Disclaimer: don't own DBZ
Warning: language, violence, and a more gruesome part in Turles' dream. Also some Chichi bashing by the 'mystery voice'.
CHAPTER 17: REUNION
Something beeped. "Huh? Er… oh…" Yamcha took out his mobile phone "Hello? Oh… hey, Bulma… What?"
"Ssshhh! Keep it down!" urged Krillin nervously.
"What's the matter?" Tien spoke softly.
"Bulma is coming over here with Chichi and Gohan!"
"Are they crazy…" it was almost a low growl. Everyone looked slightly wide-eyed to Goku. He didn't pay more attention to them, but spoke at the same tone "Tell them to land several miles from here. We can't let the 'aliens' notice them…" His gaze stayed fixed on said alien warriors.
Yamcha gave a slight nod and relayed the message to Bulma's mobile, then he put the small piece of technology carefully away. "Are we going to go then?"
Tien nodded "Let's…" He stood from where they were crouching. The others stood as well, Goku seemed to do so reluctantly, and ran as silently as possible away from the alien creatures. After they were far enough out of sight, they took off into the air, Yamcha ahead, to the place Bulma said she would be on the mobile phone.
A little while later, the Z-senshi landed by a small airplane where two women, one of which was carrying a young child in her arms, and an old man with a wooden cane and a turtle shell on his back were standing.
"Goku! So there you finally are! How dare you just leave your son and me behind and go off on something as dangerous as this?"
"Chichi, I…" 'She's such a nag, that bitch… How can anyone stand her? That harpy makes your ears bleed with that wretched voice of hers.'
N-nande? I… I just didn't think that… I would never…'
'Oh, wouldn't you… Then who is it you're talking to? Perhaps it are your brains that have been on vacation for your entire life. Quite possible, you moron…'
'W-What?…'
"Goku! Are you even listening to me?" She stood right in front of him, using one of her most dangerous and loud tones of voices (Chichi doesn't like to be ignored…).
'There she is again… you know what? I'm going to cut her throat open and rip her vocal chords out… maybe she'll finally shut her fucking mouth for once. I could also just rip her lower jaw off though, that would work too. And after that, maybe we could see how her intestines look like… I know just the way to not let her die, to let her would be too soon and too painless…'
"No!… NO!" But the voice continued describing very visually what 'he' was planning to do with said harpy… Goku looked around frantically, holding his head with his hands "Shut up! Shut up! Just SHUT UP! LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Now even Chichi was quiet. Somehow she knew this wasn't about her… Goku would never answer to her like that! (or wouldn't dare to) … But… who in the world was he talking to? Not really knowing what to do, she turned to Krillin, Yamcha, Tien and Chao-zu, looking as angry as ever "Have you got something to do with this? What the hell's wrong with my Goku?"
"Er… Chichi, calm down… we really didn't do anything to him, honestly!" Krillin gulped.
'I don't get it… That bitch is as weak as hell, and still you and those morons 'quiver before her might'! What kind of idiots are you…'
"SHUT UP!"
Everyone looked to Goku now. "But… Goku… What's wrong with you?" Goku looked down to see Chichi staring up worried at him, Gohan stared up to him with a mix of worry and curiosity from his mother's arms.
'Ah, your little brat… Want to know what I'm going to do with him?…'
"GAH! NOOOO! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Goku's ki blazed around him in a strong aura suddenly.
"Goku! Calm down, please!" Krillin yelled.
Piccolo looked up "Huh?…" He glanced off into the distance.
"Hm? Something's wrong?" Turles looked to Piccolo.
He shook his head in reply "No, it's… nothing."
"Alright." Turles looked back to Raditz "Well? Are you going to tell us what happened or not?"
'Heh… that was that Son Goku's ki… He and those idiots he calls friends probably watched us. Well, I don't care if they did or not.' Piccolo looked down to Raditz, who was still on the ground.
"Erm… I… don't know what happened. One moment I was just… standing over there and that kisama was about to kill Vegeta-Ouji, and the next moment you wake me up. I really don't know."
"How… odd. We saw you suddenly… explode in a huge pillar of fire. And then just… some kind of fire blast sears through that Cold bastard and then you're lying k.o.-ed on the ground and that's all that's left of lizard freak." Turles pointed to the ashes. "You know… this somehow reminds me of the attack of that black creature that saved us from those Ginyu morons, only this time, it was some… ah… fire creature."
'Black creature?…' War's voice echoed in Raditz' head.
'Yeah, it killed those two kisama that were about to kill us…'
'Hm… How does it look like?'
'Pure black for one… You probably guessed that already, and it was sort of shaped like a wolf.'
'A black wolf creature…' He could practically see his demon counter-part smirk 'That's… interesting.'
'Is it?'
