Dragon Ball Z: Dynasty
By Feraligreater328
A/N: Bit of a short one this time around, but that's just because this is a "set-up" chapter. A lot of the rest of this arc is being established right here, so enjoy reading that everyone! Next chapter is going to be super dark, so I hope you all look forward to that~
Chapter 68: Monsters
Within Site Omega...
Piccolo grimaced as he walked around and took in the sights within Site Omega. What was meant to be a simple game of search and destroy had rapidly evolved into something far more complicated. Piccolo stopped short, in front of a busted tube surrounded by a puddle of liquid, and found his target's final resting place.
On the ground, Dr. Gero's head was left lying in the fluid. Separated from the rest of his destroyed body, the doctor's mouth was slightly agape and his eyes were rolled back. The cavity in his head, formerly containing his brain, was empty. The glass dome that once sealed it was half-broken off. A truly pathetic end for truly wretched man. Piccolo scowled. "I guess loyalty is in short supply amongst your creations..."
Piccolo glanced at the busted tube. "But what the hell have you unleashed now, you miserable geezer?"
Earlier, in Jingle Village...
Suno was huddled down in the snow, hugging her legs close to her chest. Her eyes were dim with sadness and survivor's guilt as the quiet set in on the now-empty Jingle Village. Yamcha was somehow in even worse shape than the traumatized Suno. Tien and Chiaotzu had taken care of dressing the wound, removing the shriveled husk of a foot and leg that remained and tying the pant leg into a proper tourniquet. His other wound they decided could wait until they got him back to Kame House.
Yamcha chuckled. "S-Sorry guys. Looks like Yamcha the Screw-Up screwed up again..."
Tien shook his head as he encouraged Suno to climb onto his back. "Dude. Shut up."
Android 8's head glanced over at Yamcha, speaking in a garbled, distorted voice. "P-Please do not be hard on yourself..."
He smiled. "You saved Suno and I from...whatever evil that was that attacked us..."
Chiaotzu picked up Eighter's head and carefully cradled it. "Don't worry, robot guy. We know someone who should be able to put you back together."
Android 8 chuckled. "I am grateful. Are you sure you will be to carry all of my parts, little friend...?"
Chiaotzu twitched his index finger and all of Android 8's pieces floated into the air. "I think I can manage."
Android 8 looked downcast. "F-Forgive me for not being able to remember more...my neural circuits..."
Piccolo waved him off. "It's fine. Bulma should be able to fix you. Then you might remember something more."
He turned to Tien. "And you're taking Yamcha to the old man's place, right?"
Tien nodded. "Him and this girl, yes."
Piccolo turned away. "Good."
Chiaotzu called after the Namekian. "What are you going to do Piccolo?"
Piccolo called back to him. "What else? I have another monster to hunt."
Outside of Site Omega...
Piccolo snarled as he flew out of Dr. Gero's Site Omega. As he hovered in the air above the ruins of Muscle Tower, a frigid wind blew. The Namekian had a sunken look on his face. "When it rains, it pours..."
He gripped his fists. "But I am getting sick of all of these Androids."
On a remote island in the middle of the sea...
Baby Gamera landed with a tired growl, retreating into his shell as Master Roshi shakily got off. Bardock, who had been following close behind, landed with a bemused look on his face as Roshi vomited into the nearby bushes. "You know...I could have carried you..."
Roshi stood up, wiping his mouth. "Nah... it's fine. I needed Baby Gamera to bring me here so I could have a ride back anyway. You're going to be here for a little while."
Bardock rolled his eyes. "Sure. Just like it was going to 'take me a while' to learn that other, basic-ass attack."
He looked around. "Where the hell is here anyway?"
Roshi chuckled. "So much like Goku...and yet the two of you couldn't be more different..."
The old man walked over to a massive rocked structure sticking out of the ground. "You learn things in a flash, but you have such a hard-boiled personality..."
Bardock grumbled. "Is this going to teach me what I came to learn or not?"
