A Tail To Remember
by Gie (phowahcs.com)

A Tail To Remember
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Attack of the Clones ()

Ranma quickly switched his demeanor to battle mode. "Bulma,
call home and let them know we have a full-scale Hachi attack in
process." She nodded and backed away, pulling out a cell phone in the
process from her purse.

He turned to Akane, who also had a serious look to her face.
"Go to the other end of the mall and try to get as many people out as
possible." He pointed to a pharmacy down the hallway a pace. "Grab
as much medical supplies as possible and treat the wounded." He
started to run the opposite way down the hall, weaving in an out of
the mass of people trying to escape.

"Where are you going?" Akane demanded.

He turned around and levitated in the air, since his attempt to
travel on the ground was getting him nowhere, fast. He also noted
that the crowds were beginning to thin out. "Where do you think?
To stop the Hachi, Akane."

"Alone? You need me to help you!" She rose up to meet him at
his height.

"Iie!" He growled at her, eyes flashing. "You are needed at
the other end, Akane. Don't argue with me!" He flared his aura and
streaked above the mad crowd's heads.

Her own aura flashed in anger. "Damn it, Ranma! Get back
here!"

"He's right, Seiika," Bulma said, pulling on the higher female's
leg, bringing her down to her level. "Besides, you wouldn't want to
endanger Tobuma-chan, ne?"

Akane stared in the direction that Ranma flew off for several
tense moments. "Fine," she sighed, and made her way over to the
pharmacy, Bulma following her. "Let's gather as much as possible.
Who knows what the people have done to themselves."

She nodded and snagged up as many bandages and medicinal
things her arms could hold. "It's worse than what we think, Seiika."
She explained when Akane gave her a look of confusion. "I talked to
my mother, and she said that both Trunks and Tobuma were sent out
in response to a raid."

"What about Vejiita?"

"She didn't know where he was. The last time she saw him was
out in the gravity chamber." She grabbed a large bag and tossed her
pilfered goods inside. "I tried calling to him through our Link, but
when he trains hard like that, he keeps all of his walls firmly in
place." She glanced down the mall's corridor, seeing a faint green
glow intermixed with a yellow one. "Is Serori super saiya-jiin?"

Akane grabbed Bulma around her waist with her free hand
"Hai Come on, we'll get outta here faster if we fly." The pair
levitated and Akane shot off like a rocket.

They set down at the large entrance of the far end of the
mall and tried valiantly to simmer down the extreme emotions that
radiated all around them from the hysterical humans. "Calm down,
please!" Akane yelled out, helping an older lady up from where she
was being trampled under the stampede.

"You're only making it worse! Please calm down and move
through the doors in an orderly fashion!" Bulma tried directing
traffic, but was unsuccessful as she got swept through the open
doors, finding herself outside in the noonday sun. "Damn it! It's like
trying to control a herd of sheep when they spotted a pack of
wolves!"

Akane emerged from the river of streaming bodies a few
moments later, a black scowl covering her face. "Then let them
trample themselves to death." She sighed and shook her head.
"Gomen, almost everyone is out, anyway." She pointed to a quiet
corner. "Let's set up over there." Soon, they started to receive
'patients', and bandaged them up as much as possible.

Suddenly, Akane shot up her head. "Heads up! We've got
reinforcements!"

Bulma glanced up into the air, blinking as the sun blinded her.
She soon recognized the two fuzzy shapes flying closer to their
location. "It's Kuririn and Piccolo!" She waved to catch their
attention, and they landed in front of their small triage. "Thank Kami
you're here!"

Piccolo nodded at the females. "Hachi?" he rumbled.

Akane nodded, not looking up from the cleaning of a nasty
wound on a small girl. "Hn. Ranma is in there by himself, but I don't
know how many made the initial attack. We were eating lunch at the
time it happened."

"Tobuma and Trunks are at one attack, as are Gohan and
Goku," Kuririn explained. "We got here as soon as we could."

"Where's Vejiita?" Bulma asked.

"He's the one that sent me here to help," Kuririn said,
scratching at his bald head. "When he felt Serori's ki spike, he told
me to go and help. He said he was going to stay there in case another
attack happens. I found Piccolo on my way."

"What are you standing around for? Go help him!" Akane
growled, finally looking up. "I will join you as soon as I can."

Bulma shook her own blue-haired head. "No, Seiika-chan. You
know Serori will kill you if I let you go. Then he'll kill me."

"I'd rather be killed by Ranma than have him get killed by the
Hachi."

"Right," Piccolo nodded somberly. "Let's go, Kuririn." The
pair disappeared through the doors.

"Well, I feel better now that we have a few more here on our
side. There you go. Make sure you have a real doctor take a look at
that." She smiled at the young lady whose arm she just wrapped in
gauze.

"Maybe." Akane glanced around, something setting off her
senses. "Something, though, is just not feeling right."

