The Last Warrior

Chapter 9: Voices from the Past

By: Daniel Graffio (Neoguy23)

April 12, 2005

The next few weeks seemed to Slade as though they were a personal hell, and he was beginning to wonder if maybe Kane had killed him after all. The rumors of him were only becoming more and more outlandish. He hadn't been back into town since the incident at the hospital, but Doc had come back to check on his progress.

"It's gotten a bit worse down there." said Doc when Slade had asked if the posters will still up. "I'm afraid when people are bombarded with a lie long enough; they tend to believe it's true."

He saw the downcast look on Slade's face and quickly added,

"But don't worry Slade; you still have people who know you're a good man. Just look around." Doc swept his had around the room, it was empty but Slade still got the meaning. Slade had been worried that the people he had allied himself with would start to believe these things about him, but so far those worries had been unfounded.

About a month after the fight with Kane, Slade's injuries were healed for the most part. He still wore a cast on his arm, but it no longer hurt when he moved too fast. He got up one morning and took his position at the window, staring down at the hidden lake behind the base. He sighed and left his room. Walking down the hall, he came across Eve, who seemed to be on her way to see him.

"Oh, Slade." she said, smiling up at him. "How are you feeling?"

"Better." he said, giving her the best smile he could. After about a second or two of smiling at each other, Eve asked,

"Where are you headed?"

"I'm going out by the lake." he said, then looked right into her eyes and said, "I need to be alone for awhile. Could you make sure no one disturbs me?"

Eve smiled at him again, looking very pretty when she did Slade thought.

"No problem, I'll make sure you get your privacy." she said, flexing her muscles jokingly. They both laughed, and then Eve found herself drawn into a hug by Slade.

"Thanks so much Eve." he said as he held her tight, "I've never really had friends before, and you and all yours took me in so readily, and have stuck by me through this. I'm really grateful."

Eve could feel how red her face must be at this time, and felt glad that Slade couldn't see it right now. Slade suddenly realized what he was doing and let go of her quickly, his own face a bit red.

"Uh...sorry, I didn't mean to..." he stammered, but they just smiled at each other again and laughed. She then patted his shoulder and said she would make sure no one disturbed him out at the lake.

"And Slade," she called to him as he walked towards the door to the outside, "I hope you come back with whatever you're looking for." Slade smiled one more time at her, and went outside. The afternoon was gray, the weather wasn't quite chilly, but it was definitely not cold. Slade went to the surface of the water and looked out at the expanse of the area. The green trees and sparkling water didn't really provide him with any comfort. He practiced his moves for awhile, going through the various punch and kick combinations he'd learned since childhood. After he got tired of this, he shot a few small blasts into the lake, nothing that did more than ripple the surface of the water, as though he had merely thrown a stone into its crystalline surface. At last, he sat down, and closed his eyes in meditation. He never really enjoyed meditating much; it had been more Aaron's style. The thoughts of his brother only served to fuel his growing anger and frustration.

"Who am I?" he asked to the silence of his mind, "What am I supposed to do?"

He hadn't expected an answer, but one came. It came in the form of a harsh voice snapping at him,

"What do you mean, 'What am I supposed to do?' You should know that by now!"

"What?" Slade said, hoping this didn't sound as foolish to the voice as it did to him. Another voice spoke to him then, this one sounding much gentler.

"Slade, you know what's right deep down inside. You have to feel it out and do it."

"Who are you? What's going on?" Slade asked to the darkness, then he realized he couldn't open his eyes; all he could see was swimming darkness in front of him. Then, two people appeared out of the blackness, and Slade knew the voices belonged to them. One of them was shorter than the other one, with hair that stood up straight on his head. He seemed to scowl at Slade as he looked him over. He wore armor that was all too familiar to Slade. The young fighter turned his gaze away from this one to the taller man on his right. This one had hair that stuck out on all sides and wore an orange fighting gi. This one smiled at Slade, and had on overall more welcoming demeanor then his companion.

"Who are you?" Slade asked again, his eyes wide at the sight of these two strange but somehow familiar people.

"I am Vegeta." said the smaller one, his voice as gruff as his demeanor.

"And my name's Goku, hi there!" said the taller one, who like the other one, had a voice that seemed to match his look.

"Goku, Vegeta." Slade repeated, pointing at each of them as he said it.

"That's right, we're your ancestors Slade." said Goku.

"Ancestors?" Slade repeated, "Does that mean you're...Saiyans?"

"That's correct boy," said Vegeta, smiling a half-smile that even though Slade didn't recognize it, his friends would have. "We were the last of the pure-blooded Saiyans in the universe. Your father was a descendent of my bloodline."

"And your mother was my descendent." Goku said, then added, "You're parents knew each other since they were kids, the eventually fell in love, got married, and had you and your Brother."

"So, I am a Saiyan." Slade said, looking a bit downcast.

"And what's wrong with it boy?" Vegeta said loudly.

Slade opened his mouth to answer, but then heard another voice to the right behind him.

