Lost Origin: A Saiyan's Quest

Dr. Joaquin: "GAAAHH! If I don't do something, they're going to catch up to me! There's only one room left before they get to the core!"

Isaac (on hidden camera screen): "I can't believe we're so close to reaching Dr. Joaquin! Rufus and I would have never gotten this far if it weren't for all of you."

Sakura (on hidden camera screen): "Dr. Joaquin could become a world-wide threat, so it's the least we can do! Besides, I can't say no to such a cute, little dog! C'mere, Rufus!" *hug*

Rufus (on hidden camera screen): "Woof, woof!"

Dr. Joaquin: "She loves that dog… WHY CAN HE GET LOVE AND NOT ME?! AAAAAHHHHH! I'M GOING TO CRUSH THE LIFE OUT OF YOU FAILURES!"

Chapter 17: Illusion Shine

Battle after battle, our heroes became stronger and even learned new abilities! They had gone really far into the Morph-Fluid Corporation, almost at their goal. There was only one room and corridor left, before our heroes could finally reach the core. However, Dr. Joaquin was not going to let them through that easily!

Isaac: "Here it is. We spent pretty much a whole day walking, but we're finally at the end of this corridor."

Ninomiya: "Phew! Man, was that a long walk!"

Isaac: "The next room is the compression room. Piles of broken robots, destroyed walls, etc., all is gathered here."

Andromeda: "So it's like a dumpster."

Isaac: "In essence, yes. But there is an immense amount of trash in this facility. In order to keep it from taking more space than needed, a compression machine is used to turn mountains of junk into fridge-sized cubes of metal. The compression machine is at the center of the room and it's the most active thing in there, hence the name."

Ninomiya: "Well, that sounds… pleasant. For once, I would like that a place we go into doesn't contain devices that can potentially murder us in horrible manners."

Sakura: "Who knows? We might get by peacefully this time!"

Meanwhile, in Dr. Joaquin's office...

Dr. Joaquin: "I WILL MAKE THIS THE MOST UNPEACEFUL OF THEM ALL!"

Dr. Joaquin reached for his computer controls. As expected, he was going to alter the normal functions of the compression room.

The room works like this: As soon as one gets in the room, the floor begins moving on its own, as to transport the individual(s) on it to a specific location. Eventually, the door would split into two routes. Sensors would indicate if what was on the moving floor were living creatures or junk. If it were living creatures, the floor would continue to the left, leading the passengers to a safe place where they can go to the control panel or continue to the next corridor. If it was junk, the floor would continue right, leading it into a massive cube, with one side being mirror based. Junk would be compressed by the walls and ceiling inside the cube, bringing a used-to-be trash mountain into an easily transportable, small cube.

Dr. Joaquin: "Hmmm… wait… why did I install a sensor for living creatures if the only person in this place is me?"

What about the mutants and un-mutated animals? Selfish bastard…

Dr. Joaquin: "It doesn't matter anymore! I'm going to have the sensors recognize these nuisances as trash! Not even my strongest monsters can survive being crushed by the compression machine! They're doomed… DOOMED! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!"

Back in the long corridor...

Ninomiya: "Why have we been standing in front of the door doing nothing up until now?"

Isaac: "… drama…"

Ninomiya: "What?"

Andromeda: *opens door* "Let's move on."

Our heroes went in the compression room. As soon as everyone stood on the ground, it began moving.

Sakura: "Waah!"

Isaac: "Don't worry, Sakura. The moving floor should take us straight to the next door. Once we get there, we can finally proceed to the corridor leading to the core and stop Dr. Joaquin once and for all!"

Andromeda: "Huh… that's quite nice of him to take us directly to his demise."

2 minutes later…

Sakura: "The road splits up ahead. What do we do?"

Isaac: "Nothing. The sensors will recognize that we're living creatures and take us to our destination through the left."

Dr. Joaquin (in his office): "HAHA! DON'T THINK SO, RUNT!" *pushes button*

Isaac: "What the…?! It's taking us to the right! It must be Dr. Joaquin!"

Ninomiya: "And what's on the right?"

Rufus: "Bark!" *looks up ahead*

At the end of the moving floor appeared to be an abyss. Once they got closer, however, our heroes noticed that there was a gigantic cube at the bottom of the abyss. The cube had no ceiling, which would make our heroes fall inside the cube!

Andromeda: "Well, let's just jump out of the way."

