. He also stood seven foot tall. Making his way to his sister he bent down to look her in the eye. "You okay?" he asked softly.
She nodded. "What about Brolly?"
"I'll take care of him sis, don't worry. You need to get to the regen tank."
"But..."
"No buts." he stood up and nodded to his men who carried her off down the ships halls to the regen rooms. Then he turned to Brolly's pod which was being opened just now. His men where pitched backwards by a massive energy surge as the door opened. Quickly they moved in again and helped Brolly out of his pod.
"What in the hell..." Zanis whispered wide eyed. Brolly was glowing with light green, gold, and blue energy that was swirling around his entire body. His hair was tinged with gold in places but still mostly black. Red lightning like energy encircled his body like a snake. "I've never seen this before... I don't get it..." He nodded quickly to his men and they escorted Brolly to a regen tank.
Shiko's injuries healed in just under an hour and she was released. Brolly was still listed in critical and still had the same odd appearance. "I don't get it either." She said as Zanis entered the room. "I don't know what's wrong with him."
She stayed in the room for two hours before there was any sign of recovery from Brolly. His appearance stabilized for a moment as did his vitals. She looked up in time to see the sudden glare of golden light from within the tank. Quickly she stepped back realizing that Brolly had recovered and it wouldn't be to safe beside the tank. She was proven right a moment later as the regen tank exploded. As the debris and dust settled she stared at him in shock. He was in his transformed state, only his hair was longer and sticking straight up now, unlike the spikes he normal had. His muscles were larger, and he looked taller. Then she saw the wisps of blue lightning dance around his body and she knew what had happened, he'd transformed again, just like that guy he'd fought back on Earth.