Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Second Chance ❯ Chapter 1

Second Chance

Chapter One

By nycscribe46

Three years had passed since the defeat of Cell. Since the greatest terror the world had ever seen was destroyed by a twelve year old boy. An incredibly powerful boy, but a child nonetheless. And on that same day, Kakarot had to upstage them all by sacrificing himself. Vegeta had trained tirelessly just for the opportunity to prove that he, Prince of all saiyans, was more powerful than Kakarot, some third class nobody. Who had saved his life, and the entire planet. More than once. And on and on, with Kakarot always reaching the pinnacle before himself. And now he was gone, and the challenge of defeating him someday gone with him. Now Vegeta had to satisfy himself with becoming more powerful than Kakarot had been at his death. Vegeta exerted his frustrations on the room Bulma and her father had built. Where he could train until his body could take no more. Where no one could hear him scream.

Bulma watched her son play with amusement. He was only four years old, and yet he sped around on that tricycle so fast it was a blur. Luckily, the Capsule Corp. grounds had plenty of room, so Trunks could make mini cyclones with his bike as often as he wished, as long as he steered clear of Grandma's gardens. Bulma looked away from Trunks for a second. The forecast for that day had been clear blue skies. But something strange was happening. It appeared as if the scarce clouds were gathering into a storm, directly overhead. "Trunks, I think we'd better head inside. Looks like the weather's getting pretty bad."

Trunks looked up at the sky as well. It looked funny. "Not raining yet, Momma," he pleaded. "I don't know," Bulma muttered. This was not a typical cloud formation. The air just above and in front of them seemed to shimmer and break apart, and a void appeared.

Bulma grabbed her son and prepared to run. Something small and dirty fell out of the void and onto the ground without a sound. The void closed and the skies cleared almost immediately. Bulma put Trunks behind her without much difficulty. The boy was already scared out of his wits and clung to her leg, whimpering. Bulma peered at the thing in front of her. It didn't move. She tiptoed over to it. It seemed to be covered by a filthy sack. With her fingertips, Bulma slowly peeled it off and flung it away. Beneath it was a girl. She was unconscious and covered in blood and dirt. "Oh man," Bulma whispered. The girl looked only about fourteen years old, and must have been through hell. "Trunks, go get your father," she ordered. Trunks nodded and ran inside.

"Dad!" he called. He decided not to waste time, and went directly to the room where his father spent most of his spare time. Trunks banged on the door of the gravity chamber. Vegeta opened the door and glared down at him. "Why have you interrupted my training session?" Vegeta demanded. Trunks looked up at his father warily. "Mom said to come get you. She's outside."

Vegeta was noticeably calmer now that he realized he had been interrupted for a reason. Trunks relaxed and took his father's hand to lead the way. Glancing up at him, Trunks added, "I think we better hurry. Something bad happened." "What?" Trunks noticed his father's tension and tried to describe what had just occurred. "The sky opened up, and there was thunder and lightning, and then there was a black thing, and more thunder and lightning, and another thing fell out, and I hided behind Mom, and Mom touched it, and it was really a person, and I went to get you." "What!?!" Vegeta picked the boy up and ran.

"Where is she?"

Trunks pointed. "There," he said. Bulma was kneeling on the ground beside someone whose life force was very low. She turned around and saw them behind her. "Oh, Vegeta, thank goodness Trunks found you. Help me carry her inside." Vegeta set Trunks down and glanced down at the pathetic looking human Bulma was asking him to help. Bulma's eyes pleaded with him. "All right," he muttered. He picked her up and asked, "Where did she come from? Did she just somehow manage to materialize on our doorstep?"

Bulma was about to answer when Trunks piped up helpfully, "That's what fell out of the thing! It's a girl, Momma?" "Yes, she is, Trunks. And we're going to help her. Come with me and get the medical supplies. She's going to need stitches. Vegeta, put her down over there. Poor kid, I don't know what could have happened to her to put her in that sorry state." Bulma went to go wash her hands.

Vegeta stared down at the mess he had just set down on the operating table. There were burns and deep lacerations on her arms and legs. There was a nasty cut on her forehead and blood trickled steadily out of her mouth. Her right arm appeared to be dislocated. Dirt was encrusted in every cut, practically ensuring infection. And those were just the visible wounds. Bulma returned, sterilized, with latex gloves and a med kit. Vegeta left the girl's side and appeared disinterested, as he seated himself in a corner of the room.

