Chapter Forty-eight - Shadows and Shades of Past and Mind, Part One
It was a tight fit, the cave entrance was even smaller than it had looked from a distance. Mitsuki wasn't sure what could possibly be inside the cave that the Kai thought could help them, either. But, she figured, if a Kai thought going into a cave would help, it probably would. So, on her hands her hands and knees, she crawled through the narrow opening, felt the jagged edges of the cave wall digging into her shoulders, and soon was engulfed in total darkness. No trace of the light outside could be seen, and she figured her own body was likely blocking it.
Still, she crawled on, waiting for the cave to start to expand. The first change she noticed was the ground, which had been hard rocky dirt, turning into something smooth and cold. She continued on a few more feet before her head hit something in front of her, blocking her path. It, too, was cold and smooth, and she realized it felt like metal. She pushed against the blockage and found it swung open easily, filling the tunnel with the glaring white light from beyond. Wincing from the sudden brightness she pulled herself out of the cave and climbed to her feet, and then froze.
Even with the glare making it difficult to see she could tell she was inside a room, what looked like a kitchen. A kitchen that she knew, that she remembered, that she had spent time in. A lot of time. Looking around she found everything just as it had been back then. Three stainless steel islands, one with a stove, one with a sink, and another covered in appliances. Pots, pans, and skillets hung from hooks over the islands. She stood on the farthest end, beside the last island, and looked behind her toward the cave she had just exited. But there was no cave, only the gapping stainless steel cupboard she'd hidden in hundreds of times as a little girl.
"What... is going on?" she wondered, turning on the spot and gazing all around. There was no sign of the others, the cupboard space was empty and the tunnel gone, and there was no way she could be where she was. The Earth had been destroyed over two months ago, completely obliterated. This kitchen, this building, no longer existed. So how in the hell was she here?
"Hello?" she called, walking toward the only door out of the kitchen. It, too, was stainless steel, and had a small round window at the top. No one answered and a moment later she reached the door. As a little girl, when she'd lived in this building, she'd had to fly up to look through that window. Now she was tall enough to see out it without problem. Peering through the small window she looked out into the hall but didn't see anyone. Carefully she pushed the door open and poked her head out, looking first one way down the hall and then the other. It appeared deserted, and she couldn't sense anyone, either. Though that didn't mean they weren't there and her novice sensing ability was simply missing them.
She was just about to step into the hall to continue exploring, to try and figure out if this really was where it seemed to be, when she suddenly heard voices down the hall to her left, coming from around the intersection. She ducked back inside the kitchen and pressed her back up against the wall, pushing her power level down as far as she could. She didn't want to be discovered until she knew more about what was going on. Just being here again, even if here wasn't where it seemed to be, had put a cold, hard, knot of fear in her gut.
"This is getting tedious." one of the voices was saying. It was male, and strangely familiar, but almost too muffled to hear, let alone place. "What is this, the third time this week? I am a soldier, not a babysitter. The old man should keep a better eye on the brat, lock her up when he's not using her, or chase her down himself when she disappears."
"Quiet, before someone hears you." said a female voice. She didn't recognize this one at all, though it sounded like they were getting closer. "Or do you want to get in trouble?" They were close enough now she could hear their feet clicking on the metal floor of the hall.
"Bah. He's just some stupid egghead. Nobody gives a shit."
"No, he's not. He's a future Master."
One set of footsteps stopped, then the second one a moment later. "What?" the man asked. "A Master? What the hell are they thinking!? He's a weakling, a wimp! I could snap every bone in his body with just my little finger!"
"I don't know for sure, but there's whispers about it. Apparently the Masters were really pleased with how well those two Cyborgs performed, the ones that got all of those base locations for us last month, so they've given him approval to make himself into a Cyborg as well. Supposedly he'll be stronger than Master Vegeta, maybe even Master Gohan, after that."
"That doesn't mean he'll be a Master." The footsteps started again, coming toward the kitchen.
"Maybe not, but why else let him get that much power? What would a scientist need with power like that of a Super Sai-jin if not for use as a Master?"
