Dragonball Super Z
http://hometown.aol.com/juuhachigouda/dbszfic.html
By: Juuhachi-gou <juuhachigouda@aol.com> and MiraiBulma
Dragonball Z

Chapter Twenty-Five: Broken -


this is the first day 
Of my last days 

~*~

	Dark. 

	Cold. 

	But his hate burned. 

	His internal clock had just come online. It had been 353 days, 22 
hours, 42 minutes and 17 seconds since Vegeta had blasted him into 
fragments. It was something he had experienced but once before, at the 
hands of Vegeta's purple-haired son, and it wasn't an experience he 
wanted to get used to. 
	Idiots. Both of them. All of them. 
	And his sister for siding with them. What had they done to her? 
How had they turned her--her--against him? She was the only one like 
him in the world; they'd entered this existence together, and they'd 
always intended to leave it together, if indeed they left it at all. So 
why was it that she allowed them to destroy him--had helped the humans 
stand against him? 
	His core had survived Vegeta's blast, had landed miles away, in 
an abandoned junkyard. A stroke of luck, that; he'd fallen among scraps 
of machinery and wild scrubs of vegetation that provided him with the 
raw elements he needed to re-synthesize his broken body. 
	He lay under the open sky for long months, his remains first 
constructing feelers that quested out like grass-roots, seeking 
nutrients in the soil, elements in the metal that could be 
cannibalized. Gradually his body began to take a rough outline--he had 
no face, no limbs, but his reactivated sensors could distinguish 
between dark and light, heat and cold. He was aware of the rain that 
pelted his ruined but rebuilding body, even though he couldn't actually 
feel it. 
	And he could hate. Oh, how he could hate. 
	They would pay. They'd all pay dearly. They'd never see him 
coming. Even his sweet sister would die. That was his mistake--trying 
to reclaim her, to have her again at his side. Well, screw that. He 
didn't need Juuhachi-gou. He didn't need anyone. 
	He didn't need to toy with them, either. His sister had been 
right about that, at least. If he'd simply killed Bulma outright, there 
wouldn't have been time for the others to save her, and he could have 
picked them off one at a time. Next time he wouldn't be so sloppy. He'd 
be as efficient a killer as Juuhachi-gou had ever been. 
	He sensed movement, and focused his faltering externals on the 
source. Fairly large, too large to be a dog--a bear, maybe, or a 
saurian biped, prowling the junkyard for food. His eyes hadn't come 
back, and he still couldn't see or hear anything. He could only detect 
the heat source approaching, undoubtedly a living thing, walking on two 
legs like-- 
	No. Impossible. 
	There was no human habitation for miles around, how could a human 
be here?! 
	The motion stopped close by. He knew whoever it was was standing 
right above him. It wasn't possible that the person could recognize him 
for what he was. He knew he would appear to the untrained eye as 
nothing more than a mass of scrap and wires. He was still a long way 
from resynthesizing his organic components. He didn't resemble anything 
vaguely human, or human-like, for that matter. 
	Movement. He was moving! No, he was being moved. He tried to 
scream in protest, but of course he had no mouth, no voice, no lungs to 
draw breath to scream. He was being taken off the ground, away from the 
elements and nutrients he needed to be whole again. 
	Stupid human! A scavenger, taking him away--where? The fool must 
think him just another hunk of junk, taking him off to be reused, 
melted down, recycled. 
	Destroyed. 
	Juunana-gou raged, silent and motionless, and waited to die. 