A scream from the parking lot caught her attention. "Kuso."
Akane stood up quickly and ran in the direction of the scream. What
she found was four people stuck in one of the green paralysis beams,
although two already had discs attached to their chests and were in
the mutating stages. "Damn it!" She raised a hand lit with ki and let
the ball fly toward the pair of drones emitting the green beam.

One of them caught the ki and sent it back just as fast as it
arrived, but it did its job of distracting the Hachi Drones. She
dodged the volley of ki, feeling the searing heat as it grazed past her
arm. She let out a grunt of pain and yelled, launching a leg into the
head of the closest Drone. It jerked with the momentum, staggering
off to the side. She dodged a swing of two separate arms from the
other Drone, and flipped around to kick the second Drone into the
first, bowling them both over. Taking advantage of the distraction,
she sent out a large ki blast to the two semi-human Drones that were
now unparalyzed. It quickly disintegrated them.

Akane turned wide glowing eyes to the remaining pair of
untouched human girls who were clutching at each other in stark
terror. "Run, now!" They did, screaming the entire way. She turned,
falling into a defensive stance as she saw the pair of Drones charging
her way. Reaching behind her into her subspace pocket, she pulled
out Ke'petik, the mallet glowing brightly with infused ki. "All right
you over grown bugs, let's see what you've got!" The pair of Drones
launched themselves at her and within several intense minutes, a few
well-placed swings and blasts of ki, the Drones were history.

She panted, leaning her hands on her knees as she bent over
to regain her breath. "I definitely am getting weak! Those things
shouldn't have made me so tired!" She stood back up and put Ke'petik
away.

"For a human female, you did plenty of damage."

Akane whirled around, immediately falling into a protective
stance. "Nani?" Her eyes darted around frantically to find the
unknown voice. She looked up to discover the owner of the deep
voice, her eyes immediately narrowing into thin slits of black irises.
"Hachi! I didn't know you could talk!"

The black-faced Hachi nodded from his spot in the air. "Only
when we have something important to say. We are capable of many
things." Slowly he lowered himself to the ground with his whirring
wings, looking her up and down critically as he made his decent.
"Interesting. I have not encountered a female in other gatherings
here on Chikyuu."

"Gatherings?" She sputtered, her face awash in rage. "More
like raids!" The Hachi shrugged at the definition. Akane just burned
in anger more. "Well, it will be your last time!" She launched herself
at the black and white creature, extending an arm for a heavy punch
to the jaw.

The Hachi quickly evaded the strike, and retaliated with a
swift double kick to her side, sending the female sprawling to the
ground. "I can see why you haven't been seen at the other
gatherings, female." He ducked a ball of ki, letting it fly away over
his shoulder. "Haven't the others warned you about using ki?" He
held up his arm to let the disc attached there catch another volley of
deadly energy. "You'll get it right back!" With an underhand toss,
the ball of light was returned to its owner.

Akane growled as she batted her ki away, ignoring the searing
flames from the exploding car. "You'll pay for all of the innocent lives
you stole from Chikyuu! They are not yours to play with." She yelled
out and renewed her attack at the Hachi, fist and feet blurring in
her attempt to remove the threat.

For several minutes the only witnesses to the monumental
battle between saiya-jiin and drone were the empty cars that filled
the parking lot.

Finally, they broke away from each other, Akane panting
heavily, a sheen of sweat covering her angry and flushed features.
"Damn you, Hachi! Why don't you just up and die? What do you want
from us?"

The Hachi wasn't squeaky clean either. There weren't many
outward signs of hard battle, except for the one missing antennae
and ripped wing. "You do put up a valiant fight, female." It
straightened itself up. "My name is Daisy, and I am a second rank
officer on the Starship Tokemonu. What we want is simple. Live. To
propagate our species, just like any other being out there. The need
to procreate is strong within us, but we lack the physical capabilities
to do so." The remaining antennae twitched and started to glow a
lime green and Akane took a few staggering steps back. "You will
make an excellent warrior drone, female."

All Akane saw was a bright flash of green.

"NNNNOOOO!" She screamed and tried to get away. "I
won't!" She powered up, higher and higher, breaking the threshold
for super saiya-jiin with her screams of defiance.

"Yellow aura?" Daisy blinked. "But the only ones that..." He
gave her a hard stare and noticed the extra golden appendage curled
around her waist. "Saiya-jiin! You're a Saiya-jiin!"

"Hai!" Akane opened her teal eyes, glaring at him murderously.
"I am Saiya-jiin and damn proud of it. Prepare to die!" She slammed
her hands together, thumbs wrapping around each other and her
fingers splayed in a butterfly pattern. A small pinprick of ki formed
in the space between her index fingers and grew exponentially larger
with each passing second: "Catatonic Symphony!"