"Bah, that'll be the day." the man groaned. "An egghead as one of the leaders of the Sai-jin race, pah! Bad enough we've got Changelings as Masters, we don't need any damn Human brain cases. Especially ones that can't keep track of little brats."
"I know that voice." Mitsuki thought, eyes scrunched closed trying to place it, and trying to will the two individuals in the hall to keep walking and not stop in the kitchen for anything. "Where do I know it from? Why is it so familiar? And how am I here? This really does sound like it's the lab, but that's impossible." Her eyes snapped open a second later as she heard the kitchen door creak on its hinges. The two from the hall were coming in.
"I don't think it's the fact he's Human, or a scientist, that has you so riled up." said the woman, as the two of them entered the kitchen. "It's the fact you're not even being considered for a post on Saiya, let alone to be a Master. You're just jealous."
"What do you know?" the man growled, the door swinging shut behind them. They came to a stop a few feet in front of her, eyes scanning the room beyond them. Mitsuki held her breath and clenched her fists, ready for them to spot her and sound the alarm any second. Even so, she studied them from behind, hoping to see something she recognized about him. He had on a finned battle armor, brown padded with black plating. A standard guard's battle armor, putting his maximum power no higher than 50,000, but no less than 20,000. He also had on boots, fingerless gloves, and no body suit. His hair was black, long, thick, and unruly as only a Sai-jin's could be.
"What I should really do is 'accidentally' kill the kid, then I wont have to search this damn place for her anymore. I've never found her, you know. Not once. She always turns up somewhere, but never where I am. It'd be easier if our damned scouters would work in here, but no. All of that old man's crap screws up the readings unless you're right on top of the damn thing."
The woman chuckled. "Has she bruised your ego?" she asked. "Being able to elude you all this time?" Mitsuki took in her appearance then. She was wearing finned battle armor as well, sky blue padding and dark purple plating, marking her as an elite guard, with a power greater than 50,000 but less than 90,000. The woman had a black body suit on under it. Her hair was also black, and so spiky it looked like an oversized porcupine had fallen asleep on her head. Even though she still couldn't sense either of them their armors at least told her that, thanks to her recent training, she was much stronger than them if it came to fighting. Hopefully it didn't, it might attract others who were stronger than her.
The man didn't respond, just started off into the room and half-heartedly began to search it for whoever he was looking for. Though, Mitsuki was starting to think she had a pretty good idea who that was, not that it made the slightest bit of sense to her for it to be true. Of course, where she was made no sense, either. None of this did. Whatever was going on, wherever she was, she had to figure out how to get out and get back to the others.
"No, I'm just sick of this nonsense." he finally said with a frown. "I'm sick of being stuck on this backwater mud ball dealing with the weakling rats that call it home. If Kakkarotto hadn't been sent here as a child, and the King's mate hadn't come from here, this world wouldn't get so much leniency. We wouldn't care about this rock, or anyone on it, and the Masters wouldn't indulge this crackpot so much."
"Dr. Gero is far from a crackpot." said the woman. "The man is brilliant. And so is the Queen. They've both been putting the rest of the galaxy to shame for intelligence. Admit it, you're jealous. Jealous and mad about being ignored by the Masters."
Mitsuki's eyes squeezed shut at the mention of Gero's name. That confirmed she was right. Somehow, someway, she was back in the lab where she'd spent most of her early childhood. How, she didn't know. It had been destroyed along with the Earth, and before that, left a ruin by a resistance attack. It shouldn't be possible to be here, and yet here she was. "The question is, how do I get back?" she thought as she opened her eyes again. What she saw made her freeze, even her breath caught in her throat. The man was turning around to face his companion, who currently stood between her and him.
He'd see her for sure.
"Corna," he began. "I'm not..."
"Stop with the tough guy act. Don't bother trying to deny it, I know you too well for that. Though, perhaps 'jealous' was the wrong word to use. It's more a resentment at being relegated to insignificance and irrelevance, being trapped in the shadows of your father and brother. One a legend, the other legendary. Especially now, if the rumors are true, and he's surpassed Super Sai-jin and reached a second, even stronger, level. Which, if true, means he's stronger than the King now, the strongest in the galaxy. Probably the most powerful in the universe. And yet, here you are, on some hick planet that most of the galaxy barely even knows exists."
