Obligatory copyright disclaimer: Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z and relative characters are intellectual property of their respective owners. I'm using them without permission, but this is only a no-profit Fan fiction.
Author's notes:
Crystal: Thanks! Look for Ami's notes at the end of the chapter.
Whiteling: Read on, the answer is at the end of the chapter.
AnonymousZGirl: Umm, interesting idea about Usagi. We'll see about it.
Jewlbunny: I'm glad you liked the legend!
About the 'legend of the three lovers', I obviously made it up. To purists everywhere, remember this is not the canon DBZ universe, but a variation of it. So there will be differences. However Planet Vegeta is listed having two suns and two moons. I only added planet Thunder and decided about the sun's color and the small moon's name.
Chapter 13, Usagi
Despite the crowd in the mess hall Usagi felt very much alone. Her friends went away to mind their business and she was left with her thoughts. Dark thoughts, so unusual for her. Slapping the hands on the cheeks she forced herself out of sadness.
"All will be well! Ami is going to find a way to go home, she was positive on this. We will be back at the same time of our disappearance and no one is going to notice. We will have back our human bodies! Now I have just to learn to control this Oozaru thing and get to Elite level. Easy! Let's go!" She told to herself standing up and walking at a brisk pace out of the mess hall.
A few minutes later she realized to be lost. She wasn't even sure of where she was going in the first place!
"Silly me! I have this handy scouter. I have just to contact someone!" She punched in the codes of the central command.
"Hello? Central command? I'm Usagi and I'm searching for someone to train me…" She started to say.
The operator on the other end of the scouter line however was not very collaborative. "You again! This channel is meant for serious requests, not for giving directions, you idiot! Find a teacher yourself and never call back or I'll have you punished!" The communication was abruptly closed.
"How rude!" Usagi could not believe her ears. "They should fire you!" She yelled at the scouter, annoyed by the offensive reply received.
Still glowering, the young woman stomped her way through the halls of the fortress, wandering aimlessly for an hour. At last she found what she was searching, a training hall, one of the many built in the city. Alien writing over the entrance identified it as 'Training Hall #10 – Basic training'. On the wall someone added the words 'Runt's room'.
"Oh, basic training is just what I need!" Usagi mumbled, reading effortlessly the alien characters. She walked in. The thought of exercising and sweating up strangely did not conjured up the usual loathing in her, probably due to the Saiyan body's energy and instincts. On the contrary, she felt elated.
The training hall was a large and squat structure with vaulted roof. Six huge square platforms at least 100 feet wide and one foot high occupied the entire floor. Scores of very young Saiyans were training on the platforms, under scrutiny of half a dozen instructors.
Usagi immediately identified one of them! "Nizuki! I have to flee before she founds me!" She gasped upon seeing her.
Trying to exit the hall as fast as possible she ran away without looking ahead, not noticing a tall warrior in her path. Crashing on his muscular chest, she fell backwards, hitting the floor with her bottom. The man's chest was hard as a steel wall!
"Ouch! Look where you are going, you dummy!" She yelled at him, only then recognizing captain Maizen.
The man arched an eyebrow, looking at her like an entomologist moments before spearing an insect with a needle.
Usagi panicked, immediately standing up and bowing repeatedly. "I'm s-so sorry, I-I didn't m-meant what I said! Please do not add me to your insect collection!"
The captain looked at her in confusion. "Insect collection? Are you mad meatball-head? Anyway, it's you who should be more alert! And why were you running away?" He asked trying to understand the situation.
Usagi was relieved, he wasn't mad at her, not yet. And he called her 'meatball-head'! It was so Mamo-chan of him! Blushing, she immediately launched herself in a complete explanation of the chain of events that brought her there, starting from the moment they emerged from the attack balls, back from Babke.
"… and then I saw Nizuki, and she told me not to bother her for at least a week, like I said you earlier, and I tried to flee before it was too late and I bumped into you as I was not looking, my bad!" She said concluding the five minutes long account.
Maizen was a very patient man, unusually so for a Saiyan warrior, but even him was mightily sweat dropping at the long and needlessly long story she articulated. "There was no need to be so detailed. Anyway, Nizuki was speaking figuratively. She wouldn't harm you for seeking instruction! I even ordered you to do so."
