Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Android B ❯ A truth revealed ( Chapter 1 )

Bulma looked around: everything was white. No other color seemed to exist, except this soft, cloudy white. She was standing in a row. In front and behind of her there were little white flames. She wasn't one of them, though. She was her normal self. The line very slowly moved forward and that was fine with Bulma because she wasn't sure whether she really wanted to know what awaited her at it's end. She was surprised that her feet didn't hurt, she must have been standing here for hours. After some time she noticed a man in a distance. He wore a suit and had 3 horns on his head and odd blue skin. He was keeping the flames in a row and kept talking to them. Then he looked up and saw Bulma. Bulma smiled and waved hi at him, but the man turned very pale. Now Bulma noticed that he had a clipboard in his hand. He seemed to be checking on something that made him turn even paler, then he grabbed a little black box (Bulma guessed it was a walky talky) and spoke into it. Then he looked back at Bulma, swallowed hard and nodded to her. He confused Bulma, but she decided not to ask any questions. She was oddly satisfied with just standing here in line for reasons she couldn't grasp.

The soft white was starting to have a calming effect on her and Bulma relaxed, not expecting anything to happen for the next hours except the row moving forward ever so slowly and staring off into the endless whiteness, as suddenly a head popped up in front of her. It was a blue skinned man with a single horn on his head and thick black glasses. "Bulma Briefs?" he asked and Bulma nodded. "Come on board," he said and Bulma noticed that he was sitting in a very old hover car. Slowly, she climbed on the back seat. Once she sat safely, the man revved up the engine and they sped off through the white.

After a while, Bulma could see a house, or more precisely: a palace. The row of white flames seemed to end somewhere in it. "Wow... I could have waited forever to get there," Bulma murmured to herself and the man nodded. "Yes, we have an awful lot to do at the moment. That is why I was send to fetch you. Enma Daiouh wants a word with you. You are so to say a V.I.S." he replied in a casual tone. "V.I.S? Don't you mean V.I.P?" Bulma asked, surprised. The man shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He hadn't expected that Bulma didn't know and he wasn't going to be the one who would tell her. Instead, he said: "We are going to land now. This could be a little rough."

The palace's inside was marvelous. Bulma just gaped at he architecture and the size of everything. It had to be inhabited by a giant. The blue skinned man ushered her through the halls, not looking left or right. He must be accustomed to this marvelous place, Bulma thought to herself. Just as she thought they'd wander forever through the giant corridors and halls of this building, Bulma spotted the familiar line of white flames, leading into a room that was currently hidden behind a large, two-winged wooden door. The blue skinned man walked up to the row and ask Bulma to wait right in the front of it. He spoke apologetically to the white flames, as if trying to calm them down. "Yes, I know you have all waited for a long time, but this is an emergency. It is really urgent, please understand that," he said to 3 flames, that zoomed around angrily. Then he turned to Bulma again. "You will be fetched in a moment. Just don't forget to tell them your name," he said urgently, then left Bulma to herself.

She decided to spend her time inspecting the door in front of her and the decorations on it, that made it seem like the simple wood was actually alive and moving. Just as she spotted a breathtaking picture of two hummingbirds, the door opened and a voice boomed: "Next one!"

"A robot, a fucking robot! Tell me old man, are you trying to make a fool out of me?! No one plays the prince of all saiyans for a fool! Where is she? Where is my mate?! Spit it out or you'll regret it!" Vegeta raged, held back by Goku and Piccolo as he threatened Dr. Briefs. The doctor swallowed nervously and took a step back, his wife clinging fearfully (the first time Goku saw her displaying anything but ditzy happiness) to his arm, his eyes shifting from the angry prince to the lifeless figure on the diner table. Silky blue hair had turned an ugly shade of brown where red blood spilled out of the giant wound, which had it's origin only kami knows where. "She.. she is right on the table, where you put her, Vegeta," Mrs. Briefs stuttered out, mocked by the cool metal that showed between the bodies blue/brown hair . "LIAR!" Vegeta screamed. "She is not! That stupid piece of metal is not my mate! It's a lifeless, soulless toy!"

Sadly, Dr. Briefs shook his head, then said: "My dear, I think it is time, we tell them the truth." With a sigh he and his wife sat down, and so did Goku, Vegeta and Piccolo. The two warriors seated themselves at either side of the prince, to prevent any violent outbursts of his to do any real damage.

The rest of the Z-Senshi had arrived much earlier, when Vegeta had gone hay-wire in the park, blasting first the car that had hit "Bulma", then random people. It had taken them a lot of effort to calm him down enough to stop killing, yet even more to persuade him to return to Capsule Corporation. And when he had managed to pry his son off of the lifeless form, pitying the child, that so desperately begged "Mom, Mom wake up. Mom open your eyes. Mommy, please", Vegeta had tenderly scooped up the body, only to be send into a wild fit of anger and fury again.

Krillin gulped nervously, and so did Yamcha, his gaze drifting off to the body every now and then. "I.. we have a confession to make," the doctor began slowly, his wife nodding. "I guess, we should start at.. at the start, shouldn't we dear?" he said and then took a deep breathe.

"Dead?" Bulma repeated unbelievingly. "You.. you mean to tell me that I am dead? Really dead? Like.. after life-dead?" she asked and the giant in front of her nodded, looking somewhat sad. He rose out of his chair, scooped Bulma up with one enormous hand and set her down on a notice block on his desk. "Yes, you are dead. And we have been waiting for you for a long time, Bulma. Almost.. yes, almost ten years. It was ten years ago you died the first time, I believe. You were just seventeen," he said in a gentle voice, that just wouldn't fit his kind of wild looking exterior. "You must be mistaken," Bulma said. "I would have remembered if I had died. And I certainly know I didn't." The giant sighed. "Are you sure?" he asked and just as if that had been her cue, Bulma's eyes widened as she suddenly remembered scenes that were so unreal like the story she had just been told, yet seemed so real as if she had known it all along.