Mitsuki swallowed as she watched the man glare at the woman, somehow not noticing her presence. But it wasn't just the fear of being caught that had her staring, eyes round as saucers. It was realizing exactly who the man was, and the memories that came rushing back to her upon that discovery. It was Master Kakkarotto's brother, Raditz. Dead now for around twenty-five years, but the first guard that had been assigned to her as a child, before 19 took over that role. Not for her protection, not entirely, primarily to keep her in the Empire's custody. Her personal jailer during this time.
"How did I forget this?" she wondered. "Sure, I was only a little kid at the time, five or six I think, but still..."
"Go ahead, scowl." said Corna. "You know I'm right. You know that's why you're so indignant about Dr. Gero becoming a Master. Because your brother's one, possibly soon to be the greatest of them, and your father was perhaps the greatest Sai-jin to ever live. Hell, even your uncle's famous, albeit for betraying the Masters and joining up with Slug. Meanwhile you're all but ignored, just shoved aside into some nowhere post out of sight and out of mind. There's no reason to deny it, it's a perfectly natural and reasonable reaction to... what was that?"
Mitsuki had heard it as well. A soft thumping sound, from somewhere in the kitchen.
"Maybe it's finally my lucky day." Raditz said, starting off toward the sound. He'd only gone two steps before there was the sound of metal scraping against metal, another thump, and then a flash of blue hair as a little blue haired girl, about five years old, darted out into view, flying toward the door out of the room. "Ha, it's her! About damn time. I've got you, you little brat." Raditz said, charging after her. He was a lot faster than her and caught up with her before she'd even gotten halfway to the door.
"No, I don't want to go back!" the young Mitsuki yelled as he grabbed her by the arm. But no matter how much she fought, she couldn't get free. She wasn't anywhere near as strong as him. "Leg'o! Leg'o!"
"Shut up!"
Mitsuki scowled as she clenched her fists. While her younger self was no match for him, her present self was, and she no longer cared if they called for help. If they could even see her. She lunged down the aisle toward the Sai-jin, pulled back her arm to punch him in the face, and then attacked. Her swing sailed right through him and threw her off balance, nearly causing her to fly into one of the islands. Turning around she saw Raditz continuing on his way, the kicking and screaming younger version of herself still clutched in his hand, both acting as though nothing had happened.
"Is this not real?" she wondered, following after him. "An illusion of some sort?" It made sense, at least. More sense than actually being back in the labs, anyway. But it was also frustrating. While she could only vaguely remember Raditz being her guard she could clearly remember what he was taking her back to. More tests and experiments. Poking, prodding, and pain. And there was nothing she could do about it.
"What exactly is his interest in the kid?" Corna asked as the two Sai-jins left the kitchen.
"He's trying to 'unlock the potential of the Human race' which, if you ask me, is a waste of time. Humans are weak, pathetic, creatures."
"You have to admit, they do have decent potential." said Corna. "Nothing compared to we Sai-jins, but the top leaders of the Resistance are supposed to be somewhere in the forty to sixty thousand range now. Considering their starting powers, that's incredible."
Raditz snorted. "I suppose you have some point." he said. "Their Resistance leader is stronger than me, these days, and they start off pathetically weak."
"My point, exactly."
"You know, you're starting to sound like you admire them."
Corna shrugged. "The spirit they display, at least." she said. "Their drive and resolve. If we can ever get this world stabilized they might be made to be worth something. Young Master Gohan is extraordinarily powerful, stronger than even the King without the need of a second transformation."
Raditz scowled, but didn't say anything as he pushed open the door into Gero's main lab. As he opened the door he heard a voice that he immediately recognized as Vegeta's, and it brought him to a stop. Even the young girl in his grasp seemed to feel something in the air as she quit fighting and went silent. "We can have the majority of your equipment moved by the end of the year." Vegeta was saying.
"That's fine." Gero replied. "I still have several on going projects that need to be completed before I can move facilities."
