Dragon Ball Alternate Dimension - Generation Z

A Dragonball Z Fanfiction by Aoikami Sarah

Chapter Six

Soma and Korosette sneaked down hallways and into rooms looking for any clues as to Vegeta's whereabouts but came up empty handed. They were about to double back to meet up with the boys when they ran into trouble.

"You're supposed to be in your guest quarters. Emperor Donburi's orders!"

"Ok." Korosette thought fast. "Well, my friend here had to use the little girls' room and..." The soldiers took a step closer. "Guess your not gonna buy that, huh?" One of them licked his lips. "Ok, that's gross."

Frozen in place, Soma stared dumbly at the men. It had been a long while since she last she had been in danger. Her cousin grabbed her hand and tried to run but the other guard stopped her. The lip-licker grabbed Soma around the waist and wagged his tongue at her. "Please, don't!" she cried.

"Soma!" Korosette struggled in the guard's grip.

As the man moved in to touch her, Soma squeezed her eyes shut and disappeared. The three people left behind blinked.

.x.

Soma opened her eyes and was standing in the same place, but everyone was gone. The girl knew instinctually what had happened. She took in a deep breath and lowered her head. "Finally!" she cheered and closed her eyes again.

.x.

Korosette started to hyperventilate as the licker moved towards her.

"Hey, Chawan, that's not appropriate behavior," his comrade suggested.

"Aw, come on, Osho. I never get to have any fun!"

"Don't you even think about licking me!" Korosette squirmed. Suddenly Soma appeared in front of her, grabbed her arm and just as suddenly the men were gone. "How the… what the… what just happened?!" Korosette looked around feverishly. "Did we just Shunkan Ido or something?"

"No, I warped." Soma started walking back to the rooms. "Once we get back to the boys, I'll warp again and we'll be back on their plane."

Korosette jogged to catch up. "So, where are we?"

"In the palace in another dimension - another reality inline with the one we inhabit. The palace is virtually empty on this plane."

"I see. Um, Soma? How long have you been able to do this?"

"About two minutes!" The girl giggled. "Moma always said that Adonai and I were special because we were born between the worlds. I guess this is my special power!"

"Do you think Ado can do this?"

"If he can, he doesn't know it yet." She became serious "We must find him. We must find Grandfather Vegeta and get out of here."

Korosette nodded and followed her.

.x.

A guard slouched to the ground under Adonai's fist. He narrowed his eyes and crept around a corner. Just inside the next room he could see the feet of a body lying on a table. There were Capsule Logos on the soles of the boots.

"Grandfather." Adonai hissed and waited for an opportunity.

"Hold it right there!" a voice called out.

He turned around and faced the guards. "I don't want to kill you, but I will if you stand in my way."

"It's all right," a woman with plum-colored hair sticking out of her head-wrap stepped forward. "He's not a threat." She waved the other soldiers off and pulled her mask down.

"You!" Adonai growled and grabbed her. "You've got some serious explaining to do!"

"You're in no position to be making demands, Adonai. I could scream and have the whole palace here in a second."

"And I could kill everyone in this place in a second. Why did you kidnap my grandfather?!"

"I don't have much time to explain. I'm on your side. Donburi forced me to..." she cut off as she saw another contingent of Imperial guards coming towards them. "I'm sorry," she whispered and stabbed him with a needle she had hidden in her sleeve. "Again."

Adonai slumped to the ground.

"Good job, Yaffa!" Donburi cheered as he approached. "Now I have the Prince and the Grandson. The others are being rounded up as we speak. We'll have a grand execution this evening. It'll be spectacular!"

She gasped. "Execution?"

"Oh, does that make you sad, Yaffa? Did you like him?" He laughed. "Then you should be my attendant for the ceremony!"

"What?!"

"Do you protest?"

"Don't kill him, please!"

"Would you rather I kill your mother, father and little sister instead?"

Yaffa gnashed her teeth. "No, Sire."

Donburi laughed as they hauled Adonai away. Yaffa hung her head.

.x.

"Defrost complete."

The pod's lid hissed as it decompressed and opened. Inside, the Viceroy breathed lightly. Her gown was in the same condition as it was seventy-three years ago. Her skin was un-ravaged by the affects of time, but the effects of stasis had changed her black hair to pure white. Her eyes fluttered open. "Bejiita..."

.x.

Kashtan and Okano jogged around a corner and leaned against a wall.

"Do you think they saw us?" Okano asked.