"Foolish female! You set your own death with that!" Daisy
brought both arms together, the assimilation discs touching to
gather as much ki as possible. He quickly found out that the discs
would not hold it all. A thought struck him as he struggled to contain
the ki. She is very strong! If this female is saiya-jiin, could she be
the one we are looking for? Could she be the new Queen? I must
inform Iris of this! If I kill her, or attempt to assimilate her, Iris
would have my head... With a shout of his own, Daisy pushed away
the ki he accumulated in his discs, which was about to explode in his
face, and dodged the remaining, attempting to avoid the excess by
flying into the air, his escape hindered slightly by his damaged wing.

"Kuso!" Akane leapt into the air after him, her rage boiling
over. "Come back here and face your death, Hachi!"

Daisy paused in his escape and turned to face the raging
Akane. "Not today, Seiika-sama, but there will be a next time." He
bowed slightly and shot off into the distance.

Akane was stunned, watching the Hachi leave with a pole-axed
look to her face. "Nani? How did he know my name? No one even
knows I'm alive..." She remained floating in the air, staring after the
black dot on the horizon until it disappeared completely. She was
brought back to her senses when she heard her name being called
out.

"Seiika! Seiika!" She looked down to see Bulma waving at her.

"Nani?" She slowly floated down, her face clearly showing her
confusion and irritation.

Bulma blinked at the sharp retort. "Oh...I need your help with
the wounded. What happened? Where did you go?"

She sighed, dropping out of super, her midnight-blue hair
falling down to once again brush against her shoulders and her eyes
darkening to deep brown. "I heard screams and when I went to go
see what was going on, I found some girls being attacked by a pair of
Drones. I destroyed them, and then another came." She glanced at
the horizon again, her keen eyesight not picking up a trace of the
escaped Daisy. She turned back to Bulma, her expression serious.

"They can talk. They are completely sentient beings, Bulma. I
carried on an intelligent conversation with it. With Daisy," she
stressed the naming of the Hachi officer. "And they know my name.
My Saiya-jiin Name." She crossed her arms and turned toward the
doors of the mall, walking back to the small medical area they had set
up.

"It called you Seiika? But how would it know? Why would it
know?"

"Exactly my point. Somehow it realized I was the Saiya-jiin no
Oujo. At first it thought I was human, but I think it noticed my tail,
which is usually a dead giveaway."

"Or you going Super," Bulma suggested.

Akane frowned. "But, still, it shouldn't have known who I am!
It could've thought I was just some rogue female...or something."
She frowned deeper, perplexed by the new information discovered.

"Well, we will have to worry about it later," Bulma brought
her out of her thoughts. "Right now, we need to take care of these
people." She smiled at the older lady, whose ankle she was wrapping.
"There, ma'am. Please, have a doctor look at this personally." The
lady nodded her thanks and hobbled away. "Can you tell if they're
still fighting in there?"

Akane turned toward the doors of the mall, her eyebrows
furrowed in concentration. "It's not as intense as it was before, but
I think they're almost done." At that moment, Kuririn appeared
through the set of doors, a large dark spot forming across one eye.

"Kuririn! What happened?" Bulma jumped up and catching his
arm, pulled her friend down to their small triage area.

"Oh, this," he waved off Bulma's attentions, and got a slap on
the back of his head for the effort. "One of the Hachi caught me
off guard. It'll be fine in a few days." He pushed away the lotions
and bandages Bulma tried applying.

"Kuririn! Let me help!"

"It's okay, Bulma! I've taken worse!"

Akane chuckled at the pair, the situation lightening her mood
slightly. "So, are they gone?"

"Hai, Seiika-san," Kuririn answered her, sighing when Bulma
placed a Band-Aid on his cheek. "Ooh, I feel better already!" Bulma
just snorted at his sarcasm. "Serori and Piccolo are just playing
clean-up crew. They should be out in a minute or so."

"Well, I'm glad that you got here when you did, Kuririn,
otherwise we probably would have been in trouble." Bulma smiled at
her old friend.

He nodded back. "I had just gotten to Capsule Corp, well me,
Gohan and Goku, when Trunks and Tobuma shot off into the sky.
They headed to an attack that the news reported about, somewhere
in Australia. Goku and Gohan came into CC and found Vejiita watching
the news and he said that there was another raid going on in Europe.
Goku and Gohan headed out to that one, and then we felt Serori's ki
spike. Vejiita pushed me right back out the door, telling me to go
help Serori. And en route to here, Piccolo was flying through the sky.
He felt Serori's ki jump up as well."

"I wasn't that far away, so I decided to see what was going
on." Everyone turned to see Piccolo come outside with two small
children clutched under his arms. "Serori will be out in a minute," he
nodded to Akane as he set down the unconscious children. "He went
to grab more medical supplies." Akane nodded back.

"Here, Kuririn, call an ambulance." She tossed him her cell
phone and he easily caught it. "One of these children more than
likely has a concussion by the bump on his forehead, and I can't do
anything about that. Besides, some of these people should really go
to the hospital to get their injuries checked out. We can only do so
much with this stuff."

"Sure thing, Bulma."