"Speaking of, I saw your request for this 'Cell' project. It's an interesting proposition. Such a creature could be of considerable value as our reach expands further into the East and West Galaxies. I'm going to authorize it, but I'd like to know what DNA sources you intend to use."
"I was hoping for Human, Changeling, Sai-jin, and Namekian. The better the DNA sources, the better the outcome of the project, so preferably I'd like to have samples from Master Cold, Master Cooler, Master Kakkarotto, yourself, and General Piccolo. As well as the DNA samples 17 and 18 obtained of the resistance leaders Tien and Krillin during their mission."
Vegeta sighed. "You can use the Humans, and Cold and Cooler shouldn't be a problem." he said. "Cold will likely be interested in the project himself, and tell Cooler to help. As for Piccolo, I'll send him an order to give you what you need. I'll have to deny the request for mine and Kakkarotto's, however. Mine on fairly obvious grounds and Kakkarotto's due to the presence of a... genetic abnormality I don't care to see duplicated."
"Oh?"
"I'll fill you in on the details of that after you've completed your move here to Saiya. It's something I'd like you to investigate, anyway."
"Understood. Though I do still require Sai-jin DNA, and as I said, the better the source the better the result."
"I'll give you access to my father's DNA. If you really want a second source, I'll get a sample from Nappa. He's the current head of the Palace Guard."
"That will work." said Gero. "I wont be able to start on the project until I arrive on Saiya anyway. Now, as for the matter we discussed yesterday, I'm afraid I have bad news. I've gone over the reports that have been coming in since the incident and I can confirm that Shenron was summoned yesterday afternoon, just outside of West City. I can also confirm that it wasn't the Resistance. Based on the reports, I believe it was Slug and Turles. They now possess eternal youth as well. It would seem your suspicions were accurate."
"Damn them." Vegeta growled. "Cooler says they were feeding him false information for a while and then recently stopped reporting to him, too, but I'm not entirely sure I believe him. Either way, it's not..."
"Excuse me, Dr. Gero?" interrupted a mechanical sounding voice.
"19? What is it?" Gero asked.
"I am sorry to interrupt, but I have detected three powers standing in the door way."
Raditz stiffened up and glanced over at Corna, who looked as concerned as he felt. There was the soft click of shoes as Gero moved over toward the door.
"Who is it?" asked Vegeta. "And how long have they been there?"
"One of the elite guards, one of my projects, and Raditz." replied Gero. "And long enough, I expect."
"We'll continue this later, I have things I need to take care of. Take care of things on your end." There was a faint click then, as the connection to Saiya was terminated.
"19, get rid of them and secure the kid." ordered Gero.
"Understood."
In the hall behind the two Sai-jin's Mitsuki's eyes widened as 19 suddenly surged in, grabbed the two Sai-jins by their heads before they could even react, and then blew said heads off with twin beams of energy. The machine then bent over, picked up her shocked younger self, and then went back into the lab. She stared down at their headless bodies for a moment, eyes wide. She couldn't believe it, it was so sudden and unexpected. It took a few seconds for her mind to get over the shock and catch up with reality.
"Wait, Slug?" she thought, looking up into the lab again. "Vegeta was working with Slug before? But..." She shook that off as she realized Gero and 19, with her in tow, were leaving the outer office area and stepping into the primary lab facility beyond. Floating over the two dead Sai-jins she hurried after the pair. Entering the room beyond she found herself once again in the place of her nightmares. The part of the lab she knew best from when she'd been a child. She was six, almost seven, when Gero left for Saiya, and she'd gone with him. Though even there his assistants had remained in charge of her, with 19 working as his proxy, and the experiments had continued for another eight years, until she'd been put into military service and sent back to Earth.
The room was as she remembered from her dreams. Large and cavernous in size, easily the size of a baseball field but crammed full of computers, large and small test tubes, vats of chemicals, and things inexplicable to her, both as a child and now. And her eyes were drawn, as they had been even as a kid, toward the large cylinder only twenty-five feet from the entrance. The tube was full of some kind of green fluid, and floating in that fluid, with wires and tubes running to her body, was a woman who appeared to be in her mid to late thirties.