Bulma was a little surprised that he hadn't returned to his training, but didn't say anything. She began to clean the wound on the girl's face. After she was done with that, she removed the burned and tattered remains of the girl's shirt. More topical damage, but nothing serious. Bulma continued tending to the girl's wounds. When she had sutured and bandaged her, she tried to replace her arm in its socket with some difficulty. Vegeta noticed this and got up to help her. "You don't know what you're doing, woman."

Bulma was annoyed, but she stepped aside. "Fine, go ahead." Vegeta lifted the girl's arm and popped it back in. The sharp pain woke her up. She sat up suddenly . "Oww," she moaned. She looked around, confused. Then she saw Bulma and Vegeta, and fell off the table. She backed against the wall, fear evident in her stance. Bulma tried to reassure her. "We're not going to hurt you. We just want to help."

The girl searched for an exit frantically. The only way out was behind the small woman and the hostile looking man. She knew she'd never make it out of there in her weakened state. Besides, the energy level coming from the man was terrifyingly high. She'd never felt anything like it. She looked down at her arm. Well, if the woman had taken the trouble to bandage her wounds, she might as well give her the chance to explain where she was and how she had gotten there in the first place.

"All right. My name is Aki. I was in the middle of a battle against the rebels when one of the bastards pulled some odd piece of machinery out of his cloak and blasted it at me. I was knocked out, and now here I am. Where is this place, anyway?"

"You're in Capsule Corp.," said Bulma, just as Vegeta demanded, "A battle? Where?" Aki looked at Vegeta with a raised eyebrow. "In the capital city of the Eastern empire, Iftel. Surely you have heard news of the war. Unless you have been under a rock for the past three years." She then turned to Bulma. "What is this 'Capsule Corp.'? And how did I come to be in it?" Bulma tried to explain the strange event that had brought Aki to them. Aki listened, and then started to pace the room, muttering under her breath. "Impossible! How could the rebels have attained such an advanced weapon? They must have a spy in the government. But who? Who could possibly have enough power to steal such a devise without suspicion?" Suddenly Aki snapped out of her trance.

Bulma had been watching, amused. She looked just like Vegeta did when he was puzzled about something. In fact, now that most of the dirt had been washed away, Aki' s face looked quite familiar. Her straight black hair started in a widow's peak in the center of her forehead. She had thick black eyebrows that met when she was frustrated and intense dark eyes that had been focused and menacing, even when she was weak and had no idea where she was. Bulma's eyes widened. It couldn't be…

Aki began to interrogate Vegeta. "You say you have never heard of the Eastern Empire. Or Iftel. Correct?" Vegeta agreed, "Yes, but-" Aki interrupted him, her thoughts confirmed. "Then I was right. The device used against me is the same one that was stolen from the scientists. But without it…" Aki's voice faded. She couldn't speak. She was trapped. And now there was no one to help her country. No one except the pitiful army, which would fall in a matter of weeks. The rebels would execute her mother's cousin, the King, and all would be lost. She sat suddenly on the floor, unable to hold herself up any longer. All that had been keeping her going for so long had been winning the war, and taking her rightful place among the leaders of the state. And now it was impossible. Her eyes filled with tears.

Bulma went to her side and said, "Hey, Aki. I just want to make sure you're all right. Can I get a blood sample?" Aki looked her, expressionless. She held out her arm without saying a word. Bulma took some of her blood and put it on a slide. She walked over to the microscope to examine it. Vegeta heard her gasp. Bulma ran out of the room. Vegeta yelled after her, "What is it, woman? Are you ever going to make lunch?" Bulma came back with two more slides and muttered, "In a minute, Vegeta. I have to see this." She took the slide with Aki's blood out, and put one of the other slides in. She peered into the microscope, mumbling in disbelief. Then she took that slide out, and replaced it with yet another, and more sounds of surprise followed, until both Aki and Vegeta were staring at her and shouted at the same time, "WHAT IS IT, WOMAN?!?" Bulma finally looked up from her microscope. Looking both annoyed people in the eye, she said with complete conviction,

"Aki's a saiyan."