"Wow, this looks great, you've been taking good care of it I see." Slade turned around and saw a man with purple hair holding his sword. Slade felt behind him and felt the empty sheath of his sword, he hadn't even been fully aware that he had put it on in the morning. He looked back at the purple-haired man.

"Your sword?" he asked.

"That's right. Hi, my name's Trunks." He said with a smile and he extended his hand. Slade shook it, amazed he could feel it in this dream world. He turned back around to Goku and Vegeta, and saw now that there were more people with these two. One of them, Slade thought, looked like the image he saw whenever he looked in a mirror.

"Hi there, I'm Gohan." said his mirror image.

"Hi, are all of you Saiyans too?" asked Slade.

"Sure are." Said another young man to Goku's right. "I'm Goten." One by one, more and more generations of Saiyans introduced themselves. Slade couldn't believe how many of them there were, or had been.

"All these people are like you Slade," said Goku, "Part Saiyan, and part human."

"Like me?" Slade said, more to himself than anyone.

"They're you kin, just like we are." said Vegeta, smiling the half-smile he shared with the young man in front of him.

"I...I had heard the Saiyans were monsters." said Slade. He then heard the crowd of his gathered kin laughing at this statement. Vegeta then spoke up again.

"Monsters? Perhaps Slade, perhaps. I can't say my life was one of good deeds and heroism. But we Saiyans could change our ways, the same way the humans did. We may have loved to fight, but not all of us were cold-blooded killers, not like Freeza."

"Freeza?" Slade remembered the name, and then a realization dawned on him. "You were the one who told Kane about Freeza's fate, you did it through me."

Vegeta nodded. He and Goku then explained about Freeza and the fight on Namek. They told of when Freeza had been dying at Goku's feet, Goku gave some of his own energy to help him, and that Freeza attacked him from behind, only to be blown away. Trunks then added how Freeza had survived, only to be killed by him and the sword he held, which he then gave back to Slade. Slade looked at the sword that had belonged to his brother.

"I didn't know this thing was so old." he said, smiling slightly.

"Old maybe, but it hasn't lost its edge. You know, that armor you're wearing once belonged to me." said Vegeta proudly.

Slade ran his hands over his breastplate, almost in awe. Then he looked up at them with troubled eyes.

"Am I a monster though?" he asked.

"That's entirely for you to decide, isn't it Slade?" said Goku.

"Yeah, you should have seen my dad here fight, his enemies used to say he fought like a monster." said Goten, putting his father in a faux headlock. Everyone laughed, while Goku just looked embarrassed. Slade laughed a bit, but still looked troubled.

"But, can I trust myself?" he asked with a tortured look on his face.

"Well boy, if you won't take our word for it, maybe you can trust them a bit more." Said Vegeta, and he pointed behind Slade, who turned around quickly. The young and seemingly hardened fighter felt the bottom drop out of his stomach and felt his knees go weak. Standing before him, smiling wider than any there, was his long dead family.

"Mom? Dad? Aaron?" Slade said, not believing what he was seeing.

"Yes Slade, we're here." said his mom, here eyes, which now reminded Slade a lot of Goku's, were wet with tears that hadn't quite fallen yet.

"We've always been with you in spirit my boy." Said Slade's dad, who he now noticed had hair much like Vegeta's.

"You have a task ahead of you bro." said Aaron, clapping his younger brother on the shoulder. "I know you can do it."

This show of camaraderie between them was so familiar to Slade; he thought he might start crying before long, though he didn't. He turned his face away from his brother's.

"I don't think I can do it alone." he said.

"You have friends who will help you." said his mother.

"Kane's just too strong for me." Slade said.

"He might be right now." Aaron said, with a sly smile that Slade thought looked exactly like Vegeta's, "But there is no way he can ever be as strong as you can be bro."

"Really?" said Slade.

"Of course," Vegeta broke in, "He may be powerful, but you are of the Saiyan race, the most powerful in the universe."

"You can always count on us to help you, should you ever need it son." said Slade's dad.

"And even then, you've got some good friends, who care about you a lot." Said Aaron, smiling a little slyer still, "One of them in particular." Slade was about to ask who, though he didn't really need too. He knew, because he had felt it too, felt it, and reciprocated it.

"I think it's time for you to return Slade." Vegeta said.

"Yeah, I know." said Slade, he turned again to his family, "It was nice to see you all again. I miss you all so much."

"We miss you too son," Said his dad, "But we're not anxious to see you on this side with us."

Slade smiled and looked around at them all.

"Good-bye everyone, and thank you. I may still not know everything about what I am, but I feel I know now who I am." He then faded back to the physical world. They watched him go, and then one by one they faded back to there own world, until only Vegeta and Goku were left.

"Once again Kakarot, you let me do all the talking." Vegeta said, looking over at Goku.

"Well, you seemed to like it a lot when we were alive, I assumed you'd want to do it just as much as a spirit." said Goku.

Vegeta grunted in annoyance at this, then added,

"Why didn't you tell him about his true power?"

Goku stared at the spot where Slade had disappeared.

"Because that's something he needs to discover on his own." he replied.