She was naked and her skin, glistening in the bright florescent lights of the room, seemed to be a pale and sickly looking yellow-green, and Mitsuki figured it was due to the coloration of the fluid. She remembered seeing her every time she was brought into the lab for more tests and experiments, and she'd been terrified of her as a kid. Now, older, and with the benefit of experience and hindsight, all she felt was a sadness for this unknown woman. She'd been trapped here as a child, but at least she'd been free to roam the facility to a degree. It had been a horrible life that she wouldn't wish on her worst enemy, but at least it had been some sort of life. But this woman had nothing, no life of any kind. Just floated there day in and day out.
"At least she looks like she's at peace." she thought, watching as the woman's shoulder length blue hair floated around her head in the fluid. She walked up to the tube and rested a hand against the cold glass. Looking in at the woman her breath suddenly caught in her throat as something, memory or instinct she wasn't sure, brought the woman's face into sharp contrast and relief, and matched its similarities to that of her own and her sister. "No, that... it can't be. Could it?" she wondered, blinking. "Could she be related to us somehow?"
"19, secure the kid to the table." Gero said from elsewhere in the lab, drawing her attention. "She may be young yet but I don't want to take any chances, I'm going to suppress her memories of the last few minutes."
"Understood, Doctor."
Mitsuki stepped around the large tube containing the unknown woman and looked for where Gero, 19, and her younger self were. But, as she cleared the glass tube, it was not Gero's lab that came into view.
XXX
Tien soon lost sight of Mitsuki ahead of him, the darkness inside the cave seemed to permeate everything, even the woman ahead of him, until she was absorbed into it. 'Cave of Shadows' certainly seemed an apt name for the place. Though he wondered just what it was he and the others would be finding and confronting in here, and why the Kai couldn't give them more information.
"Whatever it is, it can't be very big unless this thing starts to widen out soon." he mused, as another jagged rock sliced across his back. He was as low as he could get and he still kept brushing against the cave ceiling. It was a few feet later that his hands came down on something cold and wet, instead of the hard stone he'd been crawling over so far. He figured it meant he was finally getting somewhere and pressed on, the entire floor of the cave turning wet, cold, and soft.
Finally, he saw light ahead, and a moment later emerged from the cave, which seemed to exit from a snow drift. Glancing around he saw no sign of Mitsuki, and looking back into the cave entrance he found only a small depression in the snow, no more than a foot deep at most. The others certainly wouldn't be coming out of there. He wasn't sure what was going on, his current location looked nothing like the place he'd just been, and he could sense no trace of the Kai, Chaotzu, Marron, or anyone else.
Shaking it off, deciding his only option was to continue onward and see what awaited him here, he took another look at his surroundings. This time, instead of trying to locate the familiar form of Mitsuki, he surveyed the terrain for some idea of where he was and where to go next. As he looked, an inexplicable feeling of deja vu swept over him. Though all he could see were groves of snow frosted pines, distant mountains, and mounds of snow, a breath taking yet bland panorama that could have been anywhere, it tickled his memory as strongly as if he were looking at a photo of his own bedroom.
And then he saw them, about a half a mile down the slope he was on. Fifteen or sixteen large white tents, almost blending in with the snow around them, but the pennants on top gave them away. Small green triangles flapping gently in the breeze, bearing the symbol of King Furry and the World Government. He knew the tents, knew why this place looked so familiar to him, but he didn't know how it was possible. The Earth was gone, this moment was decades in the past, so how could he be here?
He was about to lift into the air, to fly down to the camp to try and find some answers, when he heard a voice behind him coming up the other side of the hill he was on.
"And you're absolutely certain he'll come here?" the voice asked. His voice. He whirled around and found himself walking up the hill. He hadn't changed much since this day, he and his allies had wished for eternal youth about seven years from this point. But... how was he here now? And... could he change things now that he was? He was stronger than Kakkarotto now. At least, the non-transformed one...
"We're sure." said the military General that the younger Tien was talking to. "We've been dealing with him long enough now we know how to bait him, even if we haven't figured out how to kill him yet."
