A heart... attack?
A... premature... heart attack?
I had no idea of the complicated life you had led... echoed Sarro's voice in Gokuu's head: brief snatches of a conversation that seemed like it had been so long ago, Not even Kaiousama can forsee all the future in store for you... Keep in mind that this is far in the future... several hundred years in fact...
Sarro was from the future, a future in which he had passed away. Gokuu lay on the ground suffering through pain more intense than anything he'd ever experienced, and still his mind clicked through the peices of Sarro's jigsaw puzzle of truth and lies. But something didn't fit. Why was she now working for the Dark Power? What could possibly have turned her against him and the future?
...my father disappeared. It was then when I first felt the Dark Power. That was the peice that didn't fit. If Sarro's father was the Dark Power Kuraft... why did he feel so weak? It was feasable that he could control his sentu ryoku, but... Gokuu lived by his instincts, and something just didn't feel right. It was too easy. Too easy. This didn't feel right.
What was wrong?
From a detatched point of view it can be supposed that the whole situation was 'wrong.' Sarro and Mirai Dende's plans seemed to have been thrown far, far out of orbit.
But Dende had faith in this new plan, granted it was a horribly shaky faith, but it was better than what he held in Sarro at the moment. He kept asking himself, why? Why did it all go so horribly wrong? What had he and Sarro overlooked?
In unknown juxtaposition to Sarro's situation, Dende was loosing a war with his own despair.
Vejiita was loosing his war with the whole universe. It seemed no matter how hard the prince (or ex-prince if you really thought about it) tried to retain some semblance of his old fearsome image, it continually slipped through his fingers. Save the world, bah! He wasn't a savior of worlds, he was a destroyer of worlds! There had been a time when the whole universe had feared the name Vejiita: they had trembled at the very sound of it, and his Saiyan troops. Now...
Now he was sure he was a laughing stock. Hell, he found himself a laughing stock! Here he was, off to a battle, which would be good if not for his mission. He was off to a battle not to fight, but to try and find a peaceful resolution to the problem with Sarro before she destroyed Chikyuu and Bul-- uh... and everyone on it! This was not a mission befitting the great Vejiita-Oji! This was more a mission befitting Kakarrot!
But Kakarrot was dying. The bastard, how dare he! He couldn't die before Vejiita had had a chance to gain revenge. It was all Kakarrot's fault, the predicament the prince was in.
All. Kakarrot's. Fault.
With a sneer pasted firmly upon his lips, the feared Prince Vejiita of the Saiyajin came across the battle with Sarro.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
" Yamchasama! Yamchasama! "
Yamcha slowly dragged his eyes away from the couple necking on the television set to the kitchen. " What is it Pouar? " he asked with absolutely no amount of interest despite Pouar's frantic tone.
" Yamchasama!! " Pouar called again, dragging out the last syllable until it squeaked and Yamcha was forced to haul his lazy, depressed butt off the couch and into the kitchen.
" Pouar, what the hell is your problem? " he asked irritably. He really hadn't planned on moving the rest of his life.
[Boy, when he gets depressed...]
Pouar, with large rivers of tears cascading down his gray and blue face, pointed with one stubby stuffed-animal-like paw out the window and at the darkened sky.
Yamcha then broke off into a long string of curses that ended off with
a disgusted, " I'm Worthless! " and the slamming of the
apartment door.
Left alone in the near-lightless kitchen, Pouar gave a tiny smile and
responded, " I don't think so. "
Out in the hall, Yamcha had managed to storm halfway towards the stairs when a sudden weight latched itself onto his leg.
Yamcha sighed and looked down, fully expecting to find a little gray and blue shape-shifting cat. Instead, he found a young girl with immense pale pink pigtails.
" Yamchathan! " she greeted, her 's' sounds slurring through the space where her two front teeth had recently fallen out. So far it didn't appear they were even coming back.
Yamcha forced a smile and greeted, " Hello Raindochan. Would you mind please letting go? "
" Kaathan thays to athk thu if thu want a thandwich? Thee thinkth thu are a real hunthk! " Raindo looked at him with huge eyes.
Yamcha felt deflated. He knew that Raindo's mother, who lived across the hall and down a door had a crush on him, and that she was a single mother. (Which made this a little easier to deal with) But Yamcha had a bit of an aversion to kids. Sure, he wanted to get married, but... kids? He'd be a terrible father!
" Pleeeeeeaaaaaaaaaathhhhhh? "
Mostly because he could never say 'no' to them. Nor his rumbling stomach.
" Okay, " he agreed dejectedly. He was sure they didn't need him that much anyway. He was only human. He reached down and picked up Raindo. " But only for a sandwich. "
" Yay! "
If only he'd known what a big undertaking a sandwich was! First off, Raindo's mother, who's name was Oranjuu, had gone through a list of every single type of sandwich in existence, trying to find what he wanted. When she'd finally taken the hint from Yamcha's repeated, 'Whatever, surprise me's he relaxed enough to actually sit at the counter and watch her prepare his sandwich.
" So, " asked Oranjuu pleasantly, " Where were you off to in such a hurry? I heard your door slam and you shouting. " She set his sandwich down and sat across from him with her chin in her hands. " Not off to save the world again, are you? "
Oranjuu had seen him on television awhile back when he'd been fighting Nappa and Vejiita. Like most people she'd only seen the first bit and had made her own inferences.