"Nah." Kashtan panted. "Damn it. Why can't we just crack skulls along the way?! I'm getting' tired of hiding from these guys, and they're so weak!"

"I know, I know," Okano comforted his cousin. "We don't know for sure that they're the enemy, though."

"This sucks."
"Well, we got a half an hour. Let's take a break."

They slid against the wall and sat down. The boys hadn't relaxed for five minutes before another group of soldiers found them. The prepared to run away, but the men seemed to be interested in something out of sight down another hallway. They muttered to themselves.

Okano and Kashtan exchanged puzzled looks. The soldiers pointed and shouted 'ghost' in unison then ran back where they came from.

"Ghost?" Okano wondered until it rounded the corner.

The woman was dressed in violet. Her hair was disheveled and eerily white. Her eyes were half open. "Bejiita..." she moaned.

"Zoinks!" Kashtan panicked. "Ghost!!" The boys screamed and ran after the guards.

After a few moments, the ghost well behind them and the guards well ahead of them, Okano slowed down. "Dude, wait. Did she say Vegeta?"

"Maybe, who cares?! I'm not waitin' around to get my brain chewed on!"

Okano stopped. "I thought she was a ghost, not a zombie?"

Kashtan ran in place. "And that matters why? I'm getting the hell outta her way!" Okano was on the verge of making him double back when Soma and Korosette appeared out of thin air before them. Kashtan screamed. Korosette slapped him. "Thanks. Where'd you come from?"

"Earth, and I'd like to get back there. Have you found out anything?"

Kashtan stopped running in place. "Well, there's something weird buried in the wall in our room and there's a ghost chasing us."

"You've been watching way too much Scooby Doo."

"He's right." Okano nodded. "Well, maybe not about the ghost. Kash, I think we should try to talk to her."

"Are you nuts?! She's gonna eat my brain!!"

Okano motioned to Korosette who slapped Kashtan again.

"Thanks. I needed that."

"Why do you want to talk to a ghost?" Soma asked.

"She said 'Vegeta.'

"No," Kashtan corrected. "It was like this; 'Bayjeetah' not 'Vuhjeeta.'"

Soma made a face. "That's odd…"

Korosette shook her head. "Ok, it's highly implausible that you saw a ghost but I'm willing to accept that you saw something you can't comprehend just yet." She tapped her index finger against her lip. "However, we're going to have to split up again."

Kashtan whined but Okano nodded. "The sooner we find Ado and Vegeta the sooner we get out of here, remember?" He slapped him reassuringly on the back. "You and Koro go that way, Soma and I will go this way."

Korosette didn't look happy but agreed and they parted ways again.

.x.

After a half hour of searching Kashtan and Korosette peeked around a corner and saw several guards escorting two gurneys out of a room. On one lay Vegeta and Adonai lay on the other. "Damn it, Ado," Korosette hissed. "Went and got himself captured."

"He prob'ly stomped right up to them like the pig-head he is," Kashtan agreed. "Hang out here for a sec. I'm gonna be smarter than him."

Korosette panicked as Kashtan left her and carefully tiptoed into the room the gurneys had come out of. There was the soft sound of a scuffle and he emerged again with two Bistrojin uniforms. "Tada!" he chimed and tossed one to Korosette. The loose, black garments with their head wraps were the perfect disguise.

"I hate to admit it, Kash, but that was inspired," she said as she pulled the uniform on over her clothes. He blushed and stammered as he did the same. "Now we just have to pray we find Soma and Okano along the way." They caught up to the guards and followed Vegeta and Adonai wherever they were being taken.

.x.

On the other side of the long, one-story palace Soma pulled Okano into another dimension more than a few times to avoid being seen or caught. They were able to delve deeper into the palace but were getting nowhere with information. Okano leaned against a wall near a heavily bolted door and sighed. "Man, if only we had an ally. I don't really feel like torturing info out of one of these poor guys."

Soma grimaced at the thought. The sounds of sobbing echoed from behind the locked door and the girl pointed to it. "Perhaps whoever that is can help?"

Okano regarded the door. "Can you get around this without me busting it open?"

She nodded and disappeared. Moments later the sobbing stopped and he could hear her talking to whoever was inside. Just as suddenly, Soma reappeared outside the door with a young woman with plum-colored hair who was wiping her face and who was astounded at how she ended up in the hallway.

"Cousin, this is Yaffa, the one who brought Grandfather here."

"They're going to kill them, we've got to hurry!" she said quickly.

"Who? Ado and Vegeta?!" Okano gasped.