Roshi turned and shook his staff at Bardock. "You need to learn to control that temper! It will never lead you to anything good in life!"
The hermit sighed. "But, yes. The technique you wanted to learn was invented here, long ago, by an even greater martial artist than myself... but I warn you, Bardock, you must learn to control the restlessness in your soul, or learning this technique might destroy you..."
Bardock sneered. "Asking a lot, ain't ya?"
Roshi wreathed his hand in ki and pressed it against the rock. The stone structure crumbled into dust and revealed a tunnel leading deep down into the ground. Bardock peered in. "Long way down, eh?"
Roshi nodded. "Yes. This is but one of many paths that lead to the same location. A place near the center of the Earth, where great martial artists would banish the most hellish of demons in the past centuries. This tunnel leads to the Divine Crossing."
Bardock stared into the inky blackness. He moved his hand into the tunnel and the crystals on the wall around it lit up. Bardock flinched. Roshi nodded. "Those crystals light up in the presence of radiant ki. The stronger your spirit, the less deadly your journey."
He tapped his staff against the ground. "But the journey is only the beginning. Your spirit must resonate with the energy within the cave and to do that you must be at peace. As I said, for you...this might take a while..."
Bardock snorted. "Hmph. Tell ya what, old man. I'll see you in a day..."
And then, without another word, Bardock marched into the tunnel. Eventually, he disappeared from sight altogether. Roshi sighed and, using his ki, reformed the rock that sealed the tunnel entrance. The hermit sat down and lit his pipe. "I certainly hope so, Bardock...my intuition tells me we haven't even seen the worst of this storm yet..."
On the highway in the Northeastern Mountains...
The engine of the Androids' stolen van roared like a mighty beast as they sped down a stretch of highway in the northeastern mountains. Android 17 casually whistled along to the song playing on the radio as he twisted the steering wheel back and forth. Android 18 chuckled in the passenger seat, laying back and half-asleep. The two youthful Androids seemed to be having a nice time as their ride was being chased by a small army of police cars.
In the back, Android 16 sat in a silent, meditative state. The big guy had been doing his best of zone out and not pay any mind to the rampant destruction his peers were delighting in causing.
Android 18 stretched. "Was in really necessary to ram the van through that police blockade? They were only trying to direct police around that hole in the middle of the road."
Android 17 shrugged. "About as necessary as you napping over there."
He smirked. "And besides, I wanted to see if I could jump the van over that hole. Which I did and neither of you applauded me for!"
18 rolled her eyes. "You're such a child."
17 rolled down the window, reaching out and grabbing his sideview mirror to adjust it. "I wonder how many-"
A bullet whizzed through the air and crashed into the mirror, breaking it off of the side of the van. 17 frowned. "They're shooting at us. Why would they shoot at us?"
18 sat up. "We've been leading them on a high-speed chase for 30 minutes now."
17 chuckled. "Still, that's so rude..."
But then, a mischievous smirk spread across 17's face. "But I mean...if they're gonna start shooting..."
17 held up his hand and formed a Power Blitz. 18 glanced over at him. "Isn't that a bit excessive?"
Her counterpart chuckled. "Hey, it probably won't kill 'em. And it'll create one hell of a big boom!"
18 shrugged. "Whatever."
17 went to throw his attack. But, before he could, Android 16's eyes opened. "Please stop. I will handle this."
The raven-haired Android scowled. "Excuse me?! You wanna butt in now?!"
18 gave him a shove. "Give it a rest, 17! You've been having all of the fun causing chaos for such a long time now! Let 16 have his turn!"
Wordlessly, 16 turned and moved towards the back doors of the van. He flung the doors open and faced down the forty police cars in hot pursuit of their vehicle. 16 sighed and stuck his foot out, lifting his knee to his face. And then, with very little effort, he stomped that foot into the sheer rock wall next to the highway. The force of 16's kick made the entire rock structure crack and caused a massive avalanche, instantly separating the Androids from their pursuers.
