I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.
Chapter 14: Alliance
I slowly stirred from my sleep, but the environment I woke up in damn sure wasn't the one I fell asleep in. I sat up and gazed around, taking it in. The sky was a dark mix of red and orange with black clouds. There was no sign of any kind of life around me, not even a blade of grass. There was only blackness, not counting the sky. I looked over to my right and saw some kind of ancient temple standing in the endless black, nothing else around it. Don't tell me everyone and everything was destroyed while I was out? I immediately tried to sense the energy around me, finding little to none. I heard a groan behind me, and turned to look at it. There lay Bardock, lying in a bloody heap. I rushed over to him, checking him over. It looked like he had been fighting Kid Buu, and somehow lived. There were cuts and tears all over his skin and armor, as well as twisted looking limbs sitting on a growing pool of blood.
"Bardock? What happened?" I asked.
He groaned a bit before he sputtered an answer, "T-t-t-temple!"
I looked at him strangely, "What about it? Who did this to you?"
"G-g-go!" Then he stopped moving. Before I could react to his death, I heard another groan. I glanced over to see Piccolo laying on the ground in a similar predicament. I rushed over to him, shaking him lightly.
"Piccolo, what's going on?" I whispered. He didn't answer, but he managed to maneuver his finger to point in the other direction, towards the temple.
"The temple, what about it?" I asked. Piccolo grunted again, but this time didn't move or breathe afterwards. My anger level rose quickly, as I glanced around for an unseen enemy. My eyes darted to another fallen form, this time it was Goten and Trunks laying next to each other, battered and beaten. They didn't register any sign of life, never mind movement.
"What the hell is going on?" I asked the air, as if it would answer. Suddenly I heard sounds of battle in the distance, along with light ki flashes and screams. I powered up and flew off towards the ensuing battle, which seemed like it was only minutes away. I came to a screeching halt when I saw other forms on the ground. The first one I came across was Tora, his body mangled and his tail sliced open. He was very much dead, but the blood was fresh. The next figure I came across was Krillin, dead as well. I saw a fallen group up ahead and flew up above them to observe. My heart began to crumble at the site, whatever was left anyway. The pile included Chichi, Videl, Mom, Tien, Yamcha, Roshi, Fasha, and just about anyone I had known in my stay on this world. I felt like vomiting on the spot, then crying, then beating the life out of whatever or whoever did this. I saved my rage however and continued towards the battle area, figuring I would take it out on the proper enemy. It didn't stop my eyes from welling up though. The flashes of light got brighter and the sounds louder. Up ahead I began to see two golden forms flying about in random directions, and some kind of large black figure with blood red eyes. The two gold figures were fighting the black one fiercely, but appeared to be losing, judging by their roughed up bodies and movements. This showed well as one of the golden forms were swatted away harshly before colliding into the ground. The light of that one faded enough to reveal Vegeta in his Super Saiyan three form, pissed off and extremely damaged.
"Vegeta, what's going on?!" I asked as I landed next to him.
"Isn't it obvious boy, now stand aside! You are no use in your current state!" he shouted as he powered himself again and charged back into battle.
"Isn't what obvious? Tell me!" I shouted back up to him. The other figure revealed himself to be Goku an instant later as he was knocked into the same hole Vegeta just left. The dark figure seemed to be laughing, a lot.
"Goku what is that thing?" I asked as I gave him a hand up.
"The darkness, you must go train and find your hidden power! We can only hold it off for so long!"
"The darkness?" I asked. He only nodded before blasting off again to fight the creature. I powered up to join the battle, only to get swatted to the ground by the black figure. Its physical strength didn't surprise me that much, I had certainly felt worse. I wasn't sure about its energy level yet, but the evil I felt didn't compare to anything I had encountered, except maybe Buu.
