Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Dragonball Z: The Android Threat ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

I pursed my lips in anticipation of the next blow; there was no way that he was going to make me cry out. Not again, not this time!

 

“Just hold out a little longer Lani!” The sound of Shigeru's voice reached my ears from a few cells down, “Don't let the bastard get to you!”

 

A boot met my ribs with a sickening crack; I bit my lip to stop from screaming as a hot pain ran up my side.

 

“You are forbidden to use that language here slave!” the man above me shouted.

 

“Go to hell!” came Shigeru's defiant reply. I couldn't help the small snicker that left my lips at the old man's attitude, which was of course a big mistake. I was kicked onto my back and my stomach was met a hard punch. The guards didn't understand the language used by the slave's, but he wasn't stupid and knew that whatever Shigeru had shouted had been an insult against him.

 

“I'll give you something to laugh about!” he smirked, “Then I'll teach your friend here a lesson!”

 

I glared up at him and did the only thing I was capable of, trapped on the floor with no means defending myself; I spat at him and hit him clean in the left eye! I laughed at my small triumph, one that died moments later as I was met with blow after blow at the hands of an extremely pissed off guard. I let myself fall into unconsciousness and tried to block out the sound of Shigeru calling out for me in the dark, I'd live to fight another day, but not now.

 

When I finally came too I knew that something was different. I could feel the warmth of another body for one thing, only it wasn't on top of me like I had woken to so many times in my short life, it was behind me, cradling my sore head in its lap. I forced open my eyes and was met with icy blue orbs and a wide, crooked grin.

 

“Welcome back” Shigeru said. I could hear the relief in his voice, “Wait till you hear this!”

 

I forced myself into an upright position and immediately recognised something else that was different. The usual feeling of being weighed down was gone, I felt… light. I stared down at my wrists and noticed that the bindings were still there, but they had been deactivated. Someone must have destroyed the main controller aboard Frieza's spaceship for this to happen! I looked up into the beaming face of my old friend, but my joy was turned to anger when I noticed the blood and bruises across his face and neck.

 

“So he really did teach you a lesson then” I commented.

 

Shigeru shrugged, “Don't worry about him, he won't be doing it again. He won't be doing anything again for a damn long time!”

 

I frowned, I loved the old man but sometimes he could talk a load of rubbish, “Wha-”

 

A voice from my side interrupted me. Though I could tell it was female before I turned my head, I didn't understand a word she was saying. I glanced up at Shigeru and he looked just as bewildered as me and deemed it suitable to reply to the woman with a confused shrug.

 

“They don't speak your language” came a gruffer voice.

 

I snapped my head quickly to look behind the blue haired woman and saw a man with pointed black hair, “Prince Vegeta?” I gasped.

 

“This is Earth; they don't understand your tongue slave”

 

I glared at him, he may be a high and mighty prince but I hated the term `slave', whether it was true or not held no relevance.

 

“My name is Lani. Say it with me, L-A-N-I!”

 

I heard his feral growl and bit my lip. I never did learn from my previous indiscretions but seeing as I had already earned myself another beating I may as well go on, “I thought you were supposed to be dead. That was the rumour on Frieza's ship”

 

He shrugged. The blue haired woman made a noise and I could tell from her facial expression that she was frustrated. She said something to Vegeta and crossed her arms in defiance. I liked her already.

 

“The woman wants to know your names” he huffed.

 

I blinked and looked at her, no one had ever asked me my name unless they too were a slave, “I told you, I'm Lani. But this is Shigeru.” Vegeta translated to the woman, who beamed and said something with my name in it.

 

Vegeta grumbled and shook his head, replying in the Earth language. It seemed the pair had begun to argue, so I pushed myself wearily from Shigeru's grasp and stood up on shaky legs. Behind the bickering pair was a small boy with long back hair who was looking up at the pair of us curiously, behind him was a man not much taller but with a bald head and several marks on his forehead. Not far behind them was another creature, I assumed from his posture that it was male, but his green skin made him stand out from the others who all looked the Earth woman… minus the feminine features of course.

 

My eyes searched over the rest of them, a small white creature stood beside a tall, muscled man who was also bald but had a third eye in the middle of his forehead. I moved past him, I had seen stranger things. Next to them was another man, a little shorter and with black hair cut into a bowl shape on his head. He was looking me up and down wearily. Finally there stood another figure, boy or man I couldn't guess. He wasn't looking at us like the others were, his eyes were fixed on the pair who continued to argue. The short bald man was involved now and seemed to be diffusing the problem.

