Dragon Moon Z! – By Ocramed
Disclaimer: SM, R1/2, DBZ and other properties belong to their respective owners.
Note: This story is a multi-genre story. C&C are welcome.
Special Note: This story is part of the SMST/TRT series, and is inspired by Team Four Star's Abridged Parody series.
Part 15: "Tree of Might Saga" (I)
It has been a few months since the fight between the Z Warriors and the invading Saiyans. And even though the Z Warriors emerged victorious, lives were lost. Unfortunately, without the Dragonballs, the loss of life was permanent. Still, there was hope that the planet Namek could be located, and, once found, a plan of action could be made.
"You're talking about finding a needle in a haystack, Bulma," Dr. Brief said, as he peered into a high powered telemetry telescope, located at Capsule Corp. "The Milky Way Galaxy is a big place."
"Maybe," Bulma said, as she continued work on translating the Namekian language, thanks to some journals that the black djinn Mister Popo had given her. "But we owe our lives to those who lost there's…"
Pause.
"And if I knew now back when I first met Ranma, I…I wouldn't have been so fickle in choosing Yamcha over him as my…my man," Bulma said, as she wiped away her tears. "Instead, I allowed Bunny to be his one and only."
"Honey, you were young," Dr. Briefs said. "As much as I complain about you being flighty, you weren't ready to take on the responsibility of starting a family. And if I recall, that was the primary reason why Ranma married Bunny, so that they could adopt Goku as their son."
"Maybe. But, at the very least, I owe Ranma. I will find Namek, even if it takes me forever to do so…"
Meanwhile, at a special room, yards from where Dr. Briefs and Bulma were, Usagi watched over her husband's still body, as it lay in cryostasis, which was stored with the other bodies that were on proverbial ice. She was dressed in a black dress, with a veil over her face, sighing intermittently.
"Ranma," Usagi said. "How I miss you…"
"Mom," said a familiar voice from behind. "You can't keep doing this to yourself."
"Goku, what do you want?" Usagi said, as she turned around to see her son.
"Mom, I'm worried about you," Goku said, as he sits down next to his mother. "You don't need to do this?"
"And why not?" Usagi asked.
"Well, for one, you know we'll bring him and the others back to life eventually, and, two, you can always take a trip to Other World to see him, like you did with me," Goku said.
"Goku, I'm afraid that if I did the astral projection thing to King Kai's place, I might not want to come back," Usagi said. "But I suspect that's not why you're here."
"No, you're right," Goku said. "Gohan misses his grandmother, and the last time he has seen you was when we had Dad's funeral."
"Oh," Usagi said, as she started to tear up. "Now, I'm a bad grandmother…"
"No, you're NOT. You are a person who loves life, and who loves people unconditionally. You're just hurt by what had happened, that's all."
"Humph."
"Look, Krillin and Oolong are going on a camping trip next week. I've asked Krillin to take Gohan with him."
"How come you can't go?"
"I promise Ox King that I would help him rebuild his mountain compound."
"You mean, the one you accidentally destroyed, when you first learned the Kamehameha Wave Technique?" Usagi said, as she raised an eyebrow.
"That's one. And after my fight with Vegeta, I thought that it would be a good time to practice my Elemental Bending skills."
"You got a point there. But, I don't know. I mean, I'm going to be the only 'girl' there, and all…"
"Take Bulma with you. She does need help in translating Kami's books, notes and his journals, right?" Goku said.
"I suppose you're right," Usagi said with a sigh. She then took a gulped of air…
"Okay, I'll go on this trip of yours," Usagi said.
"I'm glad, Mom," Goku said with a smile. "Just go out there and relax. I doubt anything other than some wild animal will be bothering you all…"
Unknown to Goku at the time, something more dangerous than a wild animal will enter the lives of the Z Warriors…
A week later…
"Ah, this is THE life," said Krillin, as tended the fire at the campsite. "Quite a different scene than hanging out at Kame House all the time…"
"You said, pal," said Oolong the Pig. "Besides, this is my chance to 'score' with a hot babe like HER…"
"Huh?" Krillin said, as he sees who Oolong was referring to. "Bunny?"
