I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the rights to any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.
Chapter 32: Copy
Kati shuddered in nervous fear, wanting to reach for another gadget but too afraid to move. To her, there was something different about this boy, something incredibly vicious.
"We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. At the moment, I don't really care which one. I doubt I need to remind you which one hurts more!" Verto said, his frown deepening.
"Where's the baby?" Kati asked instead.
"Nice dodge attempt, but it's too late for that. If you must know, she's somewhere safe, far away from you!" Verto replied.
"Where, the Son's?"
"It isn't any of your concern, so I suggest you get off that subject and back to the one we we're on. The lab, now!" Kati didn't answer, but she did nervously stare at Verto's bright blue sword.
"Fine, if you don't want to tell me, you can tell Vegeta," Verto threatened.
"No, I'm afraid he won't be able to help you," Kati said as calmly as she could. Deep down she was terrified, and only the knowledge that the kid's allies were trapped kept her brave.
"Really? You think that a virtual reality version of a hologram is going to take care of him? Maybe you should have studied us a little more," Verto smirked for a moment.
"Stupid brat, Kain will kill off all three of them!" Kati retorted.
"We'll see about that. In fact, let's go address that issue now since you won't tell me where the lab is," Verto growled as he roughly shoved Kati into the hallway, sword barely a foot away from her back.
"I won't shut down the program and not even a freakish kid like you can force me," Kati claimed in defiance.
"You're one to talk about freaks, Miss Mutation," Verto snorted.
"Yes, I would know, because I used to look like one and was treated like one. Not anymore, and we're also sick of your kind! We're taking back the planet from you aliens!" Kati declared.
"We've been protecting this planet; if people like Goku or Vegeta didn't come here long ago, Earth wouldn't be here. I've got news for you; being different is not a sin. What you choose to do with a particular gift can be. If you want a good example of what not to do, keep insulting me and the others, see what happens," Verto warned.
"What are you going to do, turn into a smelly little monkey and try to scare me?" Kati dared to ask. She was promptly screaming at the top of her lungs as Verto's Psi storm surged through her for the next few seconds. He let up once her legs gave out, and gave her the death glare of ages.
"You copied Bulma's appearance and nearly everything else, good for you. But you clearly didn't get her brain; otherwise you wouldn't be stupid enough to push your luck, especially not with me! Don't test my patience again," Verto snarled angrily. Kati's had slumped to her hands and knees by now, and her figure was slowly changing. Her hair turned back to brown and the rest of her body sagged out of the shape of Bulma's fortunate form. She didn't look hideous to Verto by any means, but it was a downgrade to average. Her eyes turned more of a hazel color, and her nose lengthened just a bit.
"What did you do to me?" she asked as she panted a bit.
"When I get angry, I tend to throw any moral rulebooks out the window. You already saw one idiot take that trip, so if you value anything in your life, don't push it," Verto growled again. Kati stared at her hands and body in disbelief before glancing back, her face full of dread and threatening to pour tears. Verto's glare softened a bit when he saw her face, it wasn't magazine cover material anymore. Her cheeks were littered with heavy and wrinkled scars, likely left by a bad skin condition, major surgery, or abuse. She pouted just slightly, but only wiped a few drops of salt water before settling down a bit.
"So what's that from?" Verto asked.
"Why do you care?" Kati shouted at him.
"You can choose to believe this or ignore it. Despite what just happened, I do have a heart and a conscience. I said I throw the rulebook out the window when I'm mad, that doesn't mean it won't come back," Verto replied calmly.
Kati stared at the ground again, "Birth defect. Daddy did everything he could to help, but it wasn't quite enough when I was little. When I got my ability, I was so happy. No more ugly Kati, in fact, no more Kati at all if I wished. I wouldn't ever be the freak of the school again!" Kati explained.
"Touching. You can switch back to something more comfortable if you want, but you're going to help me," Verto added.
"Why should I?" Kati cried out.
"Because I likely gave you that ability," Verto claimed.
"No you didn't; my father gave it to me through one of his experiments!" Kati countered.
"Or maybe that's what he led you to believe. Over a year ago, during the last world's martial arts tournament, we fought a horrible monster. You may or may not remember that timeframe, but it happened. Anyway, my friend's deepest power was awakened during that time, and eventually so was mine. Between that time and the Zerg war, we couldn't control all of it. Even now that we've gotten control of it, any sort of contact with others can have lingering effects. During the first battle with the Zerg, I was very close to North City. This was also the case later when the Protoss got involved. But bear this in mind, my friend and I haven't needed to be near people for a mutation to happen. When did you first discover your shape shifting ability?" Verto asked.
