Metal
Chapter 79: At The Edge of the Burning Glade
A/N: Hey, all; I'm doing something a little different with this arc from this point on. This chapter is going to cover solely events on Earth. Next chapter will cover simultaneous events going on in space. As always, I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Suno waited for the odd-looking old man to go on, but after introducing himself, Dr. Kochin leaned back, apparently satisfied, and slid his hands back into his pockets. 'So,' he said conversationally. 'What's up with you?'
She narrowed her eyes, glanced at Retu- who had stopped just behind and to the left of her- and slowly turned forward. 'Are you going to answer my question? What are you and your guards doing here?'
Dr. Kochin spared a look each to his left and right. 'Don't these men look familiar to you?'
With that prompting, one assault-rifle armed guard strode over- and Suno belatedly realized that the guard was holding the weapon like a prop, and that he was a friend of her Mom's. 'Kone?'
'Hey,' he said, nodding to her and the doctor. 'And my brother Ssno is on the other end.'
Suno glanced to her left. 'So he is.'
'We only recruit locally,' Dr. Kochin spoke up. 'Helps to ensure there's no ill-will between our company and the communities we visit. We're not like-' he snapped his fingers a few times, '-bed -Red Ribbon Army who had a presence here several years ago.'
Suno's gaze tightened a fraction. 'Is that so?'
'Sorry,' Retu butted in, moving fully to Suno's side. 'Who is "we"?'
'Oh, excuse me!' Dr. Kochin said, brandishing his grey hands again and waving them apologetically. 'I forgot to introduce my employer! I am a representative of the Wheelo Institute- a non-profit biomedical research consortium based out of North City.' He gestured to the crowd parted to either side of him. 'We're recruiting across a bunch of arctic and tundra villages for work on a new research facility near North City. State-of-the-art and all that.'
'Yeah?' Suno asked. 'Research?'
'That's right.'
'Nothing else? You're not invading villages, are you?'
'That's not research.'
'Then why do you need the guns?'
The smile Dr. Kochin gave struck Suno as too easy. 'Haven't you heard? There have been incidents across the North recently. Many of our recruiting teams have been attacked.'
'Attacks?' Retu probed, head angling forward. 'What kind of attacks?'
Dr. Kochin turned his palms toward them. 'Dunno. Might not even be attacks- all we know is that our employees keep disappearing on recruitment missions. Our construction site is guarded much better, however, and is safer as a result.'
'So- this is dangerous work, then?' Suno asked
Dr. Kochin shrugged. 'We try to protect our own as well as any other organization. But as long as these attacks continue, yes.'
Suno's attention drifted from Dr. Kochin to the people around her. Retu saw a certain unidentified expression present among all the villagers. It reminded him of… something? What is it?
If it was possible to hold the gaze of a crowd, Suno did that for a few heartbeats, eyes tracing faces and mouth pressing into a thin line.
At last, Suno's gaze moved back to Dr. Kochin. 'I see,' she said. 'Well, thank you for your time.' She turned around and started to trudge away.
Dr. Kochin lifted a hand and waved. 'Thank you for yours!'
As the crowd came back together in Suno's wake, Retu hesitated, then sprang after her. She was moving quickly, however, and it took him several seconds for him to match her speed.
'Hey!' he caught up with her. 'What was that about?'
Suno didn't turn to him. 'I had nothing else to say.'
'You seemed worried about that guy.'
'I am worried,' Suno said. 'Though more for the work than him.' Her pace picked up. 'A lot of people I've known for decades are about to leave the village, start working far from home-'
Suno stopped abruptly and turned to him. Retu saw she was making a visible effort to calm down. 'Jingle Village is pretty isolated from the rest of the world. There's not a lot of work here beyond chopping firewood, hunting animals, thawing ice for water- everything needed to keep this place habitable. I can understand why a lot of villagers are taking outside jobs. Gives them money that they can invest back into the town.' Suno's eyes hit the snow. 'I don't like what they're doing, but it's not my place to tell them not to do work to better the village.'
'You got all that from a glance?' Retu said, eyes more white than brown.
'You grew up in a small place too, right?' Suno asked. 'You learn to express- and learn what others are saying- without uttering a single word.'
'Oh.' That was what he had seen earlier- that kind of shared, nonverbal language that was as familiar to him as it was to Suno. 'You're right. Guess-' he shivered, '-guess we're done here, then.'
'Very.'
0o0o0
Oolong, disguised as a human, was halfway through a stack of pancakes when Puar, also disguised as a human, elbowed him in the ribs. His fork leaped from his hand and clunked to the floor next to their booth. Before he could grumble and bend over after it, someone else bent down, picked up the fork, and handed it to him. 'This yours?'
He stared at the person. Short-cropped black hair. A suit. Very normal for this diner and this part of Central City. Why did she look familiar?
'We've met,' the woman said, sliding into the booth seat opposite of them. 'Remember?'
'We have?' The diner, as if usually was once the lunch rush was over, was dead quiet. There were maybe two or three other people in the entire building aside from them.
'We have,' Puar confirmed from his left, folding her hands on the table. 'Though it was a few years back. Remember that card we have?'
'The one with the number?' Oolong asked, placing his fork on the table. 'The one that person left in this diner- Oh.' He glanced back at the woman. 'Oh.'
'"Oh" is right.' the woman stressed. She hailed a waiter, ordered a cup of coffee, and sank back into her booth. 'Let's talk.'
