New Judgment

Chapter 7: Independence

To say that my "vacation" wasn't as enjoyable as I expected would be a criminal understatement. Though, at the same time, I'm glad that I was there to help stop Frieza, otherwise there might not have been a planet or family to come back to. Even so, the atmosphere for the next few days had been abysmal. It was comparable to that of John's family back in Planet Lulipa. Man, a full year later, and that day still haunted me…

I had calmed down after doing and saying all the things I did. I didn't regret any of what I said, especially not towards Vegeta, but I might have been unfair with Whis. After all, if he hadn't healed my wounds when he did, Frieza might have taken even more lives. Losing my brother, my friends, it was all a harrowing thought. And to be honest, I didn't really know much about Whis' higher ups anyways. The Grand Priest and Master Zeno… I knew of their existence, but what they did or even what they looked like remained a mystery to me. So for all I know, they could have even gone as far as erasing Whis if he broke the rules.

Despite my clouded mind, I needed to move on. We would revive dad with the Dragon Balls once they became active again in about eight months. Eight grueling months for all of us, my mom and Goten especially, but this wouldn't be the first occurrence of my dad's passing. I knew we'd get through this. Or… I hoped so, at least.

Whis and I were back in Beerus' home (who was still asleep…), trying to get in contact with the inhabitants of our next planet.

"Hmm… Oh! I believe we're getting a signal now."

The hologram from Whis' staff was showing a lot of static, but then it started forming a picture. We saw someone that looked sort of like an old scientist, similar to Dr. Brief from Capsule Corp. "Hehh?! I-It's working! Everyone, look, it's working!" He was very excited about something, too.

Several other people started coming into the screen. They all looked human-like, though some seemed like they belonged to a different species from others. Almost like… Nah, I was probably just delusional from all that had happened recently. "Umm… Hello! My name is Court, and we're just calling to let you kno—"

"What the—?! Oh no, the signal's falling!" The already ecstatic scientist was starting to freak out even more. The screen began showing static again. "Can y… me?! H…llo?! W…"

"Oh… It disconnected."

"That was weird… What's this planet called, again?"

"Hmm… I believe it doesn't have a name. It was thought to only be inhabited by wild creatures, but has recently been emitting radio signals. Those people we just saw might actually be stranded in there."

"Stranded?! We've gotta go help them, then!"

"As you wish." Tapping his staff on the ground, Whis and I set towards this unknown planet at full speed.

This was probably the strangest scenario we had encountered since I became a Goddess of Destruction. I said we should go help these people, but how exactly should we go about doing that? Maybe we could take them to another planet, or some kind of space station might be a viable choice. Then again, I didn't even know how many people there were. I'm sure the few that we saw in the hologram weren't representative of the whole population. What if it was an entire city's worth of people? Or maybe I was getting ahead of myself. We should meet them first before making any decisions.

The unknown planet became visible from a distance as we traveled through space. It was surprisingly mostly blue and green, just like Earth, but there were other colors mixed in as well. Even more impressive was the planet's ring, similar to Saturn's but with the key difference that it was divided into four sections of different colors: blue, green, yellow, and red. It was like a luminous beacon that stood out amongst all the neighboring planets. Whatever this planet's history was, it already seemed like one of the most beautiful places we had encoun—"Wha…? Hey! Why are you covering my eyes, Whis?"

"The moon in this planet is quite large. You wouldn't want to greet the populace looking like a big, scary monster, would you?"

"Oh… In that case, thanks."

"Though, maybe the Great Ape aesthetic would be more fitting for a Goddess of Destruction!"

"I'll pass…"

To avoid any unnecessary monkeying around, I had to keep my eyes covered until we entered the stratosphere. Thankfully it was daytime in the area we were headed for, so I could open my eyes again and—Whoa! This place was amazing! It was like a fantasy dreamland; the grass and trees were as vibrant as the springs on Mt. Paozu, the waters were clear as mirrors, the mountains formed incredible formations…! Even the animals were an exotic marvel, from gracious beasts that roamed the ground, to flying creatures akin to an explosion of colors, to—wait, hold on, dragons?! Yes! Dragons towering over the land, dominating the skies, overseeing the waters, everything! They were of all shapes and sizes, some similar to Shenron while others were a completely unique bunch. This was a spectacle that I'd never forget!

Something else I noticed, however, was the presence of crystals scattered across the land. They had the same colors as the planet's ring, and I noticed that certain colors appeared at or close to certain elements. Blue crystals were mostly around bodies of water, yellow crystals on solid ground, while green crystals were at the very top of the mountains or, heck, some of them were just floating! So they each represented a certain element… which made me wonder, what about red crystals? Well, I'm sure we'd encounter some of those sooner or later.