Usagi's eyes sparkled. "Really? May I ask her then?"
Maizen found her reactions puerile but refreshingly open. "I can sense great potential here, but she is like a child and really needs training." He thought walking towards Nizuki, who was blissfully unaware of the impending doom while training the kids. Usagi followed him like a puppy.
"Nizuki! I need your services!" He called her with authoritative voice.
The warrior woman jumped at the command of her beloved captain, immediately standing at attention before him. "Sir! By your command Sir!" She bellowed moments before noticing Usagi.
"What? You? I told you not to bother me! You stupid bun-head!" She barked at the young woman, forgetting the captain's presence.
"Mind your words, Nizuki!" Maizen admonished her. "I want you to train this girl in all of the basic skills of a warrior. You can teach her together with the kids; she's indeed totally untrained and will fit in." He said smirking at Usagi.
"Hey! I'm not a kid anymore!" She pouted, finally understanding she was to be trained with little children!
Nizuki looked at the captain with disbelieving eyes. "B-but… she is a lazy dumb dimwit! Her presence will ruin the class!"
The captain looked at her with calm eyes, in which Nizuki always lost herself. "Nizuki, I gave you an order. I have the outmost respect of your abilities; I know you can do it. Make me proud of you." He told her with his deep, caring voice. Nizuki blushed deeply, nodding in assent.
"Now I have to go. I'm going to do my usual walk through the training halls, and then I'll go to the castle. I was invited by the King to a formal dinner. All the generals will be there." He told her.
"Oh, the King invited you! He wants to promote you to general for sure! It's a great honor!" The warrior woman shouted happily.
"There is no certainty of that. Captain Nappa could be promoted instead. I'm going to try to win the King's favor over him. We cannot keep wasting good warriors on his foolish attack plan. Meat's defenses are too strong for direct attack." He explained them.
Nizuki nodded at him, in admiration of his analytical mind. Maizen was very smart, strong and handsome. She wanted to crush him in her arms, savor his scent and bite him to taste his blood! But he was elite. A low-class warrior like her had no chances…
Usagi could see clearly the adoration in Nizuki's eyes. "He's so similar to Mamo-chan, yet so different. I think she loves him desperately. But he only respects her. This will bring trouble…" She thought, unusually receptive.
She knew Mamoru well, and Maizen had the same look Mamo-chan always reserved for his friends. His loving eyes, oh they were so different and full of passion. It hurt not to see him looking at her with love, but she had to remember he wasn't her boyfriend at all!
The captain was on the point of leaving when Nizuki slapped her brow. "I have to tell you something sir! An hour ago Central Command left us a huge database with the information from the census lord Frieza requested last week! There are more than ten thousand entries! I can't possibly check all of them while I fulfill my other duties!"
She was horrified by the amount of paperwork on her desk. She never even used her desk before! "Please, can you help me? Otherwise we will not be ready for Lord Frieza's visit, next month!"
The captain considered her plea, and then he had an idea. "Usagi, can you use a computer terminal?" He asked the girl.
"Uh… I can, usually. I mean, I'm not a genius or whatever, but anyone can check a simple database, it is not difficult, only boring…" She remarked, starting to understand his idea. Anything the warrior woman could do with a computer she felt capable of doing better. The psycho killer woman didn't seemed tech oriented to her.
"… I can help Nizuki doing this, if you want me to." She added.
"Well, you have your help now, Nizuki. You will train her, and she will help you. Perfect symmetry. Now I must go, I'm late. Good work!" He told them smirking while walking away.
Nizuki, dumbfounded, growled at Usagi. "I… you… This can't be possible!"
Usagi struck her tongue at her! "Perfect symmetry!" She said, teasingly.
Nizuki punched her.
~o~~~o~~~o~~~o~~~o~~~o~~~o~~~o~
Later the same morning, Usagi was completing the exercises Nizuki told her to do. She had a med-tech plug some bandages in her nose, to staunch the blood flow. "She broke bhy dhose… that bitch!" The nose was hurting her, but she had fun nonetheless. The kids, all children from four to six years of age, accepted her immediately calling her 'Buns-head'.