* * * Flashback * * *

"I am sorry Dr. Briefs, Mrs. Briefs- we don't know what disease Bulma is suffering off, but we know, she won't survive it. There is nothing we can do."

"No, no! Bulma! My baby, my darling! Don't go, oh please don't go! You have still so much to live up to!"

"Dad... what did the doctor say? Am I very ill?"

"I don't believe you! Is there nothing you can do to help her? I swear to kami, I will NOT lose my child to some stupid disease! And if I have to sign a contract with the devil so be it!"

"Daddy, mommy, I love you. I'll miss you terribly when I am dead."

"Oh Bulma, honey, my baby, don't say such awful things like that. You won't be going anywhere."

"You promise, Mom?"

"I promise."

"Your money won't change this, Dr. Briefs. We don't even know what caused Bulma's illness, when it started, we know nothing! And even if we knew all this, we simply don't have the time to research and search for an antidote. Bulma is passing on, rapidly. She has only a few months left. I advice you to make the best off it."

"It's too bad I can't say goodbye to Goku, Krillin and my other friends. And especially Yamcha. I miss them. I wish I could go dragonball hunting with them one last time."

"Dragonballs grant wishes, daddy, they really do. I saw it with my own eyes."

"Mom, where's Dad?"

"He set out to search the dragonballs. He is going to wish you healthy again. Don't worry, my baby, everything will turn out all right."

"Mom? Tell... tell D-Daddy... I.. I love him."

"Bulma, I found my first dragonball the other day! And in 2 days I'll reach the next one!"

"Where am I? Why is everything so white and warm? Am I dead?"

"She died.. she died, our poor baby died!"

"Who... who-.... Who are you?"

"I, mortal, am the divine dragon, Shen-Long. You have collected all 7 dragonballs and proofed yourself worthy. Name me your wish, and I shall grant it."

"I... I... I wish for my daughter, Bulma, to be resurrected."

"This I cannot do. Your daughter died of natural cause, yet my power is only sufficient to revive those that died before their time, by unnatural cause. Make another wish."

"I have no other wish! I want my child back, give her back, give me back my Bulma or I want you to show me, how I can retrieve her myself!"

"Your wish has been granted."

* * * End of Flashback(s) * * *

"The dragonballs couldn't revive our child, but, somehow, Shen-Long granted our wish. He sent someone who could help us." Dr. Briefs said in a low voice.
"Oh, and who would that have been?" Vegeta asked dangerously, and Mrs. Briefs whispered: "Dr. Balthazar Gero."

"My parents did what?! No, I don't believe you!" Bulma exclaimed, now furious at Enma Daiouh, who winced slightly at the volume such a small creature like Bulma could produce. "They we're desperate, Bulma, and Shen-Long gave them an opportunity to accomplish just what they wanted the most. They were willing to do everything. They didn't care whether it was right or wrong. They just wanted you back, I guess," he said. "And they didn't know that they were dancing with the devil himself."

"Balthazar Gero visited the same university as I did, but he was never the sharpest tool in the box. Although he had sensational and revolutionary ideas, he had never been able to realize them. We had tried to keep Bulma's death as secret as possible, but one day, when we were out going for a walk in the park, Bulma used to love so much as a child, talking about our baby, Gero saw us and followed us. He listened to our conversation and suddenly interrupted us. He offered us to find a way to get Bulma back, but of course, he wanted something in exchange." Dr. Briefs said with a sad sigh. Mrs. Briefs continued: "He had this idea about an completely artificial intelligence, an artificial human, an android.. He said he could and would bring Bulma back. We didn't care about the consequences. We agreed. It turned out, that he had started working on an artificial human all ready, only with very little success. The basic structure of the android, it's skeleton if want to say so, showed references to the human skeleton, but not enough. So me, being the medical genius I am... what, don't look at me that way!" "I am sorry, Mrs. Briefs it's just... " Yamcha said, oppressing an amused grin, "I just can't see you.. you.. "
"As a genius?" Mrs. Briefs asked, sounding slightly hurt. "I studied medecine at the age of 6, by the time I was 20 I had covered the complete medicinal knowledge this planet had to offer, including alternate ways of medication. As I was saying," she said, sending a glare at Yamcha, "Me being the medical genius I was corrected the physic of the android so that it would move more natural and I developed a way to create skin and hair to give the android a natural, human look while my husband and Gero worked on giving the android movement, natural sounding speech and an unnecessary arsenal of weapons. Back then we didn't know that Gero was planning to create the androids to take revenge on Goku and frankly: we didn't care. We just wanted Bulma back."

"And after they completed their work on the android Gero designed with them, they gathered the dragonballs again, wishing for your soul to be put into the android body, without remembering to have ever died. And so it happened. And now.. now we face a problem. Bulma, you were never meant to travel to Namek or any of the things that followed it. In fact, you weren't even meant to have found out about saiyans at all. But you did. Because of your parents you did and you continued just how you left off- and you made a huge change. You saved a soul, for which every hope was lost all ready. And now... now this soul is at stake to plunge even deeper into darkness then before, because of the loss of you," Enma Daiouh said, looking pained. Bulma looked confused, then she realized, who he was talking about. "Vegeta," she whispered.