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Mia watched the scorched body of the Talisian roll down and into a ditch near the building wall. Her mark had been perfect: it had not only blown the entire arm off, it ripped the tendons so that the Talisian would bleed out until it died. She turned back to the task at hand: getting inside the building. The wall was solid, with no cracks of any kind. She shrugged, and charged a Ki blast. She aimed with precision, hoping she chose the right spot, and let it fly. She shielded her face from flying debris. When she looked again, smoke and dust were slowly clearing away. She saw a small crack, and smiled. She walked up to the smoking metal wall, and kicked it with every ounce of force she could muster. She hit her mark, and the wall crumbled. She stepped inside the dark corridor. The white moonlight from outside rushed into the green-lit building, seeping into every corner it could find, like this corridor had never been in full light before. Mia began to walk down it. The hall became dimmer and dimmer, the green light illuminating her tanned skin. Mia could hear a slight whooshing sound as she got closer and closer to the end. Her footsteps echoed loudly, and Mia decided to float instead. She began to scan the area for Ki signatures. None were close to her, except for one. One single Ki signature, motionless in the room ahead of her. Its power level was much lower than hers, and she smiled. It would be an easy kill, and then she could get out of there to go back to Earth and get rid of the child. She came to the end of the green corridor, and set herself down at the base of two large, wooden doors. She simple charged her hand with a Ki blast, and blew them off their hinges. She walked into the Lab, narrowing her eyes. Her expression changed quickly after looking around. The place was a living lab. The whooshing sound was louder here, and it sounded almost like a heartbeat. Everywhere around her were thick-membraned pods, filled with a green-tinted gel. They were suspended from something that looked like a plant stem, which was attached to an even bigger stem-like structure in the middle of the room. And sitting on one of the 'branches', was a Talisian with cropped short hair. He was watching her intently. Mia glared up at him, acknowledging his presence. He simply got up from his relaxed pose, and floated down to the floor. He was wearing typical Talisian armor: a chrome-colored chest piece which was scuffed and scratched in various places, a light gray jumpsuit underneath, massive white boots and white gloves that reached past his elbows. Over one eye lay an orange-tinted scouter. Instead of a fancy, charmed circlet, he wore a plain band around his head, the sides disappearing under his bangs. In one ear, a simple hoop hung. "At last we meet, Hakuto. May I welcome you to my Lab? I guarantee that you'll enjoy your short stay here," he said. Mia laughed. "Giving up so soon, are we? The battle hasn't even started yet!" "Oh no, you took me all wrong, dear Hakuto. I mean, you'll be dead soon. And let's see..." he pressed a small button on his lightweight scouter. "So will the child." Mia was taken aback. 'He can read that on a scouter?' she thought to herself. The Talisian laughed at her expression. "Oh, scouters have improved greatly since you were born. This is reading two power levels from you: one large, and one incredibly low. There's only one explanation: someone had a bit of trouble with her heat cycle!" He laughed merrily. Mia narrowed her eyes. Her anger was rising. "Enough with the chit-chat," she snarled. "Cocky now, are we? Before we begin, I assume you want to know my name. It's-" "I couldn't care less what your name is." "Ix'bet. And I'd like to-" He moved quicker than she could track, and before she knew it, Ix'bet's knee was buried in her gut. She gasped with pain. "Welcome you to your worst nightmare."