After four full hours of training she learned to control the Oozaru form. She was not that proud of the accomplishment as her classmates managed to do the same in only two hours! Then they learned to fly, while she was able only to slowly levitate herself. She could fly faster… But control was beyond her abilities.
The first time she floated in the air, Nizuki told her to increase speed. She did exactly that, rocketing into the wall! The second time she could not control herself at all, somersaulting randomly in the air and finally smashing on a pile of mats. The kids found that very funny and laughed so much Nizuki had to scold them to resume training. So Usagi decided to stay put and limit herself to a slow hovering. Better safe than sorry.
The only things she was good at were energy attacks. Remembering her first fight against the Saibai man, she effortlessly created a disc made of pure power, throwing it with ease. Her attack was so concentrated it was cutting instead of explosive. She could control its flight path only at launch, but it unerringly returned to her after striking. Nizuki was very impressed by her skill, but managed to not show it too much.
Usagi affectionately called her attack "Moon tiara action" despite not involving a tiara at all. The name struck the imagination of the children training with her and they all gave childish names to their attacks, much to Nizuki's irritation. Cries of "Galactica crushing donuts!" "Space serious slasher!" "Bombacious bomber barrage!" and other silly appellations echoed in the training hall, feeding Nizuki's growing headache.
"Enough!" She yelled to the top of her lungs, startling the children. "You are all dismissed! Go home to pester your parents. We are finished for today!"
"But we were having fun!" One of them told her, the other children nodding in agreement. Usagi was nodding with them.
"Go! Home! Immediately!" She shouted, nearing a nervous breakdown. "Not you!" She barked at Usagi, heading out of the hall with the kids. "You have to help me with the database search!"
Usagi remembered her promise to captain Maizen. "Uh, yeah! Now I remember! Sure, I'm coming…" She said following the fuming warrior out of the halls.
Smiling she waved at the kids and they waved at her back. "They are normal kids when shown kindness. Maybe a bit rough, but basically OK. Why they become so uncaring growing up?" She mused while walking.
The answer had to wait; they arrived in Maizen's office. It was a huge control hall, full of monitors and computer terminals. A large cylindrical holographic display took up the center of the room. A transparent door separated a small desk from the hall. Nizuki pointed at the door. "That is the captain's private office. No entering unless called, OK?" She looked straight in Usagi's eyes, a menacing glare in her own.
"No entering. Clear!" Usagi snapped at attention, refraining from any type of joking. Her nose still hurt! Looking around she saw many displays showing the interior of the fortress, mainly training halls. In one of them Usagi could clearly see Saiyans playing volleyball! Squinting over the screen she recognized Minako in the field giving orders to one of the two squads. "Only Minako could think of teaching volleyball to the Saiyans!" She thought smiling.
"Well... This will be your station." The warrior spat at her, punching some codes on the keyboard. Forced to pay attention Usagi examined the computer, it looked primitive to her. "Maybe our earth's PC's are more advanced?" She asked herself seating at the station.
Nizuki continued the explanation. "You enter your id code here and the system sets up for work. You have to read all the data I'll give you and mark all the records with this value over 3.14 with a red star. That's all for now."
Usagi found all of this pretty simple. "Ami probably could do this work in a minute!" She thought immediately. Not wanting to bother her she was nonetheless curios about the strange procedure. The value she was supposed to check was labeled 'PLGR'.
"Excuse me, Nizuki. What's this PLGR and why you don't give this job to a tech? It seems to me that they work here just for these occasions." Usagi asked out of sincere curiosity.
"It stands for; 'Power Level Growth Ratio'. And you are right; it's a tech's job. But the King ordered not to show this data to the PTO technicians. I don't know why. So we have to do it ourselves! Boring crap!" She awkwardly worked on the keyboard with only two fingers.
Just then someone called her on the scouter. "Nizuki, can I answer the call?" She asked, wary of the warrior's reactions. Grumbling her assent, the woman concentrated on her work. Sighing in relief Usagi activated the device.
"Usagi? I'm Rei. Do you hear me?" Her friend's voice came from the scouter.
"Rei-chan, are you OK? Is Minako with you?" She replied immediately. She had seen her playing volleyball but Rei was not on the screen at the time.