~*~

built it up 
now i take it apart 
climbed up real high 
now i fall down real far 

~*~

	"...so pretty!" 
	Those were the first words he heard when he regained awareness. 
Following this was the shocking realization that he was still alive. 
More than alive, in fact--whole. He could feel himself afloat in some 
kind of nutrient fluid that had accelerated his regeneration. What 
would have taken many more months of lying in the open had been 
completed in a matter of hours. 
	He opened his eyes, his vision instantly clear. He found himself 
looking directly into a roundish, innocent girl's face, framed by soft 
red curls. She smiled at him, while he blinked in surprise, unable to 
do anything but stare back. "Papa, he's awake!" the girl said, her 
voice echoing oddly into the tube of fluid in which Juunana-gou was 
suspended. "I think he can hear me!" 
	Another figure came into view behind the girl--a tall, lean man, 
rawboned, with a shock of blond hair that spiked above his long, narrow 
face. "Yes, I think you're right, Chiara," the man said. "Hello in 
there! How are you feeling?" 
	His eyes narrowed. "Get me out of here," he snarled. 
	"Yes, I rather thought you wouldn't feel very sociable at the 
moment. It must have been a very traumatic experience for you, to leave 
you in that condition." 
	"I'll show you trauma, you old geezer!" He raised his hands, 
concentrated to fire and blast both the man and the girl into oblivion. 
	Nothing happened. 
	"I wouldn't bother trying to get violent," the man said, 
undisturbed. "Your energy levels are being carefully regulated. You 
haven't enough power or strength to break out of that chamber." 
	"Who are you?" 
	"I'm Doctor Gajetto. This is my daughter, Chiara." 
	"Hi," the redhead chirped, beaming. 
	Gajetto smiled down at her, then continued. "And you're Juunana-
gou. One of Gero's masterpieces. We've never met, but I have had the 
opportunity to review your schematics. Very impressive work." 
	"I'll show you impressive once I'm out of here, old man," 
Juunana-gou hissed, bubbles rising from his lips as he spoke. 
	"Now, now, just settle down. You've still got a long wait before 
you'll be able to move about. Once you're completely healed, we can 
talk." 
	"I don't think so. I don't talk to humans, I kill them." 
	The girl--Chiara--looked up at her father with troubled blue 
eyes. "Oh, Papa, I see what you mean...he must be so unhappy." 
	Gajetto patted the girl's shoulder, ignoring Juunana's venomous 
glare. "It's hardly surprising, Chiara. Don't worry, everything will be 
all right. Why don't we leave him alone for a while? He's still got a 
lot of recovering to do." 
	"Okay." Chiara took a step forward, looking up at him earnestly. 
"I hope you feel better soon, Juunana-gou. I'll be back to check on you 
later, okay?" 
	"Get lost!" Juunana spat, but the pair walked quietly out as 
though he'd blown them a kiss. 

~*~

no need for me to stay 
the last thing left 
I just threw it away 

~*~

	*click* 
	Juunana snapped awake with the horrid realization that someone 
had switched him off. How? He didn't remember. With a roar of fury he 
leapt to his feet. He was no longer in the maintenance tube; he was in 
the lab proper now, free and unrestrained. 
	The fools. 
	Gajetto stepped back and set the hateful black box down. "There 
you are, my lad, good as new." 
	"Do you like your new clothes?" Chiara smiled, frankly admiring 
him. "I picked them out for you myself. Papa dressed you, though," she 
added, with a small blush. 
	Juunana looked down at himself. Black T-shirt (no Red Ribbon logo 
this time), burgundy undershirt, loose-fitting pants, black boots. 
Everything fit him as perfectly as his old gear had. 
	"Not bad," he smiled bitterly. "I don't think Sis could have done 
better, and she has the best fashion sense I know." He looked up at 
them with burning eyes. "I guess I'll thank you by killing you 
quickly." 
	"Wait--" the girl began, but Gajetto shushed her with a wave of 
his hand. Neither of them showed any fear at all. 
	Juunana chuckled. He'd show them. He raised a hand towards them. 
	Nothing happened. 
	"You see, Juunana-gou," Gajetto explained gently, "I know what 
Gero built you for. Not that I blame you, mind--it's hardly your fault. 
Even without his programming, I'm sure you're extremely confused and 
angry over what happened to you, even if you don't remember it." 
	The note of compassion in the old man's voice was more than 
Juunana could bear. "Shoot!!" he shouted, charging forward to clip 
Gajetto soundly on the jaw. 
	"Juunana-kun--dame da!" Chiara grabbed his arm in both her small 
white hands. Juunana glared down at Gajetto; a blow that should have 
taken his head off had barely left a mark. 
	Gajetto climbed slowly to his feet. Juunana pulled away from the 
girl--or tried to. She held him fast, not even budging no matter how 
hard he tugged at his captured arm. 
	He turned incredulous eyes on her. 
	"Yes, Juunana-kun," she said in her soft, sweet voice. "I'm like 
you. I'm jinzouningen too." 
	His eyes narrowed. "What's your number--zero?" 
	She flinched a little at his scorn, but didn't let go of his arm. 
	He turned an angry glare on Gajetto. "What have you done to me, 
old man?!" 
	"You're completely whole, Juunana-gou. Since you're obviously 
still a danger to yourself and others, your abilities have been 
somewhat curtailed." 
	"You can't use energy blasts," Chiara explained. "You're still as 
tough as ever, not much can hurt you, so don't be worried about that." 
	"Your strength is equal to that of a healthy normal human male of 
your age," Gajetto continued, touching his jaw carefully. "You pack 
quite a punch, my lad." 
	"Are you okay, Papa?" Chiara asked him over her shoulder. Juunana 
tried to pull away from her again, but her grip was as strong as ever. 
Frustrated beyond words, he hit her as hard as he could manage in the 
face with his free hand. She didn't even take a step back, but when she 
looked at him, her eyes were hurt. "Please calm down, Juunana-kun. 
We're only trying to help you." 
	"I don't need or want your help, you little--" 
	"Let's go, Chiara," Gajetto said. A nasty bruise was beginning to 
come to life on his chin. "Let's leave Juunana-gou alone to get used to 
all this." 
	She nodded, keeping her grip on Juunana until her father was 
safely out of the room. Then she released her hold and followed him, so 
quickly that before Juunana had taken a step towards the door it was 
closed and locked. 
	
