Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ So Many Steps to Death... ❯ Return of Saturn ( Prologue )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

"You're mission is as clear as crystal!" said Gero, pacing back and forth and eyeing his finished piece of work, "To destroy all of the Z Senshi and to be the Mate of Cell. You have had been installed with the state-of-the-art features, almost as powerful, if not equal, to Cell himself. You have hate now…hate for the Z Senshi and a love for evil. You have a desire for Cell. You belong to him now. There is now alternative to the plan I have for you."

The "scientist" paused a moment to let this sink in. Sotari would've loved to kill him right there and then, but, of course, she was too weak to do so. All she could do was screw her face up in a scowl. Gero smiled.

"See, mei? The hate for the Z Senshi is already beginning to take effect. You're powers are increasing faster than expected."

He checked a machine behind him. It was a printer, spitting out charts, graphs, and statistics about Sotari's condition on a continuing piece of paper. The length was so long that it was actually folding itself into a neatly piled stack on the floor. Gero pushed a green button. A groan sounded within the deep contents of the machine, the printer stopping the trail of paper, as if relieved of its duty for a few, precious moments. Sotari envied the machine. She was jealous of its short breaks from duty to Gero. At least it wasn't constantly reminded of a mission she had never wanted in the first place. It had no freedom, but what it had was a lot more than Sotari had ever wanted in the past few weeks…or was it months? She couldn't tell. Not anymore… How could she tell time while trapped in a tank filled with floating DNA, its tubes connected to her limbs, including the disturbing Saiyajin tail. The ingredients to what Gero told her would make her more powerful were injecting themselves into her veins and into her bloodstream.

I hate this machine…

Ever since that first day… The first day she had met Gero, her supposed Oji-san, her mother's brother. He had declared her "perfect" for an experiment. An experiment only that a mad scientist could create: To make a half Saiyajin into a biological jinounzingen. He had injected her with some sort of fluid, she remembered. All had gone black and when she woke up, she was floating inside this damned machine, tubes in her arms and everything. At first, she tried breaking out of the tank. If this had been any other occasion, Sotari could've done so, but in the condition she was in, she was too weak to even make a sound against the glass. The effort just to kick it would take out most of her energy, since her body was already fighting the foreign substances invading her body…

What anger he must possess to go this far… What madness had Son Goku done to drive him to do this?

"You are doing well, mei," cut in the dreaded voice, rudely interrupting her train of thought, "You should be ready for testing anytime soon."

Sotari scowled again.

I am not a test subject!

"I shall check up on you in the morning," continued Oji-san, taking a step towards the door, "Good-night, mei…"

Like I need anything from you anymore…

~

Here I am, left to my own thoughts at least. I wouldn't call it a freedom, though, for I am monitored by the damn machines every moment of every day. No privacy or peace in this hell, that's for sure. I'm surprised he hasn't invented a mechanism to read my mind, too. My face screws up in a wince when I try to move, the pain of the tubes and their alien things stinging my insides. I want to scream so badly, not caring about who hears me…Just somebody. But the only one who would is that…creature…floating in the watery contents of a machine unlike the one I'm in across the room from me. I'm disgusted. Oji-san could've done a better job in picking a better mate for me, even if I didn't want one. Right now, it is but a mere larvae of what it is to become. I have looked upon that creature every night, wondering to myself what it'll look like when it fully matures. I have been told it contains the cells of all the Z Senshi and their enemies…Goku, Piccolo, Vegeta, King Kold, Freiza, Tienshinhan, Yamcha, Kuririn... Will it look like any one of them? Or maybe a sick mixture of them all? What?

"I don't see any use of this creature."

I look at the creature again and scowl.

"Can you hear me over there!?"

I pause. Am I being stupid? Like I actually expect this thing to answer me…

"I hate you, you know!? I don't even know what you're supposed to be called, but I hate you!! You're the one who caused my uncle to use me for his experiment! I'm going to be your mate!"

I jerk my face away from the thing, earning another few stings from the tubes in my sudden movement.

"I hate you so badly…"

I suddenly feel a wetness in my eyes.

"What…!?"

Am I crying tears? How can that be possible?

Despite the pain, my hand rushes up to my eyes. I pull it away from my face when I realize the truth.

"How the hell…? This whole tank is filled with liquid! How can this be?"

I look towards the larvae again, as if expecting an answer from it.

"…but of course…"

I shiver, despite the warm temperature of the DNA water. How strange. The actual feeling of tears when I'm practically floating in it… Unless…

<You're ki powers are getting stronger, aren't they?>

"Hell…?"