"I'm well, thank you. I... made some acquaintances. I will stay out for the night. But everything is OK. Umm... Wait a moment, Minako? She's not here!" Rei replied somewhat surprised.
Usagi heard Nizuki grumbling again, she wanted her working on the data, not chatting on the scouter. Better cut short the conversation. "She's not there? But she came after you this morning! I'll try to reach her. I'll call you later! Bye Rei-chan!"
Usagi was a bit worried for her friends, but now she had to work on the data. The program interface was very different from what she was used to, but not so much. Ami trained her in the basics some time ago and she found it to be an easy task. She simply had to order the entries by the required data and check all the ones over the requisite value in one single fell swoop. "Ta-daah! I've finished!" She told the warrior after only five minutes.
Nizuki felt a creeping cold sensation overpowering her. Either the young dork had made a mess of the data, or she was a computer genius, at least by Saiyan standards! She could already see her captain scolding her for the lost time or promoting Usagi over her… Horrible! Standing up from her station she hurried to read the data. To her chagrin she had really finished the work in only five minutes!
"Y-you can go now. Return here tomorrow morning. Dismissed." She told her flatly, fully expecting to be fired the next morning. "I have to kill her now… I will tell Maizen she had an accident and…" Her thoughts were interrupted by the abominable girl's squeaking voice.
"I can teach you how to do it too, so we will both be praised by the captain tomorrow. Let me show you!" She explained the simple passages needed in a few moments, under Nizuki's dumbfounded stare. It was so easy… The need to smash her smiling face became stronger. "Can't do it, can't do it, can't do it!" She repeated in her mind. Then an idea brightened her mood.
"You have to train your fighting skills, do you, Usagi dear?" She asked her. "We have already finished here, and there's still time until dinner. Do you want to train a little?" She added literally dripping honey from all her pores, a false smile on her face.
Usagi's danger sense warned her of the strange attitude of the warrior. That 'dear' sounded really false to her and the 'a little' was suspicious too! "Hum, sorry Nizuki, I have to go!" She replied standing up. The woman grabbed her by an arm however.
"I insist!" Crushing her arm Nizuki dragged her back into the training room, now completely empty.
"Let me go! Nizuki please, you are hurting me!" Usagi knew from previous experience that she was in danger. The woman was clearly furious. But why? She only wanted to help her! Still struggling to free herself, Usagi was hauled into the room and thrown upon a training platform. The warrior woman immediately took a fighting stance.
"Defend yourself! I will let you go only if you manage to hurt me, even a little bit!" She said, smiling smugly. She knew Usagi's strength was only a fraction of hers.
The young ex-senshi looked at the warrior with disbelieving eyes. Nizuki thrashed Makoto in a few seconds! She had no chances!
The Saiyan warrior charged the young woman at full speed, trying to hit her with a backhand slash on the exposed neck. Usagi dodged at the last moment tumbling on her left, Nizuki's hand narrowly missing her body and cutting a few strands of hair.
Somersaulting Usagi stood up after the dodge, only to being forced to dodge again. Nizuki stopped her charge hitting the wall with her feet and then rebounding in her direction, trying to knee her in the chest.
Again narrowly avoiding a crushing hit, she ran away from the warrior at top speed, only to find the woman in front of her. She was fast!
"Running away won't be enough!" She said punching her in the guts. Doubling over from the pain and the shock, Usagi looked at her with defiant eyes.
"I don't want to fight you." She replied whispering, winded by the hit. Nizuki replied kicking her in the face.
"Oops! I'm sorry for your nose, I hit it again!" She laughed evilly, finally able to vent up her frustrations on the poor girl.
Usagi, sprawling on the ground, was in a world of pain. Most of her old enemies relied on energy attacks; the agony they inflicted her was great but usually brief. Only Galaxia physically hit her. She wasn't used to this level of brutishness. The warrior took hold of her long tails, dragging her in the center of the hall.
"Now I'll teach you a lesson. Why long hair is an inconvenience! You will never know when some insane guy will grab it and use you for his crazy games!" She said while swinging her by the hair in a spin, faster and faster.