" Well, " Yamcha said, picking up his sandwich, " didn't you notice the sky? "
" You mean the fact that it turned black? " Oranjuu blinked. " It'd done that plenty of times. You mean this time it's not Dr. Briefs? "
" Um... no... " Yamcha said hesitantly, " I don't think so... " What is this exactly that I'm feeling...? He munched on his sandwich absently a moment as he thought.
" Oh, " Oranjuu sat back as worry began to set in. But, she was a tenacious optimist. A common occurance of anyone who lived on Chikyuu at these times. They'd escaped destruction so many times that life went on no matter what supervillian threatened the well-being of Chikyuu. Nothing much happened in the way of fear or anything like that. So, true to form, Oranjuu's worries lasted about as long as it would have taken for Gokuu to down Yamcha's sandwich and several following that. The woman leaned forward towards Yamcha, her long orange hair tumbling over her shoulder and onto the countertop. Lowering her voice huskily, she inquired, " Are you going to save us then? "
Yamcha blinked at her. His mouth too full and his head too bufuddled to give anything in the way of a response. This wasn't happening.
Swallowing, Yamcha sat a moment, staring at the single mother who was as desperate as the cliche demanded. " Um, " he forced a smile, " thanks for the sandwich! "
" Would you like a cookie? " Oranjuu offered.
" Uh-- "
" Chocolate Chocolate Chip? "
His favorite! " Ano, maybe just one... " he relented. Oranjuu was awfully nice. Actually, now that he thought about it, this was nice. No battles, no sand in his shorts. (One of the main reasons he'd moved to the city after realizing the comforts at Kame Sen'nin's) A warm kitchen, oblivious to whatever dangers happened to be outside.
As Oranjuu bustled around the kitchen looking for the cookies, Yamcha looked over to where Raindo was colouring at a little table in the corner. Yeah, this was the life. Someday he'd realize his dream.
Someday he'd find that someone destined for him.
Someday... hopefully...
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Little did Yamcha realize, that as things stood, that 'someday' was debateable.
" I'VE HAD IT!! " shouted Katera after a long period of standing around and doing nothing. (two full minutes!) Pulling her sword from the ground she took two running steps (one for each wasted minute) and launched herself into the air, sword poised to hack Sarro into a million little-biddy Sarro peices.
Or, so was the plan.
Sarro powered backwards, and out of Katera's reach. The little Saiyan girl kept coming however, slicing nothing but air, but slicing just the same. Sarro dodged each time, continually staying just out of range. Until Katera pulled a surprise tactic and blasted with one hand, while chasing the blast so that when Sarro dodged she was right there. Katera grinned her trademark grin and raised her blade, power lancing through the petrified ice and casting a frigid blue glow over the low sky.
" Stop! "
So shocked at the owner of the command, Katera stopped. As did Sarro. On the ground, Potaeo, Gokuu, Gohan, and Piccolo looked back to find that the one whom had voiced the command was none other than--
" Vejiita?! " Gokuu wheezed.
Vejiita spat to the side and stated dourly, " Dende says we can't kill her. "
Gohan blinked. " Dende? "
" Yeah, Dende, " Vejiita snapped. " An old wrinkled Kamisama-looking Namekuseijin who calls himself Dende! Alright?! "
Potaeo narrowed his eyes and scowled. " How dare he interfere. " Looking up the elderly Saiyajin barked out the order. " Sarro! Kill them now! "
Sarro's face spread into a small smile, one that was much more menacing than Chibi Katera's could ever hope to be. " My pleasure. "
Power graced the aura that flared around Sarro. Pure, unbridled, Saiyan
power. It spread out, writhing and twisting, a brilliant
turquoise flame that leaned heavily towards blue. It crackled and snapped,
warping the air around her so that images behind her were surreal and distended
in appearance.
Sarro crossed her arms before her, and the power reacted as though her wrists were magnets and it iron. It all melted downwards, compressing and plying itself into two long, thin, serpentine ropes of pure ki energy.
The ropes twisted in her grip, barely contained by the control she exerted on them.
Katera moved back slightly, made wary by this unusual show of power. But this was instinctive, and soon her instinct was overrided by her pride. She was a Saiyajin warrior! She did not back down at the first sign of adversity! She didn't back down from anything!
Katera had just made the decision to resume attacking when Sarro beat her to it.
" Kaminari Whips!! "
[trans. Kaminari => Lightning]
The two ropes of energy lashed out at Katera, wrapping themselves around her before she could quite grasp what was going on. Sarro held the other ends and suddenly jerked them towards her, drawing them tighter around Katera's small frame.
Pain!
Pain, unlike anything she had ever felt before! Worse than when she'd lost her tail, worse still than when she had woken up after the surgery on her eye. It was unbearable, how it set fire her blood and blotted out all other sensations. She was being destroyed, slowly and painfully, and nothing she could do could stop it.
" Katerachan! " Gohan screamed in response to his adoptive sister's own incoherant one.
Gokuu watched on helplessly and pleaded, " Iie! "
¤¤
[Gak! Okay, um... Sarro's not coming to her senses, is she? Whatever will we do?! Wait for Yamcha to stop fantasizing and get his butt to the battle field? Not bloody likely!! Whatever will become of everyone?! Can Vejiita think of a peaceful resolution? Will he even try? Is Chikyuu doomed? Be here next time for Chapter Twenty-two; Katera Gives it her All! Is This the End of the Battle?]
[Written by Inseiko, 2000]
¤