Tien looked past the pair of them, to the form he knew was floating along behind them. Chaotzu. Still without a halo, still alive. If he could affect the course of events here, change how the battle that was about to happen would play out, maybe he could stay that way...
"I'm still not sure this is a good idea." Chaotzu said. "He's way stronger than any of us."
"That's why we've come up with this plan." said the General. "We're going to hit him with everything we've got, including those new energy based weapons that Capsule Corp. has released. We'll hit him with everything, we've got jet fighters on stand-by, and a dozen missile platforms, just north of our position out at sea. We'll wail on him, wear him down, and then you and Tien can head in, make your move."
The three of them had come to a stop at the top of the snowy hill and were gazing down at the tents of the camp below, gazing right over him. Or, it seemed more likely, through him. He couldn't sense them, they couldn't see him. Standing there, watching, listening, it seemed more and more unlikely that he could have any influence over these events. It was a discouraging realization, because he knew how badly this battle would go. Had dreamed about its aftermath more times than he could count.
"But none of that will hurt him." said Chaotzu. "Even the best energy weapons Capsule Corp. has barely sting me, he wont even feel them."
"No, he wont." agreed past-Tien. "But even shrugging off attacks far weaker than you expends energy. If we can hit him with a large enough barrage it'll make a noticable difference. Then it's just a matter of hitting him with my best Tri-beam. As long as he doesn't turn golden, we've got a chance."
"And if he does shift into that gold mode of his, we've got our fall back." said the General. "The SS Rei is also out at sea, lurking beneath the carriers."
"The nuclear sub?" past-Tien asked, shocked.
The General nodded in confirmation. "Yeah. We pulled it out of mothballs six months ago. Spruced it up some, repaired the damage it had taken from sitting in dry dock for three decades, and armed it. Its only got one nuclear missile on board, though. Only one we could scrounge up that still seemed to work." He shook his head and sighed. "Until Kakkarotto turned up we'd only had minor threats to worry about, no need for this heavy artillery. Most of it has gone to rot."
"Let's hope we don't need it." said Tien.
"I'm hoping." agreed the General. "I don't much like the idea of nuclear weapons myself, they leave far too much of an environmental impact. But that's why we chose this remote spot. The closest population center is Jingle Village, about a hundred miles east of here. A little fallout wont cause much harm."
"General!" a voice suddenly shouted, coming over the walkie-talkie the military man had at his waist.
"What's up?" the General asked, bringing the device up to his mouth. The present Tien clenched his fists and his jaw as this scene from the past played out. The moment, the instant, the words that triggered the downward spiral of his life. That brought his entire world cashing down around him.
"We don't know why, but... but for some reason he... he... somehow..."
"What is it?" the General growled. "Spit it out!"
"Five minutes ago he stopped fighting Battalion Six and... he just turned up in the northern sea. He's decimating the fleet!"
"What!?"
"I haven't been able to get any solid reports in, but the scattered bursts of broadcasts I've received are... they're bad. Three of the ships went down before they even realized he was there..."
"He's on to us." past-Tien said, frowning and looking to the north, stretching out his mind.
"Maybe he picked up on their kis?" suggested Chaotzu. "Realized the ambush."
"Maybe." past-Tien said slowly. "Though I don't think he can sense energy. That eye device of his seemed to do it for him, and that was destroyed a few years ago."
There was a sudden burst of static over the walkie, and then the soldier's voice returned, more panicked than before. "The fleet's gone! The fleet's gone and he's heading our way!"
"Damn it!" the General growled.
"No time to complain now." said past-Tien. "We've lost part of our force but we've no choice but to press on." With that, he and Chaotzu flew off toward the tents. The current Tien quickly lifted up and followed them.
"I'm going to help, Tien." Chaotzu said. "My telekinesis might be able to hold him."
"No. It's too dangerous. He's much too strong for you to hold, you have trouble even holding me."
"I can't just stay back while you fight him alone." said Chaotzu. "I have to try and help!"
