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 105: The Last Hive
Verto flew alongside the Alt-Z fighters along with Lenz, Laysh, Trunks and Goku. The lands below were covered in large fissures and blast craters, obvious signs of battles that had gone on. There was not one sign of life between Korin Tower and their destination, which was far to the north and east. Judging by the distance traveled, Verto guessed that they were headed to an area between North and East City, but he wasn't for sure. Where he would have expected a temperature drop, he didn't receive one, likely due to a few open lava pools spewing their heat into the atmosphere. The entire group was stone cold silent for most of the flight, with the brief exception of Goku's stomach. His counterpart's innards were making the same sound, but he was ignoring it a little easier as he was at least able to fly on his own. It wasn't until Verto spotted a large structure ahead that anyone even spoke. "That's it up there," Alt-Gohan pointed out. It appeared to be a clear dome that covered a large city below it, one that actually had grass and plants growing inside. The outside was a heavily fortified and very tall white-gold wall, covered in bloodstains that had likely belonged to Zerg, judging by some of the corpse piles at the bottom. Along the top of the wall and all around it were stations that looked like gun turrets. When they were close enough to see them clearly, Verto recognized the design of the laser cannons that Bulma had invented before. These cannons looked like that had been both upgraded and mass-produced.
Looks like they weren't exaggerating about how crappy it's been here, Verto thought as they descended before a large gate.
Gohan approached it carefully and knocked three times before staring upwards at a camera, "It's us, please open the gate!"
"Yes sir!" a gruff voice answered.
Verto could only assume that it belonged to a leftover soldier, which was confirmed when the gate lifted enough to see. Beyond it a line of troops dressed in uniforms with Capsule Corp logos waited in a saluting pose. Verto took note as he passed under that the gate was only lifted enough to allow them all through before it dropped back down. Directly under the gate's looming shadow was a metal slot for it to fit into. Verto could tell that there was much more of that substance further down and he quickly realized what it was for.
This place was designed to keep Zerg out, including the ones that burrow. Even if they were under the influence of the Overmind, they still fought off the Zerg. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but if what Gohan said was true, while that thing was controlling them to an extent, it may have been increasing their strength through constant fighting. Inside, Verto initially saw what he would expect to see on the outer edges of a military base. There were obvious training areas, weapons stations, barracks, alarm systems, and once again, the gun turrets. As far as he could tell, these stations covered the perimeter of the dome, which extended quite a bit further than he thought it did.
"Um, how many people live here?" Verto asked.
Bardock glanced down at him, "Around nine thousand seven hundred, give or take a few. They are the survivors, the rest of the population is gone." Verto grimaced slightly as he continued to look around.
"Does that number surprise you boy?" Vegeta grumbled.
"I'd be lying if I said no, but I honestly wasn't sure how many to expect," Verto replied.
"After all the crap we've been through with you and the Zerg, it's a miracle to even have this place to fall back on," Bardock muttered with his back turned.
"Father, that was rude," Alt-Goku scolded as he drew Bardock's glare momentarily.
They faced off for a few seconds before Verto shook it off, "Don't worry about it, I didn't expect a warm reception."
"That's good, most of these people remember you," Tien said from behind. Verto shifted his eyes from side to side, noticing several surprised and fearful gazes coming his way. As they began to pass through a residential area filled with Capsule houses, many of the open doors and windows slammed shut quickly. Soon after, Verto started hearing the murmurs and whispers coming from random directions.
"Oh my god, it's him!"
"How could they let that thing back in? After what he did to the Son family!"
"I'm sure it's for a good reason, otherwise I'm sure Mister Gohan wouldn't allow it."
"I hope they give him the chair!"
"Yeah, and I hope they let us watch, just to know he's gone for sure this time!"
"Traitor, I hope you fry!"
Verto did his best to shut out the voices of anger being directed towards him, but it wasn't easy. Lenz began locating each person that said anything hateful, as if she were marking off targets. Laysh didn't really care either way, but it did make her a little anxious. The anger towards Verto seemed to ease when they spotted Goku, or rather, both versions of him. Once they were past the initial resident area, Verto noticed an even larger Capsule Corp dome than he could have expected, easily passing the thirty story mark. All around it was a huge meadow of trees, each of which were still quite young but appeared to be growing well. A single concrete path paved the way between them, straight to the building. The entrance door was twice as wide as a standard double-door, signaling that if needed it could handle several people going through at once. Probably need it that wide in case they need to evacuate. I can't imagine that they got this place set up very quickly. The doors swung open seemingly automatically when Gohan stepped up to them, revealing several familiar people waiting inside. Unfortunately for Verto, none of them smiled upon seeing him, nor did he expect them too.
