Time Warriors Chapter 20

Theo was the first person inside the TARDIS, with Elyse right behind her. Both women wore a hard, urgent expression as they leaped together toward the central panel. Elyse rushed toward the navigator's position as Theo dove toward the primary power couplings, her hair fanning wildly in every direction.

"Coordinates?" Elyse yelled over the general hubbub, her fingers flying over the keyboard.

"Doesn't matter – anything – just do it fast!" her mother hollered back, her own hands a blur as she prepared the ship for liftoff. She reached over and smacked one of the buttons on the console. Immediately, the outside door swung shut. An angry bark from Piccolo revealed he had nearly been trapped while halfway through the portal.

"Watch it!" the large Namekian growled, yanking his hand out of the way, the material of his gi sliding out of the way just in time. "You almost cut me in two!"

Theo snorted and kept working, studiously ignoring the alien's heavy stare. Piccolo's eyes narrowed in barely controlled fury as he watched her, his long fingers curled into fists of rage. How dare you …

The holographic window suddenly winked open, revealing a floor to ceiling view of the desert landscape, complete with the H'trch shuttle looming dangerously in front of them. From their vantage point, the shuttle appeared enormous. Huge laser cannons looked as though they were floating in midair directly in front of the TARDIS – so close, in fact, that everyone in the control room could see the cannon's weblike energy circuits, now glowing a dull crimson.

"All right, Elyse – punch it!"

At the same instant, a barrage from the laser cannons hurtled toward the exposed side of the time machine, splashing a bloodstained cast across the desert scree. The warriors watched in horrified fascination as the fusillade was released from the shuttle's weaponry and tore across the plain, anxious to consume them –

"GO!" Theo shouted, hitting the control panel. Just seconds before the energy bolts would have struck the vessel, the landscape shimmered and dissolved into waves and blurs of color - not unlike the colors whirling in Theo's and Elyse's eyes – as the central column of the TARDIS came to life, smoothly moving up and down, a gentle, low frequency hum murmuring from the center of the console.

"Thank the gods," Theo breathed, bending her head and slumping over the control panel, "we're in the timestream."

"Coordinates are all set, Mama," Elyse said brusquely, typing one last sequence on her keyboard. "We should be there in about two minutes." She looked over at her mother; Theo’s face was partially screened by her hair, but the part that was visible worried the young Guardian. Theo's complexion was abnormally pale and wan, and dark circles threatened to engulf her eyes. As the older woman reached for another bank of controls, Elyse saw a slight tremor run through her mother’s right hand.

Theo saw it, too. She quickly keyed what was necessary and pulled her arm back, grasping the edge of the board until the tips of her fingers turned white. "Good … good," she said tonelessly, more to herself than anyone else, her lips drawn into a thin line. "It'll be over soon."

Elyse traded glances with Allyssa. The Gant was standing on Theo's left, effectively blocking any physical access to the psychic. Her expression was dark and forbidding and her face was flushed with agitation. A vein visibly pulsed in her neck as she scowled and gripped the butt of her blaster tightly in her hands. The gun's muzzle was pointed at the floor, but Allyssa's entire attitude screamed that she'd have no problem thrusting and firing the weapon into anyone's face who tried to attack Theo.

Allyssa shook her head imperceptibly at Elyse, shifted her weight and glared at the rest of the people in the ship in general.

Silence hung over the little group in the control room, silence that was thick and heavy and oppressive. Gokuu stood in front of the console, mesmerized by the dazzling hues dissolving and morphing into each other, completely oblivious to the tension surrounding them, Vejiita still draped across his shoulder.

Once they were in the timestream, Gohan and Trunks turned their backs on the holographic wall, preferring instead to glare darkly at Theo. Gohan did not even bother to hide his distrust of the Guardian; he stood next to his father with his arms folded, unsmiling, and fixed her with a baleful eye. Trunks, on the other hand, seemed to be watching her thoughtfully, his gaze flickering between Elyse and Theo and back again.

The teen's thoughts were in turmoil; angrily, he blamed the red headed woman, scowling blackly at her. Such a contrast, he thought to himself, catching Elyse in his peripheral vision. They look alike … red hair, those eyes, athletic body … but her daughter is beautiful. Caring. Loyal. And she doesn't want to kill 'tousan. I can sense it.

But *she* does. Glancing over at Theo, the hostility he had been keeping at bay started to leak through his mental barrier, coloring his thoughts. Surprisingly, though, he found that once he pushed beyond the hard fist of anger sunk deep in his gut, genuine confusion prompted him to take another look at the older woman. She had tried to kill his father several times – and in fact, had tried to kill him, too, he mused harshly – but had left the others relatively unharmed. Why? He felt odd vibrations coming from her … as much as he could sense chi, he felt something edgy, something that was threatened and afraid from her. She appeared to be a walking contradiction – angry, fearful and brittle, clinging desperately to the edge of something.