The present Tien, flying along behind them, ground his teeth in frustration. He wanted to yell at his younger self not to agree to this, not to let Chaotzu fight. Tell him that it was a mistake, one of the worst mistakes he'd ever made, would ever make. But he knew there was no point. If these people couldn't see him, then they couldn't hear him either. He wasn't really here, this wasn't really happening now. He wasn't sure how, or why, but he seemed to be living through his own memory as an outside observer.
"Alright." past-Tien said. "But you stay close to me, Chaotzu. And if I say run, you run. Got that?"
"Ok." Chaotzu said as the two descended to land outside the largest of the tents at the camp. When the pair pushed the flaps aside and stepped in they found the large space in the midst of a rush of activity. Soldiers were gathering up their weapons, techs were running about with printouts of orders and intelligence reports, and a small group of civilians was gathering together their things.
"Launch, what are you still doing here?" he asked, spotting the blond woman amongst the other civilians.
"We weren't expecting him to come so soon." she replied, turning to him. "We weren't supposed to leave for another half hour."
"Well get everyone moving, quickly." past-Tien said, looking over the group. They were a bizarre collection to look at, some of them were tech support from Capsule Corp. helping with the emplacement of the larger energy cannon weapons, and others were ki users who'd been trying to help more people learn the ability. Tien had explained to the World Government that simply knowing how to use ki wouldn't let their soldiers deal with someone like Kakkarotto but they'd still wanted to try.
"There's not much time left." he said, eyes going back to Launch. "We need them all clear before the fighting starts." She frowned and he cut in again before she could say anything. "They need you more than we do." She continued to frown but didn't protest. Present Tien could remember being tempted to make her sneeze, her other personality was easier to manage. However, that Launch wasn't much good in a combat situation and the civilians had needed this tougher, obstinate, Launch, so past-Tien turned from her and scanned the rest of the crowd in the tent.
He spotted the round, shaggy-haired, young man he'd been looking for near the center of the tent. He was a bit hard to spot being the only one still on his ass. He was seated at one of the operation's tables, a box of doughnuts open in front of him. Pushing through the throngs of people past-Tien made his way over to the man, who was currently stuffing a jelly doughnut into his mouth.
"Did she see you?" he asked, stepping up beside him.
"Yeah, the old bat was waiting for me when I got there." he said, licking some powdered sugar off of his fingers. "Saw me coming, she said."
"What did she say?" asked Chaotzu, sounding worried.
"Not much. Said she couldn't see a damned thing about the battle itself. Something about interference and complicated destinies and a bunch of other hocus pocus mumbo jumbo." He looked into the box and slid his fingers along the six remaining doughnuts, contemplating which one he wanted. After a moment he pulled out a chocolate covered one and stuffed it into his mouth. As he chewed he continued. "She thinks this crazy stunt might work, though. Something about seeing an end of conflict or something."
Present-Tien frowned and closed his eyes. Her prediction of peace had come about, though not as a result of this battle, but rather Kakkarotto's unexpected and mysterious disappearance later on. Baba's visions had never been an exact science and Tien had never relied much on them, but they'd helped to steer him and the others a few times. It had been her power to see into the future that had eventually sent Tao into space hunting down the Ancient's artifacts, before they'd ever heard of the Ancients or the Potaras. In this instance, however, the vagueness of her sight had come back to bite them. An indication of victory, though not guaranteed, had made them a little over confident.
"That's something, at least." past-Tien said. "You should get going, Yajirobe. Kakkarotto's already on his way here and you have other things you need to be doing."
"Got that right." the man said, heaving himself onto his feet before closing the box of doughnuts and putting it into a bag at his feet. "I've got to meet this gremlin dude named Peasoup or something tomorrow. Says he's got something called a 'Dragonball Detector' he wants to sell. Claims it can turn the tide in the battle against Kakkarotto. So, I'll see you chumps later. Don't get yourselves killed before then." he said, waving as he walked away.
Tien had forgotten about the Dragonball Detector that Yajirobe had meant to investigate. At this point in history he hadn't even know what a Dragonball was, and Yajirobe's intended meeting with its creator the next day hadn't happened. It would be several more years before they learned of the Dragonballs and obtained a detector from Pilaf. Too long after this day, this battle, to wish Chaotzu back to life.