 

I felt a small tug on my hand and pulled it sharply up to me chest, glaring down at the boy by my side who merely smiled shyly and put his hand out to me. I frowned.

 

“What does he want?” I said to Shigeru.

 

“It's an Earth tradition, a way of greeting people I believe! Take his hand for a few moments” Shigeru instructed. I didn't question him, Shigeru was a crazy old fool at times but he had travelled the universe as a young man and knew many things. It was his stories of his travels that kept me going when my mother died.

 

I took the small hand carefully in my own and let the boy lift it up and down a few times, he was smiling at me broadly now. I grinned self-consciously back.

 

“Now what?” I asked when he let go, Shigeru just shrugged.

 

“Listen up girl!”

 

Vegeta stormed over to where I stood and pointed a finger in my direction. It was only then that I noticed his attire, a pink shirt and yellow pants with the most ridiculous footwear; I suppressed my laugh as this was obviously not a good time to enrage him further.

 

“Do you or your friend have the ability of telepathy?” he questioned. I shook my head.

 

“The damn woman wants me to help teach you their language. I will not be lowered to the position of a translator!”

 

His tirade was interrupted by another deep voice. The green man stepped forward and was telling Vegeta something who only looked infuriated. He shouted something before turning to me.

 

“The Namek can use his power to transfer this language into your mind, just stay still!” he instructed as `the Namek' stepped forward.

 

He placed a hand on the top of my head and I felt a strange sensation deep in my brain, it was like having hot liquid poured onto an open wound, but after a few moments it was gone. I felt slightly disorientated and shook my head a little.

 

“Did it work?”

 

I grinned as I understood the words from the woman this time and replied confidently, “Yes!”

 

The Namek was now doing the same to Shigeru, who stood an easy foot shorter then the green man. I smirked as he pulled a face before a look of realisation crossed his features.

 

“Well… that was new!” he said shakily.

 

I felt a sense of excitement, like I had just gained access to knowledge no one else knew and was desperate to spread it around. But I had no idea what to say.

 

“So…erm… what happened?” I tried.

 

The blue woman was beaming, “Why didn't you do that sooner Piccolo?” she said, the Namek I assumed she was speaking to shrugged and walked away, “My name is Bulma, it's nice to meet the pair of you”

 

I nodded.

 

“It's nice to meet you” Shigeru winked. I noticed the man in the back with the bad haircut move up beside her. I shook my head at his glare and told Shigeru to behave in our own language.

 

“So you understand now?” said the boy who I realised was still at my side.

 

“Seems so…wow I really can!” I laughed.

 

“That's great! I'm Gohan, and that's Krillen and Yamcha…” I focused on the people he was pointing to, I may have just been given the language but when he began talk quickly I had to focus to take in all the information, “and that's…well we don't know yet but he just defeated Frieza?”

 

“What?” I exclaimed.

 

“Told you” said Shigeru.

 

I stared wide-eyed at the one with the sword, he looked barely older then myself and his shy exterior was either a class A act or they had their wires crossed. There was no way this earthling defeated the tyrant who had kept me prisoner all my life.

 

“He got us out of the cells Lani… looks like we were the only one's left alive… no wonder it got to quite eh?” Shigeru commented.

 

The boy blushed, “It was nothing…”

 

“Hell was it? Do you have any idea what I'd give to see you kill Frieza? How'd you do it?” I asked eagerly.

 

“Don't you think you should be telling us who you are first?” the one called Yamcha said pointedly, “You too kid, you may have saved our hides but we don't know a thing about you”.

 

The boy looked at the ground, “I'm sorry, I can't tell you anything” He had the entire group's attention again, “But I can tell you that Goku will be arriving here in just over an hour. We need to head south a little before he lands though”

 

The boy at my side cried out in surprise, “My father! He's coming home? Are you sure?”

 

He was met with a nod and the entire group broke out into questions and murmurings. I looked at Shigeru who looked baffled and thrilled all at once, “I don't know who this Goku guy is but I'm excited!” he told me.

 

I frowned, “Goku… I swear I heard his name after Frieza came back aboard…”

 

Shigeru shrugged in response.

 

I looked south and let the events of the day wash over me. I remembered something being said aboard the ship about the planet Earth and a man… no, a Saiyan calling himself Goku. My mind wandered over how I'd been caught eavesdropping whilst trying to catch a glimpse of Frieza in his transformed state, that was what led me to being in the cells with Shigeru (who had merely backed talked a guard one too many times, nothing new). Subconsciously I felt a shift under my shirt and my tail flicked out behind me, swaying to and fro as I thought.

