Dandelion
Coffee
A romance
by Unknown Darkness and Serina
Part 1:
Sinking
Even
years after his death, Dr. Gero’s evil deeds carried on without him. Knowing he would one day be defeated, he had
created a weapon which would activate years after his demise.
And now
was the time.
Half
organic, half robot, this mecha-bio-monster emerged from an underground capsule
in which it had lain dormant through the years until its pre-programmed time to
awaken had come.
It
resembled a humanoid, but it was huge and most of its appendages were
mechanical, and what skin there was, was covered with brownish-green scales and
its mouth sported fangs. It gazed about
with glowing green eyes, looking for signs of a Saiya-jin; any blood resembling
that of Goku. It sensed the essence of
one, and flew in its direction, a look of savage anticipation on its monstrous
face.
The
bio-mech was going to have fun!
* * *
Vejita sat
on the porch of his large home. His
wife, Bulma, was inside the house tinkering with her robots as usual. Their son Trunks was at work, and their
daughter Bra was at summer camp.
Even
though Vejita had grown closer to Bulma, he seldom showed it. For one thing, he didn’t really know how to
show it. He had been brought up in a
loveless world, devoid of compassion, and bred to fight. It was a rare phenomenon for a Saiya-jin
pair to stay together.
Also, he
had been harshly trained to show no emotion.
Many times as a young prince, he was beaten and ridiculed for showing
feelings. “Emotions are for the weak,”
his father had said as he slammed hard lessons into his son, “To be weak is to die. You will betray no emotions except anger
when needed and glee at the demise of your foe! Or else suffer!”
Although
Vejita tried to close his eyes on his past, its effects continued to influence
his actions. But he was glad he defied
his father by staying with a human mate.
Vejita smiled grimly. If his
father were here, he would say, “You wretch!
You have tainted the Saiya-jin bloodline with human blood! You have betrayed your heritage as a warrior
of planet Vejita!”
“Well,
think what you want, father,” he thought, looking at the sky, “Your ways were
wrong. Unlike you, I experienced
sorrow. Regret. Forgiveness. Even love. My mind is now
open and your ways are closed doors to me.”
He
watched Bulma through the window. Her
knee-length lilac hair was tied back and she wore an old white t-shirt and
jeans. She sighed and drank some
lemonade. She seemed frustrated; the
robot she was working on just wouldn’t work.
Vejita
didn’t care about how others felt about Bulma; he thought she was beautiful in
her own way. And she had spirit, and a
mouth to match his. Yes, for a human
she was very Saiya-like. Except she was
delicate compared to him.
Vejita
had his tail back. It would still be
quite sensitive until he toughened it as he had his original tail, so in the
mean time it would be a weak point, which was why he kept it wrapped around his
waist in combat. Now it swung
freely. He was glad to have it back;
even though the moon was gone, at least he had the symbol of his true power. Tail-less Saiya-jin were ridiculed on his
late planet, and since he was one of the last of his race, he wanted to be
whole. His tail was his pride and joy.
But he
was watching his more precious pride and joy, Bulma. Often they argued, and they called each other names. Very seldom did Vejita ever say anything
nice to Bulma, but this was only because of how he was raised, and he didn’t
know how to tell her that he cared for her deeply. That he thought she was beautiful since she had grown her hair
out.
That he
would die for her.
He sighed
and looked into the noonday sky. “I need
to tell her how I feel,” he thought, “And it may as well be now.” He stood up and turned to the door.
Suddenly,
he looked back toward the forest a few miles to the east. His eyes narrowed. He felt the life force of something powerful, and it sure as hell
wasn’t Goku.
Just then
Bulma came out, wiping grease from her hands.
“What is it, Vejita?” she asked, noticing his alert posture.
Vejita’s
tail bristled slightly. “Something’s
heading this way,” he said, smirking, “As if it’s looking just for me. I’m going to check it out. Looks like I finally will have a good fight
without Kakarotto interfering.”
Bulma
knew she couldn’t stop him; he loved to fight.
But she had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, far worse than any she
ever had whenever Vejita went off to fight.
“I don’t
know Vejita,” she said, “I… feel like… like something awful is going to
happen…”
“Oh,
something awful will happen… to whoever this is,” Vejita said, smiling,
wrapping his tail around his waist.
“No,”
Bulma muttered, shaking her head, “To you, I mean. You’ll be hurt or worse…”
“I’m a
big boy,” he said, rolling his eyes, “I can take care of myself.” He was in his body suit and armor already,
so he saw no reason to hesitate. All
else forgotten, he took off toward the unknown trespasser.