Tousan's going to eat her alive when he wakes up, he realized, looking at Theo impassively. Especially when he finds out she helped Gokuu but not him …

Multicolored eyes flashed up and met his. For a breathless instant, Trunks felt himself surrounded by ideas tinged with violent emotion, the depth of which was frightening. Odd, incomprehensible images flooded through him – images that had feelings of fear, hatred and self-loathing inextricably linked to them, a tangled emotional web that was broad and deep in its scope. And in her psyche – somehow he knew that's where he was – his father was at the center of it all.

He stared at her, his own mind spinning, compassion at her feelings of hopelessness overwhelming him. What …?

She broke contact, looking down and away. Keep your pity for those who want it, boy. Her thoughts echoed clearly in his mind, roughly pushing him out and away. I certainly don't need or want it. You and your kind are dead to me.

His expression tightening, Trunks crossed his arms and gave her a level stare, unconsciously mimicking Vejiita's usual stance. He understood that type of rejection; had, in fact, seen it played out over and over again, usually when his father was covered in the debris of a shattered gravity room and his mother was trying to drag him out from under the rubble.

Trunks opened his mouth to say something to her when the central column stopped moving. The background humming stopped; the lights in the column dimmed as it stayed in one position, straight and tall, its internal glow slowly dying.

Theo tossed her head back and brushed her hair behind her ears, her eye color whirling and her expression grim. "Well. We're here. Everyone out. Ride's over."

Thumbing a switch on the panel, Allyssa watched as the holographic screen came to life again. Gone were the multicolored swirls of the timestream; instead, there was an interesting little scene playing out in front of them. From all appearances, there were in one of the high rises in Port City 4; the cityscape sprawled in the background, visible through the large glass doors defining the back wall of the room. Expensive, low furniture was scattered across the floor, creating an attractive, inviting appearance.

But the current source of amusement was the blue haired woman standing in front of their vessel, screeching at the top of her lungs and pointing directly at them. At the same time, a smaller, bald man was obviously trying to placate her and assess how much true danger whatever had just appeared in front of them possessed.

Or, in fact, if it WAS possessed.

"What IS that thing? Where did it come from? Did you see what that just did?"

It was obvious that her curiosity was getting the better of her terror as the woman gingerly walked up to the machine. Her face appeared enormous on the holographic screen as she tried to peer into its depths. "It sure seems like a curio cabinet – look, it even matches the one on the other side of the room. But I don't understand how –"

"Bulma, what're you doing? Get behind me!" the smaller man shouted, pushing in front of the woman with a grimace. "I can't protect you if you won't let me do it – now stay back until we figure out what this thing really is!" He glared at the offending ship, as if it had personally declared all out war on him, and struck a defensive stance.

"Ohayo – Bulma, Kuririn!" Gokuu called. He was standing in front of the holographic screen with Vejiita draped over one shoulder, waving at his friends with this free hand. "Over here, over here! Can you see us?"

"Gokuu – Gokuu, they can't hear you," Elyse said. She walked over to the large Saiyan and smiled up into his face, placing her hand on his forearm. "It's like a closed window, Gokuu. They can't see or hear you, but you can see and hear them. It's safer for us inside the ship like this."

"Oh … right," Gokuu said, nodding ruefully as he turned to look at the holograph again. "I get it. Bulma has the kind where you can talk to people through it … so I thought they were all like that."

"Well, no, not all of them," Elyse laughed. "This one's not, anyway – it's only for seeing what's outside. You don't want to put yourself in danger when –"

Theo hit another switch on the panel; there was an audible click from the far side of the room. "Sorry for interrupting everyone," she said crisply, "but – I've just opened the main cabin door, so you can go outside now. I'm sure that this is your stop, since Gokuu obviously knows that woman – so let's just say our goodbyes now." Nodding stiffly at the good-natured Saiyan, Theo said, "Goodbye, Gokuu. And good luck with … eh … whatever it is that you're doing." She purposely averted her eyes from the bundle hanging limply over his shoulder and narrowed her eyes, looking pointedly at the door.

Elyse turned to look at her mother, baffled. Theo motioned curtly with her head for her to get out of the way, all the while keeping her gaze fixed on Gokuu and his burden. With a sigh, Elyse nodded at the amiable Saiyan, patted his massive forearm and moved to stand next to Dron and Allyssa.

Gokuu turned from the holograph to regard Theo, confused, Vejiita's arms swinging gently behind him. "Goodbye? Wait – I don't understand, Theo. What do you mean, goodbye? You're coming with us, too, aren't you?"