"Yep. With Ranma gone, that makes Usagi available-"
WHACK!
"Ow!" Oolong said, as he rubbed the back of his head, after getting hit by a frying pan. "Why'd you hit me, Bulma?"
"Because you are being an insensitive jerk, that's why," Bulma said, as she glanced over at Usagi, who was reading a book near her tent. "Besides, it's not like we aren't going to bring back Ranma and the others, you know…"
Usagi sighed, as she closed her book. The worst part in all this was that she never consummated her marriage in the proper way, due to her acidic blood. Oh, she and Ranma did try some creative ways around the problem, but there can never be total intimacy. And as result, Usagi was still a virginal bride…
And now, she was a widow having never known her husband, even after twenty years of marriage.
"Grandma?" said a familiar voice.
Usagi looks up to see her grandson Gohan, who was dressed up as a wilderness explorer.
"Gohan, why are you dressed up like that?" Usagi asked, although she already knew the answer…
"Well, Mom felt that since I missed so much school last year, I should take the time to study plants and animals, while I am out here," Gohan said.
"Gohan, that's fine, but you don't have to look like, well…"
"A 'dork'?" Gohan said. "Yeah, I tried telling Mom that, but she thinks I'll end up like Dad."
"Um, we made sure that your father had an education, Gohan," Usagi sighed. "Look, when I was your age, getting an education was FAR from my mind."
"Really?"
"Really. They used to call me 'Meatball-head', and these were my friends calling me that."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"Well, it was a long time ago, and, although the nickname stuck, they learned to like me for who I am, and even helped me become a better person…"
Pause.
"And it was because of them, because of the people I respected and cared the most that, when they went away, I became serious about my education," Usagi said. "Heh. You know, if you asked me to tell you the difference between a 'plasma converter' and a 'flux capacitator', I would have looked at you with that 'deer in the headlights' look. It took me a lot of effort on my part to become sophisticated academically. And besides intelligence isn't about what you know, but how well you process information."
"Oh, I see," Gohan said.
"Look, I'll talk to your mother about all this," Usagi said. "In the mean time, we can go fishing."
"Oh, that'll give me a chance to study what we catch," Gohan said cheerfully.
Usagi merely chuckled good-naturedly. Leave it Chi-Chi to thoroughly groom her son into being academically-inclined…
The day wears on, and then night falls. Camp songs are sung, and scary story are told. Finally, it was time for bed. Unfortunately, Oolong, who was tasked to put out the campfire thoroughly, allowed the campfire to start a forest fire…
"I thought you were supposed to watch the fire?" Krillin yelled at Oolong.
"I did, and it was beautiful," Oolong replied.
"…"
"I got it," Usagi said, as stretched her limbs.
"What can you do?" Bulma asked.
"I know all four Elemental Bending styles, and that includes…FIRE," Usagi said, as she gave a stern look at Oolong, who coward in fear. She then turned toward Krillin and Gohan.
"You two create a 'fire break', and make sure that it's wide enough so that it won't jump that break."
"You got it!" Krillin said. He then turned towards Gohan.
"You're ready, Gohan?"
"You bet," Gohan replied enthusiastically.
"Bulma, use the Capsule Corp satellites and monitor the path of the fire," Usagi said.
"But can't you just, you know, put out the fire?"
"Elemental Bending doesn't work like that," Usagi said. "Bending is about manipulating the elements as it is, not to create or nullify them."
"But, you started the camp fire."
"Using the heat of my breath as the spark. Now, I'm going in…"
With that, Usagi leaps into the heart of the forest fire…
Using a combination of Air and Fire Bending, Usagi was able to manipulate the forest fire to converge into a single tornado. Once that was done, she moved it into an area free of "fuel", and dispersed it safely.