He opened his door silently, and slipped out into the dark hallway. He couldn't sleep at all. Something was wrong; he could feel it, right down to his bones. He nervously held the tip of his tail in his hands, squeezing it and playing with the soft brown fur. He came to the right room. Ever since his parents had left he'd creep over to this room for comfort when he was scared. Usually he'd slip into his parent's bedroom and snuggled up to his mother. But he wasn't in his house and his mother was millions upon millions of miles away from here. He opened the door and slid in. He walked through the living room portion of the apartment, and into the bedroom. She was there alright, her balcony door open and the transparent curtains flapping in the slight night breeze. The boy could see the moonlight shining on the outlines of her body. He stepped silently up to the bottom of the bed, and ducked his head under the sheet. He crawled up through the thin sheet and rolled out at the top part of the bed so he was sitting on the sheet beside his grandmother. He studied her face for a moment. She was sweating, her teeth gritted and eyes squeezed shut. 'She's having nightmares too...' he thought to himself before placing his hands on her shoulder. Sekkai woke with a sharp jerk, jostling whatever was behind her. She turned around, clutching at the sheet to cover her naked breasts to look. Sitting there, looking very innocent, was her grandchild, Vegeta. "What do you want, brat?" she asked. "I was asleep." "Not very. You woke up pretty fast," he answered. "You get that way after you've spent most of your life on the battlefield. So," she said, leaning forward and not caring anymore about the blanket. She always had slept this way since she arrived on Earth, and she wasn't about to get conservative for some three-year-old, even if it was her grandchild. "What is it this time? Did you see the boogie-man under your bed?" she asked sarcastically. "Something's wrong with Mama." Sekkai's eyebrows raised at Vegeta's expression. He dropped his head and grabbed ahold of his tail nervously, and began to wring it. The little Saiyan crossbreed winced as he twisted his tail around. But what surprised her is that he also knew something was wrong. She'd been feeling for the past couple days now, that something wasn't right. But now...it was a lethal wrong. She didn't know how to comfort him properly. She may have given birth to a child, but she never raised it. Sekkai reached out and pulled Vegeta close to her, lifting the child up so that his head rested on her breastbone. "Everything will work out. Your mother is a fighter, she'll take on whatever they dish out," she said, stroking the child's soft hair. "But what if she loses?" he asked, his voice small. "She won't," Sekkai replied. Inside, she wasn't so sure. She could feel Hakuto's energy rising, signaling that she was fighting. Sekkai felt something odd about her, but she didn't know what. And there was even more mystery behind her opponent. "I'm scared," Vegeta whispered, burying his head into Sekkai's shoulder and grabbing some of her hair. "Me too..." Sekkai whispered quietly. Slowly and quietly, Sekkai began to sing in Saiyan fashion to Vegeta. The soft, gentle growling and purring noises began to soothe Vegeta as he listened to Sekkai's slow heartbeat. She slowly rose and began to rock him, still purring the Saiyan lullaby. She stood in the dim light of a crescent moon, Vegeta falling asleep in her arms. She stroked his soft cheek, and smiled. This is what she had missed so badly without Hakuto. She looked lovingly down at Vegeta, and quickly grabbed a blanket from her bed to wrap herself in. Wearing the blanket as a toga, Sekkai sat down on her living room chair, propping Vegeta up. And she waited for dawn to come.
"Come on Hakuto, you're faster than that!" Ix'bet mocked. She snarled, gritting her teeth. The Talisian had the upper hand on her, teleporting rapidly to try to confuse her. It was working to an extent: they were stalemating each other. Nobody was landing any hits. Ix'bet teleported again, this time appearing behind her. He kicked out, but she caught his leg and sent him plummeting towards the steel floor. She teleported, and kicked out. He easily dodged, and sent a flurry of punches at her. One hit her cheek, then her jaw, and the rest collided with her shoulder or chest. Hakuto stumbled backwards, blood dripping down from her lip. She grinned, knowing that Ix'bet's fight was simply futile. She could power up to Super Saiyan whenever she wanted to...but not quite yet. 'No...let him think he can beat me. Then, when I kick his ass he'll feel despair.' She teleported out of his sight. Ix'bet craned his neck around, looking for her. His scouter lay in pieces on the floor, after he'd been kicked in the face. He didn't know where she was, and so he was at the disadvantage. But she hadn't noticed it. She hadn't realized that she could confuse him if she began to teleport rapidly. Ix'bet didn't mind Hakuto's ignorance. It made is easier for him. Ki burned his spine as Hakuto's aim hit him in the small of his back. Ix'bet sprawled on the floor, then rolled as the Saiyan's knee came down where his head was. It made a small dent it the floor, and he saw her wince. He rolled again, then used his momentum to help push himself up. "Look who's talking," Hakuto snapped, in reply to his earlier comment. She got