"How differently might things have gone for all of us if Yajirobe had made it to his meeting with Pilaf?" he wondered, watching the short round man push open the tent flap and step outside. Chaotzu could have been revived, for starters. They may have been able to hide the Dragonballs from the Masters when they came, prevented any of them beyond Kakkarotto from living forever. But Kakkarotto had prevented that future by unexpectedly teaching himself to sense ki, to compensate for the loss of his scouter, thus discovering the ambush that had been planned this day and disrupting it.
Present Tien was still mulling that over when a sudden ground shaking explosion rocked the camp site. Kakkarotto had arrived. The soldiers, many of them trembling in terror, poured out of the tent with their guns at the ready. His past self and Chaotzu rushed out of the tent with them, and he followed them. Kakkarotto was easy to spot, floating about a hundred feet above the camp and raining energy down on the tents one at a time. Tien heard a groan from his right and turned to see Yajirobe laying on his back, a medic already checking on a large bleeding gash across his forehead.
The injury wasn't life threatening, Tien knew. The man was still alive in the present, one of only a handful of people to have survived this encounter with Kakkarotto. But it put the man out of commission for two weeks, and by the time he'd recovered Pilaf had gone underground and taken his detector with him. Turning his gaze from the injured Yajirobe, and the unknown future that might have been, he looked up again at Kakkarotto and saw Chaotzu and his past self already up there fighting him. Or rather, attempting to.
Kakkarotto dodged or blocked all of their attacks effortlessly, even while dodging the incoming weapons fire from the gathered soldiers. It had been evident to Tien, even then, that Kakkarotto hadn't really been trying. That the battle hadn't been the slightest challenge for him, and wasn't even really a battle. Standing below, watching the fight as it played out above him, he felt the hopelessness welling up, washing over him, pulling him down into the depths of despair. Kakkarotto had been so far beyond him then, was so much farther beyond him now, how could he possibly catch him?
Up above Chaotzu darted back from the battle a few yards and thrust his arms and legs out toward Kakkarotto. The Sai-jin slowed, just slightly, for a fraction of a second, and then returned to normal speed. But, instead of continuing the attack he'd been about to deliver to past-Tien, he came to a stop and started looking around himself as though confused.
"I'd forgotten about this..." Tien breathed, surprised. His mind had been so focused on all of the negative events from this day that he'd utterly forgot about this short exchange. Chaotzu had attempted to hold Kakkarotto with his telekinesis but the Sai-jin had been far too strong from him to restrain, he'd broken free of the small man's psychic grasp easily. He'd still noticed the attempt, realized that something had tried to hold him in place, and came to a stop to try and figure it out. Tien's younger self went on the offensive, landing blow after blow to no effect.
His present self, however, was contemplating just how Chaotzu's psychic grasp had had any effect on Kakkarotto at all. The Sai-jin's power had been vastly superior to theirs, their best attacks this battle had just been brushed aside, like rain beating on a mountain. Even the Super Tri-beam he'd used during their next battle had done little real harm to him. He'd barely felt it, just as he'd barely felt Chaotzu's attempt to hold him.
His musings came to a halt as he cringed at the memory of the pain his past self was now feeling. Kakkarotto had just decided to forget about what had tried to hold him and smashed an elbow into past-Tien's stomach, doubling him over. There was a resounding crack as a weak shockwave erupted from Kakkarotto's body blasting both him and Chaotzu back, and down into the ground. His past self, though badly injured, started to push himself back to his feet just in time to spot the missile approaching, only a hundred yards away.
Someone had called in the nuclear strike.
The missile slammed into Kakkarotto's back and exploded in a savage ball of light and heat. The glare from it washed out everything in sight and present-Tien had to shield his eyes from it. When it again faded away he was no longer in the cold and snowy mountains. The scene had changed. It took him a moment to get his bearings from the abrupt shift, but he recognized his surroundings. He was still on Earth, but several decades later than he had been a moment before. He stood, now, in the room he and Enzeru had shared at their last base, prior to Earth's destruction.