'Oh, yes… you'll see. Tonight, without the others noticing, if we're going to keep this a secret.'
'Hai.'
"Raditz?…"
"Huh? Er… yes, what?"
"You… just spaced out."
"Raditz, are you alright?" Vegeta cocked an eyebrow.
Raditz waved his hands dismissively "I'm fine, I'm fine, really…"
"And you still didn't explain how you got this…" Vegeta poked a finger against his chest armour.
"… Same thing? I just woke up with it."
Vegeta sighed "Fine… stick to that excuse then. What matters is that you somehow defeated that kisama, Raditz, so it means we do have a chance against Frieza! Cold was probably even stronger than him!"
"That is probably right… but… Cold was only in his second form, and Frieza might have the chance to power up to his highest form." interrupted Turles.
"… Damn, that's right… still, there is something strange going on, but it's on our side and seems to hate those lizard freaks as much as us. We shouldn't really worry 'bout it then. We aren't going to find it out through worrying like this anyway." Vegeta stood up.
"Hm… true."
Raditz stood up as well, dusting off some grass, charred ashes and small, burned lizard pieces. When he looked into the direction of the forest, he suddenly saw two deep, red eyes watching them. Raditz blinked and looked back, but the strange eyes were gone. '… heh.' He looked back to the others "Say… What time is it?"
"Somewhere late in the afternoon, I think." answered Jeice.
"That late already?" said Turles a bit surprised "Well… how about we get some dinner then?" He grinned.
"I don't mind." replied Vegeta, accompanied by a growl from his stomach.
Another stomach growling "No objection here either." said Raditz.
Over the field where several hours ago such a fierce battle reigned, silence and darkness had finally taken over, the only light came from the crescent moon high in the sky and millions of small shining spheres scattered across the nightsky. Only one figure moved in the peaceful scenery.
Raditz looked back to the house 'No one's following? … Good… So… er… where are we actually going?'
'To where I sense him…'
'Huh?…Who?'
'That black creature you described. Besides, he's waiting for us, just go there where you saw him.'
'I saw him other than the first time?'
'Yes… just a few hours ago. What do you think that was watching from the forest, with the red eyes?'
'Hm…' Raditz looked across the field to the place where the soldiers of Cold had come towards them first. A last glance to the house to be sure, and he started running towards the small forest. He suddenly noticed two figures standing in front of the line of trees, hidden out of sight before because of the dark shadows from the trees themselves.
One was the black creature indeed, who had the illusion about him to be a hole cut out in the shadows in the shape of a standing wolf, the other person was a female creature, but with definitely noticeable sharp claws and hoofs where her hands and feet are supposed to be, and two large draconic wings were folded across her back. They stepped out of the shadows and the moonlight was reflected by her long, silvery hair. The black 'wolf' just seemed to absorb all light that touched it.
"Raditz… It has been a while…"
'That voice… so … awfully familiar, even if it seems to be a bit changed by that… helmet. A helmet?… That's not… his real face?…'
'In a certain way… yes and no.'
'What do you mean by that?'
'You'll see…'
"I doubt you can really recognise me… but I think this will help." The black armour, which it suddenly appeared to be one to Raditz as he hadn't noticed that before (he just assumed that really was the creature's skin up to now), melted away to reveal… a Saiyan clad in a lighter black armour with a long cape and robes over it, there was a cross-shaped scar on his left cheek and a red bandana adorned his forehead.
"N-Nani? Father? You're alive?"
"Hai, son, it's me. Alive and kicking. Literally for those Ginyu goons then."
"Then you're also…"
Bardock nodded " 'like you', yes; I am the Fourth Horseman of Death." His form returned to the demonic wolf.
Raditz smirked "As I am the Second Horseman of War." He concentrated, letting the two parts of his soul, the Saiyan and the Demon, melt together into one. His skin started to shine brightly and a burning layer out of nowhere flowed over it, the liquid fire forming his demon body. His long mane of ebony hair shifted and became raging flames. Even his tail was covered by the fiery substance, a burning flame appearing at the top. The sheath of a broadsword appeared on his belt; the liquid fire streamed over the double axe strapped on his back to become the large, flaming halberd. The lion from several hours ago finally reappeared.
The wolf smirked and nodded in approval. The female demon next to him smirked as well.
Turles turned for what seemed the 100th time that night. 'Strange, actually…normally I don't have much trouble sleeping…Something must be off.' He sat up from the mattress he'd been trying to sleep on and glanced around carefully. Nothing seemed wrong here. He stood up and walked over to the open doorway. "What the… damn."
"Hm?… What, what's going on?" a drowsy voice from a certain Prince called out. A flame of blackness rose up, a pair of ebony eyes blinked sleepily and confused at the older Saiyan.
"I think we got a problem…"
"What?"