Bulma
watched him go, trying to tell herself she was over-reacting. But the uneasy feeling stayed in the pit of
her stomach as she went back to work on her robot.
* * *
The
bio-mech could tell that his prey was coming to him. How convenient. He landed
in the forest and waited.
He looked
forward to the fight.
* * *
Vejita
could sense that he was drawing near the trespasser. Then, although town was quite far behind, he recognized this part
of the woods. He barely saw a black
roof under the trees as he flew past.
It was the log cabin he and Bulma had built several years ago to get
away from it all. It had neither
electricity nor city water, just oil lamps and a well nearby. “One of these days we need to stay there for
awhile again,” he thought.
He flew
about three more miles, then both Vejita and the bio-mech spotted each other at
the same time. Both smiled. Vejita landed. “Well, what do you want?” he asked, looking at the semi-robotic
creature. “Who made you, Dr. Willow or
Dr. Gero? You’re clearly too freakish to be natural.”
“The
great Gero,” the creature snarled in a low, digital growl, “And I am programmed
to terminate all who may be related to Goku.
He is a Saiya-jin. You are a
Saiya-jin.”
“Oh, really?”
Vejita chuckled, “I didn’t know that. Thanks for telling me. But I’ll have you know I eat freaks like you
for breakfast!”
The
bio-mech fired a blast from its mouth at Vejita. The Saiya-jin dodged to the right and the crimson beam passed
by. “You need target practice,” Vejita
smirked, “Here. Let me show you how
it’s done!” He fired a quick
crasher-ball blast at the bio-mech. It
sidestepped, then immediately leaped at Vejita, metallic claws extended. Vejita phased out just in time and reappeared
above the monster. He axe-handled at
the creature’s head, but it was already behind Vejita and it slashed with its
robotic arm. Vejita bent around it so
it missed, then the two began to punch and kick rapidly at eachother. Neither of them hit; they both dodged or
blocked.
“What
should I call you?” Vejita asked as he blocked many swift kicks, “I’m used to
all the big-shot enemies introducing themselves before I kick their @$$!”
The
bio-mech blocked several punches with its arms and legs. “I am Biological Mechanical Warrior model
number 21,” the creature droned as it punched and missed.
“Then I
guess I’ll call you BMW for short,” Vejita laughed, dodging another blow, “You
don’t mind, do you?” He suddenly broke
away and put both hands, palm forward, above his head, right over left.
“Masenko!”
he cried. Sapphire-glowing energy
gathered quickly in his right hand, and he brought both hands forward, firing
the blast at “BMW”.
Vejita
blocked his face from the explosion and waited. Sure enough, the bio-mech’s metal arms proved very effective for
blocking attacks. But he thought his
attack would have at least hurt it a little.
It
didn’t.
He was
about to charge a stronger blast and move off further, but 21 didn’t even need
time to recover, and he launched himself at Vejita and delivered a strong punch
to Vejita’s mid-section. The Saiya-jin
reflexively kicked the monster’s arm away, then gripped his belly,
wincing. He landed quickly and looked
up at the smiling beast. “What an arm,”
he grunted, smirking. In his mind, he
was angry at being the first one hit.
This gave him a burst of aggression, and he was surrounded by flaming
energy.
“Come and
get me, pretty-boy!” he yelled.
Biodroid
21 fired another red beam at Vejita, but the Saiya-jin leaped out of the way
and charged at the creature, glowing fist ready to punch. He hit the creature’s jaw solidly, then
kicked at its belly. The bio-mech
blocked, then tried to bite Vejita’s throat.
The
Saiya-jin barely dodged the unexpected move in time. They again began exchanging swift punches and kicks, this time
not all were avoided.
* * *
Bulma
kicked the small robot over in frustration.
“Stupid proto-type piece of junk!” she yelled, picking it up again, “I can’t
figure out what’s wrong… Maybe if I upgrade the voltage regulator and reverse
the polarity of the surge-diffuser… or maybe there’s a short in the
particle-differentiator…”
She
sighed and cleared her throat, then reached for more lemonade…
Then she smacked
herself on the forehead. “Of course!”
she burst, rolling her eyes, “The intake receptacle is probably clogged! How could I overlook that?”
The robot
was in working order again in about another half-an-hour. Bulma went to the porch, shaking her long
flowing hair loose and closing her eyes as a cooling breeze blew gently
past. Then she gazed in the direction
Vejita had gone. Every now and then, if
she looked hard enough, she could see flashes of light as the combatants used
energy blasts.
Bulma
still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. Another breeze blew by and she shivered,
even though the wind wasn’t very cold.