"What are you waiting for boy? Get going and don't come back until you complete your transformation!" Vegeta shouted at me as he traded blows with the huge creature. I looked up to see Goku powering up a Kamehameha as much as he could. He fired just as Vegeta was bashed away again. The explosion was huge, but when the smoke cleared the figure was still there. I got a better look at the beast, though I still couldn't see if it even had a face, never mind a racial feature. It was huge in size, maybe ten feet tall, but with the all black as night skin I couldn't tell who or what it was. The aura of darkness around it rivaled none. I heard a crazy laughter fill the air, coming from the beast.
"Come on Verto, get going! We can't do this without you!" Goku shouted as he charged the beast again. Vegeta landed in the dirt, fading from Super Saiyan and back to normal. He spit up blood and gasped for his breath.
"Please, go and save us all!" he begged before passing out.
"Hahahahaha, you fools are only prolonging the inevitable! The brat doesn't have what it takes to challenge me, he's proving that as we speak. You would be better off to just give in to me now!" the dark figure declared. His voice struck me as familiar, but very odd like there were two speaking at once, like fusion. Anger and rage took hold but didn't steer me, I wiped a tear from my eye and lifted into the air.
"GO!" Goku shouted as the beast had grabbed a hold of him. I sped through the sky, back the way I came, passing the bodies in the field until I reached the temple.
-
"What a weird place," I whispered as I entered the dark temple. The halls remained darkened, until I stepped completely inside. Then torches suddenly lit up in one hallway. The others remained dark and mysterious. I slowly walked down the lit one, seeing the fire light the way. I heard a rush of wind behind me, turning to see the flames vanish as I walked by. Okay, we're beyond weird now.
I continued until I came upon a door that appeared to be some kind of seal. On it were two imprints shaped like hands. Must be how you open them. I placed my hand on one and waited patiently. Nothing happened, so I put my hand on the other one as well. That did something, and the door slowly rose, allowing me to step inside. I stepped into some kind of dark and gloomy chamber. The door shut with a stony clang, leaving me in the dark. The room then lit up from the middle, coming up from a few shining globes of light. I stepped over to them and gazed at the one on the left, which was slightly golden in color. I saw myself, facing off against fiends like Buu, training and other activities.
Through the air a sound went over my ears, "The one you arrrrrrrre." Well you got that part right, I thought out instinctively. I looked at the other ball, it being blue, and saw myself again. Only this time I was in different form and slightly older, fighting things I had never seen before. Some were Zerg and Protoss, I even saw something that looked like a purple version of Cell. I was wearing a light green colored outfit similar to Goku's, and the look in my eyes was very frightening at some points. I was also using techniques I had never seen before, one of them was an energy beam that I was holding like a sword. As I watched the obviously older version of myself, I recognized one thing out of all, ruthlessness.
"The one you must becommmmmme," the voice said again.
"And how do I do that?" I asked the air.
"You must unleash your true power, before all is lost!" The globes then became balls of light, the past being gold, the futuristic one blue. The two then lifted and merged into one another, creating a single teal-green orb. The orb flew at me faster than I could react, but it didn't hurt me at all when it struck. It was more like I had absorbed the energy from it, yet I still couldn't quite feel it. Everything was black again, and I couldn't see anything. But soon I realized why I couldn't move and couldn't feel, because I wasn't awake.
-
I came to ina very well lit room. I was lying in some kind of bed, but the technology around me was very different from Capsule Corp. Then everything that had happened so far came flying back to me. I tried my best to remember my dream, but it was fading fast, except for that crazy voice, that stayed.
"Well look who's finally up!" I heard Mom's voice from my left.
I looked at her strange, "How long was I out?"
"A bit over an hour. Hour and a half if you don't include when you woke up the first time!"
I turned my head slightly, "What does that mean? I don't recall waking up."
"What, you don't remember what you did to the Zerg that attacked us in that hallway? It was right after you powered up the temple!"
"I barely remember that, except how much it burned," I replied.
After seeing my questioning gaze, she slumped slightly, "Well at least everyone is okay."
"Sorry, I don't recall anything after being electrocuted. What exactly happened?" I asked.