Ranma emerged a minute later, a large bag full of medicinal
supplies in one hand, and his other around an old lady's waist. She
had a large gash on her forehead and blood was trickling down her
cheek. Bulma right away led the elder female to the side and began
to clean and patch her up. Akane glanced at him and immediately
could tell he needed medical attention, as well. "You're hurt!"

He nodded and slowly sat down next to her. "My ribs. Think I
cracked a couple when I went through a steel girder. Man, some of
those drones can pack a punch."

She slowly felt out his chest, immediately finding the tender
areas by the way his muscles flinched. "Well, for sure there's a
broken one. More than likely a few more are cracked. I can wrap up
your chest for now, but you'll need to be scanned in the med. ward."
Ranma nodded. She unbuttoned the shirt he wore, slowly pulling it
off his muscled frame so not to anger his pain any more than needed.
Using a handy scissors, she snipped off the tight shirt underneath. A
hiss escaped her lips when the purpling along his side came into view.
"Damn. That looks bad. I hope you don't have any internal bleeding."
She grabbed one of the thick bandages and tightly wrapped his
ribcage, wincing every time a hiss of pain escaped. After she was
done, and slid his buttoned shirt over his arms and around his torso,
she gave him a peck on the cheek. "There, all done. Nurse Akane to
the rescue."

He pouted. "Where's my Band-Aid?"

She rolled her eyes and plopped a Band-Aid over the bridge of
his nose. "Better?"

He nodded. "Much. Don't I get a lollypop?"

"So how bad was it in there?" Bulma asked, serious.

Ranma sighed, going serious as well. "Well, when I finally
arrived, there had to be at least fifty Drones flyin' around. And each
were assimilating several humans. I saw a few leaving through a hole
in the ceiling, which was what they probably came in through, and
shot some ki at them."

"That attracted the others' attention, and it was me against
about ten of them. The others kept assimilating the other humans
trapped in their paralysis beams. I was holdin' out okay against them,
but it was better when Piccolo and Kuririn arrived." He smirked.
"Then we started kickin' Hachi ass."

Kuririn smirked as well. "All in the day of a martial artist, ne,
Serori?"

"Hai! That's what Oyaji taught me. 'Fighting evil is a martial
artist's duty.'" He laughed then flinched, fire burning up his side.
"Or somethin' like that."

"Baka," Akane snorted affectionately. She turned her head
to see the sirens arrive, and a news van right behind. "Well, that's
our cue to leave." She stood and slowly helped Ranma stand. "Are
you going to be able to fly?"

He nodded, standing up as straight as possible. "Yeah."

Bulma also stood, brushing off her pants. "You guys take off,
and I'll stall the authorities."

"Are you going to be okay, Bulma-chan?" Akane asked while
wrapping an arm around Ranma for support. "What about the
reporters?" She nodded to the camera crew headed their way.

She blinked a few times. "I got it covered. I think it's finally
time to announce our agenda." She waved and purposely strode up to
the news reporter and camera. The four fighters glanced at each
other and quickly made a getaway via the sky.

After flying through the air for several minutes, the quartet
was joined by Gohan and Goku, by way of Shinkan Idou. "Hey guys,"
Kuririn greeted them. "Are you okay?"

Goku nodded. "Me and Gohan took care of the Hachi attack at
a baseball game," Goku said, his face serious. "We tried to save as
many as we could, but..." he trailed off but everyone knew what was
left unsaid.

Piccolo grunted, his deep olive features creased in a frown.
"The Hachi seem to becoming smarter, attacking highly populated
areas to get as many victims as possible."

"And, did you notice that when the victims were fully
assimilated, they flew off?" Kuririn pointed out.

"We can't underestimate them any longer," Akane shook her
head. "They are sentient beings with the capabilities for higher
reasoning and thought." She glanced at Goku. "How many do you
think...?"

"Hundreds before we even got there," he said. "Who knows
the total. Maybe close to a thousand."

"And you took care of them all?" She blinked, glancing
between father and son.

"Actually, no, Seiika-san," Gohan spoke quietly, the day's
events taking their toll on his normally cheerful disposition. "We
fought for awhile, but all of a sudden they just took off. Lifted right
out of the air. We started to go after them, but they're really fast."
Akane nodded in agreement.

Gohan turned to Ranma. "We could feel you four fighting. Are
you okay?"

"A few bruised ribs, but we're okay," he waved off their
concern. "They had me on the run for a few moments, but once the
other two started to help, we had no problems." He blinked a few
times and turned to Akane. "Four? You fought?"

"I did." She nodded but placed a hand over his mouth when he
started to sputter. "There were also a couple Hachi outside, in the
parking lot. I did what I had to do, Ranma. I'll tell you about it
later." She removed her hand.

Ranma just grumbled under his breath, but he turned to Goku.
"Do you know how Trunks and Tobuma fared?"

The tall male shook his head. "No, I don't."