'About what?' Puar questioned. 'You work with the World Government- weren't we supposed to come to you if we knew anything?'
'Usually, that's how it works.' A cup of coffee arrived, muted black, and the woman took a swig of it. 'But these are unusual circumstances- so unusual that we're going to need a working relationship going forward. For that end- my name is Nette.'
Puar cocked her head. 'Okay?'
With another sip of her coffee, Nette drew a folder out of her suit's lining and pushed it across the table. 'I have something I need you and your friends to check out.'
Oolong watched over Puar's shoulder as she opened the folder and spread its contents. Most were photos of rustic houses and barns. Some in white, snowy places- some in grainy, dusty deserts. Forests, mountains, bogs, plains...
'What are these?' Puar asked, scowling as she looked up. 'Photos for a home catalog?'
'In a way.' Nette pinched her mouth and sighed through it. 'What you're looking at are houses- abandoned houses. Every single one far-off from any major settlement. Every single one occupied until recently.'
'This is what you want us to look into?' Oolong asked, sliding a photo around at one of its corners. A two-story blue-brick house typical for the hills near West City. 'Just… empty houses?'
'I want you to search for the people who used to live in them,' Nette said. 'They've all disappeared within the past few months. No neighbors, so no witnesses.'
'What else?' Puar asked.
Nette took a sip of her coffee. 'That's it.'
'Are you serious?'
She took another second to sip- which quickly turned into a chug as she emptied her mug and set it down. 'Yep,' Nette began to pat her sides. Eventually, she found some Zeni bills and put them underneath her cup. 'On me,' she explained, as she saw Puar immediately realize how much money she had put down
'Is this a bribe?'
'It's your budget.'
Oolong eyed the Zeni trapped underneath the mug. 'That's a large budget.'
'We can afford it.' Nette made an annoyed stretch of her back. 'My department is a little out of our element here. Usually, when we arrive somewhere to investigate whatever weird thing going on, we can talk with the locals and get a better idea of the situation. No way to do that here.'
Puar quirked her mouth. 'You don't expect us to find out anything, do you? This is your "swing-for-the-fences" type of offer, right?'
Nette shrugged as she stood. 'Like I said, we're out of our element. We have nothing better to spend money on. So... look into this for me, would you?'
She paused halfway out of the booth, waiting for some kind of response. Puar and Oolong, both frowning to some degree, shared a reluctant glance. 'Well…' Puar leaned forward and took the Zeni out from under the mug. She held it out to Nette. 'You don't have to pay us. We'll do it.'
The corners of Nette's mouth pulled up. 'Keep it,' she said, waving away the money. 'Consider it an incentive- and a reminder of how serious this is. You know…'
Nette drifted for a moment. 'There are very few things that my department can't crack. So for the things that we can't? They terrify me.'
She seemed to consider saying something further. 'Nevermind.' She turned and waved as she strode toward the exit. 'Best of luck.'
They watched her first disappear behind the main door, then from the semi-busy street the diner faced. Puar eventually retracted her hand and passed the Zeni clenched between her fingers to Oolong.
'So… I guess we're checking in with everyone again,' he said.
'Not everyone,' Puar murmured. 'Maybe… hmm…'
0o0o0
Breathe. In. Out.
With considerable effort Tien unclenched his body and stilled. The mountaintop around him, rocks and tufts of stubby lichen, stilled in turn, slowly easing back into their weather-worn spots in the landscape. He listened; in the distance, he heard a rock clunk down a dull slope.
A long, exasperated sigh escaped Tien's mouth, and with a more intentional one, he leaned back, casting his gaze skyward. Somewhere in the blue expanse above him Launch was galloping from planet to planet, sliding in-between stars and enemies… and he was here, flashing red atop a mountain like a broken beacon. It was a ridiculous thing to admit- but he was jealous of her, even though he had argued with Bulma for more than a few days demanding her to call Launch and order her back to Earth. Tien couldn't deny that Launch was strong enough to make the decision she made. As insane as it was for her to do what she did...
Launch had approached the Kaioken simply, if not doggedly. She viewed it as a means for pure power, and when training, she had focused on that exclusively- something Tien hadn't fully realized until the Saiyans' arrival. Still, she mastered levels of the Kaioken far faster than him and his more deliberative, measured pace. As of now, Tien's absolute maximum was still around the 12th or 13th level. Launch could easily hold the 15th level. The gap between them without the Kaioken wasn't that large… but, with it, it grew into a chasm.
Tien's gaze traced the sky, searching for anything discernable against a blue backdrop. He hadn't approached that gap how he would have in the past. A younger Tien would have thrown himself against that bar, willing himself to catch-up to Launch- both in power, and in space. But something… odd… had happened in the last few months. Launch's progression began to level off. In the two years before the Saiyans' arrival, she had rocketed up to the 15th level. In the six months since, she could only claim mastery over that same level, and a working grasp of the 16th.
He wondered whether Launch was aware of this. She must have- to do what she did. Feeling like you've hit a wall. Tien's eyes tracked an idle, lonely cloud amble across the sky. I can sympathize.
This realization more than anything else had slowed his training to surpass Launch over the past few months. He hadn't mentioned it to her- he imagined she would have killed him for pointing out something like that- but it lingered in the back of his mind, and had only grown more pressing with Launch gone. There was nothing to suggest that, if he pushed himself like Launch did, he wouldn't hit the same wall she had. If Tien was anything- and he understood anything about himself- he was measured, and he felt that if he didn't know how to circumvent that wall before he hit it, he would have a difficult time backtracking in his training and maneuvering around it later on.