After flying for a while, we eventually reached the place where the signal came from. It looked like a camp with only a few tents made out of wood, stone, and other basic materials. As we approached, people started coming out of the tents.

"You weren't kidding, Whis. This doesn't really look like a proper town, so these people really may be stranded here."

"Heeeey! Over heeeere!" A skinny lady waved her arms calling for our attention.

Once we landed, the elderly scientist that we saw on the hologram came to meet us as well. "By the gods…! I don't believe it! It has been decades since we last saw another person!" Decades?! Wow, I guess there was more history to this than met the eye.

"Hello! I'm Court, and this is my assistant Whis. We came here as soon as we received the signal."

"Yes, of course! After many years, we were finally able to craft a communication device in hopes of getting in contact with another planet. You're the first ones to have answered." That confirmed our theory of them being stranded. "Oh, how awfully rude of me! My name is Professor Tano."

After Professor Tano introduced himself, the skinny lady that was waving at us followed suit. "It's nice to meet you! My name is Gine and…" Gine was surprised when she got a better look at my figure. "A… tail…?! You're a Saiyan?!"

It wasn't until she pointed this out that I noticed that she had a tail, too…! In fact, almost half of the people around us had tails! They were Saiyans! A small colony of Saiyans and another species, out in the middle of nowhere! This was a completely unexpected discovery.

"Y-You're a Saiyan, too! I-I thought they had all gone extinct after Frieza destroyed Planet Vegeta!"

"Most of us did, but not everyone. You see, before Frieza could destroy the planet, my late husband came to warn everyone to flee before it was too late. The majority simply thought that he was insane, but I believed him, of course."

Professor Tano spoke up. "Thanks to Mrs. Gine and Bardock, we were able to gather a group of Saiyans and Tuffles to board escape shuttles. We had no time to think of any specific planet to arrive, so we all picked the first habitable place that appeared on the computer and headed in its direction. And well, here we are. The escape shuttles only had enough fuel for one trip, so we've been stranded on this planet ever since."

"Tuffles, you say?" Whis was intrigued by this. "Were the Tuffles not eradicated by the Saiyans when the full moon appeared on the then Planet Plant? That's what the galactic records indicate."

"Once again, most of us were, but not everyone. As you can see, not all the Saiyans were vicious monsters. People like Mrs. On that night, Gine and other kind-hearted Saiyans took as many Tuffles as they could and put us in refuge. We had to stay hidden from the evil Saiyans for years, but the good Saiyans made sure to provide us with the best food and medicine they could find."

"It was the least we could do, seeing as our 'fellow' Saiyans had done terrible things to the innocent Tuffles." Gine said this with a hint of sadness in her voice. "All of us feel guilty for what the Tuffles went through, even if we all understand that it wasn't us specifically that wanted to harm them."

"We've gotten over our differences by now and we live in harmony, as we should have been from the beginning."

"But what about you, Court?" Gine shifted the attention to me. "I don't recall ever seeing you back on Vegeta. How did you escape?"

"Well, actually, I'm not a full-fledged Saiyan. I'm a hybrid between a Saiyan and an Earthling."

"A hybrid?" I heard a voice ask from our surrounding audience. When I turned to look, I saw a girl approach us in a… a wheelchair… She wore long and heavy clothes that covered most of her figure, likely to hide her… condition, though it was just too noticeable to conceive… Her entire right arm and right leg were… gone. I couldn't help but start wondering what horrible thing must have happened to put her in this bad a shape.

"O-Oh… A-Ah, yes, I'm a hybrid…"

"I'm a hybrid, too! My mother was a Saiyan and my father a Tuffle." Trying my best to ignore the obvious, I examined her physical appearance. She had a dark skin tone contrasted by her bright pink hair and eyes. It was almost like her color scheme was the opposite of mine. Her hair was wild and spiky like a Saiyan's, but it was said that all Saiyans had dark hair colors, so I guess the pink was where the Tuffle part came in. Her tail was hanging from the right handle of her wheelchair, suggesting that she used it as a replacement for her missing arm. She looked around my age, but then again Gine didn't look that much older, even though she was probably on her late 50's at least. Us Saiyans aged slowly.

"I… I-I see! W-Well, nice to meet you, umm…"

"Indi!"

"Indi, got it. S-So, umm… I don't want to sound rude, but…"

"You want to know what happened to my arm and leg, right?"

"A-Ah, that's…! I-It's OK, I don't want to make you uncomfortable!"