On the other side, the police crashed their cars into the sudden blockade, wrecking their vehicles but sparing their lives from being blasted away.
16 pulled himself back into the van to the sound of Android 18's amused chuckling. "Well damn. Bet they weren't expecting that. Nice one, 16~"
Android 16 leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest, closing his eyes. 18 smirked. "And he doesn't even brag about it. So cool. Right, 17~?"
Android 17 chuckled. "Yeah..."
But, with a harsh grip he destroyed his Power Blitz. "Cool."
In the far northern skies...
Piccolo grimaced as he came upon yet another forest village beset by the same tragedy. Flying southwest and following a trail of carnage the entire way, it should not have surprised the Namekian to see yet another village with all the lights on, but only empty clothes populating it. But, it still made Piccolo feel sick to his stomach. "What the hell could possibly be doing this...?"
He stared down at a set of child-sized pajamas, a lone stuffed animal next to them. "Why...?"
A lone dog collar set empty in the snow. "So many innocents just gone..."
And yet, other than a single, three-toed footprint, not a single track to or from the village could be seen. "And why is it being so subversive?! Why mass-murder like this in such a stealthy way?! And what is it doing with the bodies?!"
Piccolo stopped and gripped his fists in a rage, a harsh wind blowing his cape to the side. "This is a nightmare. That damned Dr. Gero..."
As the Namekian prepared to continue his journey, following a trail of sad non-corpses, he was suddenly contacted by a familiar voice speaking in his mind. "Piccolo..."
Piccolo paused, but then he growled. "What?! What could you possibly want at a time like this Kami?!"
Kami spoke deliberately. "We...need to speak, face-to-face."
Piccolo shook his head. "Piss off! I'm busy!"
Kami spoke again, more firmly. "We need to speak face-to-face, in regards to the very monster you are currently chasing."
Piccolo stopped. "What do you know about this thing...?"
Kami sighed. "I am the Guardian of Earth, Piccolo. I see all and know all."
Piccolo snapped at him. "Don't be sanctimonious."
Kami grumbled. "I need you to come to me at once, Piccolo. As fast as you can."
Piccolo really did not want to have to see Kami. He still held a deep-seated resentment of the old Namekian. But, any lead on this horrifying thing was too valuable to pass up. Piccolo sneered. "I'll be there in a few minutes. But this had better be good, Kami..."
At Capsule Corporation...
Bulma walked into her laboratory with a ton of new things to use and abuse as she saw fit. With 19 and 20's parts under one arm, the various stolen blueprints and lab specimens under the other, and her laptop gripped tightly in her teeth, Bulma looked as happy as a kid in a candy store. Behind her, Yajirobe marched in with a happily cooing Baby Trunks.
Bulma chuckled as she looked around for free space. "Ah fink 'e lahks oo~"
Yajirobe rolled his eyes. "Nah, couldn't be. Kids just goofy as hell. Probably takes after his parents."
Bulma shoved random crap off of a desk and began to set things down carefully. "Ahm 'unna tehl Veheah oo sehd aht~"
Yajirobe flinched in fear. "P-Please don't..."
Bulma took the laptop out of her mouth and glanced across the room at her father. "Hey Dad! Any breakthroughs on that other stuff?"
Dr. Briefs looked up from his own desk, a piece of Android 14's skeleton in his hands. "No breakthroughs, per se, but I have to say...just by these remains alone, Gero is a real, next-level genius. I almost regret not signing him onto Capsule Corp full time. Should've outbid Red Ribbon way back when..."
Bulma shrugged. "I say bullet dodged. The guy was kind of an irredeemable prick from what I saw of him. Besides, I stole all of his stuff from his lab, so we have his best work right here to look over and improve on~"
Dr. Briefs walked over. "Oh really?"