She went inside to have a cappuccino, when the satellite phone beeped.
“Bulma
Briefs, Capsule Corporation,” she said when she’d picked up the receiver.
“Hey,
Ma,” a young man said, “It’s me, Trunks.”
“Hello,
son,” Bulma answered, “What’s up?”
“I’ve got
a lot of projects piling up,” he sighed, “so I think I should stay at a hotel
for several weeks. Things are just
pouring in, so my visit will have to wait.
That ok?”
“It’s
alright,” Bulma answered, “Just call when you are free. Anything else?”
“I don’t
think so… Oh, when will sis’s camping be done?”
“She has
another five weeks yet. But you know
it’ll take some extra time for her to get packed up.”
“Oh, ok.
Well, by Ma.”
“Goodbye.” Bulma hung up the phone, then brushed some
stray hairs aside. Then, she settled
down on the couch to watch the rest of her favorite soap opera, “Forging
Ahead”. But in the back of her mind,
she still worried about Vejita.
* * *
Vejita
shouted a curse as 21’s claws ripped through his right upper arm. He tried to fly back from the creature, but
it followed his every move, giving him no rest. Although Vejita had mostly bruises and no serious wounds besides
his arm, he was growing very tired, while the bio-mech seemed as fresh as
ever. “I’ll have to do something
different,” he decided.
As he
flew backward over the tree-tops, he grabbed a limb and stabbed it at 21’s face. The point gashed along its cheek and into
its green glowing eye. As it stopped
and gripped its face, roaring, Vejita moved back, arms in front of his chest,
palms together.
“Choba…”
His hands parted as a ball of energy formed between them. Blood ran between the beast’s metal
fingers. It then lowered its hands and
glared with its remaining eye at Vejita.
“…Kuretsuma…”
The energy ball grew huge and pulsed between Vejita’s hands. The bio-mech launched itself at Vejita,
emitting a blood-curdling roar, fangs bared.
“HAAAAAAA!!!!!”
Vejita thrust his hands forward, launching the giant blast at 21, who brought
up its limbs but was knocked into the ground, where the fireball exploded.
After a
while Vejita lowered his arms, wincing at the pain in his torn muscle. He knew better than to underestimate his
foe, so he stayed alert as he waited, panting.
The smoke
hadn’t even cleared yet when 21 leaped from the crater and slammed Vejita in
the groin before he could even blink.
Vejita was knocked upward and doubled over in extreme pain. As he was going upward from the hit, the
monster grabbed Vejita by the hair and slammed him back down at the
ground. The Saiya-jin hit head-first,
his forehead gashed deeply. An instant
later his back hit as well. Immediately,
he rolled out of the way just in time to dodge 21’s solid fist, which was now
stuck in the ground.
Vejita
leaped several yards back, planted his legs as firmly as possible considering
the agony this caused, and balled his hands into tight fists. He then squeezed his eyes shut and brought
his elbows to his hips. Shouting from
the surge of energy coursing through him, he turned into Super Saiya-jin 2.
His hair
and eyebrows were now a bright, golden hue, and he glowed with flaming
energy. He launched a mighty kick at
21. He hit him straight in the face,
then followed up with swift, powerful punches all over. Then, as the bio-mech curled in pain, Vejita
leaped up and extended his hand.
“BIG BANG
ATTACK!!!” he yelled. An extremely large
and powerful wave burst from the palm of his hand, and the explosion was
immense.
“If this
doesn’t do it,” Vejita thought as he hovered and waited, wiping some blood from
his forehead and flinching when sweat stung the gash, “If this doesn’t at least
phase him at all, nothing will.”
* * *
Bulma
felt a slight tremor. “Must be Vejita
and his Big Bang,” she thought, “But he usually doesn’t use it unless he’s
having a hard time.” She peeked out the
window and saw the flashing and smoke left behind after Vejita’s favorite
fireball attack.
“Well,
that most likely finished the enemy off,” Bulma sighed, “Vejita will be back
any time now.”
But even
as she told herself that, the feeling in her gut told her that he wouldn’t.
* * *
It was
obvious that 21 was very hurt from the attack, but because of its mechanized
limbs, it had blocked quite a bit; and it was only because his legs had no real
nerves and were unaffected by pain that he was able to stand. He growled menacingly at Vejita.
The
Saiya-jin knew there was nothing more dangerous than a wounded enemy. Although it wouldn’t take much to kill the
bio-mech, its attacks would now be greatly intensified.