Usagi could only scream from the pain, grabbing her own hair trying to save her scalp from ripping itself from the head. After swinging in circle a few times, Nizuki threw her towards the wall! "Time to rest! Lean on the wall dear. Or I meant crush?!"
Usagi, half blinded from the pain, knew a hit on the wall with the head at this speed would be fatal. She could only try one trick. She flew full speed towards Nizuki! Stopping in mid-air, her body reversed direction in a powerful and uncontrolled flying charge. Nizuki's scouter beeped madly as Usagi's power level increased from under a thousand to three thousands in half a second!
"Yeeeeeeaaaah!" Usagi screamed in terror as her body smashed Nizuki at full speed. The warrior was so completely surprised by the power increase of the girl to forget dodging. The two women slammed on the opposite wall in a tumble of arms and legs, Nizuki taking the brunt of the impact.
"Ouch!" Usagi tried to untangle herself from the woman, but her body refused to move. She was completely spent. Looking at her nemesis, she was surprised to see her crying. "N-Nizuki! What? I wounded you? I-I'm sorry, I only wanted to avoid crushing on the wall!" She told her, sincerely concerned.
The warrior woman looked away, trying to conceal her face. "I know. That's why I hate you!" She told her, anger mixing with sadness.
Usagi still couldn't understand what she was talking about. "You hate me, I know that. But I can't understand why!"
"Why? You ask me why? You arrive here completely ignorant and weak, and HE gives you a chance. You spit on the mission I gave you upon HIS orders, accusing ME of being cruel, and HE gives YOU guidance. What is he seeing in you? Why can't he see me in the same way? Why you have to be so gentle and so powerful at the same time? Fight me! You coward!" She yelled trying to stand up, only to fall again alongside Usagi on the floor. The terrible hit on the wall had crushed bones and exhausted her stamina. Only the amazing Saiyan endurance saved her from death.
Usagi pondered on her words for quite a long time. They were still on the floor, panting heavily. After a while she tried to reply. "I can't tell you for sure, Nizuki. I'm not trying to win his attentions. You can trust me on this. I already have a special person, and Maizen is not in my sights." She sighed, sensing her relaxing a bit.
"However, I have to tell you that he seems to look at you only like at a good subordinate, maybe a friend. And he could be attracted by me. It's a possibility. I would never encourage him however so please, don't lose hope. You can do it. Try to understand him. Do not take him for granted. Ask him his opinion on everything, this way you could know his real self. And be honest with him. He will appreciate it." Usagi said, feeling like she was giving instructions on how to hook Mamoru… weird!
Nizuki could not believe her ears. She was giving her recommendations and advice, after nearly being killed by her! "This girl is immensely stupid or incredibly naïve! Maybe both!" She thought. Yet she kept notice of all the suggestions Usagi gave her. You never know…
Trying again to stand up, she wobbled on her feet, leaning on the wall. Usagi followed her example standing next to her. Nizuki was starting to fall over, but she took the woman by the arm, pulling it over her shoulder. "I think we should visit the medical center. I'm a mess!" She told her chuckling.
"You are doing it again!" Nizuki shouted struggling to free herself. She was too weak however.
"It's payback for my broken nose! Live with it!" She replied sticking her tongue out again.
Sighing, the warrior woman ceased her struggling. They limped to the nearest healing center that by chance was the one Usagi had already visited over and over. Entering the well-known chamber she was surprised to see a woman grimly looking at the body of a deceased warrior. An unknown fish-looking tech was arguing with Planthorr.
"I'm saying he obviously died of a massive neural breakdown! How could you tell me otherwise? It does not make any sense!" The fish alien was evidently angry at the white haired scientist.
"What I'm saying is you are mistaken! You can clearly see here the damage you caused to his neural pathways trying to improperly neutralize the shock he suffered to the chest area. You injected him with the wrong dose of neural stabilizer! It's like you killed him!" Planthorr was almost shouting at the now very angry tech.
"You have not even looked at my data! Are you trying to discredit me?" He yelled back.
Usagi and Nizuki patiently waited in a corner of the room, the latter on the verge of fainting and the former very interested in the situation.