FWOOSH!
Usagi completes her task by drawing moisture from the air, using Water Bending, and using the moisture to create a drizzle that was to put out the embers.
"Well, that's that," Usagi said, as she shivered a bit from getting wet. She then looked at the devastation caused by Oolong's carelessness. "Damn pig…"
She then performed one more task.
"Eternal Moon Prism Make-Up!" Usagi cried out, changing her guise into that of Sailor Moon.
FLASH!
Unlike when Sailor Moon utters the words "Crane Moon Prism Make-Up", she appeared in her traditional sailor fuku.
"Now, let's heal this forest," Sailor Moon said, as she twirled around to initiate her healing magics…
Later, back at the Saotome household, which was the closest place near the damaged forest, Chi-Chi was yelling at Gohan.
"And I don't want you to hang around that irresponsible pig ever again!" Chi-Chi said.
"I'm standing right here, you know," Oolong said.
"But MOM," Gohan whined.
"No, that is final!"
"Chi-Chi, give it a rest," Goku said, as he sits up.
"Goku-"
"One of the reasons why I asked Mom to go on the camping trip is because I knew she would handle things," Goku said. "Trust me on this."
"Sometimes I don't understand you, Goku," Chi-Chi said, as she threw up her hands in frustration, before going to her bedroom.
SLAM!
"Well, that went well," Krillin said, as he drank his coffee.
"Well, she is right about Oolong, but what he did today had nothing to do with Gohan," Goku said.
"Is Mom going to be okay, Dad?" Gohan asked sheepishly.
"It'll be okay, sport," Goku said, as he rubbed Gohan's head. "It's just that Mom cares about you, that's all…"
"Well, I'll go talk to Chi-Chi," Usagi said, as she gets up from the table.
"Could you?" Goku asked sheepishly. "I mean, I know that, well, you know."
"Of course, dear," Usagi said. "Your father Ranma wasn't good at women stuff either."
"Weird, considering her could become one," Krillin said.
With that, Usagi leaves the kitchen to deal with her daughter-in-law…
"So, how's that restoration project coming along, Ox?" Oolong said.
"Well, we got the base of the mountain shored up," Ox King said. "I was thinking of putting a catacomb system down there…"
"So, what are you doing, Bulma?" Krillin asked, when he noticed that Bulma was reading data from her data pad.
"Not sure," Bulma replied. "I've been sending signals out into space to see if I could find Namek, and…"
"And what?"
"I think the satellite network picked up a telemetry signal," Bulma said with a frown.
"Which means…?"
"It means that we'll have a visiting alien within the next few days, I think."
"Well, let's just hope that hope that it's someone from Namek," Gohan said excited.
"Maybe, son," Goku said with concern, as he looked up. He extended his senses far enough to know that whatever was coming felt ominous…
Just out of the range of Chikyuu's defense grid, a lone ship approaches.
"Sir, we believe we found the planet where Prince Vegeta and the others met their defeat," said a warrior, as he looked at the sensors to confirm his findings. He then turned towards his commanding officer.
"Do you wish to proceed with the mission?"
"Sure, why not?" said the commander who surprisingly could pass as Goku's twin brother. "The planet looks suitable for Lord Freeza's project…"
Pause.
"And besides, I do wonder how my lame brother Kakkarot had managed to defeat Vegeta, his crony Nappa, and our older brother Radditz," said the warrior, as he crossed his arms. "Let's see how he fares when he meets me, Turles!"
Tbc.
Author's Note: Yes, it was never established that Turles was related to Goku. However, I could never understand why there was never a follow-up to this. Ergo, this is my version of things. By the way, after the "Tree of Might Saga", I will incorporate other movie version of DBZ, if possible, before jumping into the "Namek Saga". My personal challenge is to see if I can also incorporate the movies into their proper context, in light of what has happened in the DBZ series. So, wish me luck…