"What the hell is he doing here? How is he alive anyway? This is another Zerg trick isn't it?" Yamcha shouted. Verto stopped well before he could get to the entrance, just to allow anyone inside some breathing room before he got within attack range.
"Relax Yamcha, this is the Verto from a different timeline, remember?" Gohan said to reassure him.
It didn't appear to work to well, "He better not think of trying to punch holes in anyone! Otherwise I'm gonna take care of him personally!"
Vegeta snorted, "I'd pay to see that."
"You shut up!" Once Yamcha stepped aside from his brief tirade, a blonde girl nearly Trunks and Verto's age poked her head out.
She wasn't there for long before she ran towards her mother, "Isn't that the bad guy Mom?" Verto didn't recognize the girl initially, but he didn't have any problem identifying Android Eighteen, who was giving him the cold, hard stare.
"Up to your room Marron," Eighteen ordered, not taking her eyes off Verto. Just as Marron had disappeared and most of the group had entered, a loud angry voice caused them to separate. Verto frowned a bit when Hercule Satan made his presence known, though his trademark afro had thinned out considerably.
"There you are, you murderous little bastard! You're gonna pay for hurting my daughter!" Satan declared as he charged out. Verto stood his ground as he made note of the power level coming from the former champion. It was much higher than he would have expected, indicating that he too had received some sort of training, but it was also too low to be much of a threat. When Satan flew at Verto with a punch ready, Verto didn't even bother to block it as it collided with his face, barely leaving a blemish. Laysh and Lenz both moved to assist when Satan backed off and prepared for another round, but Verto waved them off.
"Let him get it out of his system, everyone else had a turn so far today. Hurry it up, I won't fight back," Verto said as he crossed his arms and waited for the next one.
Satan paused in surprise, "You're letting me have a free shot?"
"If it makes you feel better, or until you realize that I didn't kill Videl. Take your pick," Verto offered. Satan acted as if he was going to follow through and attack again, but thought better of it before slumping his broad shoulders. A large brown dog ran out the door to his side, making a noticeable growl at Verto before sniffing the air slightly and calming down. Verto used his senses to scan the entire compound for a certain energy signal, but he didn't find it. If that's the same dog he had before, then the fat Majin Buu must also be gone. This world's Mister Satan doesn't have anything left.
Verto uncrossed his arms as he gave Satan a stern stare, but it softened soon after, "You know, Videl is still alive where I come from."
His statement had the desired effect as Satan perked up immediately, "She is? Well how's she doing?"
"She's due to walk down the aisle pretty soon," Verto replied.
Satan had genuine joy about his face for a moment, "I'm glad something went right." He then turned around and went inside without another word as the dog quickly followed and the others looked on with slight concern.
"Well that was cheerful, any other friends you made here kid?" Laysh whispered.
"Hey, it's not like it's his fault!" Lenz shouted back.
"That depends on your point of view doesn't it?" Laysh countered.
"Oh shut up, what do you know? You haven't been here that long!"
"Long enough to know when someone's presence is clearly not wanted. If you weren't so busy thinking up sick ways to get laid you'd probably notice too!"
"What did you say?"
Verto threw up his hands between them, "Enough! It's only natural that they'd be uncomfortable around me. If you have a guest room that's far away from everyone else, I'll take that one. That way everyone can sleep tonight."
All chatter ceased for a solid ten seconds before another familiar face popped out, "Everything alright out here?"
Lenz gasped at the slim man with glasses, brown hair plus a lab coat, and Verto responded by dropping into his stance, "Doctor Wheelo."
"Well I'm a doctor but I certainly don't go by that dreadful sounding name," the man replied.
Verto scowled, "I mean Cash, Flandal Cash right?"
"Yes that's me, do I know you?" Flandal Cash asked, unsure.
"All too well," Verto said in a threatening tone.
The others quickly realized that something was off before Alt-Goku stepped in, "It's alright Verto, this Doctor Cash is a good person. He's not at all like that other one that made himself into the big robot."
Verto didn't relax, "That one was quite misleading at first too."
Cash adjusted his glasses slightly, "Well I'll admit that I've always been interested in robotic technology, but I'm afraid you might have the wrong person, Verto is it? We have our hands full enough with the Zerg and our own survival as a species. I'm afraid I don't have time or the motivation to play mad scientist. Good day."
Lenz nervously edged towards Verto to whisper in his ear, "I really don't want to stay here."
"What's wrong girl, you scared of that little man?" Laysh mocked.