~*~

i'm the one without a soul 
i'm the one with this big hole 

~*~

	He spent almost an hour pounding on the door, screaming and 
cursing and demanding to be let out. He made a couple of slight dents 
in the metal frame with a couple of particularly hard blows, but that 
was all. When he tired of that futility, he turned his rage on the lab 
in which he was confined. He overturned cabinets, knocked down shelves, 
up-ended tables, and the sound of shattering glass and grating metal 
was music to his ears. 
	There was a mirror mounted over a sink in the corner. He picked 
up a metal chair and cocked it back over his shoulder to smash the 
glass. When he saw his own reflection, he paused to study it, looking 
for any differences that might have been wrought without his knowledge. 
	Long, chin-length glossy black hair, razor edge straight and 
framing his fine-angled face. Wide blue eyes, pale and almost 
colorless, tip-tilted like a cat's. Actually, the clothes the little 
red-haired she-brat had chosen for him suited him well, as did the 
black choker-- 
	Still holding the chair in one hand, he let it fall to his side 
as he leaned forward to take a closer look at the band around his neck. 
It was fashioned of some kind of flexible metal, with a glittering 
silver disk over the center of his throat. He reached up his free hand 
to touch it. *A limiter. Those rotten--they put a collar on me!!!*
	Roaring his outrage, Juunana raised the chair and smashed the 
mirror to shimmering shards. 