"Uh … well … no, I’m not, Gokuu," Theo replied quickly, drawing back even farther behind the console and still gesturing toward the door. "I just took you from where we were to your home. So, if you don't mind—"

"Oh, yes you are," Gohan said in a quiet, deadly voice. He uncrossed his arms and stood in front of her, his face ablaze with a righteous, cold anger, his arms dangling loosely at his sides. "We're not going anywhere without you. I remember what Vejiita said – I'm certainly not going to allow you to try to kill anyone else, least of all any of my of my father's friends." The younger Saiyan turned his head toward Gokuu, his gaze black and piercing. "There are some things, 'tousan, that you don't know about her – things that we realized while you were fighting that rock monster." Nodding his head toward Theo with the outrage plain in his voice, Gohan continued icily, "Everything Vejiita said about her was true. This woman was going to let him die out there – die! You know what would have happened – we wouldn't have been able to bring him back. He would've stayed dead—"

Trunks looked stricken at the thought. Gokuu turned toward the demi-Saiyan, consternation plain in his expression.

"—so, if nothing else, I think she owes Vejiita an explanation."

The bottom dropped out of Theo's stomach as her eyes widened in disbelief. Gods – he's going to force me to *wait* for him to wake up? So he can find out that I – oh, no, no, no, I don't think so –

"I – what? I – owe – him something?" she burst out, incredulous, her jaw agape. Leaning on the console, she shook her head rapidly and snapped, eyes blazing, "You have no idea – I owe him something? I owe him nothing. Nada. Zilch. That man ruined years of my life, and there is no way in hell I'm going to—"

"Theo!" Allyssa warned, pushing her back, watching Gokuu's uncomprehending face. "That's enough, Theo. No more." She looked around at the large, alien men crowding each other in the control room, and her heart sank. Gods, they have enough raw power between them to kill us a million times over, she thought, grimacing. We're just going to have to brazen this one out. "Gentlemen, this is not your call. You've been asked to leave, and I think you should do just that before something gets said that someone will regret."

"Oh, we're leaving – there's no question about that – but we're taking her as well," Piccolo replied, his eyes glittering dangerously as he moved from his place against the wall, reached over and snagged Theo's upper arm. He dragged her, protesting, from behind the console to stand next to him, her forearm clasped in one powerful hand. "Gohan's right – she's coming with us. In fact, I'm sure that Vejiita would have insisted on it."

"Take your hands off of me, you—" Theo snarled, trying to yank her arm back as her feet scuffed the floor.

The kami leaned down and put his face next to hers, his breath tickling her cheek as he looked deep into her eyes. "Do that one more time and I'll make sure you're never separated from that Saiyan for the rest of his natural life," he murmured, low enough so only Theo heard. "And I don't need to tell you how long those people live."

She stared back at him, fell silent and immediately stopped struggling, glaring. He could do it, too, she realized. It wouldn't take much on his part, either – kamis had access to things she certainly couldn't touch. And from the look in eyes, he’d enjoy it, too.

Gokuu turned from the holograph and gave her a long, searching look, appearing bemused. "I don't want to force you to come with us, Theo, but it looks like we have to sort this out … and I have to get Vejiita a sensu as soon as I can, no question about that. So we'd better go." With that, he turned toward the doorway and walked out. Grunting in assent, Piccolo dragged Theo unceremoniously by her arm and followed Gokuu out of the TARDIS.

Glaring and looking grim, the remaining sensei fell in behind Piccolo, effectively cutting off any escape route Theo may have had. The Guardian cast one desperate look over her shoulder at her erstwhile traveling companions before she was hauled out the door of her own TARDIS and into the apartment, instantly vanishing from sight.

A shout of surprise drifted through the open door. "Gokuu! Are you all right? What happened to –" cut off by the rapid succession of people out the door.

Another muffled shriek, this time definitely feminine, came through the entrance. "Where – where are you all coming from?" screeched Bulma, completely taken aback. "You can't do this – you're walking out of the furniture! And – Vejiita!" Her voice rose several decibels in volume as she struggled to stay with her husband. "What happened to –"

Dron, Allyssa and Elyse were still in the TARDIS. "We'd better go after her," Dron said, gesturing toward the entrance with his gun. "There's no telling what those people will do to her, especially when that little guy wakes up."

Elyse paled, thinking of the cold, angry set of Gohan’s jaw and Vejiita’s barely suppressed rage. "You don’t think they’ll—"

"Oh, I think it’s pretty clear what they’re going to do," Allyssa replied through clenched teeth. She checked her blaster and scooped the TARDIS key off the console, stowing it in her pocket. "We just have to make sure that when they’re done, there's enough of her left to piece together. Otherwise, your grandmother's going to be extremely miffed at me."

Nodding, the three unlikely companions leaped through the door of the TARDIS and into the apartment without looking back.