Akane glanced at her mate, the pain clearly radiated off his
face, and his posture. "Goku-san, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, Seiika. What is it?"

"Can you teleport Ranma to CC?"

The male in question blinked a few times in surprise. "Nani?
Akane, I'm fine."

She turned to him. "No, you're not. Your ribs are pushing on
your lungs, making it hard for you to breathe. You're going home,
now." She growled deep in her throat, her tone leaving no room for
arguments.

He stared at her for a moment, his stormy blue eyes boring
into her own. Finally, after a few tense moments, he nodded once.
"Fine, but you're coming with me."

She nodded back, a smile tugging at one corner of her mouth.
"Fine."

"Well, why don't I just bring everyone back to CC?" Goku
suggested amicably, a smile lighting his jovial features. "And then we
can start organizing the battle strategies for the UN presentation
next week." He turned to Ranma. "After you get fixed, of course."

Ranma lit up. "I've been thinking about that. I was talking to
Ryouga and we sketched out a couple ideas already."

"If he's still at Capsule Corp, that is," Akane growled under
her breath.

"He is," Ranma nodded smugly. "I have him 'meditating' in the
gravity chamber."

"Meditating?" Gohan asked.

"Hai, at about ten times gravity." Both he and Akane shared
identical smirks. "I don't think he can get lost if he can't get up."

Goku shook his head and placed two fingers to his forehead.
"Let's see who I can...Vejiita is still there. Centering on him right..."
Everyone, sans Piccolo, grabbed onto some part of the tall Saiya-jiin,
lest they get left behind. Goku glanced at the Nameksei-jiin, who
only shook his head and rocketed off into the distance. He shrugged
mentally and focused once again.

"Right...now!" And they disappeared.

Capsule Corp, Gravity Chamber

A tired Ryouga lay splayed in the center of the floor. Every
once in a while a muscle would twitch in his attempt to move under
the restraining force pressing upon him. "Damn you, Ranma," he
yelled up at the ceiling, "Damn you for everything! Who do you think
you are to keep me in this room against my will?"

"He has every right for what you did to Seiika."

Ryouga started, surprised by the arrival of the deep voice. He
had been by himself in the circular room for several hours, fuming in
his hatred for Ranma. "Nani?"

"You are a coward. A coward and a bastard for taking
advantage of her and her trust for so long."

"Who are you? What do you want?" Ryouga tried with all of
his might to see the new arrival, but the voice came from out of
sight. "And who is Seiika? I don't know of anyone with that name."

"You humans named her 'Akane', but her true name is Seiika no
Oujo, heir to the Saiya-jiin Empire."

"Nani? Oujo?" Ryouga blinked in confusion. "The only Akane I
know is no royalty. And heir to the Musabetsu Kabuto, Tendo Ryuu."

"Silence, human!" Ryouga swallowed at the commanding tone of
the unidentified male in the room. He could sense the anger and
malice in the man's voice. A dark shadow fell over him and Ryouga
looked up to see a dark, forbidding figure scowling over him. "I
should kill you now, and spare Seiika the pain every time she sees you,
or hears your name spoken. I don't think she would mind."

Ryouga blanched as the evil-looking man drew a finger, aglow
with a small amount of ki. "Why...who are you?" He stared as the
finger got closer and closer to his forehead.

"I should be your judge, jury and executioner," Vejiita
snarled, his lip curling back to reveal a glinting fang. "But Seiika will
become upset that I took away her right to kill you." He pulled back
his finger, and reabsorbed the ki. "So I won't." Vejiita moved out of
the trapped Ryouga's line of sight once again.

The young man swallowed hard and felt his rapidly thumping
heart slow as the evil man walked away. He looked up at the domed
ceiling again, willing his breathing to return to normal levels. His
arms shifted slightly under the strain of the high gravity. That's
more than I could move before. Funny thing, adrenaline.

"Serori says that you were his biggest rival." The man in the
black training suit came into his viewing range once again, this time in
front of him.

"Serori?"

"Ranma," Vejiita sighed, exasperated.

"Ranma is not my rival," Ryouga snarled out, his eyes wide in
anger. "Ranma is the bane of my existence! He put me through hell
over and over again! Time and time again he throws my life tumbling
into the deepest pit of hell. Akane does not know how evil he truly
is!" A dim glow surrounded the raving martial artist, and unknowingly
began to wave his arms around in the air.

Vejiita raised an eyebrow at the aura surrounding the boy on
the ground. Moving over to the control panel, he set the gravity to
raise in increments of one every minute. "Ranma is well known for his
exploits and achievements in the Art, human. He earned
Seiika...Akane fair and square."

"Earned? Earned! That cur has done nothing to earn anything!
Every new move, every increase in his power in the Art has been
handed to him in his lap. Akane and her heart was given to him!
Ukyou! Shampoo! He wanted none! He shunned them and their love,
only using them when it was to his advantage! That lowly scum has
done nothing except ride the tail-coats of others!" The glow
intensified as he stood up. Vejiita glanced at the reading on the
control panel.

