Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Hope Reborn ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: Severina 
Anime/Manga: Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Hentai / Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 09.15.2002 | Updated On: 10.02.2002 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.3K | Visits: 718 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Hentai / Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 09.15.2002 | Updated On: 10.02.2002 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.3K | Visits: 718 | Status: Work In Progress
Chapter 1
The orange gi contrasted sharply with the green sky that hung in perpetual noon over the unfamiliar planet. The sun beat down on his shoulders, giving him an unmistakable aura. He was speaking, his voice garbled at first, like screams hidden underwater. The words broke through the static, breaking against his ears and penetrating his mind.
"It's not too late to be different...than him." He whispered, the words flowing over his mind like a lover's caress. The man turned to face his spectator. Looking into his face, a gasp escaped his lips. There was no scar on this man, but he felt that he was looking into a mirror. Then he turned again, into the face of the creature that had just cost him everything that he had ever held dear, his friends, his crew and his status as a warrior. As they stared each other down, realization hit Bardock, washing over him like wind over sand dunes. Before he could act, the ground beneath him shattered like icicles dropping from a frozen rooftop. He felt searing heat burning the flesh off his bones as the planet exploded around him.
It stopped. The heat disappeared and he was back on the dirty, twisting staircase leading to the observation tower of Home Base #27. His breath escaped as he realized he was still alive. What he had experienced felt as real as the blood stained bandana that burned his forehead. But it had been nothing more than another vision. No matter how real it felt no one would believe him or listen to him. Not the people he trained with, or the comrades from missions long past, not even his friends from the academy would hear him. They thought he was crazy. In the back of his scientific mind, he half agreed with them. But the visions were too real and too persistent to ignore. Sadly, he admitted that his "friends" reluctance to listen would seal their fate with their own blood.
Reaching the top of the tower, he stared into the turbulent red sky knowing the end would come from there, from above. He remembered a story he had heard from the far reaches of the galaxy, about a culture that believed their end would come in the raining of sulfur upon the planet. He wished it were only sulfur that would rain on Vegetasei, sulfur they could survive.
:: I can't just stand and watch my planet be destroyed. I have to do something, I have to stop him.:: he thought, clenching and unclenching his fists.
"Major? Sir, please, you need to get to recovery." Came a voice from behind him.
"Leave me!" he growled. Guards were silently advancing toward the already wounded fighter. :: I need to train...but I don't have the time. I need more time...time...the-:: his thoughts were abruptly ended as a guard landed a solid blow to the back of his skull. He collapsed into unconsciousness.
*******************************
"Ex cuse me, M'Lady?" a messenger said, his voice slicing through her like a cold winter wind off a turbulent sea. She blinked quickly, her eyes adjusting to the light she had forgotten was there, pulling her back to the reality of the stone throne room. Her eyes slid over the polished marble floors until they rested on the face of a tentative messenger in the door. She said a silent prayer to the gods before answering him.
"Yes?"
"Your Highness, I have an urgent message."
"Enter and proceed." She said smoothly, her heart frozen in her chest. Her exterior was as calm and poised; her insides were trying not to fall apart. The young Saiyan entered the room and stood before her, looking confused. She arched a perfectly manicured eyebrow at him, inquiring to his expression without a single breath.
"Begging you pardon ma'am," he said quickly, seeing her expression. "But I have direct orders to deliver this message to the King himself. May I-"
"The King is on a mission and therefore unavailable." She stated coolly, the words rolling off her tongue like ice across a frying pan.
"But I-"
"If you would like to take a seat and await his return, you are more than welcome to do so, however his return is not for a few days. Or you could simply relay the message to me. If you choose the first option, I can personally guarantee you will see the inside of a coffin before you will ever see the king." She said, her anger flaring in her eyes as the rest of her body remained calm. The steel in her eyes hardened as her mind calculated a way to kill the young messenger. Usually she didn't kill unless in battle, but the past few days had set her in a state of restrained, hidden rage. The man looked stunned, he had never heard such an elegant threat, and definitely not from a woman. His survival instinct kicked in and her hurriedly spilled the message from his mouth.