"No, no, it's fine. I've gotten used to it already… Sort of." I noticed that Professor Tano lowered his head at this. It was going to be a tragic story…

Indi's parents met during the night of the full moon when the evil Saiyans attacked the Tuffles. To put a long story short, Indi's mother transformed into a Great Ape to defend a medically ill male Tuffle from being killed by another Great Ape. She succeeded, but was heavily injured in the battle. Once she and the Tuffle were escorted to the refuge site, they spent several days on hospital beds lying side by side. Through countless conversations filled with mutual comforting, the two fell in love and became inseparable partners. However, because the Tuffle refuge was kept as a secret from the evil Saiyans, their relationship too had to remain a secret to the outside world.

Even with the risk of being found out, the two eventually had a baby, Indi. The three were a happy family, despite the deplorable conditions that they had to deal with due to their secretive engagement. However, as the years went on, the evil Saiyans grew suspicious of the whereabouts of Indi's father… To avoid the refuge's location from being discovered, he fled the site to be beside his wife and daughter and protect them in any way he could. The result was a massacre of the family, ending in the death of Indi's parents while Indi herself had been left for dead with gruesome injuries – the dismemberment of her arm and leg. Yet, through an immaculate miracle, she survived. Soon after the tragedy, Frieza began his attack on Planet Vegeta.

At a very young age, Indi had lost her parents, an arm and a leg, and her home. I… had difficulty processing just how much this poor girl had suffered… Losing my father a third time still had me in a daze, and every smile I had made since was just a mask to hide my sorrow. Yet here was Indi, having every right in the world to be swallowed by depression, but she chose to smile instead. And unlike mine, her smile was sincere. True to her Saiyan heritage, Indi was strong, possibly the strongest person I had ever met. But not in the way my dad would have described it, no… It was the strength that no amount of sparring sessions or weighted clothes could ever hope to achieve.

"I-Indi… I… I-I just don't know what to say… Other than… I'm sorry…"

"It's OK, really! There's no point dwelling in the past. What matters is that we're alive and working towards a brighter future."

"Still, what happened to you is too cruel…"

"Hihi, thanks, Court, I appreciate your concern. But really, I'm fii… Ngh—HRGHH….!"

"I-Indi?!" Without warning, Indi was put into excruciating pain! She held her only hand against her chest, almost as if she was having a heart attack! All the other residents watched in horror alongside me, except for Professor Tano – he took action instead. He reached into his lab coat and pulled out a leather glove, which I quickly noticed had a blue crystal attached to it, just like the ones Whis and I had seen on our way here. The Professor held his hand with the glove against Indi's chest, which emitted a light of the same color as the crystal. Soon after, Indi stopped shrieking in pain, falling unconscious back on her wheelchair. I simply stood in shock wondering what in the world I had just witnessed.

"Wh… W-W-What just happened…?! Is she OK?!"

Professor Tano looked back at me, putting his magic glove away. "This… is something Indi has been dealing with ever since she lost her limbs. An unbalance of blood circulation, combined with inheriting her father's feeble health, results in sporadic sanguineous attacks when we least expect them."

Gine continued. "They became more frequent and dangerous as Indi's body grew. It's only thanks to these Aether crystals that we can stop them." Though I did become mildly curious at the mention of "Aether," my full attention was still on Indi's condition. "However, I'm afraid we're unable to cure her…"

"We're unable to cure her yet." The Professor interrupted, sounding a bit desperate in the process. "I'll find a cure… I don't care what I have to do, but… I promised her." With those words, Professor Tano took Indi into one of the tents, probably where he had his science equipment. The atmosphere was overtaken by a hopeless silence, as I continued deep in thought trying to process all the information I had just received.

When things settled down, Gine took me into her tent to fill me in on the many questions I had. Whis, as always, went on to explore the rest of the planet, off in his own little world. Gine offered me some food, primarily composed of several different animal meats. Even though I was a Saiyan, my appetite refused to eat in the wild manner I usually would. I still couldn't (and felt like I shouldn't) stop thinking about Indi.

Nonetheless, I did learn more about the planet and its alien visitors. Since no official name was on record for it, the Saiyans and Tuffles agreed to call it "Planet Aether." "Aether" was the energy contained within the magic crystals scattered throughout the entire world, and as I deduced, it was connected to different elements. All of this Aether came from the planet's ring, which was dense enough to adorn the skies even during broad daylight. The dragons that lived here had the ability to harness Aether, and as such evolved in accordance to their respective elements. Even after decades of research, Professor Tano and the others had only gained minor understanding on how to channel the power of Aether, hence his otherwise-simple Water Aether glove being one of his most notorious inventions. Since blood was a liquid, the Water Aether allowed the Professor to control Indi's circulation when the attacks happened.