It would make sense that there's a limit to how many levels the Kaioken can support… right? After all, it uses the body, and that certainly isn't limitless or invulnerable.
Tien needed the Kaioken. More than that, he needed to understand it. From what he could remember, Krillin had given him and everyone else a very bare-bones explanation about how it worked when first teaching them at Kame House. Something along the lines of every place in the galaxy having some kind of "natural" or "endemic" ki, regardless of whether there were any living beings present, and that the Kaioken utilized that energy. That had raised some questions for Tien then- what kind of energy is that, then? Is it cosmic? Is the entire universe composed of ki in some way- that only raised more questions he needed answers for.
Everyone, in his approximation, understood the Kaioken as a tool. He wanted to understand it as… something… more than that.
Casting aside his thoughts, Tien straightened and clenched his body. Red aura tinged the air around him, curling like great boughs swaying in the wind. He had resolved to stay in the Kaioken's lowest level as long as possible and study his energy. There had to be something he could learn about this technique. There had to be something he could gain from knowing its limitations.
0o0o0
The dream of that bed in that stone-gray spire never quite died in Chi-Chi's mind. She wasn't content to just visit. The view from it was fantastic. Was it any surprise that she moved back in once she had a way to stay warm during the night?
That being said, that way sometimes inconvenienced appreciating that view.
Chi-Chi, halfway out of bed, tensed and watched the sheets pulled across her lap rustle, sliding away and back towards her. 'Yamcha?' she said quietly.
There was a pause. 'What... time is it?...'
'Did I wake you up?'
'No,' Yamcha muttered into his pillow from her left. 'Though… I'm up now. Can't sleep?'
'That, and I'm enjoying the view.'
Incrementally, he edged closer and placed an upturned hand next to Chi-Chi's left hip. She took his in hers and pressed them against her side. 'What do you see?'
'Not much,' she said wryly.
'You may stand, if you so choose.'
She glanced back at him, smiling faintly, and snuggled closer to him. 'I think I'm okay here for now.'
The room was dark- darker than usual, as it was a moonless night, and little to no light came from the village closest to the mountain. If Chi-Chi focused enough, she could start to see things in the gloom that weren't there: shapes, figures, people...
'Did you plan this?' Chi-Chi uttered into the dark. She was surprised by her own question.
Yamcha rolled onto his back, swapping out his left hand with his right in Chi-Chi's grip. 'Plan what?'
She wiggled, and wiggled him in the process. 'This. Did you plan this?'
'No,' Yamcha said. 'I did not.'
'Did you want this?'
Yamcha tentatively squeezed her hand. 'Of course- I said as much.'
'A year ago?'
'Of course.'
'What about the beginning?'
Yamcha's face furrowed in the dark. 'Meaning when?'
'When you first came here.' Chi-Chi's dark hair clung to the left side of her face. 'When you first offered to help Gohan training. When-' she hitched.
'When I was with Bulma? Is that what you're trying to say?'
Slowly, Chi-Chi nodded.
Yamcha looked at her for a moment. 'Okay.' He sat up, faced Chi-Chi, and drew both her hands into the small space between them. 'We both know that I'm not that type of person. That kind of-'
'I'm not suggesting that,' Chi-Chi quickly clarified. 'I wouldn't. But- you did break it off with her, right?'
A subtle to-the-point-of-unreadable expression passed across Yamcha's darkened face. 'Never out-loud. But- you know how things work between me and Bulma. The implicit was always stronger than the explicit.'
'I understand- I just had a thought.' Chi-Chi's gaze drifted to the window behind him. 'Sometimes, I try to imagine that I'm Bulma, and, I find out that my on-and-off-again thing with someone else is-'
'Not accurate,' Yamcha interrupted.
'Are you sure?' Chi-Chi's eyes shot back to him. 'Are you sure she doesn't think you two are going through a slow phase, and that she expects things to pick up soon?'
'Well… I'm not sure about that.' An introspective silence settled on Yamcha. 'I don't want to be a cheater,' he said earnestly.
Chi-Chi sidled closer and laid against him, laying their hands in the space above the edges of their bodies. Her hair rolled onto his pillow. 'Definitionally, you kinda are now.'
Yamcha hesitated, then unclasped a hand and began to run his fingers through her silky hair. 'So are you, you know.'
Chi-Chi shifted and laid face-to-face with Yamcha. In the dark, their faces were shadowed and taut. 'I know.'
They started giggling.
'We probably shouldn't be laughing,' Chi-Chi said, running her hand through his short-cut hair in tandem. 'If word got out…'
'Who's more likely to tattle?' Yamcha said, his smile beatific. 'Your giant of a father who never leaves your home or your five-year-old son who also never leaves your home?'
'We do have a telephone. Careful.'
'I'll get rid of it first thing in the morning.'
'That wouldn't be a good idea. The last time it got used, the planet got invaded.'
'All the more reason to destroy it.'
She giggled again, and pressed her nose into his neck. He smelled of flowers and sand. When she eventually pulled back, never quite abandoning his touch, she gathered her hair behind her and pushed herself off the bed again. In the distance she could see vague, darkened lines- mountains rimming the world.
'Are we good people?' She asked abruptly.
Yamcha placed a thumb on her face and traced her jaw. 'Are you always so contemplative during the night?' he asked.
'Sometimes.'
'Do you feel guilty?- because you shouldn't.'