15.

At that moment, the four saiya-jiin and Kuririn fizzled into
existence, right behind Ryouga, all blinking as they adjusted to the
new environment. Akane still had her arm wrapped around Ranma's
waist, and he was leaning up against her, his face washed out from
the pain.

Both Vejiita and Ryouga turned to see the group appear, but
Ryouga only saw the closeness of Ranma and Akane. And when he
spotted blood on her, the last straw of his temper went up in flames.
He raised a clenched fist, shaking as his anger became tangible.
"Ranma! How dare you let Akane get hurt! Your life is mine!" With a
shout, he jumped at Ranma.

Immediately, Ranma pushed away from Akane, and bounced out
of Ryouga's line of charge. "Hey, P-chan! What crawled up your ass
and pissed?"

Gohan sucked in a breath and Goku immediately slapped his
hands over his ears. Vejiita snorted. "It's not like he's never heard
that language before, baka. You're just as bad." Goku shot him a
look.

"Shut the hell up, Ranma! Take your death like a man and fight
me!" He swung out his legs, trying to sweep the light on his feet
Ranma to the ground.

Only Ranma anticipated it and jumped, landing on Goku's shoulders
with a wince, his ribs letting him know that they were still broken.
"Chill, Ryouga! I didn't do nothin' to Akane. The blood's from the
people she helped that got hurt from the Hachi attack today."

Gohan blinked up at Ranma, who was standing on his father's
shoulders. "Neat move, Serori."

"Arigato, Gohan." Ranma smiled at the younger boy. "Uh, you
don't mind I'm up here, ne, Goku?"

He shook his head. "Nah, that's okay. It startled me at first,
but I agree with Gohan, it was a clever maneuver."

Ryouga growled as he saw Ranma perched on the other man's
shoulders. "Stop hiding behind innocents, Saotome!" Everyone
blinked at his remark. "Fight me like the coward you are!" He
jumped into the air to try and knock Ranma down from his perch, but
found himself looking at the floor upside down, as Goku grabbed his
ankle and let him dangle in the air. "Hey! Let go!" He thrashed in
the tight grip.

"Gomen, Ryouga," Goku apologized, "but Serori needs to get to
the med. ward as soon as he can. Seiika is starting to get upset." He
nodded to Akane, who had her arms crossed fiercely and a black
scowl spread across her face.

"Stop it, Ryouga, now." Kuririn and Vejiita smirked on either
side of her. You will not defend my honor anymore, for you have no
honor in the first place. The only thing attacking Ranma will
accomplish is get you killed."

"Akane-san..." her began, his face red from the blood rushing
to it.

She stepped up to him and crouched, glaring at him in his face.
"You have no idea what Ranma is capable of, Ryouga. We are not what
we used to be." She glanced up at Ranma, who was still standing on
Goku's shoulders. "Come on, Ranma, let's go fix your ribs."

He nodded and slowly floated down, coming to rest in front of
Ryouga. "Thanks for the save, Goku," Ranma smirked at the older
male, and then glanced at the dangling Ryouga. "She's right, Ryouga.
Honestly, both she and I could kill you with one finger." The
upside-down male started sputtering in anger, but he held up a hand.
"Stop it. It's true. So could anyone in this room. But we won't,
Ryouga. Besides," his tone turned lighter, "I can't kill my strongest
rival, ne? Be good, Ryouga, and we'll see what we can do to bring you
up closer to our levels. We're gonna need that thick head of yours to
fight the Hachi." He nodded to the others and he and Akane left the
room.

Ryouga just glared after him. "Damn you, Saotome! Damn you
for an eternity in hell!" Vejiita just snorted and moved to a different
part of the room.

"Can I put you down now, Ryouga?" Goku asked, turning
questioning eyes to the man he held in his hand. "Or are you going to
go attack Serori again?" After a moment, Ryouga shook his head, and
Goku gently righted him, and let him regain his footing before letting
go. "So you already know the Art, ne? Would you like to be trained?"

He was silent for a few moments. "What is Ranma actually
capable of now? And Akane?"

"Much more than your feeble mind could comprehend, human."

"Vejiita," Goku shot the elder male a look. He turned back to
Ryouga. "Don't mind him. But actually, Serori and Seiika can become
super saiya-jiin, which sends their power levels skyrocketing."

"Super whatta?"

Gohan spoke. "You know that gold aura that Seiika had when
she found out about your curse?" Ryouga flinched hard, but nodded.

"That is the super saiya-jiin state. It's an advanced transformation
that saiya-jiin are capable of going, given the right circumstances and
the body's readiness for the power. It truly is a higher level, in all
aspects of the mind, body, spirit, everything." Gohan blinked a few
times, studying the young man in front of him. "You know how to use
ki, correct?" Ryouga hesitated, then nodded. "Can you sense it as
well?"

"Sense it?"

"If you close your eyes you can feel where someone is by their
ki signature."