The scene was obvious to her. The man died in some accident and the tech tried to save him. Now Planthorr was accusing him of having killed his patient due to incompetence. She could see the grieving woman growing angrier by the second. This worried her, knowing of the Saiyan's bad temper. When the woman finally snapped she shouted a warning at the tech. "Look out!"
The grieving Saiyan threw a power ball at the poor tech, who tried in vain to dodge the attack, warned by Usagi. The power ball connected on the right shoulder, slamming him on one of the healing cylinders. The young woman rushed to help, while Planthorr looked at the scene with horror filled eyes.
"You killed my Rentiro! Now you will die!" The woman was screaming to the top of her lungs, charging two other power balls. She wanted to destroy everything? Usagi, crouching over the wounded tech, concentrated on her own attack. When she felt the power in her fingertips she created a buzzing disc of force, throwing it at the two power balls the woman fired at her.
The attacks collided in mid-air vanishing in a mighty blast. Usagi was pushed away by the force of the explosion, but she managed to grab the tech and protect him from smashing on something. However she slammed against a computer, crushing it. "Oww!" She yelped in pain, as she felt something in her body snapping.
The woman managed to stand up and began charging another attack. Usagi could not stop her anymore. She looked in her bloodshot eyes, finding no mercy. "Please, I know your pain, but this madness will not give him back to you." She said, trying to reach her. But it was too late. The woman almost threw the new power ball when a well-placed energy ray pierced her heart, killing her in an instant. She slumped on the floor, dead.
Nizuki lowered her hand, all energy completely drained. "Tsk. Less babble, more action, Buns-head!" She smirked at Usagi then fainted on the floor.
The young woman bit her lip, trying not to cry. Another needless death! She was losing consciousness when the tech, almost dead himself, whispered something in her ear. "I've n-not killed him. S-something else did, m-maybe poison… It is not normal… The woman too… Angry… Beware…" Then everything went black as she fainted.
~o~~~o~~~o~~~o~~~o~~~o~~~o~~~o~
Usagi felt her body float in bliss. Something bubbled near her ears. She was wearing a mask. In a healing pod. Again. She opened her eyes looking out of the pod. No-one was in sight. Patiently waiting to be discharged from the machine she could not even sigh in annoyance. Shivering she remembered the medtech final words…
Finally the green goo was sucked away from the pod. Standing naked in the medical chamber she felt fine, stronger! Clenching her fist she could not miss the muscles bulging in her body and the sensation of raw power they gave her. Nizuki left her pod at the same time, smiling at her. "It's the Zenkai. Our power has increased. I feel great too!" She punched the air two or three times, to appraise her new strength.
"Where is our clothing?" Asked Usagi. "I don't even remember entering the pods. Look! Most of them are broken. No-one is here!" She looked everywhere but they were alone. She found their armor, under suits and scouters on a table though. She waved at Nizuki to call her. "I found the clothes."
The warrior moved to the table, wearing her under suit. Usagi, donning hers blushed trying to find the words. "Y-you saved me today. That woman was going to kill me. Thanks!" She tried to hug her but Nizuki shoved her away.
"Don't grow sentimental on me! I don't even know why I did it! I hate you!" She growled at her, furiously waving her tail! The growl died out and became a soft moan! "Ooooh! W-what? Stop it!"
Usagi had entwined their tails together, gently holding Nizuki's with hers. "No. I'm not stopping until you accept me! I don't want to be hated; I want to be your friend! Please Nizuki!" She placed her hands on her shoulders, looking in her eyes with gentle sadness.
The soft tailshake was really relaxing and the woman was moved by her words. Maybe she misjudged her. She accepted the hug. "OK, we will be friends, but you still have to train. I want you in the training hall #10 tomorrow morning! You are going to learn to fight, no excuses!"
Usagi nodded smiling brightly. She was going to say something when the warrior woman kissed her passionately! She squirmed for a moment but her hands kept her firmly hugged, while their tails wiggled together with more strength. She was lost in the relaxing sensations coming from the tail, so intense she could not do anything else. "So this is what Haruka and Michiru feel? Mamo-chan, help me!" Finally the woman let her go.
"Remember, you do a tailshake only to your bedmates, you dummy!" She told her smirking. Walking away she left her dumbfounded. "Tomorrow morning, don't forget! Good night Usagi."