"The forest… seems to be on fire…"
"WHAT?"
The other two occupants of the room, namely a now-a-bit-grumpy-for-having-been-awoken-so-suddenly Namek and a confused red-skinned and white-haired fighter, looked up to the two Saiyans standing in the doorway, who were staring at something outside.
Jeice yawned and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes with one hand "What's the matter…"
"There's something on fire there… it might be the forest."
Vegeta sighed "Great… then we better get out of here then, we can just find some other place to stay for now, don't you thi-……… Raditz?… Raditz?" He looked around, blinking confused, and yelled "…Raditz is gone! … Even his axe isn't here anymore!"
"Nani?" Turles turned "What the fuck?… Where has he gone off to?"
"How should I know, I just noticed! … We better go look for him." Vegeta put his clothes and armour back on, which didn't take that much time, seeing as he had worn his bodysuit while sleeping. Turles dressed as well and left with his Prince.
Jeice looked to Piccolo "Erm… I suppose we'd better follow them."
Piccolo stared a bit after the Saiyans, gave a short nod and stood up from where he had been leaning against the wall in his favoured Indian-style position. Jeice grabbed his armour and went after the Saiyans, Piccolo followed behind.
But they all stopped dead in their tracks when they saw the three ominous-looking creatures standing at the edge of the forest.
"… So the forest isn't on fire," said Turles in a quiet voice, unwilling to announce their presence to the demonic beings, "It's that… fire creature… a lion or something?"
"Wait… it's that creature that destroyed Cold! I… I think I saw it, very, very shortly, but I saw it." said Vegeta back.
"Now you say that… Yeah, I think I saw it too; it just seemed a fire blast, it went so fast…"
"The strange thing is…" muttered Vegeta, looking closely to the fiery creature "It appeared right where Raditz was… and disappeared where Raditz lay unconscious… and now, Raditz is gone."
"Are you implying Raditz would be that fire demon?" Turles blinked looking to Vegeta.
"Hm… I think it's just like that black creature over there…" the stoic voice of Piccolo interrupted.
"The black creature?" Jeice looked beyond the fiery presence "Oh… so that's the thing that killed … the rest of the Ginyu force?"
"Yes… the 'red creature' does seem to know it… Raditz doesn't know it, I believe. And seeing how great the speed of the both of them was, I suppose that creature saved us this time, like the black creature has saved you before."
"Hm… Yeah, that's possible, but where is Raditz then?" said Vegeta, sounding a tad annoyed now.
"Ah well, maybe little brother got hungry and went to get something to eat. We better go back before they notice us, They do seem to be on our side, and I prefer it stays that way… they might be angry if they see us spying on them."
Vegeta, Jeice and Piccolo nodded in agreement and the four of them went back as quietly as possible to the small house.
Turles was leaning with his back against the wall near the doorway, fully awake, in the shadows of the now dark and silent again house. The others slept already or perhaps they pretended to.
'Where's Raditz staying… It couldn't have taken so long to catch some animal and eat.'
He glanced outside. The "fire" was gone. 'Are those creatures gone?…'
Turles sighed and leaned back again. 'Such strange things happened lately…I'm dying to know what exactly is going on… But Vegeta-Ouji might be right. Those 'creatures' might turn against us if we know too much or bother them too much. And after seeing what they did to the Ginyu-Force, minus Jeice then, and King Cold, I'd not like to be on the receiving end of their wrath.'
'But what's going on with Raditz? … May I at least know what's going on with my brother?' He sat upright and looked outside again. 'That strange armour that he was wearing all of a sudden… Could it have something to do with the 'creatures' and whatever else is going on? Probably… would be too much of a coincidence, whatever happened. But… wait a fucking minute…' His eyes widened as he suddenly remembered something.
#First I actually doubted it was me, the person wore a dark red armour with spikes and a skull imbedded in the breastplate, a halberd strapped on his back and a sheathed sword on his belt. For the rest, he looked exactly like me.#
'Fuck! The dream Raditz had!… It's the armour from his dream!… What the hell does that mean……but… when he woke up first, he seemed to be someone or something else. Same as in the dream. And that reminds me…'
Twilight fell over a serene scenery, apparently somewhere at the countryside, as there were large fields with mixed golden and green crops, blowing in the wind. A rather large, peaceful village was visible in the middle of the gold-green sea, like an island. Some children were playing on the narrow paths between the fields near the town, and adults were doing the last bits of work for the day. No one seemed to notice the mist that suddenly crawled over the land. Or didn't seem to find it all that unusual.
The childish, playful laughter suddenly ceased. A single cry emerged from the former kids' playground. The adults immediately dropped their work and hurried to their children. One child, a little girl was crying, sitting on her knees in the dirt, the others however seemed to be in some sort of hysterical state, staring further up the path to something that wasn't visible anymore due to the suddenly thickened mist.