My head jerks towards the source. It sounded like it had come from the creature.

"How can you do telepathy? You are nothing now! Nothing but…"

<…a larvae?> answered the voice, <Yes, I am but a mere fraction of my true form, but nevertheless, I am perfect.>

"Perfect for Gero's needs! Why am I included in this bargain!?"

<You, too, are perfect. You may not know it, but you and I are very much alike.>

I shot another dirty look.

"How so? You're only a stinking bastard spawn of the Z Senshi and Freiza's family, you hear me! At least my family wasn't as…"

<No, Sotari,> cut in the voice, <Your family is almost as every bit as bad as mine. I have sensed it, in my own time, about you. Ever since you came here, I have had this fascination with you and your past…using my psychic senses to their full extent in probing your memories. (Mind you, I did this very gently, so as to not hurt you.) Gero had never mentioned a mate was to be for me. I never thought I'd need one, since I DO have some of Piccolo's cells after all…>

"But you do now, at the expense of my life!"

<Not so entirely, Sotari-san…>

"Oh hell with you! I don't care!"

I struggle with my body, urging it try and turn my back on this creature. Agony ripples like waves all over, turning my insides inside-out. I ignore this with great effort, still attempting to force my body to move. The larvae bastard watches me with interest. He seemed amused at my lame strainings. In the end, m y bonds restrain me, winning yet another battle of strength. Wait till I finally break out of this damned machine and destroy it… I give up and resume my normal position, exhausted from my fruitless efforts. My focus shift towards the creature again. I blink my eyes in disbelief. Was it laughing at me? A warmth creeps across my cheeks in anger and embarrassment.

"What the hell you laughing at, bastard child?" I spat at him, my voice taking on an icy steely tone.

<I don't see what is the point of you trying to escape from here,> chuckled the larvae,<Don't you see you can't escape your destiny?>

"What destiny? I was robbed of it before I could do anything with it!!"

<You belong to me now, Sotari, there is nothing you can do.>

My face turns away from him. More wetness springs to my eyes as I put my hands to my face. Pain is pounding in me now, but I don't care.

"Oh dear god…"

The tears spill out of my eyes, mixing with the DNA. My thoughts curse like river with no course as I panic over my fate.

"God, oh god, this can't be…This isn't my destiny, I know it! I am not meant to be the mate of something so cruel! I can't be just so helpless like this… Why, why, why!?!?"

I feel a sudden anger beginning to spark within me. WHY ME, I ask, WHY ME. The fire in my chest is brewing, smoking, bursting… I clench my fists as the steady stream of salty tears drip slide down my face. I don't want this anger to die. My words repeat themselves like a broken record… I hardly even know what I'm saying.

"Whywhywhywhywhy!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?"

The feeling inside me soars, the fire of personal hell swelling and threatening explosion. I close my eyes in utter fury as I let loose a scream.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!"

The fire bursts. My skin is hot and icy at the same time, the Saiyajin veins of my inner power flowing with frenzy, my heart rate increasing to match the beating of my rage… I hear the cracks of glass, the ruptures of bubbles, the popping of tubes… The ground seems to shake in fear of my wrath. I care not about the creature watching me. I would hardly doubt that he was deeply amused at this.

"AAAAAAAKUUUUUUMMMAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

~

Gero woke with a start. Rushing to his feet, he hastily put on his slippers and began running towards the secret lab. He had heard an explosion come from there.

"It had better not be one of the machines, those damn things cost so much to…"

He choked on his words as he stopped, skidding his heels along the cold floor.

"Do my eyes deceive me!?"

Sotari was there, just not in her tank. In fact, she was hovering above the remains of the tank, DNA fluid flowing freely and wetting the floor. Machine parts lay scattered across the flow, useless now. Sotari herself was---changed. A purplish-black, flame-like aura was surrounding her body, sending off excess heat towards Gero. He drew back, amazed at the amount of tepidity she was giving off. He watched with interest as the nearby printer began to melt. However, what really interested him now was something more sinister and, perhaps, more terrifying to the human eye. For there, waving, almost lazily at the doctor, was tail. Not the furry, silky tail of the Saiyajin race, but an evil form of purple with black spots, equipped with an innocent-looking siphon on the end. Gero smiled.

"Mei!!" he called out to her, spreading his arms in greeting, "You have done it! Well done!"