She nodded. "They've been drugged. I need to get the antidote first then we'll go to the courtyard where they execution platform is."

There was a commotion at the end of the hall and several guards streamed toward them. Soma touched both of them and they warped to the empty palace again. "We can get there this way, come on!" she encouraged Yaffa and she led them to the antidote.

.x.

Korosette and Kashtan were within one hundred yards of the courtyard but hesitant to go any closer, despite blending in quite well. Kashtan watched the scene while Korosette wracked her brain for a plan. Occasionally, Kashtan would mutter something about what he saw over his shoulder at her as she kept lookout behind him. "Ya think we should just get in there?" he asked. "I think we should just get in there." When there was no response he turned around. "Koro, this is where you're supposed to stop me from doing something stu…" His jaw hung open and he made a comical squeaking sound as he saw what she was staring at.

"Is that the ghost?" she asked quickly.

"Uh-huh…" he moaned.

"She looks plenty real to me," Korosette whispered.

Indeed, the woman with the white hair walked slowly and looked like she was trying very hard to concentrate. She was otherwise solid and breathing. Kashtan calmed and readied himself as she approached them. She craned her neck from side to side and listed a little as she did.

"Where is your leader?" she asked in a voice like sandpaper.

Kashtan trembled. "Uh…"

"His name is Donburi and he's in there," Korosette said and pointed into the courtyard. They watched as the woman passed them without incident. Her gait improved with every step. When she reached the open air she paused, took a deep breath and squared her shoulders before proceeding. "Well," Korosette remarked as Kashtan sighed in relief. "This'll be interesting."

.x.

On the opposite side of the courtyard Soma, Okano and Yaffa stood and looked out at a field of tall, reedy grasses that waved in the breeze. "The chopping block is just over there and Donburi should be standing over to the left of it." Yaffa indicated. "But who knows where anyone is right now."

"I'll know in a moment," Soma said and vanished.

Yaffa rubbed her shoulders. "Doesn't that freak you out?" she asked Okano.

"A little, yeah."

Soma flashed back in. "You're right. He's in place and talking to the crowd. Grandfather and Adonai are just in front of that and they're going to lift them up to the block shortly!" she said urgently.

"Right. Let's do this," Okano said and they jogged toward the spot. Yaffa took a pair of syringes from the folds of her uniform. "Yaffa, you administer the antidote, I'll get your back. Ready, Soma?"

"Ready!" she said, nodded and brought them forward again. All around them were Bistrojin in uniform bearing weapons.

Okano's heart raced with excitement. "Now!" he cried and Yaffa plunged the first needle into Adonai's bicep. Soma grasped her brother's hand as Okano chased after Yaffa around Adonai to Vegeta's gurney. The look of sheer confusion on Donburi's face was classic but it didn't last long. He raised a hand in a very familiar way and aimed it at the blue-haired young man and his friends. If he hadn't been immediately distracted, it would have ended there.

"You!!" a harsh female voice called from across the courtyard. It echoed off the far wall as if it had been amplified. "What have you done?!" The 'ghost' demanded and made her way unimpeded toward him.

"It-it can't be…!" Donburi muttered and in a panic fired an energy beam from his hand at her. Still sluggish, she tried to deflect the blast, but took most of the force of it and crashed into a group of soldiers. Yaffa plunged the antidote into Vegeta's bicep and he and Adonai slowly got to their feet.

"Soma…?" Adonai asked and rubbed his head. It took only a moment for his usual sour attitude to return. "What's going on?"

Korosette wove her way through the crowd in Kashtan's wake as he plowed his way through like a linebacker. Bistrojin flew this way and that. He paused for a moment, craned his neck then turned to Korosette. "Adonai and Vegeta are ok!" he called back to her.

Vegeta took in his surroundings. There were people in strange Egyptian-looking garb all around him. To his right was a palace made of limestone and before him a platform with what looked like a fairly well-used chopping block. His Grandchildren and one of the Son boys were gathered around the young woman who had drugged him but they seemed to be on speaking terms. He shook his head then noticed someone staring at him. Donburi's eyes seemed to twitch with a mix of fear and hatred but something else was also twitching. Without a second thought Vegeta blurred forward and punched him in the gut.

"Who are you?!" Vegeta snarled. Adonai stood protectively in front of Soma and all the Bistrojin collectively gasped but not a one of them rushed to their Emperor's aid. As Donburi gasped for breath his soothsayed stepped forward and removed her hood. She was an older woman and had distinctively spiky hair. "Emperor!" she called with a grin of delight on her face. "The day has come when in a golden flame your reign will be undone by the one who knows your name!"