up from her position. "You didn't even see the blast coming. You've relyed on scouters for too long, Ix'bet," she sneered, and teleported again. Ix'bet swore in his native tongue. He needed to either get some dilute in her system or actually knock her unconscious. He didn't like this situation at all. He had to weaken her somehow...there had to be a way... His elven-like ears twitched as he ducked, and Hakuto's kick went harmlessly sailing by. He took the chance to swivel around and deck her in the stomach. She doubled over, squeezing her eyes shut and grimacing. Ix'bet got up, the woman still kneeling in pain. He snorted. "You're enjoying this." "And you aren't?" "No." Mia opened one eye, and smiled slightly. "Too bad," she replied, and moved faster than Ix'bet could track and hit his upper jaw. He went sailing into a console. 'Crap. This isn't working,' Ix'bet thought as he hauled himself out of the mass of shredded metal and wires. 'Got to use some other tactic...' He dodged as she came again, and she rebounded off the ruined console, moving in blurs. Ix'bet started moving, ricocheting off the control panels and walls of the Genetics Lab. The two would meet and spar briefly on the passes. Then in a moment they'd go back at it. Finally, Hakuto landed a kick to Ix'bet's throat, making the Talisian fall to the ground, heaving for breath. Hakuto landed, her hair now golden and eyes green, and grinned over him. She calmly lifted him up in a full nelson. "Why are you doing this?" Ix'bet coughed out. "For the survival of my race and to take revenge on what you did to my parents," was her short answer. "If you're fighting for your races' survival," he paused, choking. "Then why do you kill the people you want to save?" His end words were whispers as Hakuto tightened her grip. She let go suddenly and Ix'bet dropped to the floor. His hands flew to his neck as he gasped for breath, and Hakuto took a step back. Ix'bet looked up at her through one squinted violet eye. Her face was slick with sweat, and her sea-green eyes held confusion and fear. "What?" she said quietly. "Didn't Tantum ever tell you when he was sent to Earth? You are a Talisian, whether you like it or not, Hakuto." Hakuto's mind was racing. 'It can't be true. It's impossible. Mother said that they never enhanced me...he's lying. He has to be. Unless...Tantum. It has to be...no, no it can't...' Ix'bet got up, taking advantage of the shock. "I'm sorry you had to find out from me. But it's true, not matter what you say. Tantum was in league with us long before you were even a glimmer." "You're lying," she whispered to herself. "We tampered with him. He was our test subject when we were developing the hormones to make you a Talisaiyan from inside your mother's womb. He already had Talisian blood and genes in him when we told him to take advantage of his mate's heat cycle." "You're lying," she said to him, her eyes narrow. "It can't be true." But, somehow, she knew it was. She could feel the truth in his words. She could feel it in his Ki. She didn't know who or what she was anymore. Even the mere thought of her being a Talisian overwhelmed her. What did it make her? 'I am the enemy' "YOU'RE LYING!" She shouted, and dropped to her knees, tears coming out of her eyes. The golden aura around her glowed brighter as her anger made her advance to Super Saiyan level two. The Ki blast hit it's mark perfectly. Hakuto felt the cold burn of Ki as is pierced her armor, going through her chest, through her heart and out again. Her hair faded to its natural color as she hit the cold steel floor. Her body went limp and it relaxed as Ix'bet stood over her, shaking his head. "I'm sorry," he said again.
Nashi sat bolt upright in her bed. Something was wrong...terribly wrong. She felt sick, sweaty and feverish, so she slid out of bed. She walked to the bathroom where she promptly threw up. She wiped her mouth as she slid down to the cold marble floor, tears starting to run down her face. She sniffled, and looked up at the ceiling. 'Momma's dead...' She furrowed her eyebrows. She was angry, unbelievably angry. Her head pounded, and felt dizzy. She never got to say goodbye...she hadn't seen her mother in months, only to have her ripped away so violently? "Momma...no..." she said to no-one through gritted teeth and clenched fists. She screamed. She felt as if her mouth was going to rip apart and her ears were going to burst open. Her skin felt as if it was burning, and her muscles ached. Then, the pain was over and she sat there, tears streaming down her face. She wanted to run to her Mother, but she wasn't here. Nashi fled from the bathroom, not taking notice that her hair was golden and her eyes were green. Her feet padded down the hall to a familiar door. She tried the doorknob to find it locked. She didn't care, she kicked the door in and ran inside. Two people slept in the bed. One with blue hair, and one with spiky black. Nashi took a running start and leapt onto Vegeta's chest, burrowing her head into the crook of his neck. He woke instantly. "What the hell?" he barked, sitting up and throwing his grandchild further down into the bed. She sat there, hiccupping from the tears. He took one look at the child, and wondered what the hell happened to make her upset enough to advance to Super Saiyan. Her eyes held incredible pain. "Momma's dead, Grandpa."
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