 

“My god! She has a tail too!” Bulma gasped. I looked back at the group in confusion. So I had a tail? Vegeta did too…

 

Wait.

 

“Hey didn't you have one?” I questioned. Vegeta looked at me in shock, his eyes bore into me as though he were looking at me properly for the first time.

 

“It can't be…” he muttered.

 

“What?” I said, bringing my tail in behind me and out of view.

 

“What do you know of your heritage?” he said sharply.

 

“Well… my mother was taken onto the ship when her planet surrendered to Frieza; she was part of the bargain apparently but ended up in the slave quarters where I was born. Why?”

 

“Your father?”

 

I shrugged, “Could have been any of them”

 

“Not with a tail like that. That's a Saiyans tail!” he said as though he had revealed the meaning of life.

 

“So? My mother used to tell me thing's about Saiyans but that was years ago!”

 

Vegeta smirked, “Well, this is interesting!”

 

“Don't tell me you fathered her Vegeta!” Bulma exclaimed, teasingly.

 

Vegeta bared his teeth, “Not me! I had no time for such things. Judging from the looks of you, and bearing in mind there was only myself, Nappa and Radditz left of Saiyans on the ship, I'm guessing your sire was none other then Kakarot's older brother”

 

The entire group gasped in unison, I stood before them feeling somewhat exposed.

 

“That's bad?” I glanced at Shigeru who was watching with interest.

 

“That… that makes you my cousin!” Gohan said in awe.

 

I opened my eyes widely, “Wait so which one was my father?”

 

“Radditz! He came to earth and kidnapped me a few years back, Piccolo and my father…” he trailed off.

 

I looked up at the green man who was looking at me with mild interest and a slight look of amusement, “I'm afraid I killed him, along with Goku in fact”

 

“Oh” was all said.

 

“You're not upset?” Gohan said tenderly.

 

“Not really, I never met him” I explained, “Family doesn't mean much on Frieza's ships…except to my mother…”

 

“Well now you've got some you might learn a thing or two” Bulma smiled warmly, “Trust me, Goku's a sweetie. Wait till he finds out he has a niece! I'll bet he'll be excited”

 

“Right…” I said weakly.

 

“Quite a day eh” said Shigeru, joining my side and placing a hand on my shoulder, “You get your freedom and family all at once, how about that!”

 

I nodded, feeling somewhat shell shocked.

 

“I don't want to interrupt, but maybe we can finish this once Goku's here. We really should get moving” said the, as of yet, unidentified young man.

 

“How far is it? In case you hadn't noticed we're injured and I'm kind of exhausted right now” I questioned.

 

“Can't you fly?” said the short bald one who I remembered as being Krillen.

 

“No, slaves were never allowed to use energy, except to live of course. See these?” I lifted my hands so they could see the tight material around my wrists, “These dampen our energy, they force it back inside out own bodies so if we try to use too much we fry from the inside out!”

 

He paled, “Are they still working then?”

 

“Let's find out!” said Shigeru with boyish excitement, before I could protest he was floating a few feet in the air.

 

“Great so we can use out energy again. But I was born on the ship. I was never taught how to do things like that!” I explained.

 

Gohan smiled at me, “It's ok, I'll carry you”

 

I looked at him unenthusiastically.

 

“I'm stronger then I look” he laughed.

 

“Don't worry young'un. I'll take care of her” said Shigeru and he swooped down beside me and picked me bridal style.

 

“Slug Brain! Put me down right now!” I shouted in our language.

 

But Shigeru laughed, “Lead the way!” he cried.

 

Moments later we were all heading south, the air whipping at my face. I couldn't help but smile in anticipation. It had been so long since I'd been allowed off ship, and not I was free! I never had to go back! And what's more I was about to meet the last family I had left!

 

Yep, this was definitely one of my better days!

 

X

 

I was floating!

 

Only a few feet from the ground, but still! In under an hour I had learned how to control my energy enough to make myself float, thanks to some good teaching from Gohan and Krillen. I could really get to like these guys.

 

A beeping sound from where the purple haired boy sat caught my attention, but apparently no one else's. I wondered for a moment if it was just my heightened hearing, which was a little something I had inherited from my mother. If only I had been old enough to ask what race she came from when I was a kid, or even remember her clearly enough to describe her, I may be able to find out what other abilities I had. `Cause heck if I could fly I wanted to be able to do everything else I'd missed out on the last few years!

