Silence reigned as the blackness overtook the sky, and the sun,
and the light. Those on the surface of Chikyuu were left with a dull ambient
light, a cool wind, and a helluva lot of aprehension. This wasn't the same
kind of darkness as when the Dragonballs were used to summon Shenlon, that
was a powerful darkness, as was this. The difference was, that with Shenlon
the darkness was merely darkness, a little foreboding, but more for atmosphere.
This darkness was dampening, ominous, and smothering.
But all that could wait for later.
" Otousan! " Gohan cried as Gokuu hit the ground, hard, and stayed there. The little boy ran for his father, the last shreds of his surcoat flapping in the wind that had risen as suddenly as Quaker's demise.
More to her surprise than anyone else's, Katera wasn't that far behind him, running and calling, " Gokuusan! "
As for the rest, well, all the rest of the attackers stood around and generally said " buh? " for the next little while, while Piccolo glared suspiciously at the sky. So, naturally, he was the first to see the arrival of,
" Sarro! "
Gokuu, Gohan, and Katera looked upwards at the Saiyan woman and immediately reacted in three different ways. Katera stood and drew her sword from where she'd stuck it in the ground. Gohan looked on in wordless wonder. Gokuu gave a winning smile and shouted, " Sarro! " approximately one half of a second before scowling at the woman.
" Otousan... " Gohan trailed off, noting the sudden difference in his father's facial expression.
" Damn that woman, " Katera whispered vehemently. " Damn her to hell. " She narrowed her eyes, readings flashing across her scouter at an incredible speed. " Nothing but trouble. "
" Quiet Katera, " Piccolo warned from where he was quietly edging over to the group and away from the other warriors. Something in his intuition was telling him to move, and soon.
His intuition was never more right.
Sarro moved with sudden fluidity, pulling a fist and jerking it up. In a flash of white light, all of the soldiers previously working under Quaker and the Dark Power Kuraft ceased to exist.
The fact that this was the same attack used previously by Quaker to kill her was not lost on Katera. Luckily, no one bothered to notice her flinch.
Sarro lowered her hand and intoned, " I am the only army Kuraftsama will ever need. "
Well, that went over well.
" Kuraft-- " Gokuu trailed off.
" --sama...? " Gohan concluded
" Nan? " Piccolo scowled. He took a step back. " Son. What's the matter with you? "
Gokuu blinked. " I-- I dunno. Sudden pain in my-- " he broke off as a spike of pain went through him, " --my chest. "
Sarro turned her attention to him. " It's a heart attack you dimwit, " she said with little emotion, and what little there was was clearly disgust, " it wasn't supposed to happen for another couple of years. But, I figured, why not screw Chikyuu for the hell of it before the whole universe blows? Planet never did me any good anyway. "
The general reaction to that was a round of blinks.
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Amid a storm of curses and a general rise in his sentu ryoku, Vejiita left the Capsule Corporation building and vowed to never come back again.
[pause to allow the writer to stop laughing and pointing at the poor little prince, though that might be a misnomer considering he's probably about her height and there's no probably about the fact that he could kick her ass. But I'm rambling]
Why did the Briefs family have to fawn over him so bloody much? It was downright disgusting. It wasn't even because he was royalty! They treated YAMCHA with the same courtesy, and he was mere human scum! Okay, so he was an arguably good fighter, for a human, but still.
'Vejiita, be careful!' or 'Vejiita, are you sure that's enough armor?' or even, 'Vejiita are you sure you want to go' and 'How about a snack before you go?'
They were appealing to his stomach! What low and dirty tactics! Careful? Enough armor? DID HE REALLY WANT TO GO?!?!?! It was enough to drive a man completely and utterly mad! The sky was dark, an evil, dark, powerful ki had covered Chikyuu in the entirety of it's skies and they asked if he REALLY WANTED TO GO?! Of course he wanted to go!
Humans, he scoffed, they don't know a single thing about how the universe works.
Vejiita's internal rampage was interrupted by the appearance of a wrinkled old Namekuseijin before him. In too much of a fury to just let it pass, and feeling the need to vent, Vejiita halted and gestured wildly to the side while shouting, " Out Of My Way! "
" No, " answered the Namekuseijin.
Oh, his day just kept getting better and better...
" I said, " Vejiita reitterated tersely, " Get. Out. Of. My. Way. "
The Namekuseijin nodded, " Yes, and I answered, No. "
" How Dare You! "
Mirai Dende sighed. " Vejiita, much as I'd love to hang around and beat around the bush with your temper, I'm here on business. "
Seething to the point where he could feasibly be foaming at the mouth, Vejiita remained silent. Dende took this as an invitation to continue.
" You may not remember me, or you just might. I am Dende. "
" You're not Dende, " Vejiita snapped, " Dende's that pint-sized little shitbrat healer. You're... old. Besides, that kid's on New Namekusei right now. "
Dende sighed. " I can see where Sarro get's so frustrated. Talking to Saiyajin is a tiring ordeal. "
" Did you stop me just to insult me? I have better things to do! " Vejiita made a motion to move around Dende.
" Mm, that you do, " Dende agreed, " just not the important thing you think you have to do. "
That sparked the prince's attention. A certain period of his life spent with a certain tyrant that had then turned against him on a certain planet that had led to a certain problem he was now ensnared in had given the Saiyan Prince an acute aversion to being told what to do.
" Is that so? " he said in that sly, I'm-humoring-you-before-you-die tone of voice.