"In our timeline, he caused us plenty of problems," Verto answered for her.
"Hmph, to think that weak human gave you any cause for concern," Laysh muttered as she turned away.
"Are you three coming or not, my meal is getting cold!" Vegeta roared at them.
"Maybe it'll be best if we keep everyone from the different timelines separated. We're clearly not going to be comfortable around each other," Alt-Trunks suggested.
"That's so stupid, can't you get past any sort of revenge feelings?" the smaller Trunks asked.
"If you had scanned all their memories of Verto, you'd understand their pain a little better. I figured you'd know enough since you saw what I remember of that terrible night," Alt-Trunks pointed out.
Verto's eyebrow shot into the air, "Memory scan?" Another sharp gasp hit the air, most notable from both versions of Trunks.
"I take it you didn't tell them yet?" Alt-Trunks asked the younger.
"No, only Gohan knew," Trunks rasped.
"Your special ability I take it?" Verto asked as he deduced it quickly.
"Both of us, I taught him how to control it while he's been here. He was going to tell you eventually I'm sure," Alt-Trunks remarked, giving his younger self an eyeful.
"Be sure to tell your parents when we get back, that is need to know information. As for your suggestion, I think that would be a good idea to give each other plenty of space for the night. I don't plan to stay any longer than that," Verto said as he stepped on by.
All of the Saiyans in the group moved into the right hallway once inside, towards where the smell of food was coming from. Other than some minor chatter between the two Goku's, not much was said. Most of the alternate Z fighters kept stealing glances at Verto, who pretended not to notice. At least a dozen chefs and waiting staff were scrambling around a large table filled with copious amounts of food, trying to get everything set before anyone walked in. That all ceased when they saw Goku enter, along with the other one.
"Oh my god he's back, and there's two of him! Tell the chefs to keep cooking, do not stop!" the lead waiter cried out.
Verto allowed himself to smirk for a moment, "Someone's popular."
As one could expect, anyone that stopped to marvel at the lack of table manners were quickly reminded to bring in the next dish. Verto ate quite a bit more slowly than anyone else in the room, keeping his dinner down to only a few helpings compared to everyone else. He was quite bothered by the wide berth everyone besides Lenz and Laysh were giving him, even if he did understand why. More than once he considered leaving the table early, but decided against it. In the middle of it all, Bulma entered the room and nearly dropped her own plate when she spotted Verto. He couldn't hear what Vegeta whispered to her, but he had a good idea when she sat down at slight ease next to her husband.
Once the last tasty morsel was devoured, Vegeta cleared his throat, "Boy, I think I speak for everyone when I say that we've made our, feelings, about you clear. I want you to tell us your side of things. Tell us what has transpired from the day these Protoss aliens showed up till you came here."
Verto glanced at him warily, "I figured you would have weeded all of that out of Trunks by now."
"If I wanted to hear it from Trunks, I would have asked him. Repay some of our generosity with some of your own," Vegeta said in an eerily calm voice that demanded attention.
Verto grimaced slightly, Depends on what you call generous. I guess if it'll get them off my case…
Verto yawned loudly as he slowly woke from his six hour slumber. It had been almost a full day and a half since he had any real sleep and he welcomed the chance to relax, even if it wasn't for very long. It probably would have come sooner if he hadn't spent half of the night reciting some of his adventures with the alternate Z-fighters. Most of the highlights included his time with the Zerg, the Protoss and then of course how the Overmind was eventually killed. They disputed some of what he mentioned about Kerrigan helping him through the ordeal, claiming she would only do that if it had her best interests. Verto took note of that and moved on though, trying not to linger too much nor argue about the differences in the timelines. He intentionally skipped some of what had happened during his stay in the afterlife, giving Lenz and Goku the go ahead to mention how they ran into Frost since he hadn't been present the first few times. Vegeta was ultra curious about the dealings with the Renegade Saiyans, but he himself said that he had made sure that the Frost of this world was already gone, which eliminated at least the Rotian hybrids. They were all on the edge of their seat when Verto explained how Vang had come into their lives, but they understood it well. It had gotten most of them to lighten up though, which saved him a few more angry staring contests. One that hadn't subsided though was the one between Lenz and Laysh, though most of that had been from the former.