 

Plus I'd know what made up the other half of me…

 

“Time's up, Goku should be arriving any time now” he declared.

 

Everyone except Vegeta and Piccolo stood up expectantly and turned their gaze to the sky. I took in the small tufts of white that floated across the vast blue before noticing a small shine.

 

“There he is! I see him! My dad's back!” cried Gohan as he jumped with excitement; even I felt a small wriggle of something that could have been happiness in my stomach. I wonder what he's like…

 

The light got larger and we watched as it plummeted to Earth at an amazing speed, landing over the other side of a few hills. Immediately everyone set off to meet Goku as he exited the ship, I stood back to float alongside Shigeru, who smiled at the grin on my face.

 

Before long all of us were crowded around a large crater in the ground, in the midst of it was a small white pod. For a moment I wondered just how small Goku was… else he was really, realy cramped in there!

 

The door opened slowly and a tanned hand grasped the outside of the ship. A sudden gasp was heard as a face appeared, followed by a large mop of unruly black hair. This was my uncle! He pulled himself out from the pod and looked up at the group who were cheering his return.

 

“Hey guys! How in the world did you know I was going to be here?” he said, looking stunned.

 

“This guy told us, he's a mystery man” Bulma said quickly, indicating the boy at her side.

 

“He knows all about you daddy!” Gohan added.

 

“Is that so?” Goku questioned as he floated into the air and landed before his friends, “How strange, we've never met!” he exclaimed.

 

“But he knew the exact place of your arrival Goku!” Bulma protested.

 

I stood back and watched nervously, if Goku was willing to except this stranger then he'd accept me just fine… hopefully. A sudden burst of nerves hit me, which was something I was quite unfamiliar with. These didn't come with fear of hurt, but of rejection. I was the child of the man that tried to kill his son after all (as Krillen had informed me during the wait). On the ship I had been more then happy to be ignored but anyone except Shigeru of course, but what if Goku told me he didn't want anything to do with me? Where would I go? I could stay with Shigeru I suppose… set up home somewhere…

 

“That's not the half of it!” Bulma's voice entered my mind, my tail was swaying from side to side at a mad pace from my nerves, “He may have defeated Frieza and be a super saiyan… but guess what else we found out today?”

 

Goku smiled, “More surprises?”

 

“You'll like this one, Lani come over here”

 

I swallowed my nerves, I was being ridiculous. I knew better then to let fear take me over. With a careful step I made my way to Bulma's side, avoiding Goku's gaze. Would he see his brother, a killer, instead of me, his niece? Would he reject me for my father's doings?

 

“This is Lani, she's your niece!” Bulma exclaimed.

 

“What?” Goku's mouth dropped, “My niece? But how?”

 

I smiled at his expression, he really was quite comical. How was this man supposed to have bested Frieza on Namek? “Radditz fathered me, I was kept on Frieza's ship until that guy helped me and my friend over there, Shigeru” I said with more confidence then I felt.

 

“Well I'll be!” Goku said with a grin.

 

“Mum'll love having another girl around the house!” Gohan said.

 

Goku laughed, “Oh yeah… I'm afraid you might get tailed into doing a heck load of chores I'm afraid”

 

I smiled, so it seemed like he had already excepted me not just into his family but even his home! I looked behind me to where Shigeru stood with his hands behind his back and rocking back and forth on his heels as though bored.

 

“What about Shigeru, I'm not going anywhere without him” I said firmly.

 

At that my friend piped up, “Oh I wouldn't worry about me. I'm an explorer my nature! And this looks like an interesting planet…” he said.

 

I was about to protest when Bulma began to speak, “You know you may get along with my dad. When we're done here you should meet him”

 

Shigeru beamed, “Why that'd be… what's the word? Wonderful!”

 

“Your staying on Earth though, right?” I said, a threatening gleam in my eyes.

 

“We'll see”

 

I sighed and dropped the matter, Shigeru was a free spirit. Even the guards had a hard time controlling him.

 

“Goku”

 

The boy's voice interrupted our little dispute.

 

“I need a word with you… in private” he said as he pointed away from the rest of us.

 

“Ok…” Goku began to follow him as they hovered to a place only a few feet away, ignoring the protests made by Yamcha.