Kati's eyes grew in slight surprise, "It happened right after the Zerg left. But I can't change shapes at will, it's more of a copycat thing. I have to touch the person I'm copying. Can I show you?" Verto hesitated for a brief moment, but held out his left hand. Kati cautiously grabbed a hold of it and her body glowed a dimly blue. She started to shrink within a few seconds as her clothes became very baggy. Her hair turned black and spiked up slowly as her face seemed to heal and then narrow along the jaw line. Her body became dense and muscular, and nearly every feminine curve vanished. It was Verto's turn to stare in awe, as she became his mirror image, minus the clothes and lipstick. Only a few things remained different however, some of his body scarring was gone. The copied version had black eyes and skin that looked unscathed.
"Impressive. Not completely foolproof, but still very good," Verto said in honesty. Kati frowned deeply as she stared back.
"What?" Verto asked.
"Your memories, they're so sad," Kati remarked.
"You can read minds too?"
"No. Only some of the stronger memories of whomever I copy, I don't get the whole picture. And, we've been wrong about you. I can see it now," Kati admitted.
"Glad to know that. When you take someone's identity, can you use their abilities as well?"
Kati shook her head, "No, only the physical attributes appear to be fully copied. Example: I might be as strong as you, but I have no real idea how to use your powers. And I can only hold the strong, emotional memories for a short time anyway," Kati explained.
"Fine, let's go," Verto said as he started towards the stairs.
"Go where?" Kati asked.
"Back to the lab. You're going to get my friends out of that program," Verto said sternly.
"I can't do that. You don't understand what my father is trying to do for the good of this world. Finally, we'll be able to fight back against all of the powerful evil aliens that attack us!" Kati claimed.
Verto frowned, "No, he's digging into a messy world that will be the death of him and many others. He tried to get us all killed before and now he's doing it again. We die, and this planet is doomed!"
"That's not what he told me. He said you and the others are the plague that is slowly rotting our world away. He's made contact with other aliens far away from here and they promised to leave us alone if all Saiyans are eliminated!" Kati argued.
Verto's eyes widened, "He didn't speak to anyone named Frost did he?"
Kati looked smug, mimicking Verto's smirk perfectly, "Yes actually. He's the leader of a grand alliance dedicated to fighting the Saiyan threat!"
"Where are you getting this information? Frost and all those like him are cold-blooded killers on a galactic scale. They blow up planets for fun!" Verto grumbled.
"You're wrong; he only wants to help us. Daddy trusts him, and anyone Daddy trusts I trust as well!" Kati said defiantly.
"You're both delusional then. Frost tried to wipe out this planet with a virus not long ago. Yeah, remember that one? If he cared one bit about you, we wouldn't be having this conversation!"
"He told us enough truth. He said that the Saiyans are a war driven race that does nothing but conquer!" Kati said.
"Really? If we're such a big threat that a power hungry alien from a million light years away wants to wipe us out; then why is this the only planet that we're on at all?" Verto asked. Kati attempted to answer, but stumbled with her words, unsure of how to respond.
"I'll answer that one as best as I can. It's because power hungry aliens like Frost wiped the Saiyans out years ago. There's only a few pure blooded Saiyans that even survived that particular genocide, and about half of them are still living along with a handful of hybrids. There may have been more, but it couldn't have been more than a hundred and that hasn't been truly confirmed. If you want specifics, Frost's father, Frieza, was responsible for destroying the Saiyan home world. I'm not trying to say that all Saiyans are innocent, we're not. But I can safely say that most of them have paid for their misdeeds with their lives," Verto explained in a sharp tone. Kati stared at the ground again as she slowly turned back into her own scarred body, filling her clothes out again. She reached into her pocket and retrieved the remote for the strange vapor, handing it to Verto.
"This is the control switch for the toxic gas, meant as a last resort," Kati said. Verto crushed it into meaningless pieces as Kati stood up and backed away a few steps.
"So does that mean you will trust us now?" Verto asked.
"No, but I'll trust you," Kati said.
"Alright, I'll hold you to that. I promise you won't be hurt. And if you help us undo everything, I'll do what I can to help you. Don't make me regret it," Verto said.
"I won't."
"Will you shutdown the program then?"
"I can try, but it will be difficult and time consuming. If Kain realizes what's happening, he may kill off their minds before we can stop him. We can't just pull the plug either," Kati said.
"Then let's get to it," Verto said, leading the way to the lab. Kati follows somewhat reluctantly, but catches up and walks side by side.