Lenz had made sure that she and Verto had gotten the same room, but was thwarted when Laysh had demanded that her bed be there as well. Judging by the smirk that Laysh had given as she literally moved in, she was doing her best to make Lenz as jealous as possible for her own amusement. Lenz went out of her way to stay between them both, even though the bed that Verto took was on the opposite side of the room from Laysh's. Even with his sleepy eyes, he could tell that Lenz had literally stayed on her guard all night while Laysh slept quite easily. Verto shook his head slightly at this prospect before he sensed a presence outside the door. He recognized it as Bardock's immediately, but there was a much lower one approaching. A light tap on the door prompted Verto to open it, only to be greeted by Alt-Bulma, whom Verto didn't expect to see.
In her hands was a teal-green uniform as she held it out to him, "Your outfit was all torn up, and Trunks said you liked this color now."
Verto took the new clothes from her carefully, "Thanks, but didn't you guys all hate me to death until yesterday?"
Bulma sighed heavily, "We may have all been under the Overmind's influence, but it's not like we completely hated you the entire time. And some of that was my fault anyway. If it wasn't for me, we wouldn't have gone along with what that demon did to our Goku."
"How so?" Verto asked.
"I came up with what I thought was a water purification solution to clear all the world's water of toxins. What I didn't know was that the Overmind's blood had tainted even the cleanest water and that no technology would easily drive it out. It took about a year before any of us noticed and of course it was already too late. All in all, I underestimated the Zerg and we all paid for it," Bulma replied sadly.
Verto set his new set of clothes aside, "I'm surprised that thing let you have any sort of free will."
"Yeah, you and me both. Come see me later if you have time," Bulma said as she turned to leave.
Bardock then came into the doorway, "Hurry up and dress. We're leaving to finish off the Zerg in a few minutes." Verto nodded and complied as Bardock left the area. He was about to wake the girls once dressed, but found he didn't need to as Laysh was already up.
Verto shook his head in dismay, "Didn't you get enough of watching me change last time?"
"Well it's not like it matters to me at your current age, although you didn't look half bad there when you were fighting my captain. Anyways, I'll come with you. I want to see more of these Zerg things up close before you wipe them out. And of course if you need the help while I'm still here," she offered.
Lenz was out of bed and in her face before another word was said, "Not without me, I don't want you trying anything tricky!"
"You really are that dumb aren't you?" Laysh snickered.
Lenz motioned like she was about to deck her, "You wanna go again?"
Verto rolled his eyes as he quickly changed clothes and left the room while they were still staring each other down. Ugh those two, I think I've seen this movie somewhere before...
Laysh and Lenz continued the stare off as they flew off over more wasteland to the south. Most of the Saiyans in the group had come along with the exception of Goku and Trunks. Verto felt it was overkill but he understood the caution. He smelled the stench of the Zerg long before they saw the purple creep that typically covered their infested areas. Laysh, who hadn't really had a chance to investigate anything during the previous battles before, had the classic look of surprise and confusion upon sensing them.
"What is that strange feeling they're giving off?" Laysh asked.
"The scattered feeling. It's how they always seem when you try to sense their energy. It'll be easier for you since you use Psionic energy often, but that also makes you a target. I don't suggest getting too close," Alt-Gohan said.
"Feels like I'm a magnet," Laysh muttered.
"Well don't get too used to it, these things have lived long enough!" Vegeta grumbled as they began to spot the hive cluster on the horizon. Within a minute of seeing the Zerg structures, the skies filled with flyers of all types coming towards them.
"What the? There's thousands of them!" Laysh exclaimed as the group came to a quick stop.
"We expected this. Bardock, Trunks, thin out the herd!" Vegeta ordered. The two Saiyans floated to the front and charged two Kamehameha Waves as they both turned Super Saiyan. The massive cloud of Zerg flyers never got close enough to attack before they were blown away while Alt-Trunks and Bardock swept the area with their wide energy beams. Once a majority of the flyers were gone, Vegeta took the lead again and they moved on. The ground below became extremely active as more and more Zerg un-burrowed themselves and followed the Saiyans on foot. So many came to the area that anything that was there originally was trampled or otherwise damaged by the large numbers of Zerg, specifically the bigger breeds.
Gohan's energy rose as he dropped towards the ground, "I've got these." He transformed to Super Mystic and plunged right into the pack, attracting their attention. A bright silver and green eruption of energy then spread out from his position as if a great explosion had gone off. As it passed through the Zerg, their bodies were literally ripped apart by Gohan's power.
Upon seeing this, Laysh felt relieved, "I'm surprised you guys had any problems with them."
"The individual Zerg by themselves are quite weak and simple to finish off, but when wave after wave of them start coming in it can become a problem if you're not careful. We've had enough experience to not let that happen," Bardock explained. Verto grimaced as the deaths of all the Zerg below made him a little nauseous. Lenz noticed it first, but wasn't the only one that did.