Still shivering from the kiss, the young woman shook her head. "She kissed me! Bedmates? I did that without thinking! Damned Saiyan instincts! I definitely need a manual. But… She called me by name… I did it! We are friends! Yes!"
Happy to have found a friend on the god-forsaken planet she walked towards her quarters. This time she remembered the way and arrived there in only a few minutes. Opening the door she shouted inside. "Hey, guys! You can't imagine…" She stopped. The room was dark. No one was home.
Grumbling she turned on the light, sitting on her bunk. "I have to call them. Let's try with Rei first."
However Rei's scouter never accepted her calls, she tried twenty three times without luck. She did not fared better with the others. Ami and Minako were not reachable and Makoto's scouter was off. Finally Rei called her back!
"Reiiii-chan!Iwassoworriedforyou!Tellmewhatitishappened!Ohmygodareyouwell…" Usagi shouted at the top of her lungs, comforted to hear one of her friends. She had a very bad day.
"Ouch, Usagi! Please slow down! I'm still OK. Are you all right?" Rei replied.
Usagi sighed in relief. "Oh, I'm a bit lonely here, in our quarters… No one showed up. I can't reach Makoto, her scouter is off. Ami is still with Tarble and Minako is playing some game. And you?"
Rei's voice was strangely wavering. "Hem… I have good news. The Babkians… it seems most of the population escaped by starship. We only fought against their army." She started to tell her.
Usagi was very happy! "Oh, this is good news! Those poor Babkians, I'm glad to hear that."
Rei gulped down hard. "And then, I was promoted court-seer by the King and challenged captain Nappa to a duel to the death. Cool eh?"
"Court seer? Nice! They will pay you for it or something… wait! You challenged that Nappa monster to a death duel? Are you mad? And you always tell me to keep a cool head! How could you do something so unwise? I can't tell you how this is…" Usagi could not believe her ears!
"Please, Usagi, It's not a big deal. I'm with Jean-san now and she says I have a chance. Please, come in the castle's plaza in an hour. We will think of something." Rei was clearly embarrassed but as always she kept her cool.
"OK, I'll contact the others. I'll tell them to be at the plaza in one hour. Don't do anything stupid! Please!" She sighed; scolding Rei was a new thing for her.
"Roger! Thank you Usagi-chan." She replied closing the connection.
Usagi punched feverishly her friend's codes on the scouter, finally reaching Makoto, then Minako and at last Ami. Having told them the bad news, she stood up, ready to go. Then her stomach growled. "Argh! I'm super hungry! No time to go to the mess hall!" She ransacked the quarters, finding some canned food. Emergency rations. Devouring everything in five minutes, she left the room.
Looking at the balcony at the end of the hall she had an idea. "The palace must be that building. It seems a castle. On foot I have no idea how to reach it so…" She jumped over!
Falling swiftly to the ground, she concentrated her power rocketing away at the last moment! "Hyaaaaaa!" She shouted skimming the ground. Gaining altitude she flew straight at the castle.
Crashing full speed on the walls of the training hall or slowly levitating around was not funny, but now, with all the sky at her disposal… "This is amazing! I'm really flying! Yaahoooooo!"
After a few seconds of flying she saw someone else in the sky. Changing course she managed to notice Minako flying happily. At the same time they were caught up by Ami and Tarble. "Hey, you too! You all learned to fly! This is wonderful! I feel great!" She shouted at them, her eyes sparkling in delight.
Minako laughed too. "You are right! Flying is great!" Ami nodded, composed as usual. Usagi could see her eyes glimmer with joy however, and she did not miss the way Tarble looked at her friend.
Finally making to the plaza they all landed gracefully, save Usagi. She plunged into the decorative bush head on! "Ouch! I've still to work on landings!" She told them sweat dropping.
Rei and Jean were already in the plaza. Her friend had changed clothing and was wearing a classy outfit. Jean sported a cape over her back like Maizen did. Working at the palace had some perks evidently.
They were shortly met by Makoto, running on the street. "Hey! You can all fly! I saw you overhead. That's not fair" The tall girl pouted, unaccustomed to be the slowest. Yet, flying scared her to death. "You must be careful Usagi; you could hurt yourself landing like that." She said while her friend was plucking twigs from her hair.