Ryouga frowned, looking down at his feet. "If I could do that,
then I wouldn't get lost as much as I do."

Gohan turned to his father. "He has a fairly high power level,
'Tousan, for a human." Goku nodded in agreement. "He should pick up
the other aspects of ki fairly easily."

He's not as powerful as I was when I was his age, though."
Kuririn rubbed a finger over his chin smugly.

"You also went through Kamesen'nin's training, as well, Kuririn,"
Gohan smiled at him. "Ryouga might not have had such harsh training
conditions." He turned his gaze to the silent Ryouga and examined
him, his smile fading into a frown. "Maybe."

"Well, whatever you decide, you are more than welcome to
spar with us," Goku clapped a hearty hard on Ryouga's shoulder, and
consequently, sent him sprawling to the floor. "Gomen, sometimes I
forget my strength!" Gohan and Kuririn chuckled as Ryouga struggled
to get up again, but failed. "Hey, Vejiita, what's the gravity set to?"

A snort accompanied his answer. "Seventeen times. The fool
couldn't even stand up under ten before I got him riled and his aura
kicked in."

"Ah, a rush of adrenaline will do wonders!" Kuririn chuckled.

Goku nodded. "Well, see you later! Come on, Gohan, let's go
see if there's anything to eat in the kitchen." The pair quickly left,
their stomachs growling in unison.

Vejiita snorted and followed after them. "Don't you dare eat
all my food, Kakarotto!"

Kuririn shook his head. "There is no greater foe to a saiya-jiin
than an empty stomach." He walked over to the control panel and
shut down the gravity, bringing it back level to the rest of the world.
He walked back over to Ryouga and held put a hand. "Cheer up.
There's no use trying to compare yourself to any saiya-jiin. I learned
that a long time ago. Watashi wa Kuririn, desu."

Ryouga glanced at Kuririn's hand, and accepted to help up.
"Hibiki Ryouga, desu. Are you one of those saiya-jiin?"

"Nope. One hundred percent Chikyuu-jiin. I've known Goku
since we were little kids. We've trained together, fought in the same
Tenka-ichi Budokai together, battled against the same murderous
nemeses, or is the plural of nemesis, nemesisses?" The bald man
shrugged his shoulders in indifference. "Anywhoo, you are pretty
strong, for a human. If you decide to train with us, you'll find no
better of sensei here with the saiya-jiin. Their race was bred for
fighting."

Ryouga nodded slightly. "I will think about it, arigato." He
turned toward the door and sighed again.

"She'll eventually forgive you," Kuririn said softly. "She's
really upset now, but give her time. Either she'll forgive you, and you
become friends again, or well, live with the consequences of your
actions. Fate will play out one way or another." Kuririn put a warm
hand on his shoulder. "You gotta remember, it only happened
yesterday, ne? Give her a chance to calm down. Come on, let's get
outta here. I need me some food, and with Goku in the kitchen, there
won't be anything left if we don't hurry." Ryouga nodded and the pair
left.

Hachi Compound, deep underground

Daisy stood at the helm of his ship and watched as the newly
assimilated Drones continuously streamed in and were sent to the
training bays. Turning around, he patched himself through to the
Tokemonu.

Iris appeared on his screen. "Reporting already, Daisy?"

He nodded. "Yes, sir. I have much to tell you. I did my final
single runs on Chikyuu, today, striking fifteen separate spots. Our
numbers now exceed seven thousand."

Iris nodded. "A fine showing, Daisy."

"Thank you, Captain. But I also have something of monumental
importance to report. I went along with one of the larger runs, and
I spotted a female fighting a pair of warrior Drones, easily
destroying them."

Iris frowned. "That is good news?"

"Actually it is, Captain. I confronted her, and after our own
scuffle, I discovered something unusual. She was a saiya-jiin."

Iris turned to Rose, who was sitting next to him. "Are you
sure, Daisy? That it wasn't just a relatively strong female?"

Daisy nodded his head. "The tail and the golden
transformation was a dead giveaway."

Rose frowned. "But the only female saiya-jiin we know to exist
is..."

"Exactly, sirs. I believe it was Seiika-sama. The Saiya-jiin no
Oujo. The future Queen of Hive Chikyuu."

Iris sat back in his seat. "You are positive of this?"

"Yes, sir."

"Where was her location?"

Daisy turned away slightly and his image was replaced with a
map. "The flashing red circles are the sites we hit today." The map
zoomed in on a small area, enlarging to show the detailed lines of a
city. "And this is where Team 11 struck."

Rose spoke eagerly. "Show where the first scouting party
landed." The map zoomed out slightly, and a blue flashing square
appeared on the screen. "According to this map, the two sites are in
the same country. What is their distance?"

"About 100 Chikyuu miles, sir. Not very far apart."

Iris spoke up. "Expand the entire map and show each
gathering spot you've attempted." Soon, around a hundred blinking
red dots lit the map, and each continent and major body mass was
covered with the flashing dots. "Good job, Daisy."