"What's wrong boy, have the deaths of all your little friends down there gotten to you that much?" Vegeta mocked. Verto gave him a sharp glare before setting his eyes straight and forward.
Despite his expression, he almost felt relieved. I guess I must still be sane if I can feel guilty about killing Zerg again. But I can't lose focus on what needs to be done. Upon sensing what was ahead, Verto detected a potent Psionic presence within the hive. He recognized it immediately and transformed to Super Mystic before flying ahead.
"Where the devil are you going boy, we do this together!" Vegeta shouted.
"You guys can handle surrounding them and not letting any escape as you work your way in. I have to speak to Kerrigan first, there's something I need to know," Verto called back.
"Be careful, she is not the same as you remember," Alt-Goku warned.
Vegeta growled a bit, "Try anything funny boy and you're dead!" Verto rolled his eyes slightly as he increased his speed drastically, arriving at the primary hive cluster quickly. It was quite a bit larger than what he would expect out of a standard Zerg hive, which was already huge to begin with. This one was easily four to five times bigger, and it had a rather large entryway that would easily allow the larger Zerg Ultralisks to walk in side by side. On the ground, Verto spotted several new Zerg species that he didn't recognize, but all of them certainly had his attention. Smaller ones were covered in sacs of green fluid and could roll around on the ground fairly easily. Verto didn't have to guess what their purpose was, it was somewhat obvious that they were basically living bombs of acid that he preferred not to get near. Another strain that he was uncertain about was a massive beast that even made the Ultralisk look a bit meek. It walked on a set of sharp talons for feet with large lobster like claws held up in the air. Judging by the size of its mouth and teeth, Verto guessed it could probably attack at range as well. A fact that was confirmed when it suddenly spat a volley of green at him, but missed when he flew up to avoid it. Verto charged his palms with energy and let loose a rapid barrage of green Chi blasts, massacring the new Zerg along with the old, sparing nothing. Explosions detonated all around the grounds of the hive cluster, sending blood and Zerg tissues flying everywhere as they burned. Once he had eliminated most of the groundlings nearby, he turned his full attention to the main hive structure itself.
"Come on out Kerrigan, I know you're in there!" Verto announced.
A loud and booming laugh struck the air with her voice, "Hahaha, look who's back. All things being equal, I can't say I expected to ever see you again, but things are not things are not equal are they?" With the sheer volume she spoke with, Verto couldn't be sure if she was just projecting her thoughts. The fact that the ground and air literally shook with her speech though revealed that she likely wasn't.
Verto frowned at the general lack of activity, "Do I have to tear this place down to get to you first?"
A large hand grasped the entryway as a pair of golden eyes came into view, "No need for that. I always come answer challenges personally!" Verto's jaw slipped and his eyes widened as the figure of Kerrigan came into view. It was just about everything he would come to expect from her with a slight deviation in skin color. It was her sheer size that threw him off as she barely fit through the huge entryway, taking her wing-like talons into account, which were easily the size of tree trunks.
Something's definitely not the same, she's as big as an Oozaru Great Ape, maybe bigger! Her energy level is also quite a bit larger, but something feels off about it. Kerrigan took one long step out, easily bridging the distance between them in one stride. Verto felt the need to glide backwards as her incredibly big body covered his field of vision.
He maneuvered upwards as he did so he could at least speak to her face, "And what the hell is this supposed to be? You can't tell me that you've actually turned into this."
The giant Kerrigan grinned wickedly as a few fangs easily two feet long came into view, "Your senses work well my tasty treat. This is an avatar I constructed for tricky situations like this when my minions aren't enough. My power is magnified through her nearly ten-fold! So you can't expect her to fall as easily as most Zerg. Now I'll squash you like the bug you are!" Kerrigan quickly reached towards Verto with her humongous hands, trying to grab a hold and squish him between. A green ball of light erupted as Verto spread his arms wide, forcing her hands away.
He didn't waste a moment and charged his right hand with a strong blast, intent on finishing the monstrosity quickly, "Final Shine!" Kerrigan's size proved to be a disadvantage as she had no chance to get out of the way, and the beam blew a sizable hole right through her chest. The giantess tumbled to the ground, smashing any remaining thing there and laid motionless. Verto folded his arms and descended closer to the ground, taking a long look at the wound and making sure she was finished. He still sensed plenty of energy active and charged up another Final Shine blast and aimed at her head. Just as he was about to fire, her eyes shot open and she lunged off the ground towards him. Verto was knocked away by the sudden charge and crashed into a bloodied Zerg creep colony. Kerrigan's hands lit up with orange colored energy as she fired a sizable blast at Verto's position. The small hut exploded from the sudden emergence of Verto's aura, which was enough to deflect Kerrigan's blast upwards harmlessly. When the debris scattered enough to fully reveal him, he had his arms drawn back and was preparing another powerful attack.