~*~

no tale for me to tell 
twenty six years on my way to hell 

~*~

	An hour later, the door opened again--slowly, carefully--and 
Chiara peeped inside. She tsked a bit at the destruction in the room. 
"Poor Juunana-kun, you must have really been upset," she said, as she 
entered. 
	Juunana sat in the corner farthest from the door, elbows on his 
knees, head hung. He wasn't tired--he still didn't get tired, 
apparently--but he was, for the moment, emotionally drained. His 
burning anger had been replaced by a dull, throbbing void of feeling. 
	"You broke the mirror, Juunana-kun. That's seven years bad luck, 
you know." Her shadow fell across him, but he didn't look up. "If 
you're hungry, we're getting ready to have dinner." 
	He didn't move. He sat like a stone. 
	"I know you're upset." Chiara crouched beside him. "This is all a 
lot to get used to. Papa's only trying to help you. We can't let you go 
around killing people anymore. It's wrong to hurt people. You were 
human once, you should be able to understand." 
	Her face was close to his, but he refused to look around at her. 
He could feel her wide blue eyes on him, begging for his understanding. 
	"Please, Juunana-kun, don't be cross at Papa. He wants you to be 
able to have a normal life, that's all. The life you were never allowed 
to have before. He wants you to have a chance to be happy." Quietly: 
"So do I." 
	He turned on her and gave her a vicious shove. Caught off-
balance, Chiara fell backwards with a startled cry of dismay. Juunana 
jumped to his feet and stormed out of the room. 
	He was tempted to wreak devastation on the rest of the well-
ordered house, but decided against it. He couldn't bear having the 
little brat there, watching him, making her oh-so-compassionate 
commentary while he destroyed her home. If he saw the old man, he'd 
kill him--no, the brat would stop him. 
	He found his way outside. With a kick, he launched himself into 
the air--and sprawled on his face in the dirt. 
	Instantly he scrambled to his feet. So he couldn't fly, either. 
He reached up to the collar and tried to take it off, but he couldn't 
get a grip on the band. The disk seemed to be part of his body. It was 
like trying to tear out his own throat. If he pulled too hard, it ached 
fiercely, but still didn't move. 
	An airtruck sat in front of the house, somewhat battered, 
obviously cobbled out of spare parts, but just as obviously 
serviceable. Hardly his transport of choice, but-- 
	"Juunana-kun!!" 
	The girl's shout, the sound of her running feet, coming closer, 
decided him. By the time Chiara appeared in the doorway, Juunana had 
the truck hotwired and it was lifting off the ground in a cloud of 
yellow plains dust. 
	"Juu-kun!!" Chiara shouted, but her voice was lost in the roar of 
the truck's engine. 
	Gajetto came up behind his daughter and put a hand on her 
shoulder. "Let him go, Chiara." 
	"But--" 
	"Never mind. We can't make him stay. He can't hurt anyone now, 
not really. If he chooses to go, we have no right to stop him." 
	Chiara looked around at the dwindling speck in the sky. 
"But...he'll die." 
	