Chi-Chi turned away from his hand, moving further to the bed's edge. 'I don't know. Is giggling the right response to all this?'
'Why wouldn't it be?'
Chi-Chi turned back to him. He shrugged. 'Life can be absurd,' he offered. 'If we can find some humor in what might otherwise be a shitty complication- well, why not?'
She considered his response, drawing a breath. 'I guess you're right. I guess… I guess we both suffered enough the first time around.'
Yamcha shifted on the bed. That sounds like… 'Kakarot?'
Wordless, Chi-Chi nodded. 'I suffered enough with him.'
He sat up and moved closer to console her, placing his hands on her shoulders. She never brought up Kakarot- not willingly, at least. Not unless it was something relating to Gohan. 'Yeah?'
'Yeah.' She didn't stir underneath his hands. Her head, facing away from him, continued to gaze out the window on her side of the room. 'I think he encouraged my strengths and turned them into flaws- it was a young mistake to make,' she cut herself off.
'Young how?' Yamcha carefully probed.
'I didn't understand him. I didn't understand who he was- not really. Instead, I pitied him. I think…' she struggled with her words for a second. 'I think I cared for him more than he cared for himself… which was, again, a mistake.' She shook her head. 'How was he supposed to love me if he didn't love himself?'
Yamcha gathered his thoughts. 'Well… he couldn't, then. That doesn't make you a bad person, though.'
'Huh?' Chi-Chi turned to him, face torn between melancholy and shame. 'How?'
'I see all that being bad for yourself, sure- but Kakarot? Do you not think he…' Yamcha suddenly clammed up. Oh. That's where that thought was going.
'Yamcha?'
'Do you not think you caring for him made things turn out as they did?' Yamcha uttered. 'Where he did what he did… and helped us beat Raditz in the end?'
Chi-Chi frowned at him. 'Don't you?...'
'I still hate him,' Yamcha said quietly, subdued, like expressing the emotion underneath his words would hurt him. 'Kakarot…' his hands instinctively pulled away, left resting on his right thigh and right resting on his left arm. 'He broke my bones in two different places- after I was down. Loathing, fear... parts of me feel that now just as much as when he was alive- but he's dead now, and if I don't ever have to see him again, then I can acknowledge he helped us survive that day in West City, and that if it weren't for him, I wouldn't know Gohan and wouldn't be sharing a home with you.'
Her face looked almost stunned. Yamcha cleared his throat. 'Sorry. I didn't mean to go on a rant. All I'm really trying to say is… if you liked him, he couldn't have been all bad, right?'
'Oh.' She pulled her face into a pained smile and gave a small shake of her head. 'That's all?'
'And it takes a really good person to see something redeeming in Kakarot.'
'Even if it was a young mistake made five years ago?'
'Only five years ago,' Yamcha mused.
'I do know that I'm happier now than I was then, though. With you,' she drew Yamcha's wondering gaze. 'You have a place here, Yamcha. With Gohan, and with me.'
Yamcha smiled at her, then glanced back at the ceiling. 'I'm the first you've said that to, right?'
She shot him a look. 'You think there've been others?'
'Besides Kakarot? I don't know,' he said, his smile assuring her of his current ease. 'Just curious.'
'Not even Kakarot came here,' Chi-Chi told him. 'You're the only person I've said that to.'
'No one else?' Yamcha teased. 'Not even some you've thought about?'
Sleepiness started to creep back in- Chi-Chi laid back onto the bed. Yamcha followed her lead. 'No…' she yawned. 'Though… it's funny.'
'What is?'
'If I was going to get with another friend, I wouldn't have guessed you.'
Yamcha turned to her immediately, face intensely curious. 'Who's more of a catch than me?'
Chi-Chi's eyes started darting. She scratched her neck. 'Ah… well… would you believe that I once wondered about me and Rayne?'
Yamcha blinked. 'Rayne?' he echoed, incredulous.
She shrugged, though her smile was relaxed. Sleepiness still nipped at her consciousness. 'There was a time while you and the others were in space, and Krillin was dead, and she was struggling and looking for…' Chi-Chi realized something, and shot a glare at Yamcha. 'If you're imagining-'
'Nope, nope, nope,' Yamcha said quickly, laying flat on his back and folding his hands on his belly like a schoolkid, 'didn't cross my mind. Nope, nope, nope… though that's pretty surprising.'
'Why? Did I say something to suggest otherwise?'
'Well, no-'
'Then you assumed wrong,' she said with faux-snappiness. She turned to him. 'Silly.'
He grinned. 'True.'
Chi-Chi kept the facade of anger up for a second longer, then melted against Yamcha's side, listening to his heartbeat reverberate and fade in his chest. Like a beautiful chorus of denial, strong and steady enough to lull her to sleep.
'Nearly forgot- Rush is coming here soon- I told you that, right?'
'Yes,' she muttered. 'You did.'
She was very nearly asleep when she caught one last snippet from him.
'Anyway… it's a good thing I love myself.'
'Hmm?...'
'Goodnight, Chi.'
0o0o0
'Daddy, whatcha doing?'
Krillin nearly sprung away from the wall and fell backward. 'Maron?' He whipped his head around, dropping the sanding block onto the ground. Did she just sneak up on me?
His daughter, her dark-green hair pulled into a ponytail swinging behind her, walked over to what he had dropped and grabbed it. 'What's this?'
Krillin grabbed it from her. 'Not yours. And-' A thought occurred to him. He looked around. 'Where'd Rayne run off?'