Dr. Joaquin (in his office): "NO, YOU DON'T!" *pushes another button*

Before Andromeda could jump out of the moving floor, the motionless floor began falling. It was falling to a pool of radioactive waste! The only safe place now was the moving floor, if you can call it safe.

Sakura: "Aaah! What now?!"

Ninomiya: "Huh? Hey, look! The road splits into more sections up ahead!"

Andromeda: "If we can make the floor go to the left again, we're saved!"

Isaac: "There appear to be switches on the way there! Those switches can flip the direction of the floor!"

Andromeda: "OK, everyone, start shooting Ki blasts at it!"

Sakura and Ninomiya began shooting Ki blasts at the switches. Andromeda didn't know how to use Ki, so she shot miniature comets instead. After enough hits, the switch turned, and the floor would now head left again.

Dr. Joaquin (in his office): "Oh, those little brats!" *heroes go left* "That wasn't the only place where the road splits! HA!" *flips switch*

Ninomiya: "Oh no! Another road split! This one's going to the right!" *heroes go right*

Sakura: "More road splits up ahead! Keep shooting!"

It became a struggle to get the proper direction to go. Our heroes would go left one path, then the Dr. would change the next for the right. It kept going until there were no more road splits. Fortunately, our heroes managed to stay on the left, heading towards safety at last. Or at least that's what they thought…

Ninomiya: "We're safe!"

Dr. Joaquin (in his office): "You're DEAD!" *pushes button*

Suddenly, the floor our heroes were standing on "jumped" as if it had springs under it. This sent our heroes flying towards the compression machine!

Andromeda: "Ninomiya, quit provoking Mother Inconvenience!"

Everyone: "AAAAAAHHHHHH!" *heroes fall inside compression machine*

Dr. Joaquin (on screen inside comp. machine): "MWAHAHAHA! I GOT YOU WHERE I WANTED! NOW, PREPARE YOURSELVES TO DIE!" *pushes button* *nothing happens* "… ummm…" *clears throat* "PREPARE YOURSELVES TO DIE!" *pushes button* *nothing happens* "… AAAAARRRGGGGHHHH! INFERNAL TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES! OK, you four… five… four and a half, just sit there while I get this machine working again." *screen turns off*

Ninomiya: "Quick! Let's get out of here through the ceiling before he comes back!"

Just before our heroes could escape through the same place they got in, the ceiling of the compression machine closed. They were now trapped, with one side of the cube being made out of glass for them to see the radioactive sea below them.

Sakura: "No! Is there any other way we can escape?!"

Isaac: "We have six minutes to figure it out. That's how much it will take the Dr. to repair this thing."

Andromeda: "Wow, Isaac, you know a lot about this place!"

Isaac: "Yes, it's because… I… or, well, Rufus used to be Dr. Joaquin's pet."

Sakura: "WHAT?! How could he do this to his own pet?!"

Isaac: "Like I told you before, that man has lost all signs of sanity. Rufus used to be by his side all the time, being the loyal dog he is. Dr. Joaquin and Rufus walked through every corner of this facility at least a hundred times. At first, the Dr. actually treated Rufus like a good pet, believe it or not. But as time passed, that maniac began getting more insane. Animals were leaving the area, so finding victims for his experiments became harder and harder. Rufus, although still following him, became afraid of Dr. Joaquin. One day, the Dr. was so desperate for a subject, he took the first living creature he saw. And that was, obviously, Rufus. Before any further damage was done, Rufus, with me now by his side, managed to escape the machine he was using to experiment on us. Once his pet, there is only one thing Rufus is capable of understanding with his remaining mental abilities: Dr. Joaquin must be stopped."

Sakura: "Oh god… that's such a sad sto—"

Dr. Joaquin (on screen): "I'm back!"

Isaac: "That story took six minutes? No wonder Rufus always falls asleep when I tell him about his past…"

Dr. Joaquin (on screen): "NOW, THIS BUTTON WILL CAUSE THE WALLS TO CRUSH YOU FAILURES LIKE INSECTS IN LESS THAN A SECOND! MWAHAHAHAHAHAAAA! *pushes button* *nothing happens* "… FINE, SLOW AND PAINFUL DEATH IT IS! This one takes two minutes…" *pushes other button*

Andromeda: "Oh no! The walls are closing in on us! Slowly! We have to do something…" *thinks for five seconds* "Guess there's no other choice… Sakura, meditate, clear your mind out of every unnecessary thought. And… try to do it in less than a minute, OK?"