"Two other things: First, turn off that ki restrictor!" Verto demanded.
"But Vegeta will fry me!" Kati shrieked.
"I won't let him unless you give me a reason to. Second, what does that black crap do?"
"Not sure, I think I grabbed the wrong vial by mistake. I was supposed to be using a formula that would put everyone in a coma, but apparently it didn't work like I thought. The gas container looked right even though I didn't set it off, but the vial seemed different. I wonder if I accidentally grabbed that strange Chemical Z compound Daddy's been working with. How do you feel?" she asked.
"Fine, albeit a little pissed," Verto explained.
"Well, just don't cut my head off," Kati shrugged.
"So what is Chemical Z?" Verto asked. Kati was about to answer, but a loud alarm sounded from the lab, prompting both to run.
"Someone's flat lining, but who?" Kati called out as she reached the door. Verto was already there with a grim expression as he stood over the three motionless bodies. He was looking them over carefully until his head snapped over to one of the smaller Saiyans.
"It's Trunks, he's fading," Verto claimed as he lifted his hand to Trunks' head.
A rough tan fist smashed into Trunks, putting him into another wall. He fell a few feet and hit the ground hard, struggling to move as a pair of dark boots approached.
"The longer you resist, the greater the suffering will be," Kain reminded him.
"Stuff it jerk! My dad will kick your ass!" Trunks shouted up at him.
Kain turned his head to the side and chuckled, "If you say so." Trunks looked up to see his father being thrown into a truck, smashing through the windshield.
"Dad!" Vegeta groaned as he kicked out the driver's side door and crawled out. As he stood slightly hunched over, he attempted to pull some of the glass shards from his body.
"I suppose we can make this a little more fair now. None of you are in any condition to run very far," Kain noted. The two Kains flew together and become one again, and his eyes were set only on Vegeta, who was back down on one knee.
"Come now Vegeta, I know you are not finished yet!" Kain grinned as he brought one hand up. Vegeta had barely looked up before a red blast came flying at him. Vegeta's eyes shot open and he quickly jumped to the side just as the blast went sailing by and blew up the truck. Vegeta landed slightly off step on the curb. Kain fired another blast, aiming for the spot Vegeta was on. Vegeta jumped out of the way again, but was hit by concrete shrapnel from the blast impact. He became partially buried in rubble as Kain stepped a little closer, another shimmering red blast in his hand.
"Shall we finish it this time Vegeta? Or is there more you need to prove?" Kain asked. Vegeta didn't even flinch at his words.
Kain frowned, "So disappointing." Just as he was about to fire, Kain was struck from behind by a charging Goten, who drilled his head into Kain's back. Kain lost his blast and snarled as he turned around. Goten was rubbing his bruised forehead in surprised pain, completely open for attack. Kain drove his knee into Goten's jaw and then smacked his head harshly, sending Goten into the pavement very near Vegeta.
"Well now, how about I kill two for the price of one? What is the human phrase? Kill two birds with one stone? Physically impossible, but I will try my best!" Kain claimed. He lifted both hands above his head and started charging a big blast. Vegeta's eyes opened long enough to see it.
"Say goodbye!" Kain shouted as he fired. The blast was large enough and right on target to hit both Vegeta and Goten, as neither was in any condition to get out of the way. Suddenly though, a person appeared in front of the blast, ready to take it on.
Vegeta's eyes widened, "Trunks, no!" The blast slammed into Trunks, causing him to scream in agony as it detonated. The blinding light faded in moments, showing a battered Trunks with bloodied and ripped clothing. His whole body was smoking as he stood in place, shaking.
"N-no problem! I c-can t-t-take him!" Trunks groaned as he fell over.
Vegeta erupted out of the rubble, "Noooo!" He charged at Kain like a madman and punched him hard across the jaw. Kain only grinned before returning the blow, imbedding Vegeta into a building wall, several stories off the ground.
Kain slowly rose to look Vegeta in the eye, "Do not despair Vegeta, you will join your son very soon!" Vegeta winced as he stared at the ground, feeling defeat. His eyes opened a little wider when he realized that Trunks was gone. Kain apparently hadn't noticed this, as he continued to laugh at the prince's expense. Vegeta glared up at him, and spotted something racing towards them.
"So, you don't feel any pain, is that right?" Vegeta asked.
Kain nodded, "It is as I said. Without your energy you are nothing for me to worry about!"
Vegeta's smirk emerged full bloom, "That's about to be tested. And it isn't me you need to worry about!" Kain's eyes widened and he turned around. His body was promptly slashed in two by Verto's blue Psi sword. The two halves plummeted to the ground, both showing surprise.
