In the Face of an Enemy Unlike Any Before... Birth of a Super Namekseijin!!

"Trunks-san! Trunks-san!" Trunks snaps out of his trance and looks at Gohan. "Yes?" Gohan, "What was that empty shell?" Trunks, "I... I don't know. There wasn't any type of creature like that back in my time period." Gohan, "You said this thing came here about a year before you arrived, and you came here about three years ago. So that makes it four years that this thing has been in this time period." Trunks, "Yes, because the time machine showed us that information." Gohan, "This creature that's from twenty three years into the future has been on this Earth for four years already without us even knowing it." Trunks, "Yes, I wonder for what reason and who had created a creature like this."

Birds chirp, the area is calm. It's a normal day, just like any other. A pink van sits outside a building. Inside the van, Number 17 relaxes and Number 16 sits silently with his arms crossed. Inside the store, Number 18 tries clothes on. "Is this the best outfit you've got here?" Clerk, "Yes indeed! It looks mighty fine on you." She glares at him and recoils. "Well, do you like it?" Number 18, "You really think I would like this? It's terrible, but in a place like this, it'll have to do for now." She turns and walks out. "See you." He calls after her, "Wait one minute there!" She ignores him and climbs into the van. The man runs out. "Hey!! The bill!" He looks through the window and sees Number 16. He stops yelling at them and the van pulls away. "That was scary." He runs back into the store and calls the police. "Excuse me, Sheriff. Sheriff, I've been robbed! The license plate numbers are..."

The van speeds down the highway. Police appear behind them, sirens blaring. Number 17, "The police again..." Number 18, "They're such an annoyance." The van continues, pursued by three police cars. Number 18 jumps out of the moving vehicle and smashes her hand straight into the leading police car. She throws it away, then stands in the middle of the street with arms out as the other two cars catch up. Her fists rip through the cars and they spin out of control. All three cars land in a heap by the side of the road. Number 18 jumps into the air and flies back to the still moving van. The policemen sit in a daze. "This hurts too much for a dream..."

Bulma flies home, listening to music, when a reporter suddenly pops up on her little TV, cutting into the song. "We interrupt this program to bring you the following news report. For the past hour, all contact to Gingertown, one of the towns in the west suburbs, has been cut off. A news crew has been dispatched to the town and has found it completely empty. There is no one in sight." Bulma, "Gingertown...?" Reporter, "This weird phenomenon is still being investigated, and..." Bulma gasps. "That's near the area where the time machine was discovered! It... it can't be."

The phone rings at Kame House. Kuririn picks it up. "Yes? Hello." Bulma, "Hello? This is Bulma. Is this Kuririn?" Kuririn, "Yes, it's Kuririn. Eh? What, Gohan? No, they're not here yet." Bulma, "Well then, could you turn on the TV? It should be on every channel, but if you want the same channel I've got, it's channel 872." Kuririn, "What are we supposed to watch?" Bulma, "Just hurry up!" Yamucha turns to Kuririn. "What? Who called?" Kuririn turns on the television as he answers, "Oh, it's Bulma-san. She wants us to watch the TV." Roshi, "What does she want us to see?" Oolong, "It's Bulma, so she's probably telling us that she's on it or something." Yamucha laughs. "Maybe." Reporter, "We have just received a news flash. According to investigators here at the scene of this mysterious occurence, the only remnants of the townspeople are their clothing scattered everywhere. The crew has arrived, so..." Roshi, "What? What is this?" The scene on the news changes from an anchor desk to a reporter on the scene. "We've jus tarrived at Gingertown, where 15,000 people have suddenly disappeared. We have discovered something new." Yamucha, "Fifteen thousand?" Reporter, "Only clothing has been found. It looks as though the bodies had just melted away. In these pictures, you can see rifles next to the clothing. It's as though they were fighting." Roshi, "That's..." Kuririn speaks into the phone, "It's the Artificial Humans! They've finally done it!" Bulma, "I don't think so. Gohan and Trunks will tell you the same thing." Kuririn, "Well that means that this is somehow connected to the other time machine." Bulma, "There is probably little doubt about it. When Gohan and Trunks come back, please ask them about it." Kuririn, "Okay." His voice wavers as he speaks and then he hangs up the phone.