"Come here little worm, I'm going to eat you!" Kerrigan roared as she stepped towards him and bent down with her hands outstretched. Verto's eyes filled with malice, If that's how she wants it.
Verto powered up his blast considerably more before pushing it forward, "Super Galic Gun!" Just as Kerrigan's huge hands reached him, his blast made them vanish. The beam expanded to a large enough size to completely obliterate a majority of the giant's form before shooting into the skies and detonating. When the explosion and wind force faded, only a large, smoking pair of feet remained.
Verto stood up straight and sighed heavily, There's one big pain in the ass out of the way. Now where is the puppet master? Verto sensed that Kerrigan's energy had not faded completely, but it had moved from where her gigantic avatar had fallen, and it had weakened considerably.
"I'll reveal myself little boy. You bested my pet in combat and I won't be able to do anything about it until she is revived. Neither I nor my minions will attack you during our parley. You have my word," Kerrigan's voice said telepathically. Verto floated above the smoldering remains and flew towards the hive entryway, where he spotted a much smaller figure coming out to greet him. This time, it was the appropriate figure that he had expected, but the expression on her face read clear defeat.
"So, you come all the way here from a different timeline? May I ask you what the point is if you already defeated the Zerg before?" she asked first.
Verto's lip twitched a bit at the answer, "I didn't come here because I wanted to. There were a couple of threats that I needed to eliminate, and one of those is your former master the Overmind, no matter what form he was in."
Kerrigan sighed, "The Overmind hasn't been in control of the Zerg for quite a time, I have. The creature's blood poisoned the entire planet and your former friends here. In truth, I was waging a war against him as well as the Saiyans. They never realized that they were under his control until it was too late. However, I sense that he is no longer present on the planet. I highly doubt you were easily able to wipe his remnant from the deepest ocean, not without some sort of weapon."
"You could say that, I'm only here by request to help wipe the rest of you out," Verto said simply.
"I see, I hope you didn't expect to destroy me without a fight. You know fully well what I can do, don't you?" Kerrigan warned.
"I hope you don't think that you can beat me with your level of power. That giant avatar thing was a nice trick, but you'd need a lot more of them. Assuming that I'm the same Verto that you knew would be a mistake," Verto fired back.
"Yes, that is true. Still, I don't see the point of you bothering with the last remaining colony of Zerg. It's not like the other Saiyans couldn't have handled it if they were indeed cleansed," Kerrigan pointed out. Verto gave her a hard stare as she gave off her tone of defeat. At least she realizes she won't be getting out of this one.
Verto crossed his arms again, "I have a few questions first and you're likely the only one that can answer them. Even if you can't, it'll give me a good idea of why things went the way they did in my timeline."
Kerrigan was slightly taken aback by this, "Alright, I suppose I can spare the time."
"In the other timeline you helped me to overthrow the Overmind, you and the Cerebrate both did. You both undermined his authority and were not under his control completely, even though you pretended to be. I want to know why you would've done that. I realize it was different here, but just try to picture it," Verto said.
Kerrigan stared back, confused, "Which Cerebrate are you speaking of? Zasz, Daggoth? One of the others perhaps?"
"He didn't have a name, it was just Cerebrate," Verto replied.
Kerrigan shook her head, "All Cerebrates have names, even if they are unknown to outsiders. And as for undermining the Overmind's authority goes, if he was still alive in his full form, that couldn't have happened. I was never free of his full control at any time here until his primary body was destroyed. The same goes for Cerebrates and other Zerg. For any sort of rebellion to work, some other presence stronger than the Overmind's will would have had to take control of me, or disrupt his. If what you said is true, then it would have likely been done directly by some sort of possession. What kind of force would be able to do that, I have no idea."
Verto carefully thought that through, "Would that apply to a Cerebrate as well? Could it have also been controlled or possessed by another?"
Kerrigan rubbed her chin slightly, "In theory I suppose it's possible. I've never heard of it ever happening before now, but judging by the vivid memories of your mind, I can tell that you're not lying."
Verto scowled, "Stay out of my head. Next time you wait until I give you permission."
Kerrigan closed her eyes and smirked slightly, "You never did like that, even if it did make conversations easier. I'll save you the trouble of asking your next question though. I have seen that red-headed woman named Leira before, but I have no idea what she is, nor her story. If she is involved in these timeline shifts, then it's quite clear that she had something to do with how the other Kerrigan behaved."