Sakura began meditating. After thirty seconds, her mind was clear. Then, Andromeda put her hand on Sakura's head.

Andromeda: "Keep your eyes closed… I'm going to take your mind to space… you see that? Stars, comets, planets, the Sun… there's the Earth… and there's the moon, shining brightly, shining fully. Look at it, Sakura. Appreciate its beauty as it engulfs your eyes with moonlight. Now… open your eyes."

After Andromeda finished with her mental image, Sakura opened her eyes. They were red, and her heart was beating strongly (I will tell you the whole process all over again because I can. Besides, Great Apes are freakin' awesome!). Her body, except for her tail, was motionless. Sakura's teeth now had some fangs. In a flash, Sakura's arms grew big and muscular, followed by her legs, then her entire body. Her clothes (with the exception of Master Ran's cloth pieces and her headband that conveniently fell off of her) were ripped, showing her now-furry skin. Her face slowly changed to that of a monstrous ape's, with her ears turning pointy, eyes shining completely red, and surrounded by brown fur, like the rest of her body. She grew several meters tall, possibly up to 30+ meters.

Isaac and Dr. Joaquin: "W…WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!"

Andromeda: "Remember when we told you that Sakura's tail allowed her to do something very special? Well, here it is. Hey, Sakura, are you aware of your surroundings?"

Sakura (Great Ape): "It's been a while, but I think I can still control it… HHHHAAAAA!"

With her unbelievable strength, Sakura pushed the closing walls back where they belong. She then lowered her hand so the remaining heroes could climb up. Sakura jumped out of the compression machine, with everyone safely on her open palm. Jumping from platform to platform, Sakura and the others reached the end of the room where a door leading to the final corridor was found.

Ninomiya: "Thanks, Sakura! We would be flat meat if it wasn't for you!"

Sakura (Great Ape): "It was nothing!"

Andromeda: "Also, since the moon I showed you was only imaginary, your transformation should end right about… now."

Sakura started shrinking, her face turning slowly back to normal and her fur disappearing little by little. Since Sakura would be naked when she completely reverted, Ninomiya had to go stare at a wall for a while (Ha!).

Andromeda: "Here are some clothes, Sakura. They're the same as all your others."

Sakura: "Thanks, Andromeda! This orange gi Master Ikeda gave me is my favorite! I made several copies of it in case anything happened to one. Also, this transformation makes me very tired…" *pant, pant* "And… Isaac? You seem scared…"

Isaac: "O-O-O-OF COURSE I'M SCARED! HOW THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT?! WHAT IS THIS, I DON'T EVEN…"

Rufus "Woof, woof!" *is not scared*

Sakura: "Yeah, it was scary for me too when I realized. But Rufus doesn't seem scared…"

Andromeda: "I guess it's because he doesn't understand danger. Or maybe he knew it was you, so he had no reason to be scared."

Despite leaving Isaac mentally scarred for life, Sakura's (technically Andromeda's) action saved our heroes! The next room contained what our heroes had been fighting for, and nothing could stop them… neither could anything stop Dr. Joaquin. Who will be victorious in the next battle? Has the Dr. finished the ultimate life form yet? Find out next time on Lost Origin: A Saiyan's Quest!

To be continued…

Bonus skit

Dr. Joaquin finally fixed the controls to crush our heroes! Before doing so, however, he wanted to give them a message he made in 15 seconds.

Dr. Joaquin (on screen): "I'm back! And I've got a little message before you DIE!" *shows cardboard with text*

Andromeda: "It says… 'your stupid for thinking your smarter then me!' "

Dr. Joaquin (on screen): "What do you think?! Isn't it brilliant?!"

Andromeda: "… grr… grrRR… YOU BOMBASTIC TROGLODYTE!"

Dr. Joaquin (on screen): "W-w-what?!"

Andromeda: "You would expect a scientist capable of creating biologically morphed animals to be able to differentiate between 'your' and 'you're,' but NOOOOOOO! Could you at least get 'than' instead of 'then' right?! I can't… AARRGH! THAT'S IT, OUR GENERATION IS DAMNED! DAMNED I TELL YOU!"

Sakura: "Ummm… well… I guess I'm not really human to judge, but she does make a point… tee-hee!"