Vejita
fired another Masenko, but the creature leaped up and dealt a hammer-fist blow
to the side of Vejita’s head, snapping it sideways and knocking him through
several trees before he fell into the ground, sending up a spray of soil and
splintered rotten logs. One tree fell
across Vejita’s right leg.
He
yelled, “Dammit! GYAAAA!!!” and pushed the tree off, then collapsed back down,
panting, sweat beads stinging into numerous flesh-wounds. His jaw and eye were swollen, and his
kneecap was crushed and bloody. He
began to get up, holding onto a branch for support, but 21 was already behind
him and he kicked Vejita in the back.
Vejita smashed into a rocky mountain, leaving a crater in the side. He slid to the ground and landed on his good
knee and his hands, then stood unsteadily, keeping his weight off of his ruined
right leg. His face was tense with pain
as he laid his hand on his left shoulder, which was dislocated from the
mountain crash. He popped it back into
place, a hiss of pain coming from between his teeth. Then, he stood panting
for a moment. 21 stood its ground
watching, looking satisfied.
Suddenly
Vejita smirked even through the pain.
“You know what, magnetic frog-face?” he said, “You’re really starting to
piss me off!”
“Stop
resisting and I will be efficiently quick about your death,” the bio-mech said.
“EAT IT!”
Vejita declared, firing a crasher ball blast at the monster.
The
creature blocked it easily, then glared with its remaining eye at the
persistent Saiya-jin. “You will regret this resistance,” it said. It flew at Vejita.
As
injured as he was, Vejita was unable to dodge the blow to his face. Blood flew from his mouth as his already
ravaged jaw was again jarred by solid metal knuckles.
“This
sucks @$$!” Vejita thought as the beast began to beat all over the Saiya-jin so
quickly he couldn’t react.
* * *
Bulma suddenly
stood up from the couch. It had been
almost 45 minutes since the blast, and at Vejita’s speed he should have been
there by now. Also, she had had a burst
of dread.
“I don’t
care how dangerous it is,” she thought, going to the garage, “I’m going
over there. I just know something’s
wrong!” She jumped into her fast, red
hover-sport-car for maximum speed.
Judging by the distance of the explosion, she estimated she’d be there
in about 15 minutes if she floored it.
“Hang on,
Vejita,” she found herself muttering, “Just hang on.” Immediately she began to regret the arguments they had had, the
names she had called him, the accusations she had made.
All she
knew was that she loved him, and she wasn’t about to let him die!
* * *
Vejita
was struggling to get up, eyes squeezed shut from the pain all over. Just as he was up on his good leg, the
bio-mech was in front of him. The
savage creature slashed into Vejita’s thigh muscle with his metal claws,
causing the Saiya-jin to collapse again.
The
monster felt sadistic joy as he watched Vejita try to fly; already he knew it
was futile to attempt to stand with both legs injured. He elbowed Vejita back to the ground, then
decided he enjoyed toying with his prey.
He
grabbed the weakened Saiya-jin by the throat and began to choke the life out of
him. He laughed an evil, insane laugh
as his victim struggled in his grasp.
But then his laughter stopped when he noticed Vejita’s glazing eyes
boring into his. He knew that the
Saiya-jin probably had one last attack in mind, and he didn’t want to find out
what it was. Vejita’s tail fell limply
from around his waist, but his hand opened to gether energy. The monster squeezed harder, hoping to
finish the Saiya-jin soldier off in time, but even as Vejita’s eyes rolled back
and his hair turned black again from total loss of power, energy gathered in
his hand, and as his head lolled forward, his hand hurled the fireball right at
the bio-mech’s face.
The
monster was knocked one way and Vejita the other. He clutched his throat, gulping in oxygen and then he went
unconscious. 21’s face was charred and
bloody from the blast. He got up and
glared at Vejita, who was waking up and trying to blink his eyes into focus.
“Burn in
Hell, Saiya-jin!” the monster roared.
He picked Vejita up by the back of his suit and flung him into a
boulder, crushing his armor. Then he
sat down suddenly, finally feeling the effects of all the injuries Vejita had
inflicted upon him. Both he and the
Saiya-jin soldier lay still for a long time.
Then, 21 re-routed the pain to the back of his mind and got up,
approaching the bloodied Vejita.
“Even for
an organic being, you impress me Vejita,” he said. He saw Vejita trying to rise once more.
Vejita
never allowed himself to lie down for long, no matter how badly he was
injured. It was the nature of all
Saiya-jin to meet death on their feet.
But
Vejita couldn’t stay up.
“Here,”
the savage creature purred, “let me help you up!” He grabbed Vejita by a leg and an arm, swung him upward over his
head, and sank his fangs into Vejita’s left side.