The woman called Sotari looked at him, her eyes full of hatred. Gero couldn't help but shiver slightly. The eyes themselves weren't normal anymore. The pupils seemed to have vanished, but the fierce pink color remained the same.

"S-should we begin testing right away?" asked Gero a little timidly.

Sotari stared at him, the cold-hot flames around here flaring up a bit ever so slightly…

"Er…" said Gero, backing away even more, "Or morning…Whatever's comfortable with you…"

"There is nothing to say, Gero," replied the woman, "I am no longer any test subject of yours…"

"Nani (what)…?"

The woman splayed her hands in front of her, her face devoid of any emotion.

"Shinei…" (die)

A small, crackling ball of purple energy formed at the end of her fingertips.

"Kogasuu…"

The color of the ball morphed to a firey, orange-red. Gero took to his heels. Sotari fired.

"…FUKUSHUU!!!!"

~

The wind whistles past my ears as I kick up my speed. I want to get as far away from that hell as much as possible. I look back and smirk at my own handiwork. The lab is spurting out flames like crazy. Like a living hell of its own. I stop momentarily on top of mountain to look. My smirk increases as I spot falling debris plunging towards the bottom of the gorge on the side of the lab.

"Pitiful…"

I turn my back on the past and look up towards the starry-filled sky. My mouth hangs open despite myself. I haven't seen this sight in so long. I shut my trap suddenly, remembering my mission.

"Damn it, not now…" my human parts seem to whisper.

(Do I have to? Gero is most likely dead now, so why should I carry out his revenge? I am probably the most powerful being on Earth, so why? There is no need…)

I shake my head at the thought.

"Perhaps there's more to this," I tell myself, "Maybe I want to kill the Z Senshi for another purpose…"

(Another reason to kill them? Masaka! No bloody way! What crazy question is that!?)

"I…I feel like I'm supposed to…"

(Of course you're supposed, too, baka!!! Gero instilled that in your memory bank! But he's dead now, so you're free to live!!!)

"No, I'm not… I am not free. I was never free of this, even before Gero even took me in."

(What the bloody hell do you mean!?)

"When I came here, I had nothing. When I was there I had nothing. And now I have nothing…Except for the mission to kill the Z Senshi."

(You can find something!!!)

"Shut up," I snap at my human half, "You just shut your fucking trap and leave me alone! It was you that wanted to find Gero in the first place! You were the one who got me into this whole thing in the first place!"

(…)

"I don't know why I feel I must go find the Z Senshi. Hell, when I find them, I probably don't want to kill them, but who knows!? I don't care!"

I take to the sky again, in a hot and angered mood. But I can't help but wonder…

"…will it be of mine or Gero's will that kills them all…?"

~

It was hours now since Sotari left. The secret part of the lab hadn't been destroyed, though, strangely enough. The automatic water sprinkler system had seen to that. Also, unbeknownst to Sotari, Cell's life support machine had been fireproof. However, Gero was not, but due to some astounding miracle, he was alive. Right now, he was in a life support machine of his own, lying down on a pallet with a metal half-tube covering most of his body. All sorts of odd machines and medications were being applied to him. Gero looked to his side to see his rescuer.

"Ahh, Juuquu-gou," he said in a voice no louder than a whisper, "…I see that your fire-proof design is definitely in working order…I can't appreciate your devotion to me enough…"

He coughed. His rescuer, a fat Chinese-looking man, blinked and unexpectedly made a bow towards his creator.

"You are still unwell, master. Your burns have made your condition to a very critical point. Skin grafting is impossible at this point…"

"No matter," coughed Gero, "You know what to do then."

Juuquu-gou didn't even blink. He bowed again.

"Yes, Master Gero, I know."

"You have all the procedures carefully noted in your memory bank? No viruses? No questions?"

"No, master, none at all. It is without question that I will be able to do the operation quite successfully. You will survive the treatment, I am sure. What model do you will to be?"

Gero closed his eyes in deep thought.

"I could be a biological one," he mused to himself, "But for an old man like me that would be most tedious and difficult. I was surprised that Sotari even survived the process…Very well…I wish to of the same model as you, Juuquu-gou. Model 13…"

Juuquu-gou smiled.

"The name Jinounzingen Nijuu-gou (Android 20) suits you?"

"Indeed…"

Gero turned his head the other way, so as to not let Juuquu-gou see his self-satisfying smirk.

"Oh, mei," he grinned insanely, "Jinounzingen Nijuuni (Android 21)… I told you… It isn't over yet…"

~