Bulma nodded with a smirk. "Mhm~"
The scientist laid out the three tightly bound blueprints with a satisfied smirk. "Boom! Boom! And boom! The blueprints for Android 16, Android 17, and Android 18, the three most dangerous creations that Dr. Gero produced~"
Dr. Briefs stroked his chin. "Me-oh-my...certain a lot to look at here."
Bulma nodded. "Yep. But, it shouldn't take us too long to, say, produce a controller that would be able to render these three offline, would it?"
Dr. Briefs shook his head. "No. Not at all."
Bulma chuckled. "Well then, let's-"
Yajirobe shouted. "'Scuse me!"
Bulma turned and glared at him. "What?!"
Yajirobe sneered, Baby Trunks waving his arms around in the ronin's face. "You promised me a luxury car! Where's it at, Bulma?!"
Bulma sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'll get you your car. You can have my old Cap-Sport. Not enough room for Trunks' baby seat in it anyway..."
Yajirobe sneered. "You promised me a luxury car!"
Bulma walked across the room to her desk. "My father owns Capsule Corp! Do you think I'd drive a piece of junk?! Overgrown, greedy man-baby..."
As Bulma dug through her drawer to find Yajirobe's reward, her cell phone began to ring. She raggedly sighed. "It just never, friggin' ends..."
She looked on the phone and saw an unregistered number. She answered, very annoyed. "Okay. I dunno who you are, or how you got my private number, but I-"
The guy on the other end cut her off. "Whoa lady! Calm down! I'm not some phone stalker or anything like that, I just found a vehicle with this number on it and was calling to check if it was abandoned before I scrapped it!"
Bulma was skeptical. "You found a vehicle with my personal cell phone number on it?"
He spoke back. "It was on a card in a backpack in the storage compartment. I could send you a picture, I just wanted to be a good citizen and report it back to the rightful owner...and, seeing as that owner is Capsule Corp, maybe rake in a fat reward too..."
Bulma rolled her eyes. "Yeah, reward, sure. Send me a pic first."
Bulma's phone buzzed against the side of her head and she looked down at the picture that showed up on the screen. And what she saw was certainly a surprise. Bulma cocked her head in confusion as she scanned over the picture. "What...the hell...?"
On the air shuttle carrying the sick Goku...
Chi-Chi and Launch both sat around the Future Trio, their attention fully captured by the three of them, Future Trunks and Future Daikon and Future Ranch. Chi-Chi smiled at the three of them. "You're all so polite and well-behaved. It's nice to see that the apocalypse didn't kill proper child-rearing techniques~"
Future Trunks looked to Future Daikon and Future Ranch, both of them glowing bright red, and then spoke for all three of them. "Well, I guess it's just a lot to do with how you all raised us. My mother, Miss Launch, and you, Miss Chi-Chi."
Chi-Chi blushed, taking her hands off of her distended stomach, and holding her cheeks. "Oh~ You're gonna make me blush~"
Launch sighed, cradling the sleeping Baby Ranch. "It must have been so hard...I hope we were good parents to you..."
Future Ranch silently gripped her boyfriend's hand. Future Trunks sighed. "It was...harder than anyone could possibly imagine..."
A dreadful silence filled the ship. But then, a voice bluntly spoke up. "Then tell us."
All three members of the Future Trio flinched, staring across the room as Gine stared back at them. The Saiyan woman's eyes were large and full of fire. None of the three, confused teenagers seemed to know how to respond to this new challenge. Krillin, however, spoke up. "H-Hey Gine...don't you think that might be asking a bit much...?"
Gohan swallowed a lump in his throat. "Y-Yeah Grandma...I mean, they've already had to live through all of this once..."
Gine was undeterred. "Look. I'm not trying to force you all to live through bad memories all over again. But you have to look at this from my point of view: you guys told us two Androids, now we're up to six."
The three of them flinched at that statistic. Gine sighed. "And I'm not blaming any of you for that. But...perhaps if you told us the full story, we might be able to better anticipate any other unnecessary surprises going forward..."
Gine turned her head slightly. "You agree, right Raditz?"