"Well, we managed to unplug you from the power cables, and then we were heading back to the control center. The halls went dark, when Jrotok called for the lights there were like three-dozen Zerglings in the halls with us. I set you down and pulled out my blaster while Jrotok fought them off. They killed him and came after me and you. They started tearing me up a minute later, but then.." she stopped, not sure what to say.
"Then what?" I asked, slightly mad that I hadn't been woken up, or that I just couldn't remember.
"Let's just say the Zerg didn't make it and I'm fine now," she sighed.
"How could you come out of it unscathed, unless you had a Senzu bean on you. Your armor looks torn!" I said, checking her over briefly from where I sat, "You can tell me what happened, I can handle it!"
"Well just when I thought I was done, you woke up and kicked their ass, instantly. And you transformed, but it wasn't into an ape or a Super Saiyan, it was a little different," she explained.
"How so?" I said, cocking an eyebrow slightly.
"Well your hair turned to kind of a light silver color and your eyes blue. Then you destroyed the Zerg without moving or shooting a blast. They were just instantly dead, then you healed me, then you passed out," she looked agitated.
I raised an eyebrow, "You sure mom? I know I can't beat Zerg without moving or shooting a blast. And I healed you? There's something I know I can't do!"
"But you did, all the Zerglings blew up after you killed them! No blasts that time either!"
"It's not like I don't believe you, it just seems farfetched, and my hair was silver?"
"YES!" she screeched.
"Okay okay, I believe you! It's just hard when you don't remember it you know?"
"Well, it seemed like you were in a bit of a trance. Anyway, Vegeta and the others are meeting with Tassadar about a possible alliance. We were to go home right away once you woke up, I've had enough danger for today anyway!" she laughed slightly. Yeah, you're gonna be locked up in a safe for the rest of this war I bet.
-
After informing Vegeta that we were leaving, which he was most happy about, Mom and I headed for home in one of her capsule jets she brought along. She suggested I just carry her home, but for the baby's sake I declined. Fortunately her jet was one of the faster ones and we arrived in a little under an hour. It was mostly a silent flight, except for a few questions about what I supposedly transformed into. We arrived to a generally sad environment since we had lost Borgos in the previous battle, but those who dwelled on it didn't show it. Shugesh and Tora were in the gravity room, sparring to work of the frustration. Fasha and Videl had been waiting by the door, relieved that we were not hurt in that little skirmish at the Protoss base. Piccolo had been in the main lobby as well, waiting on my return. After Fasha and Videl had a bad case of check the child over, he dragged me aside and down the halls, away from everyone else.
"I sensed a disturbance in your energy while you were gone. For a time of about one minute it was sky high and similar to the Kais in feeling before it settled down. Care to explain that?" he asked straight up.
"You'd have to ask Mom, because I don't remember it. I was asleep as far as I know, but I had a very strange dream," I said in truth.
"Fine then, what was your dream about, to the best of your memory."
"Well I was on some sort of blackened battlefield with a temple, and there had been a nasty battle.." I went on explaining my dream the best I could. I managed to recall some of the strangeness in the dark temple regarding the futuristic vision and the black warrior that Goku and Vegeta fought, but that was it. When I was done, Piccolo looked quite intrigued.
"Was it like one of your premonitions?"
"No it was different this time. I didn't have that feel of urgency, well I kinda did, but not like the past few times. More like the unknown path ahead," I said, a bit confused myself.
"Do you remember your transformation then?" he asked.
"No, didn't even know I did it. Right after that dream I woke up in their medical lab," I said.
"Well Bulma said that you appeared to be in a trance, sounds like Gohan was when he was a tiny kid against Raditz, he never remembered anything either. When Vegeta gets back I'd like to see if we can get you to do it again, far from here of course. Judging the level I sensed, or to be more accurate, the raw energy, it would rip apart anything nearby if not controlled. Is that okay with you kid?" he more told then asked.