"A man on Home Base #27 has been accused of treason. A third class solider, Bardock, returned from a purging mission earlier this morning, in which he was the only member of his crew to survive. He refused treatment and started making accusations that Lord Frieza had ambushed his crew and was now on his way to Vegetasei to destroy it. Before being subdued, he stated that he was going to kill Lord Frieza if necessary. Since this threat on Lord Frieza's life is a serious offence, I was sent here to ask the King, or, uh, you, to pass sentence." He said, meekly looking at the floor in front of her throne. He couldn't tell, but Patara's heart had once again frozen to her ribs. She sat, looking bored and royal, her back straight and her crown perched atop her dark brown hair as her insides boiled and twisted at the sound of the monster's name. A threat made against Frieza was punishable by death, but sentence had to be passed by the King or Prince or in their absence, the Queen. It was a law decreed by Frieza himself as a test to see who was loyal to him, not only among the general populace, but in the royal family as well. Her stomach burned as it contained building rage. First the Prince was taken, and now a solider had a tale to weave about an ambush from the Ice-jin. She turned her perfectly stoic eyes to the messenger.
"Bring him to me and then I will pass sentence." The messenger's eyes grew wide with shock and disbelief.
"But your Highness, it's highly unusual to pass such a simple sentence in person, my orders are to bring back the sen-"
"I do not care what your orders are. I have said, in perfect Common tongue what my wishes are and you are daring to challenge me in my own throne room." Faster than the solider could see, she had moved from her throne and held him against the wall by the neck. "You seem to have forgotten your place. May I remind you I am not only the Queen, but also an elite solider. I am letting you live to deliver my message to your superiors. Consider yourself lucky today, but if I ever lay eyes on you again I will kill you and display your pathetic corpse in City Center as a warning to others of what happens when you question orders from your monarchs." She tossed his body like a doll she was tired of playing with. He skid comically across the polished floor. As soon as he could, he got to his feet and ran from the throne room.
She returned to her throne, her heels clicking like distress calls the entire way. Her blood was boiling after the encounter with the ignorant young Saiyan; but she shoved the thought of him aside, having much more pressing matters at hand.
It had been 4 long days, and still no word from her husband. The prince had been due back from his month long "training session" with Frieza. But Frieza had contacted them, telling of his decision to keep the Prince with him for some more "special training." Vegeta, in his arrogance, had gathered together a team of soldiers and taken off for Frieza's ship, ready to overthrow the tyrant. She could still hear their last conversation ringing in her ears.
"Vegeta, please, let me go."
"I can't. This is personal. He's punishing me, he's been working on this little 'lesson' for years."
"But, what if, Gods forbid, something happens to you and the Prince remains with Frieza? The kingdom will crumble! With the nobles as close to rebellion as they are, you can't risk that. Let me go and fight Frieza, let me go get our son." He stood on the loading deck to the ship, not listening to her.
"I'll bring our son back." He said as the door swung closed.
A cloud of foreboding hung over her. Despite how confident the king had seemed when he left, she couldn't shake the feeling that she would never see him again.
***********************************************
He was tossed to his knees on the polished marble, two elites holding his arms apart. He kept his eyes on the floor and his mouth closed, tasting the blood that flowed from his spilt lip. He had fought when he learned of where he was going, but the two elites overpowered him. Suddenly, a distinctly female voice rang out.
"Release him." The iron vices on his arms were released as the two men let go, stepping back. He rose his head defiantly, locking eyes with the classically beautiful woman seated on the throne. Her eyes probed into his thoughts, brown sparks flashing against charcoal pupils. "Major Bardock. Stand, please." She said almost kindly as Bardock rose to his feet. "You may leave us." She said, addressing the soldiers, who hesitantly left the room. "You have been accused of treason." She said simply. He said nothing. "Nothing to say?"
"You call it treason. I call it truth."
"Please, share this 'truth' with me" he ignored the smug tone in the queen's voice and continued.
"We were ordered to go to the Planet Meat by Frieza himself. I didn't depart with my crew; I was still in recovery from our past mission. When I arrived, I found my crew dead and Dodoria standing over their battered bodies. And now Frieza is on his way here to kill all of us."
"Did Dodoria tell you that?" she asked, leaning forward in her throne.
"No." he answered softly. "I saw it." He continued talking, hurriedly as to block out her comments. "You don't believe me. That's ok, no one does. But you will. The message from the king you've been waiting for will be here soon. But take my advice, don't open the package, Captain. It's not the news you want." Her jaw clenched, anger rising behind her eyes.