Chichi walks down the stairs. "Goku-san is sleeping well. He looks a lot better." She notices how grim everyone suddenly is. Outside, Gohan and Trunks land. Gohan, "Muten Roshi! We're coming in!" He opens the door and he, too, notices everyone's grim expression. "Hmm? Kuririn-san..." Kuririn, "You two, check this news report out and clear this up for us." Gohan, "News?"

The television camera pans around, taking in some of the sights of Gingertown. Screams can be heard in the distance. The reporter looks over in that direction. "What's going on?! We've just heard screaming..." The loud crack of gunfire is heard near the source of the screaming. "Gunshots! Gunshots! There seems to be some exchange of fire going on over there somewhere." Son Gohan, Mirai Trunks, Kuririn, Yamucha, Oolong, and Muten Roshi watch the TV silently, awed, horrified. "It's now suddenly quiet. I'll get as close as possible to the scene and check things out." He turns to go to the screams and gunshots, but suddenly stops. He stares straight at the camera, a look of horror frozen on his face. The picture suddenly disappears.

Kamisama runs over to the edge of God's Shrine and looks down at the Earth below, shocked and frightened. Piccolo, "What?! What's happening? Hey!" Popo, "Kamisama..." Kami, "What is that? What is that monster?!" Piccolo, "Monster? What do you mean by monster? Say something!" Kamisama gazes down at the Earth.

The Z Senshi stare at the static on screen. Roshi, "Why?" Yamucha, "Change it to another channel." Kuririn, "Ye...yes..." He starts hitting buttons on the TV, coming to a channel that's still going. Gunshots. "Help, help!" The camera is laying on the ground, the cameraman apparently already gone, either dead or run off. The picture is fuzzy. People scream and run about, and clothing lay in the streets. Everything suddenly goes silent. Kamesennin and Yamucha raise their eyebrows in surprise. Roshi, "Oh?" Kuririn, "The screams have stopped."

Kamisama turns away. Piccolo, "Come on, stop it! Stop keeping it to yourself! Tell me what you saw exactly! Hey!" Kamisama finally turns around. "Okay." Piccolo, "Tell me what kind of monster you saw on the Earth!" Kamisama, "There is no need to tell you." Piccolo, "What?" Kamisama, "If we merge together as one, you'll know what I've seen." Piccolo and Popo are both surprised by that one. Popo, "Ka...Kamisama..." Piccolo, "So, it's finally come to this. I'm guessing you've seen one hell of a monster." Kamisama walks over to him. "Let's hurry. We cannot let anymore people die." Piccolo, "Okay." Kamisama drops his staff. Piccolo raises a fist. "But the fundamental base will be me! Is that understood?" Kamisama, "Yes. It would be best since you are a lot younger and more powerful than I am now. Your merging with me will not only give you a power up in strength, but my fullness in wisdom as well." They stare at each other in silence, their capes blowing about in the wind. Popo watches them in awe. The wind stops. Kami, "You must touch me, since you are going to be the base." Piccolo, "Okay." Piccolo reaches out and puts his palm flat on Kamisama's chest. Popo, "Kamisama..." Kami, "It's okay, Mr. Popo. What the Earth needs right now is not a God, but a super powered being. Piccolo has changed. His evil spirit is gone. After we merge into one, there will be no way for us to be separated again." Tears well up in Popo's eyes. "You've taken good care of me, Mr. Popo." Popo, "Ka... Kamisama!!" God closes his eyes, and tears begin to flow freely down Popo's face. Kamisama's eyes fly open and he screams. A ki aura flares up around him. Piccolo almost jumps back. God is enveloped in a bright white light. Mr. Popo shields his eyes from the light. An explosion of light erupts at the top of God's Shrine, blocking out everything nearby for a brief instant, and then all returns to normal again. Popo lowers his arms. Smoke runs off around Piccolo, quickly dissipating. Piccolo rises to a full standing position (as opposed to the sort of hunch over that he was in). His cape billows in the wind. His face looks slightly more aged (at least to me), but otherwise, his physical appearance has not changed. Popo, "Go...goodbye, Kamisama. Please don't die." Piccolo walks away. "I am no longer Kami nor Piccolo. Only a Namekseijin who has long forgotten his name." He steps up to the edge, then turns back to Popo. "Goodbye. I'll be going." They stare at each other for a moment, then Piccolo jumps off the edge and returns to the Earth. Korin watches him on his way down. Piccolo flies on silently, hoping to end the death that has recently plagued Gingertown.