"Yeah that's cool. But if you don't mind, I'm gonna grab a bite to eat first!" I said, turning around and heading straight for the kitchen. I stretched out my senses, picking up Shugesh, Tora and the two boys in the gravity room area. Goten and Trunks must have just gone in because I quickly lost the signal when the door was shut. Then I picked up very tiny emitions from them, but disregarded it, figuring there might have been a crack in the walls somewhere. I sensed Vegeta flying back our way with Bardock, Goku and Gohan, not really in a rush either. After glancing at the holo display of Zerg movements, which were now way down, I went towards the wonderful smell the kitchen was giving off.
-
"For the last time, I don't remember doing it! Now let me eat!" I said a bit louder to everyone in the room that drilled me for answers. That got Tien and Roshi off my case. Krillin had long ago given up, Fasha and Videl just plain knew better. That didn't stop Yamcha though.
"Sorry kid, its just that we felt a huge power go up and we weren't sure. Kind of hard to believe that you slept through it when you don't even sleep through a field mouse outside," Yamcha said.
"Another question and you may get to see that power first hand," I muttered, slamming down some more fried chicken.
"Now Verto, don't be difficult," Chichi warned from the stove. I could see that hand reaching for her pocket, which meant an instant headache for me, so I shut up. She and Popo were currently working on a large meal, one that the robots would have trouble keeping up with, unless there were about fifty of them cooking at once. Vegeta's presence was announced as soon as I ate my last bite. Well, he didn't shout for Mom or anything, more like everyone's senses perked up just before the door was broken.
"I swear, if I have to fix that door one more damn time...argh!" Mom growled.
"Good thing the robots do such a good job with it," I muttered. They walked in a minute later, seemingly satisfied faces.
"So what's the verdict?" I asked.
"The agreement is that we will aid the Protoss in their campaign here on Earth against the Zerg, and try to keep the humans away from their area onwards towards the Zerg. In return they will restore the dead lands and make them habitable again. They will be landing their troops on the main continent in a line extending coast to coast and will advance east from there. Those landings are already taking place as we speak. Assuming we can kill off the Zerg, or at least get them off the planet, they will leave once the planet is restored. Then they will resume the chase to wherever the Zerg go, as they have done for a long time now. Hopefully everything goes according to plan! Now then, Verto, Gohan, Namek, and Kakarot, come with me, the rest of you stay here and rest up. We will be leading an attack party in about a day and a half once the Protoss are set up and ready to go," Vegeta barked slightly.
"Where are we going?" Goku asked.
Vegeta grumbled slightly, "The lookout."
"Why are we going there Vegeta, I don't think there's any good food up there!" This didn't cause the best of Vegeta reactions, but Piccolo answered for him.
"We're going there to use the time chamber Goku. It's for Gohan and Verto, we won't be gone long," he said, walking down the hall.
"But isn't the area below the lookout taken over?" Mom asked.
"Not for long, as we speak the Protoss are attacking the Zerg around that area. They shouldn't be a problem," Vegeta explained before turning around. He didn't go far before he thought of something else, "Bulma, do you still have those gravity boots you made?"
"Yes why?"
"I might have a use for them, only need two sets," he said as Mom scurried down the halls towards her lab.
"Um Vegeta, can we eat first, I'm really hungry!" Goku almost begged.
"You have until she gets back up here, otherwise you'll have to cook it yourself in the time chamber!" Vegeta shouted. I swear I have never seen a Saiyan eat so fast, and I had seen plenty of Saiyans eat before, including myself. By the time Bulma came back with a capsule, he had eaten about half of what was on the table, and that wasn't a small amount in Saiyan standards. After the dropped jaws clenched back together once the mouth stuffing was done, Mom felt safer about stepping across the room.
"Be careful with these Vegeta, they can probably withstand most of what you may put them through, but that doesn't mean they will. Try not to blast them off," she said with a slight stern notion. As we headed for the door, I saw Fasha leaning against the wall, looking a cross between bored and sad, as if this was the last time she would see me for a while. I glanced back, nodding slightly and lifting into the air.