 

I grinned to myself, they were still within ear-shot for me to just make out what they were saying, I debated with myself for a moment as whether I should take this time to convince Shigeru to stay or to listen in.

 

What can I say, I'm nosy by nature.

 

And boy, what a time to come to Earth!

 

The purple haired boy revealed himself as a saiyan from the future named Trunks, part of me deemed him a nut case with those few sentences until he and Goku decided to give a little display of their power. Now I've never fought someone properly in my life, I learnt enough to dodge a guard here or there but the energy given off by the pair caused the gravel at my feet to shake! My heart was filled with excitement when they powered down, I was definitely going to learn how to fight like they could.

 

Only a few moments later I was tempted to take back my vow. It seemed, after revealing himself as the son of the pair that were arguing earlier, (Bulma and Vegeta! Unbelievable, I even noticed Piccolo flinch. He must have hearing like mine, probably his big ears…) he was actually here to warn the protectors of Earth of an attack from… androids? The world was familiar to me, but trying to keep up with the new language was still something of a test. I shot a glance at Piccolo who was frowning deeply.

 

Then, after learning that all the people around me would die in just three years, except for the young boy who I had just learnt to be my cousin, he revealed that Goku would die, even before then. My stomach dropped. This couldn't be! I couldn't lose my new home and family when I had only just found them!

 

Thankfully everyone was too distracted to be paying attention to the look on my face, but when Trunks handed Goku something and told him it would save his life I relaxed. He might have been shy and a little uptight but he seemed trustworthy to me. Trunks said his goodbye to Goku and headed off away from us. Gohan was the first to make his way to his father who stood looking thoroughly confused.

 

“Hey daddy, what was that all about?”

 

“Err..nothing”

 

I raised my eyebrows at his blatant lie, but Piccolo jumped in before I could say anything.

 

“It didn't sound like nothing to me”

 

Piccolo repeated the story for the rest of us, insisting we all deserved the chance to change our fates (which now included mine as well - oh happy day) I pretended to be just as surprised as the rest at the news, not wanting to give away my secret ability just yet. Of course he left out the part about Trunks' birth. I shot a glance at Bulma and Vegeta… I just couldn't imagine those two hopping into bed with one another, even if it was out of pure passion, as described by the boy.

 

“Sorry Lani. It seems we'll be spending the next few years training for this fight” Goku said apologetically.

 

I frowned, did he really think I was just going to stay at home and do nothing? “I want to help!” I said firmly.

 

“I'm sure you do but we only have three years, do you have any fighting experience?” he questioned.

 

I bit my lip, “Well…sort of”

 

At that moment Shigeru appeared at my side, “She might not be as trained as the rest of you but she's a damn quick learner and she can take a punch or two… or fifty, whatever!” he said proudly, “We weren't allowed to take part in combat but that didn't stop her taking on a guard or two when she was cornered-“

 

“Shigeru” I said warningly.

 

“Well…” Goku scratched his head.

 

“Come on dad, we'll need all the help we can get. Plus she's half saiyan, just like me!”

 

It seemed Goku didn't need much more convincing as something in his face changed when Gohan said that, “You're right! Ok Lani, but I warn you, it's going to be tough!”

 

“I can take it” I said with a grin, I couldn't imagine them putting me through anything worse then the guards on Frieza's ship.

 

Goku turned to the others as they discussed what they were going to do. I took the opportunity to talk with Shigeru in our own tongue, “You really won't stay?” I asked.

 

“It seems there is a fight on its way, so the best thing for the likes of a coward like me is to run!” he grinned.

 

“You're no coward” I said quietly.

 

His grin turned into a warm smile, “I'll miss you” he said quietly, “But don't think I'll be gone for good now. You can't get rid of me that easy!”

 

“You'll come say goodbye before you leave?”

 

“Of course”

 

I smiled. Shigeru was the only true friend I had, and even though I had blood family now I'd always think of Shigeru as a part of me.

 

Bulma wandered over, “Are you ready to go Lani?” she asked.

 

I nodded and made my way over to Goku and Gohan, it seemed piccolo was coming too so that would even out the training partners. I took a look back at my friend and fixed him with a steely glare, “You know if you don't keep your promise-“

 

“I'll end up with something or other broken, yes I know. I'll see you again Lani” he gave a mock salute and crooked grin. Then he was no more then a dot on the ground as Gohan took my hand for support and we began to fly north.

X

 

Disclaimer: I own no rights to the series Dragonball Z or its characters/places. Copyright to Akira Toriyama.