'She went to store.' Maron, smiling, exaggeratedly rubbed her stomach. 'No food. So she said find you.'
Krillin blinked. 'Oh.' He got back to sanding the wooden wall. 'Well- what's up, then?'
An unusually long child silence elapsed before Maron spoke again. 'You're a fighter, right?'
'Hmm?' Krillin rubbed down a spot. 'What makes you think that?'
'Well…' she grabbed his right arm's bicep, seizing his sanding motion. 'You got big muscles.'
He turned to her, a crooked smile on his face, and slowly worked his arm out of her grip. 'I do,' he acknowledged. I am a fighter, sometimes.'
'But you never really train.'
'Sometimes, after you go to bed, I go into the forest.'
'Really?' Maron asked it with that wondrous tone that only children could summon.
Krillin smirked again. 'Really.' He finished his sanding and stepped back to take a wide look at the wall. The house Rayne had built and Krillin had shared with her for years now had needed expanding once Maron was born. It had been difficult to do that while he was in Ginyu's body- this place was too difficult to stay around consistently around that time- and he had put it off once regaining his body. Now that Maron wasn't a toddler anymore, however, she was slowly becoming aware that her bedroom was nothing more than a barebones kitchen. So building her her own room was a priority.
'What's it like?' Maron asked.
He turned his attention from the house. 'What's what like, Maron?'
'Training.'
Krillin's eyebrows bunched together. 'You're curious?'
'Yes!'
'Why?'
'Because you do it, Daddy!' Maron cheered, swaying back-and-forth.
What?... Krillin had an out-of-body experience then. He saw himself and Maron, facing each other, talking about… training. Fighting. Something he had done so much of as a kid. Something Rayne had done so much of as a kid. Something he probably enjoyed more then than he did now, considering the circumstances he usually trained for nowadays. It had never occurred to him that Maron would ever have an interest in that stuff. And it only took a second for him to realize how silly it was for him not to think of that.
He tried to remember how old he had been when he started training at Orin temple… what, was he 2? 3? Maron's older than that.
'So you want to train?' Krillin said, bending at his knees. 'Really? Because it's a lot of work.'
'I don't care! I want big muscles like you and Mommy!'
Krillin tipped his head back-and-forth like he was weighing a scale. 'Alright… I'll talk to Mommy… and we'll see what we decide on.' He chuckled to himself. Can never really escape that life, can I?
0o0o0
Skimming over the West City skyline, Retu and Suno carefully descended into the Capsule Corp. grounds… and landed somewhere they shouldn't have been able to.
Suno took a long time meticulously scanning her surroundings. A round circle of clumped dirt was surrounded by grass. 'Retu… you understand what's wrong here, right?'
He indeed knew what was wrong; he pinched his nose and sighed.
By the time they reached Bulma's lab, Suno had enough anger stored to kick the door down as she stormed in. 'BULMA!' she roared. 'WHERE IS THE SHIP?'
Bulma calmly turned in her chair, laying her left arm across her workbench. 'You mean my ship?'
'BULMA!-'
Retu stepped in and grabbed Suno by her wrist. 'Bulma- explain! You have an explanation, right?'
'I do,' Bulma said, 'but I don't think you're going to like it.'
She told them. They did not like it.
'But it's the company's ship,' she reminded them, firm, even as Suno stalked across the lab, eyeing a half-dozen things to smash. 'My company. And it was my choice- and, obviously, Launch's.'
'I get that,' Retu said, 'but why do I get the feeling that if Suno and I were around, this wouldn't have happened?'
Bulma tilted her head. 'That's not a feeling. That's a probable fact.'
'Yeah,' Retu sighed. 'I know.'
Suno said nothing for a long time. 'What were the terms of our agreement, again?'
'You'd get to train in the gravity ship for as long as you wanted or until I needed it,' Bulma supplied.
'And you needed this ship?'
'I think so- yes.'
When Suno turned, her face was cast like a statue of cold marble. 'You've angered me, Bulma,' she said. 'And it's not because you took the ship away from me- I'm angry that you did it without telling me. I've been training there for a long time now. Did it not occur to you that you're seriously disrupting my life by doing this?'
Bulma's face struggled to shift from its neutral expression. She found it easier to move her body instead. Her shoulders shrugged. 'It didn't occur to me.'
'So you weren't thinking of me?' Suno asked. 'Is that what you're saying?'
'I don't think she's saying that,' Retu said hastily. 'Right, Bulma?'
Bulma didn't say anything, Truthfully, she didn't feel like she could say anything. She had made her choice. She shrugged again.
Suno stared at her. 'Okay.' Without another word, she turned and strode from the room.
As soon as she was out the door, Retu paced over to Bulma. 'Give her some slack,' he urged her, even as a part of his body seemed to be pulling him towards the door. 'She hasn't had the best day. Neither have I, for that matter.'
Bulma shot him a look. 'What do you mean? Something wrong with your trip?'
'No... well…' Retu frowned. 'It's complicated. Suno was just reminded of some bad memories while we were at Jingle Village. There were guards, and- shoot-' he glanced to the doorway. 'I'm sorry, Bulma- sorry!' he said once more as he fully turned and dashed out of the lab.
0o0o0
Even while Bulma stared at the open door left in Retu's wake, her mind was far-away thinking on something else. Something that Retu had said. Something related to the seemingly endless Capsule Corp. employee directory displayed on her monitor.