~*~

i put my faith in god and my trust in you 
now there's nothing more i can do 

~*~

	The truck wasn't the rattle-trap vehicle it appeared to be. The 
chassis might look like a junk heap, but the engine was finely tuned, 
in perfect condition. Juunana urged the accelerator to the floor and 
grinned fiercely as the machine leapt forward, cutting through the air 
like a high-caliber bullet. 
	He toyed with the idea of heading for the nearest city and 
playing "keep-away" with the local citizens like the good old 
days...but he wouldn't have much of a chance to enjoy himself before 
Sword Boy or his pals showed up to put an end to his fun. With the 
limiter collar around his neck, he wouldn't be able to fight back. 
	He needed to get the thing off. Bulma, that was the ticket. He 
remembered too well where Capsule Corporation was. He didn't expect to 
be able to just waltz in and sweet-talk her into helping him, of 
course; but he could park in the woods just beyond the dome, and he 
could sit, and wait, and watch until she ventured out alone. Then he 
could grab her and spirit her off before her spiky-haired mate or her 
troublesome son even knew she was gone. Once he had her in a secure 
location, she'd be all too willing to free him in order to spare her 
worthless life. Once she had the limiter off him, he might even let her 
live long enough to see her man and their son die screaming. 
	He scanned the horizon, looking for the familiar curve of the 
yellow dome. It should be just over those trees--there! A glint of 
sunlight off gold-hued metal. He'd be over the woods in a matter of 
minutes, and he could start looking for a place to land. 
	A large grey winged shape hurtled into his path. With a bitten 
curse, Juunana jerked the wheel to one side to avoid the saurodactyl, 
swerving wildly to the left. He didn't notice the butte in his path 
until it was too late to swerve and avoid it. He leapt from the truck, 
and it smashed against the sheer rockface, exploding with a dull orange 
boom. 
	Juunana fell a good thirty meters and landed hard on the stony 
ground, rolling over several times before he could stop himself. He 
spat out gravel and got to his feet. His new clothes were a little 
distressed, but he wasn't the least bit hurt. Grimacing, he dusted 
himself off and looked towards the tree-line. About five, maybe six 
miles. If he walked quickly, he could make it easily before nightfall. 
It would make getting Bulma away a bit more of a problem, but he'd 
worry about that when the time came. Maybe he could slip in while the 
family was sleeping, or maybe he could head towards town and catch her 
there, when she would have a vehicle he could use. 
	He heard a soft thump behind him on the ground. "Well, well," a 
rough voice drawled, "I wondered who was out here blowing up my 
wilderness." 
	Juunana spun around, dropping into a stance without thinking 
about it. 
	Piccolo nodded once. "I figured you'd show up again eventually. 
You and your sister came back once before, it was only a matter of time 
before you made a return engagement." The Namekseijin put two taloned 
fingers to his brow, grinning broadly enough to show his gleaming white 
fangs. "Juuhachi-gou told us all about your 'core' and how you two can 
regenerate, tin man. This time you won't be coming back." 
	Juunana dodged the screw-shaped blast--barely. He could feel the 
heat against his synthetic skin and knew it would kill him if it hit. 
Before Piccolo could ready another beam, Juunana moved in and began 
pummeling on the Namekseijin. Tears of anger blurred his eyes as he 
lashed out, only to find every punch blocked, every kick evaded. 
Evidently amused, Piccolo let Juunana press forward, trying desperately 
to land a killing or even a disabling blow. After a time, Piccolo swung 
an arm, catching Juunana across the side of his head and knocking him 
carelessly aside. He landed meters away, on his back in the dirt. 
Before he could get up, Piccolo was standing over him and kicked him 
into the air, then slammed him down with both fists hard enough to 
leave an imprint in the ground. 
	Juunana grunted. The blows hurt. He may not be sustaining serious 
damage, but he was feeling pain--something he'd never experienced 
before, not as a jinzouningen. He struggled to rise, but Piccolo robbed 
him of the chance by grabbing him by the hair and hurling him against a 
hillside. 
	Dust got into his lungs, making him cough. He stumbled away, grit 
in his eyes, in his mouth, no longer wanting to fight, no longer 
interested in Bulma or anything else except getting away before the big 
green monster-man destroyed him. Half-blinded, he started to run. He 
didn't know even in which direction he was headed--away, that was all 
he cared about. 
	He ran headlong into Piccolo, who'd moved almost invisibly to 
intercept his flight. "Leaving so soon?" he chuckled, delivering a 
sharp uppercut to Juunana's chin, knocking him back. He caught hold of 
Juunana's shirtfront and began slapping him back and forth repeatedly 
across the face. After eight or nine blows, Juunana tasted blood in his 
mouth. His own blood. 
	Piccolo tossed him lightly in the air and kicked him squarely in 
the stomach. He shot through the air, unable to move, and landed hard 
on the ground again. This time he didn't even try to move. 
	"Well, it's been fun," he heard Piccolo say, stepping closer, 
"but I think it's time to say good-bye. Give your creator in Hell my 
regards, tin man. Makankooooo--" 
	"Dame!! Dame da yo!!!!!!" 
	A sweet, clear voice, raised in alarm. 
	"What the--?!" Piccolo sounded stunned. "Girl, get out of the way 
now!" 
	"Please!" A small sob. "Please don't hurt him! He's no threat to 
you or anyone now." 
	Juunana sat up and forced his eyes open. Chiara stood limned in 
the afternoon sunlight, her back to him, facing Piccolo. Her arms were 
outspread--she was protecting him?! 
	Piccolo sneered. "Girl, I don't know what pocket dimension you've 
been living in, but this is one of the jinzouningen. He and his 
sister--" 
	"I know who he is. Juunana-gou. Please, listen to me. He can't 
hurt people anymore. He's got a limiter that can't be removed that cuts 
his power to normal human levels. He can't do anything an ordinary 
human can't." 
	Juunana stood shakily, wiping threads of blood from his chin. 
Piccolo's eyes darted, keeping a close watch on his movements. "Yeah, I 
wondered why he wasn't fighting back worth crap. But what's going to 
keep him from taking a gun or a knife to somebody?" 
	"He hasn't hurt anybody yet, has he?. I'm jinzouningen too, but 
I'm not evil. Neither is Juunana-kun. He did bad things, but that's in 
the past. Everybody's forgiven his sister, why can't anyone give him a 
chance?" 
	"He had his chance, kid. He blew it." 
	"He never had a real chance to do any better. That's what Papa 
wants to give him now." Chiara swallowed hard. "Please...I'll take him 
home with me. I'll make sure he doesn't hurt anybody." 
	Piccolo stood where he was, towering over the ridiculously small 
girl, his cape billowing in the ever-present breeze that swept the 
plains. He cast another look at Juunana-gou, who stood some distance 
away, watching without comment. Finally, he shrugged. "Well, it's none 
of my business. I have my own score to settle with the tin man, but 
unlike him I don't have any stomach for destroying a helpless opponent. 
Fine, take him home with you. Just make sure he stays there, because if 
you let him run around loose and I find him raising hell again, I'm 
going to take him down..." He leveled a finger at Chiara's face. "And 
then, little girl, I'm coming after you." 
	With that, he was gone, up into the sky and out of sight. 
	Chiara's shoulders slumped in relief. She spun and ran to 
Juunana. "Juu-kun, are you all right?" 
	She reached for him, but he drew back. "Don't touch me," he 
warned. 
	She hesitated, sighed. "Juu-kun..." She turned around, her back 
to him. "I like you, and I know you don't like me, but that doesn't 
matter. I don't want you to get hurt. Papa said we can't force you to 
stay with us, and now I understand he's right. I'm afraid for you, Juu-
kun, but I won't make you do something you don't want. That's all 
anyone's ever done, isn't it--forced you into things you didn't want to 
do? Gero forced you to be a jinzouningen, your anger forced you to 
fight, without knowing why...it's time you made your own choices. Even 
if they're bad ones, you have the right to make them. Just...please 
don't hurt anybody anymore, for your own sake? If you do, 
they...they'll kill you." A small sob. She wouldn't look at him. "Good-
bye, Juu-kun." 
	She jumped into the air. Juunana took a step after her, but she 
flew over his head, back towards the east, back towards Gajetto's 
house. 
	A small warm drop fell on his face. He reached up, touched it, 
and looked into the clear sky. He glanced over his shoulder at the 
disappearing Chiara, and understood. 
	