"There's no time to waste in platitudes kiddo!" Jean's voice startled them.
"Rei has a difficult duel scheduled for tomorrow morning. Nappa will definitely kill her, so we must think of something." She started, taking the lead.
"What do you suggest?" Asked Makoto, still suspicious of the Runner's motives.
Jean shrugged. "The simplest way would be 'almost' killing her a few times. Using a medical machine and hoping in zenkai she could become stronger…" The girls started to protest but she cut them short. "… But this would take time and it is too risky."
Makoto was starting to lose her temper. "And…?"
Sighing, Jean closed her eyes. "I'm going to use all of my remaining Karma. I can't see any other way. I'll give all of you the chance to find your real hidden strength!" She opened her eyes, and they were not human anymore! They were glowing, small swirling clouds of red and blue slowly rotating around white pupils.
Unearthly light shone from her, while small blue and red lightning crackled over her body. She started to speak, her voice having a metallic sound. "Who's first?"
Ami's Scouter Data.
- Recording. Planet Vegeta. Day 71.
I'll record here some interesting information on Saiyan physiology found in my scouter's memory banks. Could be useful. I must take care not to show this file to Usagi. She could be saddened by it. I was.
- File 19385792.Q037 – Saiyan physiology analysis.
Following the dissection of many specimens it was possible to discern several dissimilarities in anatomy, over simple size difference.
- Skin: Under the first strata of dead tissue a mesh of naturally occurring protein-carbon fibers appear to toughen the skin structure. It is very hard to puncture and endures impact but it has less resistance to cutting. My esteemed colleague could pierce the skin of the specimen easily with a laser scalpel. Normal blades must be applied with extreme strength to be useful.
- Muscle: The specimen was a male and his muscular structure was impressive. It was reinforced by the same carbon filaments found in the skin. Only, this time the mesh was three dimensional and appeared to be bound to the muscle fibers. This can enhance muscle power as the filaments can be tightened at the same time of the muscles. Thus the average Saiyan can press several times his weight over his head.
- Skeleton: The specimen's skeleton was damaged by weapon fire, but we were able to study it nonetheless. Saiyan osteoblasts are responsible for the extremely advanced composite structure of the skeleton. They are capable of generating five different tissue types, from the normal calcium bone structure to advanced carbon filaments and three kinds of bridging fibers. One absorbs impacts, the second is highly elastic and the third seems capable of repairing itself at a very high rate.
- Circulatory system: The Saiyan's circulatory system is surprisingly normal. The only remarkable differences are the capability to close rapidly any ruptured blood vessel and the already analyzed muscle structure of the heart, obviously superior to ours. We preserved the specimen's heart in a stasis jar to study it in deeper detail later. See pulmonary system.
- Pulmonary system: Again, the only difference we could find was really in the blood. The Saiyan's red cells are more advanced than ours, thanks to a different and extraordinarily complex hemoglobin with 144 globin chains! This protein can transport oxygen much more efficiently than the normal hemoglobin in our bodies and can work even in poisoned air for a short time. The blood clots rapidly once out of the body, even in stasis, so we had to drain five specimens to study it.
- Nervous system: The Saiyan's nervous system was found to be fairly normal in structure. A disproportionate part of the brain is devoted to hand-eye and full motor coordination. The system incorporates special carbon filaments over myelin sheaths. However a higher than normal number of Glial cells was found, in a 2:1 proportion over neurons. These cells constantly rebuild the neuron pathways every time they are damaged. We think they are responsible for the Zenkai effect (see file #39091247-K613). The Glial cells surviving a damaged area 'memorize' the effect that was responsible for the damage and react secreting stimulants for the rebuilding of an improved cell structure. They also modify the nervous system to be able to cope with high speed movements and impacts. We suggest to test the Zenkai effect on the new specimens taken form the Galangal reservation the last week.
- Senses: Saiyans have the normal five senses we all have. Their sense of smell is highly effective, on par with most hunting animals in the northern forests. Touch, Eyesight, Taste and Hearing are normal.
- Tail: Information secreted by request of the Royal Tsufuru Bureau of Defense.
- Unexpected end of file.