::He must be a spy! No one knows where the King has gone!:: she thought angrily.
"Major Bardock, you have been accused of the crime of treason, and for this you will be killed. Three days from now at dawn, you will be hanged. Guards! Take him to the dungeon to await his sentence!" she called, guards filling the room.
"Don't open the package, Captain." He repeated his eyes never left hers as he was dragged from the throne room.
**************************************************
Two days later
"Your Majesty, this package arrived for you." The messenger said, handing the large, plainly wrapped package over.
"For me?"
"Yes, specifically for you."
"Thank you, you may leave now." She said, waving him away. It was unusual that the Queen would receive a package addressed to her only, everything usually went to the King. The package was about the size of a computer screen, and hand addressed. There was something so familiar about the careful, elegant scroll that danced victoriously across the butcher paper. She opened it carefully; finding a note attached to the actual box itself.
Patara,
My dear queen, I do hope this letter finds you when you are alone. What I have to say is for your benefit. It has been brought to my attention that you and your husband are concerned about the Prince's welfare under my care. I assure you, he is fine and well and getting the best training that a race of warriors like yourselves could dream of.
The working relationship that your people and my army have is a beautiful one; one I would hate to have to spoil because of such trifle tokens like the Prince. The King and I have had a discussion as to the length of time I shall keep the Prince. He is a quick learner, but the actual time frame is still undetermined. But I do urge you to ask the king himself.
Freiza
She knotted her brow in confusion. The meaning of Frieza's letter was cloudy.
"Don't open the package, Captain." Came from her memory. Her stomach was in knots, as Bardock's eerie prophecy embedded itself into every breath. She dropped the letter and it floated to the floor like a leaf. Reaching for the box, her jaw was clenched tightly, waiting for the punch line to Frieza's little joke.
Pulling back the top, she peered over the edge to view to contents. She reached inside, her fingers entwining in the coarse silk she found there. She lifted it up, and stared directly at it, the blood already drained so it didn't drip. The hair, which would have normally stood up like a flame, was caught in her fingers as she looked into the dead, lifeless eyes. His tongue flopped freely out of his mouth, brushing against the goatee on his chin. It was the King. He had sent her the King's head in a box. She lowered her now-deceased husband's head back into its box. Tilting her statuesque neck back, pointing her head to the ceiling she contemplated the new situation.
"Fuck." She whispered.
The orange gi contrasted sharply with the green sky that hung in perpetual noon over the unfamiliar planet. The sun beat down on his shoulders, giving him an unmistakable aura. He was speaking, his voice garbled at first, like screams hidden underwater. The words broke through the static, breaking against his ears and penetrating his mind.
"It's not too late to be different...than him." He whispered, the words flowing over his mind like a lover's caress. The man turned to face his spectator. Looking into his face, a gasp escaped his lips. There was no scar on this man, but he felt that he was looking into a mirror. Then he turned again, into the face of the creature that had just cost him everything that he had ever held dear, his friends, his crew and his status as a warrior. As they stared each other down, realization hit Bardock, washing over him like wind over sand dunes. Before he could act, the ground beneath him shattered like icicles dropping from a frozen rooftop. He felt searing heat burning the flesh off his bones as the planet exploded around him.
It stopped. The heat disappeared and he was back on the dirty, twisting staircase leading to the observation tower of Home Base #27. His breath escaped as he realized he was still alive. What he had experienced felt as real as the blood stained bandana that burned his forehead. But it had been nothing more than another vision. No matter how real it felt no one would believe him or listen to him. Not the people he trained with, or the comrades from missions long past, not even his friends from the academy would hear him. They thought he was crazy. In the back of his scientific mind, he half agreed with them. But the visions were too real and too persistent to ignore. Sadly, he admitted that his "friends" reluctance to listen would seal their fate with their own blood.
Reaching the top of the tower, he stared into the turbulent red sky knowing the end would come from there, from above. He remembered a story he had heard from the far reaches of the galaxy, about a culture that believed their end would come in the raining of sulfur upon the planet. He wished it were only sulfur that would rain on Vegetasei, sulfur they could survive.
:: I can't just stand and watch my planet be destroyed. I have to do something, I have to stop him.:: he thought, clenching and unclenching his fists.
"Major? Sir, please, you need to get to recovery." Came a voice from behind him.