~*~

got to listen to your big time hard line 
bad luck 

don't think you're having all the fun 
you know me 
i hate everyone 

~*~

	Gajetto spent most of the following morning tidying up the ruined 
lab. He swept up the glass fragments, hammered the shelves back into 
shape, made plans to replace the broken cabinet and the shattered 
mirror. He'd have to start building another vehicle, too. Another trip 
to the scrapyard, this time on foot. 
	Chiara sat glumly on a footstool, taking notes as she listened to 
him detail the supplies they would need on their next shopping trip. 
Her pretty face was pale and drawn. If she'd been a real human, her 
eyes would have been red and haggard. She'd cried herself to sleep the 
night before. 
	The front door banged open, and Gajetto froze. Chiara sat up 
suddenly straight, and looked at the lab doorway with a mingling of 
dread and resigned expectation. 
	A slim silhouette appeared. 
	"Ji...Juu-kun!!" Chiara leapt off the stool and ran towards him, 
enveloping him in a hug around his waist. He didn't respond, but he 
didn't push her away either. 
	Gajetto set the one intact table on its legs and stepped forward. 
"Good to see you back, Juunana-gou." 
	Juunana half smirked, a ghost of his habitual cockiness. "Where 
else did I have to go?" 
	"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Chiara inspected him carefully. He 
was still filthy and disheveled, but no further damage was evident. 
	"I'm fine," he answered, looking down at her--looking directly at 
her of his own volition for the first time. "Listen, I...um, you didn't 
have to...I mean, I was a jerk to you, and Piccolo would have...and 
you...well..." 
	She beamed up at him. "You're welcome." 

~*~

wish there was something real 
wish there was something true 
wish there was something real 
in this world full of you 

--Nine Inch Nails, "Wish" 

End Chapter Twenty-Five