Son Goku sleeps soundly at Kame House. Downstairs, everyone is still watching TV. "We still haven't received any word from the crew. We believe that they are also caught up in this trouble." Kuririn, "So then, are you saying there was some monster inside that shell?" Trunks, "Yes, probably. And it's close by, as well." Trunks opens his little box and looks at the capsules, then closes it again. "I'm going to go and check it out." Yamucha, "Hey...!" Kuririn, "Don't!" Trunks stops and turns to them. "It's okay. I can become a Super Saiya-jin. The real frightening ones are the Artificial Humans." Kuririn, "That's true, but..." Gohan, "I'll go, too!" Chichi, "You can't go! Goku-san is still sleeping. You should be a good boy and stay here for a while!" Gohan, "Mother, Father is sick, so that's why..." Chichi, "No, you can't! Even if this house disappears, I want you to stay close to me." Gohan, "Why...?" Everyone else just watches the argument. Trunks, "I'm going to go it alone. Gohan and the rest of you, please keep Goku-san safe in case the Artificial Humans come." Gohan, "Yes, I understand." Kuririn, "Hey, don't overdo it. If things get dangerous, come straight back." Yamucha, "Yeah, we need your help in fighting against those powerful Artificial Humans. We need your precious strength against them." Trunks smiles. "Okay. I'll be going." With that, he speeds off to Gingertown.

Clothing, rifles, and other such things that one might carry lay strewn about the streets of Gingertown. Cars sit stopped in the middle of the street. Piccolo lands atop a building and surveys the area. Seeing nothing, he begins walking through the city, searching for the monster that caused all of this. A shadow moves along a wall. Piccolo hears something and turns. An umbrella blows across the street, making a tapping noise whenever it hits the ground. A very strange looking being's shadow moves along the side of a building. Piccolo looks around and keeps walking. A body is dragged back out of the street, making a scraping sound as it moves. The shadow of a long, tubular object waves around behind the body. A reptilian leg with three toes steps out from behind a bush. Piccolo keeps looking. The body is dragged further back across the grass. The shadow waves again. The reptilian legs approach Piccolo. He turns around to it, greeted by cat eyes. "Monster, you've finally appeared." The monster is, obviously, very reptilian in appearance. The legs are green, turning a lighter shade of green above the kneecaps. The long tail is the same darker green as the lower legs. The abdomen looks somewhat like the muscles in the arms of Piccolo and other Namekseijin. A black plate-looking thing rests in the middle of the chest, about where the heart should be. The arms are of the same color scheme as legs, with darker green followed by lighter green above the elbow. The shoulders and breast are the same darker green color. The face is a lighter green with the same Namekseijin muscle-color on a piece that serves as the monster's mouth. On top of his head is a part that splits into two...horns, I guess, even though that's really a bad description. Another black plate rests in the middle of its forehead. Black spots cover every green area, but not the muscle-color areas or the black plates (well, maybe they just blend in on the plates...). At the end of the tail is a white sharp needle-like object. Piccolo and the monster stare at each other.