"Leave me!" he growled. Guards were silently advancing toward the already wounded fighter. :: I need to train...but I don't have the time. I need more time...time...the-:: his thoughts were abruptly ended as a guard landed a solid blow to the back of his skull. He collapsed into unconsciousness.
*******************************
"Ex cuse me, M'Lady?" a messenger said, his voice slicing through her like a cold winter wind off a turbulent sea. She blinked quickly, her eyes adjusting to the light she had forgotten was there, pulling her back to the reality of the stone throne room. Her eyes slid over the polished marble floors until they rested on the face of a tentative messenger in the door. She said a silent prayer to the gods before answering him.
"Yes?"
"Your Highness, I have an urgent message."
"Enter and proceed." She said smoothly, her heart frozen in her chest. Her exterior was as calm and poised; her insides were trying not to fall apart. The young Saiyan entered the room and stood before her, looking confused. She arched a perfectly manicured eyebrow at him, inquiring to his expression without a single breath.
"Begging you pardon ma'am," he said quickly, seeing her expression. "But I have direct orders to deliver this message to the King himself. May I-"
"The King is on a mission and therefore unavailable." She stated coolly, the words rolling off her tongue like ice across a frying pan.
"But I-"
"If you would like to take a seat and await his return, you are more than welcome to do so, however his return is not for a few days. Or you could simply relay the message to me. If you choose the first option, I can personally guarantee you will see the inside of a coffin before you will ever see the king." She said, her anger flaring in her eyes as the rest of her body remained calm. The steel in her eyes hardened as her mind calculated a way to kill the young messenger. Usually she didn't kill unless in battle, but the past few days had set her in a state of restrained, hidden rage. The man looked stunned, he had never heard such an elegant threat, and definitely not from a woman. His survival instinct kicked in and her hurriedly spilled the message from his mouth.
"A man on Home Base #27 has been accused of treason. A third class solider, Bardock, returned from a purging mission earlier this morning, in which he was the only member of his crew to survive. He refused treatment and started making accusations that Lord Frieza had ambushed his crew and was now on his way to Vegetasei to destroy it. Before being subdued, he stated that he was going to kill Lord Frieza if necessary. Since this threat on Lord Frieza's life is a serious offence, I was sent here to ask the King, or, uh, you, to pass sentence." He said, meekly looking at the floor in front of her throne. He couldn't tell, but Patara's heart had once again frozen to her ribs. She sat, looking bored and royal, her back straight and her crown perched atop her dark brown hair as her insides boiled and twisted at the sound of the monster's name. A threat made against Frieza was punishable by death, but sentence had to be passed by the King or Prince or in their absence, the Queen. It was a law decreed by Frieza himself as a test to see who was loyal to him, not only among the general populace, but in the royal family as well. Her stomach burned as it contained building rage. First the Prince was taken, and now a solider had a tale to weave about an ambush from the Ice-jin. She turned her perfectly stoic eyes to the messenger.
"Bring him to me and then I will pass sentence." The messenger's eyes grew wide with shock and disbelief.
"But your Highness, it's highly unusual to pass such a simple sentence in person, my orders are to bring back the sen-"
"I do not care what your orders are. I have said, in perfect Common tongue what my wishes are and you are daring to challenge me in my own throne room." Faster than the solider could see, she had moved from her throne and held him against the wall by the neck. "You seem to have forgotten your place. May I remind you I am not only the Queen, but also an elite solider. I am letting you live to deliver my message to your superiors. Consider yourself lucky today, but if I ever lay eyes on you again I will kill you and display your pathetic corpse in City Center as a warning to others of what happens when you question orders from your monarchs." She tossed his body like a doll she was tired of playing with. He skid comically across the polished floor. As soon as he could, he got to his feet and ran from the throne room.
She returned to her throne, her heels clicking like distress calls the entire way. Her blood was boiling after the encounter with the ignorant young Saiyan; but she shoved the thought of him aside, having much more pressing matters at hand.
It had been 4 long days, and still no word from her husband. The prince had been due back from his month long "training session" with Frieza. But Frieza had contacted them, telling of his decision to keep the Prince with him for some more "special training." Vegeta, in his arrogance, had gathered together a team of soldiers and taken off for Frieza's ship, ready to overthrow the tyrant. She could still hear their last conversation ringing in her ears.
"Vegeta, please, let me go."