Dende turned resolutely in the air. " Vejiita it is up to you to save Chikyuu and the future! I'm leaving fate in your hands! "
Vejiita cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow. " Isn't that more Kakarrot's position in life? "
" As it would be were he not suffering from a premature heart attack right now. You're the next best thing, I'm afraid. "
Vejiita didn't know which was more insulting; the fact that this wrinkled
old raisin of a Nemekuseijin who claimed to be a child
expected him to save Chikyuu when he really didn't give a damn (really,
he didn't! ~coff~) or the fact that he was again labeled as second rate.
The gears in his mind creaked through the mental process as he mulled over
his situation.
" Tell me what I have to do, " he relented, with an adendum, " and Maybe I'll help you out. "
Dende smiled wearily, " That's all I ask. "
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" Um, " attempted Gokuu after Sarro seemed to have stopped doing anything, " Whaddaya mean? " He groaned as another spasm of pain took him.
Sarro looked at him, the wind tossing her braid around behind her, and lifting her bangs to reveal hard black eyes with darkness around them, like they sucked in light to claim their own.
" I was born and raised on this planet, " Sarro said, still in that monotonous tone, " I grew up a freak, " that word got some emotion out of her, though not a happy one, " a girl with a tail and parents who were paranoid about people from outer space coming for them. I didn't have the happy childhood you had Son Gokuu. " Her tone turned bitter, " You led a sheltered life. "
" I had a happy childhood, and while my life isn't always happy now, I don't let it get to me, " Gokuu pointed out kindly.
" Of course, " said Sarro with a smirk. " The whole universe revolves around you Son Gokuu! You! No matter what happens you come out on top! But not this time, this time I will destroy you for Kuraftsama. I will destroy you and then everything will be his! "
" Why?! " Gokuu shouted, sounding wheedling in his weakened state.
" Because, " stated Sarro as the sky began to rain down darkness around her, " he is my father. "
The darkness that had fallen around Sarro hit the ground and puddled just below her. Sarro hung in the air and watched our heroes while that puddle then melted upwards and became a man: became Potaeo.
" Kisama-- " Katera trailed off, then furrowed her brow at her readings. " You're the Dark Power? Not only are you Saiyajin, but your power is lower than hers! "
Potaeo smiled thinly. " Foolish girl. What does your scouter tell you about Son Gokuu the majority of the time? "
Katera's expression darkened in insult. " If you are the Dark Power really, then order her to stop hurting Gokuusan! "
" Why would I do that? "
" Do it! "
" I don't think so. Sarro is doing my dirty work for me. It didn't really take that much prodding either. "
" If I kill you, will she stop? " Katera asked, changing tactics to one more her style.
Potaeo's smile grew a fraction of a millimetre. " You couldn't kill me. "
Katera offered a grin of her own. " Wanna bet? "
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Yamcha was sulking.
Yamcha was depressed.
Yamcha was in-fatuated.
On some level Pouar found it nice that Yamcha was taking interest in someone seriously. Not since Bulma had put a definate end to their relationship had Yamcha had anything but fleeting interests. His whole life had been split between baseball games, training for a fight that seemed to never arise, fly-by-night dates and one-night stands. (and the occasional new cruiser)
But, on another level, it broke Pouar's heart to watch his 'Lord' Yamcha
act thus. It made him depressed, having to deal with a
depressed Yamcha. This sucked.
Pouar floated to the window with a sigh, after bringing Yamcha's uneaten lunch back to the kitchen. He'd spent his entire time since coming back from Sarro's, or what had been Sarro's home in front of the television in their apartment and watched soap operas.
Pouar rested his chin in his little paws and gazed out into the clear sky... the clear... black... sky...
" Yamchasama! "
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This was rediculous. Bloody well rediculous. Why did HE have to be doing this?
Oh, he knew why, because he was the back-up. He was the second choice. Kakarrot couldn't do it, so of course they'd thought of him.
Hmmph. So, Sarro was now the enemy, and rather than kill her, which was the easiest solution, Vejiita had to figure out how to bring her back to her senses. All 'Dende' had been able to offer in the way of advice was to find something important to her-- more important than the father who had turned her.
Vejiita growled in irritation. This was absurd. Downright absurd. It didn't make sense. What made Sarro so important? Who cared if Kakarrot died? Did anyone Important really gave a damn?
Vejiita, of course, refused to think up any answers to his questions.
He didn't like the truth.
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Truth was something all too painful.
As Sarro curled herself tighter into a small ball within her mind, she flinched in pain as her rage manoevered her body, forced her words and tainted her soul. The small, weakened form of Sarro, the good side, if you will, (Though this is not as clear cut as may seem) closed her eyes tight and gave up the fight.
It was a lost battle anyway.
The battle for her sanity.
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[Taihen! Whatever are we going to do?! We're supposed to depend on Vejiita to save us?! In the words of Rattrap; " We're all... gonna die! " {gringrin. Rattrap's voice is Scott McNeil. Scott McNeil was Piccolo's English dub voice... Scott McNeil is my hero! ~giggle~ j/k} Uh... where wuz I? Oh yeah! Will Vejiita be able to bring Sarro back to her senses? Will the arrival of Yamcha bring Sarro back through the power of luv? Whadda ya think this is? Sailormoon? Be back here next time for a marginal round of answers in Chapter Twenty-one; The Battle Continues. Sarro, Come to Your Senses!]
[Written by Inseiko, 2000]
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