Vegeta made a face. "Are you a Saiyajin?" he asked the sputtering Emperor.

"My Prince!" he cried and tried to kowtow as he got to his feet. "We have long awaited your…"

The soothsayer growled. "Liar!"

Donburi sputtered. "I thought you said that if I killed him I would be impeded!"

The soothsayer cackled. "You pig-headed imbecile, you only hear what you want to hear! I said that he would come and destroy you one day!"

To everyone's surprise a blast fired from the crowd and hit Donburi in the right shoulder. He fell back against the execution platform and stared at the source in disbelief. "Labor Secretary Kurao," she said calmly and slowly as she approached. "You always were a slimy thing. It does not surprise me that you could have stooped so low." She wore regal purple and pushed a lock of pure white hair back and replaced her crown as she approached. Vegeta stood and watched her with his mouth agape. As Donburi, or Kurao tried to plead for his life she raised her hand and fired a blast that killed him instantly. Bistrojin scattered and cleared the area in front of the execution platform. Korosette and Kashtan inched their way around the crowd until they were next to Soma, Adonai, Okano and Yaffa and from there they watched with rapt attention.

The soothsayer went down on one knee before the woman. "My Queen!" she called. "You're alive! This most unworthy one is called Bochoi. I am the only one who remembers who you were – who we are!"

The queen raised a brow. "Yes?"

"I had thought he had killed you all those years ago…" Bochoi wept. "We are the children rescued from Vegeta-sei who traveled with you. We are your people, the last of the Saiyajin!"

The people from Earth gasped but the Bistrojin simply murmured things like 'Is this true?' 'Did he really do that to us?' 'I always thought I remembered something.'

The queen grinned and walked to the platform. She kicked Donburi's body out of the way of the steps and ascended unaided. When she reached the top she looked down at the huge crowd and grinned. "My people!" she called. "I have been kept from you for I know not how long. I apologize for my unplanned absence. You are the Saiyajin and I am your queen, Kalifura of the house of Vegeta!"

Promptly the oldest of the Bistrojin fell to one knee and within moments the rest followed suit. Kalifura's grin widened. "I have killed your pathetic Emperor. From now on you are mine, proud Saiyajin!"

The crowd returned to their feet and for a tense moment it was unclear how they would react to this until they thrust their fists in the air and cheered her.

The Earthlings starred at her in awe. "So," Kashtan whispered. "That's your great-grandmother, right, Koro?"

Korosette was too astounded to answer. Kalifura accepted Adonai's help as she descended the stairs and walked straight up to Vegeta. "You," she barked. "Follow me. You," she pointed at Yaffa. "Take me to the throne room."

.x.

When they were left alone, Kalifura turned and faced the prince. "Who are you?" she demanded. "Tell me, imposter. Tell me who you really are."

"I am Vegeta, Prince of the Saiyajin."

"You lie. Vegeta is a baby. He can't be more than nine, ten years old at the most."

Vegeta pouted. "I'm eighty years old."

She sneered. "Impossible. When I last saw my son he was only five years old."

"Mother..." Vegeta said, reached out a hand and took a step toward her.

Kalifura bristled and her tail uncurled from around her waist. "Liar! You cannot be my son!!"

The sound of footfalls entering the huge throne room distracted them. "Pardon my intrusion, Grandfather," Adonai said as he entered the room. "Your Highness, you are his mother. My cousins found your stasis chamber. You've been asleep on this planet for over seventy years."

Kalifura blanched. "Grandfather…" She crossed to the throne and seated herself to keep from falling down. She stared at the floor for a moment and stroked her bleached-white tail. "So much time has passed. Is that why the crowd was so old…? They were all just tiny children when we left."

Vegeta turned his back on her and looked out the tall windows to the south. "We had no idea that you were out here," he admitted. "When Vegeta-sei was destroyed, only Nappa, Radditz, Kakarotto and myself were left alive. Now, I am the only one of that group who remains."

Kalifura sighed. "Kakarotto, not the son of Chief Science Officer Bardock?" Vegeta nodded. She bit her lip but kept her emotions in check. When she stood again Vegeta involuntarily stood at attention. "Alright. I believe I have a lot of work ahead of me. As much as I am glad to not have to care for thousands of children, I'm sure that years of that fool Kurao's misinformation need to be programmed out of them." She took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. "They are still Saiyajin. They will persevere."

"Yes, your highness," Vegeta said and bowed.

To be concluded…