"What the hell took you so long?" Vegeta growled.
"Getting Bulla to safety for one, saving your son's life for another. I had to assess the entire situation before I made a move. You said thirty minutes and that's exactly what you got!" Verto explained.
"Fine, now how do we get out of here?" Vegeta asked. Verto paused in thought, before shaking his head slightly.
"I thought maybe I could wake you all up like I did against that dream demon, but this isn't a dream world. I mean, technically you are awake, just not in your body. If that makes any sense," Verto pondered.
"No it doesn't; think of something else!" Vegeta barked.
"We distract him long enough for them to find a way to shut him down!" Verto replied simply.
"Them?" Vegeta asked, his eyebrow twitching dangerously.
"Trunks and that girl who impersonated Bulma."
Vegeta's explosion was immediate, "Are you out of your mind?"
"Actually, I'm thinking pretty clearly. I convinced her to see things my way for the time being. All her little gadgets have been dealt with. I didn't have time for much else, so take it or lose your mind in here!" Verto suggested. Vegeta grumbled in inaudible answer.
"Just look after Goten. Without any energy you won't be of any use!" Verto said. This drew a louder grumble before Vegeta began to climb down. Kain rose into the air, whole again and his attention completely on Verto.
"You know, somehow I am pleased that you showed up. It tells me that young Kati has likely failed her mission, but it is also very gratifying that I would get another fight with you!" Kain grinned.
Verto returned the look, "Why, so you can lose again? This time you don't have gravity in your favor either."
"I could change that," Kain warned.
"But I'm guessing that you won't. It may take up too much processing power. Does that mean you'll get dumber?"
Kain snarled, "You will pay for your arrogance. You are fortunate that this reality is based on rules. Rules I cannot change unless the system is shutdown completely with no one plugged in."
"Good, it'll be quick then. I still have to pay your creator a visit!" Verto claimed.
"Presumptuous brat!" Kain rushed at Verto, who glided away at a similar pace, sword in hand. Kain followed recklessly fast, and Verto grinned once he saw the opening. Verto stopped in mid air and Kain closed in much too fast to dodge the sword. Off went his head, and his body dropped to the ground again. Verto waited patiently for Kain to reappear, though the pause in the action gave Goten false hope.
"Yeah! He didn't stand a chance!" Goten celebrated. Suddenly, dozens of Kain copies appear through out the city streets, many of them in the air.
Verto chuckled at this, "Tell me, how good is your memory?"
"Perfect. I remember everything I am exposed to!" Kain replied. Verto lifted his sword into the air, reforming it into a spinning ball and charging it up with a lot more energy.
"Then let's see if you can avoid this attack. You didn't seem to have much luck last time!" Verto smirked. The many versions of Kain all grimaced just before a large, vast lightning burst shot out of the ball, enveloping most of the town. The many forms of Kain instantly became dust in the furious Psi Storm. In fact, only one survived the assault once Verto's Spirit Orb vanished, and only because he was rather close to Vegeta and Goten.
Verto landed before him, "Give up yet?"
Kain growled in frustration, "I was hoping I would not have to do this, but you leave me little choice!" he boasted.
"Do what?" Verto asked. Kain didn't answer, but cinched down like he was trying to power up. Instead, his whole body began to glow, and then began to swell in size. His height exploded to easily several hundred feet before it stopped. He was taller than most of the buildings in the whole town, easily making a ten-story tower look small.
"Now what will you do?" Kain roared.
"Cut you down to a more manageable size for one. I'll tell you the rest later!" Verto smiled.
"You are finished boy!" Kain declared.
"I can almost guarantee that I'm not. I'll even place a wager on this battle. I beat you, and you let us go! You beat me, well that's up to you," Verto offered.
Kain grinned, "Deal!"
"How do I know you'll keep your word?" Verto shouted up at the massive Kain.
"You do not. However I am not programmed to lie or deceive, and I will honor my word, assuming you can pull off a miracle!"
Verto grinned, "Please, it's what I do!"
A/N: For those wondering why I have stayed in third person view, it just flowed better that way. It's going to be mostly 3rd person from this point on. I will be switching to all third person once this saga is over anyway, so expect more of it. There will still be spots where I feel first person is warranted though.
WDG: Miracles don't exist. It's either possible or impossible, and the impossible can't be done. So I guess Kain will just have to lose… Though, a villain with a sense of honor is hard to come by. Somewhere inside I think it's a pity. :(
VB: I'll apologize now if he ends up an after thought…but for many of the masses it may not matter.