"I can't. This is personal. He's punishing me, he's been working on this little 'lesson' for years."
"But, what if, Gods forbid, something happens to you and the Prince remains with Frieza? The kingdom will crumble! With the nobles as close to rebellion as they are, you can't risk that. Let me go and fight Frieza, let me go get our son." He stood on the loading deck to the ship, not listening to her.
"I'll bring our son back." He said as the door swung closed.
A cloud of foreboding hung over her. Despite how confident the king had seemed when he left, she couldn't shake the feeling that she would never see him again.
***********************************************
He was tossed to his knees on the polished marble, two elites holding his arms apart. He kept his eyes on the floor and his mouth closed, tasting the blood that flowed from his spilt lip. He had fought when he learned of where he was going, but the two elites overpowered him. Suddenly, a distinctly female voice rang out.
"Release him." The iron vices on his arms were released as the two men let go, stepping back. He rose his head defiantly, locking eyes with the classically beautiful woman seated on the throne. Her eyes probed into his thoughts, brown sparks flashing against charcoal pupils. "Major Bardock. Stand, please." She said almost kindly as Bardock rose to his feet. "You may leave us." She said, addressing the soldiers, who hesitantly left the room. "You have been accused of treason." She said simply. He said nothing. "Nothing to say?"
"You call it treason. I call it truth."
"Please, share this 'truth' with me" he ignored the smug tone in the queen's voice and continued.
"We were ordered to go to the Planet Meat by Frieza himself. I didn't depart with my crew; I was still in recovery from our past mission. When I arrived, I found my crew dead and Dodoria standing over their battered bodies. And now Frieza is on his way here to kill all of us."
"Did Dodoria tell you that?" she asked, leaning forward in her throne.
"No." he answered softly. "I saw it." He continued talking, hurriedly as to block out her comments. "You don't believe me. That's ok, no one does. But you will. The message from the king you've been waiting for will be here soon. But take my advice, don't open the package, Captain. It's not the news you want." Her jaw clenched, anger rising behind her eyes.
::He must be a spy! No one knows where the King has gone!:: she thought angrily.
"Major Bardock, you have been accused of the crime of treason, and for this you will be killed. Three days from now at dawn, you will be hanged. Guards! Take him to the dungeon to await his sentence!" she called, guards filling the room.
"Don't open the package, Captain." He repeated his eyes never left hers as he was dragged from the throne room.
**************************************************
Two days later
"Your Majesty, this package arrived for you." The messenger said, handing the large, plainly wrapped package over.
"For me?"
"Yes, specifically for you."
"Thank you, you may leave now." She said, waving him away. It was unusual that the Queen would receive a package addressed to her only, everything usually went to the King. The package was about the size of a computer screen, and hand addressed. There was something so familiar about the careful, elegant scroll that danced victoriously across the butcher paper. She opened it carefully; finding a note attached to the actual box itself.
Patara,
My dear queen, I do hope this letter finds you when you are alone. What I have to say is for your benefit. It has been brought to my attention that you and your husband are concerned about the Prince's welfare under my care. I assure you, he is fine and well and getting the best training that a race of warriors like yourselves could dream of.
The working relationship that your people and my army have is a beautiful one; one I would hate to have to spoil because of such trifle tokens like the Prince. The King and I have had a discussion as to the length of time I shall keep the Prince. He is a quick learner, but the actual time frame is still undetermined. But I do urge you to ask the king himself.
Freiza
She knotted her brow in confusion. The meaning of Frieza's letter was cloudy.
"Don't open the package, Captain." Came from her memory. Her stomach was in knots, as Bardock's eerie prophecy embedded itself into every breath. She dropped the letter and it floated to the floor like a leaf. Reaching for the box, her jaw was clenched tightly, waiting for the punch line to Frieza's little joke.
Pulling back the top, she peered over the edge to view to contents. She reached inside, her fingers entwining in the coarse silk she found there. She lifted it up, and stared directly at it, the blood already drained so it didn't drip. The hair, which would have normally stood up like a flame, was caught in her fingers as she looked into the dead, lifeless eyes. His tongue flopped freely out of his mouth, brushing against the goatee on his chin. It was the King. He had sent her the King's head in a box. She lowered her now-deceased husband's head back into its box. Tilting her statuesque neck back, pointing her head to the ceiling she contemplated the new situation.
"Fuck." She whispered.