Raditz looked uncomfortable. He clasped his hands in front and frowned. "I..."
He glanced over at Future Ranch and Future Daikon, seeing pain in their eyes. He sighed. "I would never force my kids into anything they didn't feel comfortable with...but the full story would certainly be helpful..."
The Future Trio stayed silent. Future Trunks' icy-blue eyes hit the floor. Future Ranch's dark-blue eyes landed on Future Trunks. And Future Daikon simply shut his deep, black eyes as if he were in pain. Gine spoke again, more gently. "Listen, you three..."
She lowered her head. "Believe you me, if there is anybody who knows how much dread comes with dredging up their past...you're looking at her..."
The three of them glanced at Gine. She continued. "For the longest time, thinking about my formative years made me physically ill. And, even after everything with Garlic Junior, there are still subjects that I don't dare mention outside of my closest confidants...namely Bardock and Chi-Chi..."
Chi-Chi glanced away, silently mumbling to herself. "...Turles, huh..."
Gine sighed. "But, perhaps sharing your story with us, in addition to giving us information we might be able to use...maybe getting that off of your chests would help you to feel a bit better...or at least make you more comfortable around us..."
Future Daikon sighed. "It's...it's a dark, bloody story..."
Gine responded. "Grandson, I was a soldier in King Vegeta's army. I've seen oceans of blood..."
Raditz sighed. "Same."
The Saiyan woman pressed her hand to her heart, offering a gentle smile. "You three are among friends. Family. We care about you and we're here to support you. So, please...tell us what happened..."
Future Trunks, Future Ranch, and Future Daikon all glanced at one another. Future Daikon lurched over, burying his head in his knees. Future Trunks looked to his girlfriend and she nodded. "I guess I can start. You take care of D-Daikon, lovee."
Future Trunks nodded and placed a caring hand on his partner's back. Future Ranch took a deep breath. Around her, everyone's attention was fully wrapped up. And then, Future Ranch spoke. "It all started a few months after the group vacation to Miss Bulma's island resort...it was a few months after Uncle Goku died to the Heart Virus..."
She gripped her hands together tight. "We still, to this day, don't know how it happened..."
Future Ranch sadly glanced up at Gohan. "But, from what I've been told, it all started the day when Piccolo suddenly died."
Months after Goku's death, in the Past of the Future...
Bulma, Krillin, and Gohan hiked across the sandy plains of the Diablo Desert in search of an old past-time: hunting the Dragon Balls! The specific purpose of this hunt was nothing in particular. There were no wishes that needed to be made. This hunt was more to benefit a certain member of this travel party.
Gohan followed behind, bringing up the rear of the group with a sullen look on his face. Ever since the heart virus had taken Goku away, for the final time, the boy had been near inconsolable. And Bulma and Krillin, Goku's two best friends, knew that they couldn't just leave the poor boy to suffer like that.
Bulma adjusted her bright, yellow vest and the baby carrier attached, briefly stirring Baby Trunks from his nap. In her hand, the Dragon Radar beeped and showed that all seven balls were still gathered in the same spot. Krillin called up to her. "Hey Bulma, what do you think is going on?! Who could be gathering the Dragon Balls?"
Bulma shrugged. "Well, it's certainly not any of our people. I have our only way to find the Dragon Balls and I doubt that Kami is using them for anything..."
She scratched her chin. "If I had to guess though, based on the area they're gathered in..."
Suddenly, the sky turned black. A telltale sign of Dragon Ball usage. Krillin flinched. "Oh no! Someone summoned Shenron!"
Bulma called back, suddenly in a rush. "Well hurry up then! Let's get the lead out, you three! Come on!"
The three of them ran as fast as they could, eventually cresting a ridge and seeing the eternal dragon in all of his majesty. Shenron growled and his eyes glowed red. "Your wish has been granted..."
Krillin yelped. "O-Oh no!"