Jingle Village. Jingle Village…
That place was sticking in Bulma's mind. Why, though? There wasn't anything significant about it. No-name place in the North. She'd only heard it once, because it was where Suno grew up and-
And. Swerving, Bulma launched herself onto her computer and opened the Capsule. Corp records archive. Jingle Village… bad memories… She searched the company's research acquisitions log for the last few decades. There was...
Her hand relaxed on the mouse. Of course. Of course.
Flashing on her screen, a one-time manifest of items received from Jingle Village dating to ten years ago. Around the time of the 22nd WMAT… and all marked as salvage from the ruins of Muscle Tower. The second of two bases that had been destroyed, and the one Kakarot had taken out single-handedly.
The Red Ribbon Army… both of their bases were devastated ten years ago. We thought they were- no, we knew they were destroyed… right?
Bulma felt that she would have heard about the Red Ribbon Army in the news if they had reappeared; they had a knack for making things public and showy. Stealing a corpse was not that. Still…
Out of curiosity, Bulma reopened the employee database. After some thinking she selected three filters: one for employees who have joined the company in the last ten years, one for research team leads who would have access to most, if not all labs in the main complex, and-
She paused. What kind of research did the Red Ribbon Army even conduct? They were, at best, a paramilitary organization with a lot of guns. Well, that, and their robots-
Quick as lightning, Bulma selected all employees who have worked on mechanical and electrical engineering projects. Capsule Corp. used to have a team exploring the practicality of live-in robot caretakers a few years back. It was eventually axed due to implementation costs, but before that, it had been running at around the same time-
Bulma's heart nearly stopped as a single name popped up in the database entry. Months of effort manifesting as black lettering across a virtual white database. She hurriedly scribbled the name down on her notepad, shoved that page into her pockets, and ran out of the lab.
0o0o0
The mountain curved into the land as Yamcha, towing his student approached the black-gray castle that sat on it. He spared a look back. 'You keeping up okay?'
Yamcha had taught Rush to fly about a month ago. Judging by how well he was keeping up with Yamcha, he could be mistaken for thinking it was years ago.
His student gave a stern nod of his head. 'We're going faster than I would like, but I'm okay so far,' he called back.
Yamcha laughed. 'What kind of teacher would I be if I didn't push you?'
Rush swung down in the air behind him and reappeared at Yamcha's right side. He was looking forward. 'That's where we're going?'
'Yep. Follow me in.'
They slowed and angled down, descending into the courtyard. The boughs of the single tree there wavered slightly as Yamcha, then Rush, landed next to each other. The Ox-King, Chi-Chi, and Gohan, the latter of which held in place underneath in front of Chi-Chi by her hands, stood, waiting to be introduced.
'Rush,' Yamcha led him forward and swept an arm. 'This is the Ox-King, Chi-Chi, and Gohan. Say hello.'
Rush pressed his hands together, muscles rippling, and gave a small bow. 'It is a pleasure to meet you. Yamcha has spoken highly of you all.'
Chi-Chi quirked a brow at Yamcha. 'Really? What he'd say?'
'He said you are the kindest, most meaningful people in his life.' He glanced down at Gohan. 'You're Gohan, right? He said you were very brave.'
'Uh… I can be…' Chi-Chi could tell that Gohan felt shy, even though he wasn't trying to move behind her as he usually did. 'Some… sometimes. Sometimes I can be a little scared…'
From their left, the Ox-King's laughter bellowed like a furnace. 'Well said, Gohan! That's true of us all.'
'Is the guest room prepared?' Yamcha asked.
The Ox-King nodded. 'At the ready.'
'Great.' Turning again to Rush, Yamcha gestured to the main doorway to the castle. 'He and I will show you where that is and help you get settled.'
As they passed, Chi-Chi threw out her arm and pressed it into Yamcha's chest. Rush continued onto the door with the Ox-King. 'Is what he said true?' She whispered to him. Rush continued onto the door without his escort. 'You're complimenting us behind our backs?'
Yamcha flaunted a slight grin. 'That an issue?'
'The opposite actually,' Chi-Chi replied with a matching grin. 'They say you get a sense of who a person is by what they say about you when you're not around.'
'Who says?'
Chi-Chi pecked him on the cheek. 'I say.'
She released him, letting her hand slide off his chest, and watched him rejoin Rush and her father and accompany them into the castle. It hadn't even been that long since he had left- maybe a few days, at most- and she was giddy to see him by the time today rolled around. Is this what love felt like? She would have to ask him.
'Mom?'
Chi-Chi, still smiling into Yamcha's wake, half-turned to him as she crouched. 'Yes, Gohan?'
'That's the guy I saw.'
'Hmm?' Chi-Chi humorously narrowed her eyes. 'Who?'
She waited for her son to give some characteristic giggle or wag of his body, some sign that he couldn't contain his amusement at telling an imminent fib, but to Chi-Chi's surprise, his gaze was tight, direct, like he was searching one particular memory. It was an extremely startling expression to see on a five-year-old's face.
'That man,' he said in a quiet, thoughtful voice. 'Rush. I saw him before. In the desert.'
'Desert?' Chi-Chi's eyes narrowed further, shrugging off any mischievousness. 'Which desert? The only one you've been in…' Her eyes widened. '...is…'
'He was there,' Gohan muttered. 'In that desert with the gold storm.'