One of the adults looked around frantically "My daughter… where is she?" He crouched down by the crying girl, taking her shoulders in his hands in a way of comforting. He whispered her name, trying to get her attention, till she finally seemed to see him. Her eyes were red from tears, and her expression was extremely frightful. He was slightly taken aback, before asking his question again "Do you know where my daughter is?"
She swallowed, gave a few hesitant nods and pointed a trembling hand to the point where the other children where staring at, up the path. "S-She… a… no… He… and she…"
"Wait, calm down… tell me what happened."
She made another few sobs "A… man appeared, we didn't see him well… he… called her, she … went to him, and he… he touched her, here…" She touched her own forehead for emphasis "And … then the mist… it got really thick!… but… before we couldn't see anything, I saw her fall down, and she… she…" The girl sobbed hysterically in her hands, crying out.
The father of the disappeared child hesitated, before releasing the poor girl and standing up, looking in the direction his own poor girl was supposed to be. The children's own parents now came to their offspring, comforting them, as well as trying to find out what was wrong. The other adults followed a few steps behind the man as he made his way to the indicated place, clutching his sickle tight in his hand, with which he had just been working earlier in the field.
He gasped as he saw his dear daughter lying on the ground, her back was turned to them and her face wasn't visible, only her curly, angelic hair. He spoke her name, softly at first, but his voice got louder when there was no reaction, while he cautiously walked over to the child.
He laid his hand on her shoulder, about to turn her around to face him "Hey…" He spoke her name again, but as he turned the child to lie on her back, he screamed and fell back in shock. The sickle fell down and got stuck in the mud. The other adults recoiled in shock as well.
The child was more than obviously dead, as her skin and flesh, even on her face, was already showing horrible decay, maggots crawling out of one rip in the sickly pale skin to crawl into another. The skin that was visible showed black spots on several places.
One of the other adults screamed out as well "IT'S THE PLAGUE! THE BLACK PLAGUE!" he ran for his life.
The other adults screamed in terror and ran. The father lying on the ground looked wide-eyed at the corpse of his beloved child, staring at that face that had been so cute and full of life and joy, now it only represented death and decay in all it's glory. He breathed heavily; shakily he managed to get up onto his feet, and turned to follow the others in their run, but a small, and surprisingly strong hand grabbed his ankle, making him trip and fall down in the dirt again. He looked back to the same face he had been staring at, which was now contorted in a twisted smirk, maggots falling out from the torn open cheeks. He couldn't scream, his breath seemed to be stuck in his throat.
"Are you going to leave your poor little daughter alone like that?" A taunting, deep voice called out from within the mist. Feverish-looking eyes glanced up over the corpse as a figure became distinguishable from the mist, which seemed to just have become even more thick, he only saw for about a few meters around him.
It was a tall man, definitely the one the crying girl had meant. His ebony black hair spiked out in every direction, his body was youthful and muscular, his skin tanned, and he wore dark green robes under which a part of an armour, in the same colour, was visible. At his belt was, surprisingly, a pair of scales attached, not exactly something you'd expect with someone who looked so obviously much like a warrior. In one hand he held a sword, the bits of still present light reflecting on the silvery, slender blade. In the other, he held a torch, but it was no normal fire that burned from it, for it burned with a bright, sickly green.
"W-Who… What… are…… What the hell do you want from us?"
"Oh, simply… I want you to die."
The man's eyes opened even wider. The warrior chuckled darkly and he held the torch to the nearby crops. The green fire licked at the golden grain, before it hungrily caught onto it and spread out amazingly fast over the entire field, and even spreading out further over other fields.
But the crops didn't burn to ashes, they simply started to rot when it came in touch with the fire, and it was clearly that anyone who'd dare to eat from the grain where the fire had passed, would become deadly sick. The contaminated crops fell also into the river that fed them and the village, and the same sick green conquered their water.
The spiked-haired creature laughed cruelly while watching from their advantage point on the top of a hill, the mist seemed to have taken off... could the creature summon it at will?
"Soon, your meaningless, pathetic excuse for a village and almost everyone in it will be wiped away… the survivors will know illness, famine and drought. Unless they dare to drink from the poisoned water, eat from the rotten crops, so they can die the same way they saw their parents, friends, siblings or children die."
"YOU MONSTER! HOW CAN YOU DO THIS TO US?"
"The way I just did…" the 'monster' smirked amused. "Besides… you won't live to see that." The cruel, deep black eyes looked to the man lying at his feet, his smirk became even more evil and wicked.
The man glanced down to his arms, his eyes widened in utter horror as black spots had appeared on his skin. He screamed, the monster laughed.
Turles shook his head. Even the memory of that dream was so vivid. But what did it mean…