Bulma slid down the ridge to the ground below. She sprinted up to Shenron and gasped at what she saw. Krillin and Gohan both caught up and stared in surprise as well. At Bulma's feet, three babies cried and screamed and whined. One of them was bright blue, one of them was a girl, and one of them appeared to be a dog. Krillin shook his head. "I...I uh..."
Gohan spoke up for the first time the entire trip. "B-Babies?"
Bulma, however, laughed out loud at the sight. "Oh my gosh! Look at the Pilaf Gang!"
Gohan flinched. "Th-This is the Pilaf Gang that Dad told me stories about?!"
Krillin flinched as well. "Oh crap! I remember those guys now!"
Bulma was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down her cheek. "O-Oh man! Look at you, dorks!"
On the ground, Baby Pilaf raged at Bulma. But the scientist got nose-to-nose with him. "I'm sorry, dear. I can't understand you. Did you poop your diaper?"
Baby Pilaf snarled, but then he let loose a massive fart and fell quiet. Bulma laughed even harder, Baby Trunks laughing as well. Soon enough, unable to help themselves, Gohan and Krillin both started to laugh as well. Krillin wheezed. "Oh man...I can't believe this...so much for hunting the Dragon Balls..."
Gohan, smiling for the first time in months, shook his head. "Man...Shenron must be so confused sometimes. Last time he was woken up, you guys wished me back to life. But now he got to turn people into babies..."
Gohan wiped humorous tears from his eyes. Krillin chuckled and shook his head. "Hey Shenron! Before you go, what's the most ridi-"
Krillin gasped, his eyes widening. Gohan looked up at well and his face turned blue. "N-No..."
Bulma could only stare in horror and disbelief. High above the three of them, Shenron's eyes were hollow and black. Without a word, the massive dragon destabilized. It fell forward towards the three of them, but didn't crash like one might think it would. Instead, Shenron hit the ground and burst into green smoke. The smoke billowed out around Gohan, Krillin, and Bulma, eventually disappearing into the wind.
And then, Gohan fell to his hands and his knees and tears began to flow from his eyes. "N-No... not you too, M-Mr. Piccolo..."
Meanwhile, across the planet...
Strewn across the battle-scarred ground were various mechanical parts. First, ripped to shreds and with only his chubby face recognizable was Android 19. Next, also little more than a severed head, was the purple-toned face of Android 15. His eyes sockets were empty, save for a few wires hanging out.
A few feet farther up the path was Android 14. His legs were still twitching beneath the shadow of his torso, hanging impaled on a tree branch high above. Smoke billowed from the dead Android's mouth.
Finally, Android 13 laid dead on a rock. There was a massive hole ripped through the Android's torso, his robotic entrails hanging limply over his stomach, all the way down to his knees.
As all of those Androids laid dead, two youthful voice spoke at the very top of the path, next to a massive ravine. The male voice sighed. "Man, I can't believe that they all died. I was at least expecting 13 to last a bit longer..."
The female voice giggled. "I know. I mean, I was expecting 19 to die. 19 sucks. But the others seemed like they'd at least be a bit tougher."
At the top of the path, Android 17 brushed his hair out of his face. "Oh well. The only reason they died is because they were weak. So, screw 'em. It's not like any of them mattered in the long run anyway..."
17 smirked. "If only they were as perfect and powerful as me~"
Android 18 scoffed. "Don't get a big head. Our new friend only went down so quickly because he used so much energy to kill the other four. He'd have probably kicked your shit if he was at full power."
17 sighed. "Wouldn't have had to kick his shit if he hadn't be so violent. I mean...we only asked him a simple question. If he'd have told us..."
The raven-haired Android glared down at Piccolo's corpse, hanging limply by his shirt in the Android's grip. "...maybe he'd still be alive."
Android 18 shrugged. "Eh. Too bad."
Android 17 let Piccolo go, watching as the Namekian's corpse fell into the ravine below, disappearing out of view. "Yeah. Guess we'll just have to find Goku's family by ourselves~"
Proofreading: StevenBodner