Verto frowned at the thought probe again, but let it slide, "Thank you."
"Is that all?" Kerrigan asked.
"It's all I came here to know. I expect Gohan and the others will be here soon," Verto said as he turned around.
"I have no intention of waiting for my death. I wish you to make the killing blow," Kerrigan requested.
Verto gave her a stern stare, "Why? What would be the difference?"
"I'm tired Verto, I'm tired of this war that I can never win. I'm tired of being chained to this planet and to these things! Nothing I can do will convince the Saiyans that I'm no threat, certainly not after what happened. All I ever wanted was to live a standard life and I was forced into this one instead. I know if I continue on this path, I'll eventually go mad. Whether I could increase my powers to a point past your own is really irrelevant since it would take many more years than they'll allow me, especially now. And if anyone deserved getting killed by you, it was certainly me. Whether I was chained by the Overmind or not, I have regretted everything I've done, specifically to you. It was my digging and prodding that released the dark demon within you and for that we all paid dearly. End me now, or I promise I will never let you hear the end of it," Kerrigan demanded.
Verto thought it over briefly before he charged up another blast in his palm, "You're sure?"
Kerrigan nodded and closed her eyes, "Just make it quick. I know that you don't like to intentionally kill others, but you mustn't lose your hardened edge either. There's more to keeping yourself balanced than tipping to one side or the other. As for me, we've all suffered enough."
Verto grimly held up his palm and fired without another word. Kerrigan's form evaporated in the blast wave as it shot through the hive and exploded somewhere near the middle. Verto sighed heavily and took off into the air, hovering high above what remained of the hive cluster. He sensed the Zerg around him begin to frantically start attacking each other, acting on their base instincts without control. It wasn't difficult to sense the majority of the Zerg dying by blows of former comrades before they were systematically blown to pieces by the attacking Saiyans. He didn't have to wait long before Vegeta arrived with Laysh and Lenz, all of which looked very wary of what was going on.
"What happened boy? We sensed you were having a battle with a strong presence but now it's gone," Vegeta claimed.
"Those things are going crazy, they're killing each other now," Lenz said as she looked around.
"If you look hard enough you might find some remains. Kerrigan's dead, and because the Zerg no longer have any measure of control, they're killing each other. I'll leave you guys to clean up whatever is left," Verto said as he turned his back and flew away.
"Now wait just a damned minute!" Vegeta shouted at him, but he was already out of earshot. Laysh and Lenz quickly followed, taking note of the exasperated look on his face when they caught up.
Lenz was about to ask what had happened, but Laysh shook her head in warning, "Not worth it girl." The three of them remained silent on their way back to the sanctuary.
Verto didn't say another word until well after they had returned to the domed retreat for the Earth's remaining population. He ignored the people there despite their continued anxiety and hateful words. Only once he reached the primary building did he even relax enough to talk to Trunks, who greeted him at the door.
"How did it go?" Trunks asked, slightly excited.
"About as smooth as one could expect. The others are taking care of the rest of them," Verto replied.
Trunks shook his fists a bit, "Cool, can we go home now?"
Verto looked at him carefully, "As soon as I talk to Bulma, there's some things I need to know and I'm not sure your mother would cooperate."
Trunks' eyes narrowed, "What's that supposed to mean?"
Verto didn't feel like explaining what was on his mind and dodged the question, "It shouldn't take any more than an hour. You guys be ready by then, and let Goku know." Verto then turned away from Trunks, Laysh and Lenz as he locked onto Bulma's position and walked straight in that direction.
Laysh felt slightly shunned, "Well, that was rude."
"I wonder what he needs to talk to Mom…I mean the other Mom about? She didn't say anything to me that sounded any weirder than this place already is," Trunks mumbled. Lenz remained silent as she watched him go, concerned.
The deep frown on Verto's face scared the faculty that filled the halls, causing the stationed soldiers to consider aiming their weapons. He walked right on by as if they weren't even there though, reaching Alt-Bulma's position fairly quickly. She was going over some sort of computer pad in a conference room when he walked in, likely examining some sort of digital document.
She knew when he entered though, and sighed heavily, "I guess it's time." Verto took a seat at the other end of the table to at least not impose, but it didn't seem to be that effective.
"Well you said to come see you before we left. And I do have questions that the other Bulma probably won't answer," Verto said.
Bulma nodded, "It probably pertains to things you weren't supposed to know when you first got here. To be honest we didn't know much either until after the whole incident with Majin Buu. And I think it's safe to say the other Bulma knows more than I do."