0o0o0
The air, clear and cleansing, filled Retu's lungs as he landed on semi-solid sand. The desert his village was set in was less oppressive than the one the Saiyans had arrived in. The local wildlife comprised of small and good-natured mammals and reptiles that came out of their underground burrows at night. Wind was a rarity (though so was water) and the land was flat for long enough that it was impossible to lose sight of the centering bone-white rectangular bluff the village sat next to. As a kid Retu had been allowed to wander as far as he wanted if his clothing gave him enough shade from the sun and his pouch carried enough water. A few times he forgot where he had set off from- and then started walking back to that bluff like all the other children.
The rounded dome buildings comprising the village were made of that bluff's rock. Heads poked out from around bleached white doors as he and Suno stepped along the sands, moving towards the sole brown-rock building, closest to the bluff. His uncle, Nam, had taken residence in that building after becoming village chief...
...years ago… and this place still looks the same! Crazy.
Suno drew up beside him. Sweat stained her blue gi. 'Retu, you could have warned me how hot this place is. I would have changed in something…' she plucked at her clothing. '...lighter.'
'Today's a cooler day, actually,' he said conversationally, scanning faces as they passed. Something odd- he didn't see any children. Only wary, sand-beaten frowns. 'Huh…'
'Seriously Retu- I don't think it's healthy for me to lose this many fluids…'
'...They know me, right?...'
'...And if I knew I would be losing this many fluids…'
Abruptly, Retu stopped and grabbed Suno by her wrist. 'Something's wrong. I can feel it.'
Suno scowled at a couple of faces looking their way. 'Again?'
'Stop!'
From their brown-rock destination, an older, slightly hunched woman walked out, tan robes flowing across the sands behind her. She stopped before them. 'Who are you?'
Retu suddenly felt self-conscious about his choice of Capsule Corp. jacket and jogging pants. 'I'm sorry… I used to live here. I'm looking for my uncle, Nam.'
The old woman kept her guard up for a moment, but after searching his face for a moment, her expression dropped. 'You… you're Retu, aren't you? Nam's nephew… my word… you're a grown man, now! And you're walking, too!'
Suno stepped out from behind Retu. 'And we would like to see his grown uncle, if possible,' she said, watching the suspicious faces enclosing them melt just the same as the old woman's had. Her gaze skipped to the building. 'He's in there, right?'
Retu watched the old woman dip and shake her head. She was frowning. 'Bata…' he crouched down to her level. 'Is something wrong?'
'I'm sorry…' she dabbed at her face with her sleeve. 'Just… both your mother and Nam would be overjoyed to see you as you are now.' She shook her head again, despairing. 'I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.'
Suno glanced between Bata and Retu. 'No… you mean-'
'He's dead?' Retu whispered, creased face fixed on her. 'Nam?... No…'
'I'm… I'm sorry,' Bata repeated futilely. 'I'm sorry. We should have never let him leave with those people-'
'People?' Retu asked, distraught. Suno had laid a hand on his shoulder. 'What people? What happened?'
'He went with some others on a work job for a project in the North. Said they would make some money to buy some additional water pumps.'
Retu's watering eyes widened. 'What project?'
'Oh, something like… Wheelo-'
He was running before Bata had even got a chance to look up. 'Wait!' She cried as sand pelted her. 'Where are you going?'
Aura blazing, Retu ignored her question and sped into the sky, Kaioken lurching from the ground like a great gust of wind. Suno reached his side mid-flight with the same crimson aura. 'Retu- where-'
'We're going to Jingle Village,' he said quickly, 'Your home isn't safe- and I need answers.'
0o0o0
A click sounded from Chi-Chi's boots as she stepped through the doorway. As wooden and stone-reinforced as any other section of the castle, the guest room was furnished with a bevy of fabrics draped across walls and windows to make it more livable. Cherry-brown wooden dressers, bureaus, and night tables numbered around the room, surrounding the gray bed that pressed against the room's far corner.
Rush sat at the foot of that narrow bed, its sheets pulled and strewn over his lap, and caressed the woven threads with his hands. As soon as he saw her, he flinched, as if embarrassed, and pushed the sheets to his right. 'Chi-Chi?'
'Hi.' She paused, listening. 'I need to talk to you about something.'
He clasped his hands in his lap. 'Sure.'
Chi-Chi moved again and stopped in the room corner across from the bed. Seconds later, to her left, the door closed.
'You remember Gohan?' Yamcha asked, coming to a halt and crossing his arms.
Rush gave a slow nod. 'I was introduced.'
'And that was the first time you've met him?'
Chi-Chi watched a languid rigidity seep into the tanned man's posture. His hands decoupled and pressed into the sides of his thighs. 'Yes. As far as I know, or remember.'
Yamcha stared at him. His gaze was neither suspicious nor supportive. 'I don't know.' His head didn't budge. 'Chi-Chi- I don't know.'
Rush's gaze edged to her. 'What do you mean?' he asked, the slightest bit of tension creeping into his voice. 'Is something wrong- should I not have come?'
Chi-Chi chose her next words carefully. 'Gohan saw you in the desert, half a year ago. The day when the ground shook. The day with the golden storm.'
Rush met her gaze- his blue eyes met her black ones with unbelievable stillness. 'That's… near where I live,' he said eventually. His fingers pressed further into his thighs. White swam around his joints. 'Near that desert. I was there- I admit it.'
'In the months I've been training you, I haven't asked you many questions about your life,' Yamcha said, drawing Rush's attention and feeding a sharpness into his voice. 'You didn't seem comfortable answering, and I'm not someone who pries. But, from what you've said, it seems like you sought me out after that battle. Am I correct in thinking that's more than coincidence?'