I was surprised when Gine told me that they had lived here in Planet Aether for decades now, at least 40 years in fact. In all that time, they never managed to build up a more suitable civilization? As it turns out, none of the Saiyans in here were particularly strong. In order to set up mining camps, they would need people that could hold off the dragons, but no one was capable of such a task. The dragons were not hostile but they were territorial, so expanding outside of the current area was a dangerous move. They had learned to hunt for the smaller creatures around here for food, and the Tuffles studied the patterns of the moon so they knew when it would be full, warning the Saiyans to stay indoors during those nights. All in all, it was a functional society… just not a very advanced one.

Though, going back to the topic of strong people, there was something I felt earlier but was in too much of a shock to bring up. When Indi had her blood spasm, I felt her ki momentarily rise tremendously from what it was previously, rivaling or even surpassing mine! How was this possible for someone that was so incapacitated? I had to mention this to Gine.

"Hey, Gine? I was wondering, are you able to sense ki?"

"Ki? You mean like power levels? I thought you could only do that with a scouter…"

"If you train, you can learn how to read it with your mind."

"Really? That's impressive. But… why are you bringing this up?"

"Well, it's because I felt Indi's ki rise up like crazy back when she had that attack."

"It did? Wow, I had no idea…"

"Yeah, so, do you know anything about that? Was she a strong fighter before the incident happened?"

"Not that I'm aware of… But maybe… It might be her Saiyan ability to come back stronger after recovering from a deadly wound. Since, well… she's constantly on the brink of death…" Though my question was answered, I felt like that last statement was a sign to drop the conversation. Not for Gine, however. "And… it truly is a shame if what you're saying is true…"

"Hmm…? W-What do you mean, Gine?"

"Ehh… You see, Court… Indi… may not be able to live for much longer…"

"W-What…?! B-But why?!"

"Her condition has been getting worse throughout her entire life, and we fear that it'll soon reach a point where not even Aether will be able to save her. That's why Professor Tano was so upset, because he knows that if he doesn't find a cure soon… it'll be too late."

"N-No…! Isn't there anything we can do?!"

"Believe me, if there was, we would have done it a long time ago. But with how limited our resources are we just can't…"

"… I'll save her."

"Court?"

"I know someone who can help her. Whatever they need me to do, I'll do it. But I refuse to let Indi die."

"A-Are you sure? What if you have to put yourself in danger or—"

"Gine. I'm going to save Indi. No matter what, I'll do it. I promise."

Author's Note: The revival of the Saiyans has always been a hot and interesting topic to engage into in the Dragon Ball community. Super seems to be alluding to it with Universe 6's Saiyans, but while that is a subject I will touch in the future, I wanted to do something interesting with Universe 7's presumably extinct Saiyans. The Tuffles were also a nice touch to spice things up a bit.

There's something else that's key about the revival of the Saiyans, though. If you told me that Saiyans were a horrible species of bloodthirsty savages that only meant chaos for the universe, and I looked at the calendar and the year was between the 90's and mid 2000's, I would agree with you. I'd be like "yeah, Saiyans were terrible! One or two might have been alright, but I'm glad they're all dead!" But if you tell me the same thing now in 2017, I will look at you and ask you to give me whatever you're smoking. Saiyans are not evil anymore, not commercially.

It started with Tarble being a happy-go-lucky Saiyan back in "Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return" in 2008. Then, several DBZ video games since have added their own Saiyans, and they're always a hero. Ultimate Tenkaichi revolved around a Saiyan hero; Dragon Ball Heroes constantly advertises Beat and Note as Saiyan heroes, as well as their other companions; Xenoverse allows you to save history as a Saiyan; and Dragon Ball Fusions is in a similar spot to Xenoverse. Then there was Gine being a notoriously kind-hearted Saiyan, but if you look back at the manga where she debuts, you may notice that some of the other Saiyans on the panels look pretty harmless as well. Let's not forget that the Super Saiyan God transformation requires six pure-hearted Saiyans specifically. And now, we have Cabba telling us that Universe 6's Saiyans are defenders of the universe. Bottom line is, Dragon Ball has been advertising Saiyans as good guys for quite a while now, and since I like happy stories, I'm sticking with that mentality.

Finally, I'm still no good with textually describing a character's appearance. So, I'm going to draw a picture of Indi by the next chapter I upload. I'll put a note on it to let you know where to check her out.