The attack leader came back on the screen. "Thank you,
Captain." He paused for a moment. "What do you want to happen if I
run into Seiika-sama again?"

"Capture and subdue. Hopefully you won't run into her until we
get there, Daisy. I don't want to lose you to a pack of upset
saiya-jiin."

"Neither do I, Captain," Daisy nodded. "In a few days, once
the new Drones complete the training, I will begin the swarming. I
have more than enough for the task."

"Very well, Daisy. Thank you for your hard work and
dedication. Good luck. Tokemonu, out." Iris' image disappeared.

Daisy turned away from the screen, and left the bridge to
check on the progress of his newly trained soldiers.

Capsule Corp, That evening

The local residents of Capsule Corp were seated around a
large television screen in the main living area. Every eye and ear was
focused raptly on the screen as they watched the local news covering
the day's attacks.

"The local strike of the Giant Bees hit the city of Western
Capital hard. Calls are pouring in as local residents search for their
lost loved ones. As of the beginning of this broadcast, over one
hundred people are reported missing. But this is a small number
compared to the amounts collected from the other fourteen strikes
reported in from around the globe."

"Fifteen raids?" Bulma squeaked in horror. "But we only knew
of three! Why didn't we know?"

"Some of the attacks were more than likely not in very
populated areas, Okaasan," Trunks reasoned, glancing to his mother.
"We can't be everywhere, and neither can the news." Bulma frowned
hard and they returned their attention to the anchor.

"But one interesting fact did come about from today's attack
on Shinigaki Mall. Our own Shono Yumiko caught the scoop.
Shono-san?"

"Here it comes," Bulma groaned.

"Domo arigatou, Haato-san. Today, Western Capital's own
darling, Briefs Bulma, heir to the Capsule Corporation Empire,
prompted us with some interesting information."

Footage from earlier in the day at the mall is shown>

Yumiko: Tell us, Briefs-san, what exactly happened here today?

Bulma: (rolls her eyes) Obviously it was a Hachi attack. Almost two
dozen Drones attacked the mall, trying to assimilate the patrons
here. The Z Senshi arrived and kicked their ass.

Yumiko: Hachi?

Bulma: (Puts her fingers up in the air) The 'Giant Bees.' They are
called Hachi, and their classification is Drone. The Hachi Drones are
what has been causing all the chaos and killing.

Yumiko: How do you know all of this, Briefs-san? Have you
encountered the Gia...Hachi before?

Bulma: (shakes her head) Not me personally. But the Z Senshi are
trying hard to protect Western Capital and the rest of the world
from the Hachi threat.

Yumiko: You mentioned the Z Senshi before. Who exactly are they?
Do they include the yellow-haired vigilante fighters often seen at the
attacks?

Bulma: (nods) Hai. They are powerful warriors, trying to defend
Chikyuu against the threat. I'm not going to get into rhetoric here,
but we will be presenting our case and the Hachi story at the UN
meeting next week in New York before the Council. You'll have all
your answers then.

"Domo arigato, Shono-san, for that breaking news report."

Bulma leaned forward and hit the 'off' button on the remote.
"I hate reporters. I swear she was going to stick that microphone up
my nose."

"You handled it well, Obaasan," Tobuma said, his arms crossed.
"I could tell that reporter wanted to get more in-depth with you
about us."

"So did I. But I wasn't going to start a full-scale debate on
you 'vigilantes.' But now the world will soon know that the UN
meeting next week will be something to watch."

"Did your father get confirmation from Japan's UN
representative?" Akane asked. She was sitting next to a healed
Ranma, who had just woken up from a nap in the regeneration tank.

She nodded. "Yup, it's all set. We are going to be one of the
first things on the agenda, after normal duties. Soho-san said that
our arrival is causing a tremendous stir among the other delegates.
Everyone wants to know what's going on, and what they can do about
it. Hopefully we can forestall some needless deaths."

"Trunks and I have just about finished the background on the
Hachi," Tobuma nodded to his cousin, "and the slide show is just
about finished as well."

"Goku-san and I have come up with some rough plans for the
major militaries. I don't know if they'll be willing to go along with
them, but it's a start." Ranma shrugged his shoulders. "We can't
force them to follow the plans, so we'll just have to prove how
dangerous it would be if they did what we think they're going to do."

"And that's all we really can do," Bulma nodded. "It's up to
Chikyuu's children to decide to fight with us, or against us. With us,
they'll be protected as best as possible. Against us, well...not much
we can do except to try." Heads around the room nodded in mutual
agreement.

Vejiita stood up and began to leave the room. "Serori, come
with me."

Ranma blinked a few times and glanced at Akane, who just
shook her head. "Uh, sure, Vejiita-ouji." The pair left the room.

"What was that about?" Trunks asked, confused.

"Who knows what that male thinks." Bulma snorted, shaking
her head.