'I- I live in a village near there,' Rush said, sternness leaking from his voice like water passing through a sieve. 'My family- my people- they were threatened, and some nearly died from the rocks, and- and-'
The imposing figure seemed to melt, as his posture and composure sank into himself. A ringing sense of unease filled Yamcha's body- the kind you wanted to run from. A quick glance at Chi-Chi confirmed she had felt something similar to him.
'No… no…' Rush shook his head, creasing his face and covering his eyes, like he was trying to shake off a ghost. 'I can't lie… I can't lie… not anymore… no…'
His head fell into his hands, fingers pressing into his skull, and with a pitying shake, he faced them. 'I need… I need to tell you about someone called Dr. Gero… and the future.'
A/N: Necessary disclaimer of "I don't like cliffhangers," but I gotta shift gears a little bit! Bear with me!
Reviews:
TienFan99:
As mentioned in this chapter, Wheelo guards are local villagers.
Yeah, not sure about the RRA. Guess they wanted the dragon balls through pure force? Sorta odd that they were a paramilitary organization but the World Government didn't fight them, though.
Funny that you had that comment about the World Government! I promise I didn't include the scene with Nette in response to it; what we're seeing is a manifestation of a very old plot point…
There's a little bit of some context with Tien/Launch's training over the past few years in this chapter. TLDR; Tien is more deliberate in his training than Launch, so she raced the limits of the Kaioken faster than him. I also hope that this was apparent in her fight with Turles- her ranged weaponry was severely limited because she spent all her energy maxing out the Kaioken. In that way, she's a very single-minded fighter.
Thank you for the comment about character development! Sometimes it's hard to keep track of them all myself! It's helpful to have longtime reviewers chip in who they think isn't getting a lot of attention in the story proportional to everyone else.
I guess, if we're making character development Tiers out of your comment:
A: Yamcha, Bulma, Chi-Chi
B: Launch, Krillin, Piccolo, Tien
C: Rayne, Retu, Suno, others?
For the sake of my curiosity, what moments do you think we could have had in this fic that hasn't happened? I'm always trying to keep each character's growth in mind. I won't deny that some go through higher periods of utilization than others, though. The good thing about that, however, is that the needle will eventually shift back.
Anyway, thank you for the comment! No person should be useless in the story- otherwise, what's the point of having them? Keep me in the loop for who you think could use some attention, and I'll see what I can do within the confines of the more interwoven plot-character-event beats.
(Last thing; pretty confident in saying that the cast will not get much bigger than it is now, but we'll see).
Cityracer: The story's accessibility is probably informed by the fact that I never watched or read the "dragon ball" part of DB beyond clips and summaries, lol. In some ways, my writing was a way for me to access Dragon Ball.
My thinking about the tails stems from the fact that I have scattered memories of Vegeta (or Raditz?) bagging on Kakarot for not having a tail and saying that makes him less than Saiyan. Considering that the Saiyans have a martial culture, and they turn into the embodiment of victory due to their tails… I'd figure that the Saiyans who try and teach proper "ethics" to lower class warriors would place an emphasis on that distinctive part.
Interesting feeling on Turles! The story may keep you wanting for a while for that answer.
Glad you enjoyed the Kakarot and Bardock scene! What, in your opinion, makes Kakarot such a great character? And, OF COURSE, I would not pass up the chance to do a love triangle. Stay tuned for that :^). Wonder what kind of future is waiting for those three...
You've never seen Bulma get character development in a fic before? Interesting. Was initially going to push back on this, but now that I think about it, I think most fanfic writers take her already strong personality and do nothing to change it- they "air" it more rather than develop it..
What makes you think Launch couldn't take on the Saiyans? Not suggesting you're right or wrong, of course…
Gonna be honest- I'm really excited to write a combination of Mr. Satan, Recoome, Bez, and Launch. Actual insanity xD
Things are heating up all over the friggin' place… but perhaps I'll wait until next chapter to speak more on that.
Interesting songs/ artists! Haven't heard of any of them except Bon Jovi and CCR. As for the music I like- really more a question of what music I don't like, tbh. I like funk, rock, hip hop, alt rock, indie rock, electronica… take your pick. Can't say I'm a fan of country, though.
As always, thanks for the review!
Transformers g1's-Prime: Who knows? Could be one of Traveler's mentions. Time is different now that he's intervened, of course… Interesting comment about Wheelo, too.
I'm very excited to write that crazy brigade. Look forward to next week as we shift to space!
Cooler is fun… and dangerous. lol.
Thank you for the review!
Legendary-AI:
Lol! It has been a while! Nice to see you swing back, though! You probably won't read this review until you're caught up and know what I'm about to say- but Kakarot does reappear in the story!
Also- I hope to update Victor soonish (?) but we'll see when that happens.
As for how I write scenes- I wrote a lot, try and keep an idea of what to focus on where in a scene like the text is a camera moving and cutting around. I also find that it helps to have an idea of what I'm going to write- or at least how it connects to the larger plot- before I write it. Other than that, nothing special!
Guest: I will definitely check out the Optimised Wish Project! From scanning its premise, it looks like something I could get into. As for writing fanfic outside of this- I would probably shift to non-anime fandoms like Star Wars or ATLA, as the animes I like are already perfect and require no fanfiction… sorta. I know most people don't write fanfiction to "correct" things, but I would be lying if I said the appeal of writing a DB fic isn't because I have a lot of ambiguity to write my own story. Fullmetal Alchemist, on the other hand, is wonderfully complete on its own.