As this
happened, a red hover-car was flying over-head, and Bulma was just in time to
see the act.
“NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!”
she screamed, pounding her fist in a panic.
She accidentally hit the horn.
The
bio-mech looked up at the noise, dropping Vejita. The monster looked at the hover-car and fired a crimson beam from
his mouth. The stricken vehicle spun to
the ground, behind the cover of trees.
Vejita
watched from the ground through a foggy haze of pain. “Bulma…” he rasped, eyes wide.
Then they narrowed and glared at 21, who stood panting from the burst of
energy.
“YOU!!!”
Vejita snarled, raising himself on his hands and knees. “YOU DAMN HELL-SPAWN BASTARD!!!”
The
Saiya-jin launched a huge fireball with the rest of his strength and was
knocked back into a lying position by the force as the blast exploded on the
creature.
There was
quiet for a moment.
Vejita, lying on his back, turned himself over and began to
crawl painfully toward where the hover-car had gone down, his breath uneven and
rapid as he dragged his torn body over the ground. All he had in mind was to see if his mate was alive. But he couldn’t move after going 15
feet. “Bulma?!?” he called
hoarsely. Then his face hit the ground,
too exhausted to look ahead.
Suddenly, 21 rose from the crater of the explosion, charred
and enraged. He went over to Vejita and
turned the Saiya-jin over with his foot.
Vejita opened his bloodshot eyes, one only half-way, and glared
venomously at the demonic creature standing over him.
“You bastard devil,” the wounded soldier growled. A throb of pain caused him to arch his head
back and squeeze his eyes shut. “Devil,” he whispered, “Murdering devil… you…”
He groaned and his head rolled to one side.
“You’re… FINISHED!” the bio-mech roared raspily. He raised his metal foot and set it on
Vejita’s chest. “I will… crush you!”
The beast stomped down hard and Vejita’s armored breastplate
shattered and his fingers dug into the ground.
21 began to lean his weight on his foot, and Vejita tried to grasp the
metal leg and alleviate the pressure, but another burst of pain overwhelmed him
and his arms dropped.
The bio-mech smiled satanically. “Fight back, great powerful
Saiya-jin,” he taunted. He ground down
still harder. He heard the snapping of
ribs and lifted his foot away, licking his lips in sadistic pleasure as Vejita
screamed and tried to squirm away. The
ecstatic monster again planted his foot on Vejita’s chest, and increased the
pressure by the second.
Vejita scrabbled at the earth with faltering hands as his
screams turned into breathless whines.
He tasted blood and was growing dizzy, unable to breathe. The ground was giving under him as the
monster pushed him deeper and deeper into the ground.
Suddenly, he heard a scream of desperation and rage. He craned his neck back and forced his
listless eyelids open. He saw his mate
on one knee, covered in mud, a cut on her forehead and scratches all over from
struggling through thorns, her eyes burning with demonic rage. She had just emerged from a thicket, and she
was the very image of wrath.
“Bul… Bulma…” Vejita gasped faintly before a weak cough
rattled him and crimson droplets flew from his mouth. He arched his neck and tried to breathe, but the weight on his
lungs inhibited this.
“Leave him ALONE!!!” Bulma yelled, getting to
her feet, fists clenched at her sides.
The monster glanced at her with the corner of his eye. “Do not interfere, Human!” he hissed. He ground his heel down with tremendous
force. Vejita had no breath to scream,
so only a trembling moan laced with blood escaped his lips. His hands clawed furrows into the ground and
his bloodied tail twitched convulsively.
“STOP IT!!!!” Bulma screamed. She leaped right at the beast and knocked it
five feet away from the victimized Saiya-jin and onto its back. Vejita gasped fast, deep breaths and looked
at Bulma. Their eyes met for a moment,
then his head lolled back again.
Bulma turned back to the beast, which was trying to get up;
Bulma’s blow had deepened one of his wounds, and he was weak.
“You MONSTER!” she screamed at it, “How could you DO
this?!” She leaped up and, yelling
angrily, landed on the creature with her knees, knocking the wind out of
him. Then she began punching harder
than she even had, all over 21. Over
and over she dealt solid blows until even the strong monster let out a demonic
shriek.
Then the enraged woman picked up a rock about as big as her
head. “Fry your @$$ in Hell!!!” Bulma
yelled, smashing the rock down at the bio-mech’s vulnerable throat.
The creature thrashed about as Bulma leaped back, blood was
spurting from its throat and mouth. Finally,
after twitching one last time, Dr. Gero’s fierce weapon was no more.