Verto returned the nod, "Yeah I'd buy that. But first, did you know I was only half-Saiyan the whole time?"
Bulma was taken aback, "That wasn't what I expected to hear first. And to answer you directly, no. There were genetic markers that I noticed were more human than they were Saiyan, but they were inactive so I didn't think much of them. After all you were supposed to have come from a human body to begin with, but I knew something was off. I'm pretty sure there's no way any magic pill could have turned you into a kid, not without something like the Dragon Balls being involved."
Verto folded his arms, "Yeah I've never been too sure about that but I was blind at the time and bought it. Vang said that there was a body transfer involved and someone had switched me out, kinda like what Ginyu does. I don't think he was lying either."
Bulma grimaced slightly, "No probably not. Have you met the one called Leira yet in the other timeline?"
The scowl and sudden spark of energy that went off of Verto's hands answered her question before he could speak on the matter, "Don't remind me."
"Guess so. She first came here after you, I mean the other Verto, was already gone. She asked what all happened and then claimed that she would do what she could to change the timeline to a more favorable outcome. We knew there wasn't much she could do here given the experience we have with time travel, so we didn't get our hopes up too much. When she left, she warned us not to go through the rift her time travel device left behind. I guess she had used it too much and it became unstable so she had to leave it in that cave, which made that rift. She was extra thorough in telling us to not only don't go through there, but also to never try to blow it up or something. She wouldn't say why, but did claim that it wouldn't be good," Bulma explained.
Verto cocked his head slightly, "Wouldn't be good? As in the 'destroys the planet' type of not good?"
"Something like that, we never tested the theory," Bulma replied.
Verto's eyes widened as he stared at her, "So despite being under the Overmind's control, no one even tried to go through?"
"There was someone that came through from your side before Vang. I never saw him but the reports were that he looked a lot like my colleague Doctor Cash. He wasn't here very long and vanished without much of a trace. We assumed the Zerg got him," she replied.
"No, but we've taken care of that mess as far as I know," Verto said as he stared at the empty table in dismay. His mind wasn't on the events involving Wheelo though, Both worlds are connected by that rift. I had planned to make sure it was sealed when we came back through, but now that sounds like a really, really bad idea.
Bulma pulled something from her lab coat and set it on the table, "Anyway, this is what I called you here for."
Verto snapped out of his own thoughts for the moment, "What is that?"
"It's a microchip, one that is designed to fit under a person's skin and then they can be tracked all over the world," Bulma claimed.
"Oh, Goku mentioned something about this. He showed me what happened, can I guess the other me wanted no part of it?" Verto asked carefully.
Bulma sighed heavily again, "You could say that. He snapped during that argument and I think you know what happened afterwards."
"I understand the idea and that at the time, with the Zerg, you do need to know where everyone is so that they're safe. The part that concerns me is that if they did something other than track you, or if the technology fell into the wrong hands. It's a form of fascist control that I've never liked," Verto stated.
Bulma gasped a bit, "Oh no, they were only designed to track. You'd have to plant a special chip in the brain or spinal cord for something more. These fit just under the skin pretty much wherever. I usually chose the side of the leg or shoulder so they didn't impede anything. It wasn't a big deal, I doubt it would even cause mild skin irritation. This one here though presents a problem."
"Why's that?"
"I implanted everyone here with these chips, but it was entirely voluntary, I never forced these on anyone who didn't want them. I may have egged them on a bit for safety reasons, but even you understood that. When Trunks came here, I immediately realized that I shouldn't put one in him despite what Vegeta and the others were stressing. After all they can at least track his power level if it became a problem. However when I gave him a medical scan, I found this one in his neck. It came from your timeline and only the other Bulma could have made it," Bulma explained. The heated look that filled Verto's face gave her a nervous chill, but nothing came of it as he appeared to calm down just as quickly.
"Mind if I take that with me?" Verto asked.
Bulma nodded, "Certainly, just don't be too hard on them. After all, it's not like we didn't care, we did. Even after all that happened, I still consider you a second son. I imagine the other Bulma feels the same way, probably more so."
Verto's face was nearly emotionless, "Well that doesn't mean they need to hide shit from me. I'm not the type that enjoys being lied too." He turned to leave but turned back with one of his deep smirks, "But I'll try not to blow anything up, no promises."
Bulma gave him a slight wave, "Take care."
A/N: For those who have played SC2's campaign, then you should have had no problems following the elements I used in this chapter.
WDG: It's over nine thousaaaaand!
VB: Yes, yes it is.