The New Age Empire v2: Book 3

June 21st, AA 001

Regular Note: I haven't forgotten about Bob the Keekle. Let's say that the kids are keekle-sitting him while Goten's away.

Special Note: I'm dedicating this chapter to G-Kun Son for her great review of this fanfic.

~Chapter 4: The Kamoku-jin Invasion~

Appuru was barely into his third story when Katrinka returned to her office. Smiling at her father, she casually made her way over to take a seat.

"That's all taken care of," she glanced meaningfully at Vegeta. "It seems there were some saiya-jin that wanted resurrection."

He blinked, more than a little shocked. "What was the outcome?"

"I gave it to them. Furiza is an asshole."

Goku grinned at her. "You're saying that as if we didn't already know."

The Time Warrior slash creator god slash saiya-jin hybrid folded her long-fingered hands and stared at the assembled group. "Kaasan, we have a problem. It's not very big right now but it has the potential to become bad in the future." She began to explain about the abilities of the Time Thief that she had just discovered. "You've been around for a long while. Can you tell me anything that could help?"

Raising one fine eyebrow at the 'long while' comment, Kathy thought for a moment. "I have never seen a being like this before. *No one* has ever seen a being like this before. You're on your own in this one, Kat-chan. I apologize for that."

"So do I." Appuru placed one large hand on top of his daughter's. "We have faith in you, Katrinka. You have goodness on your side."

"What if that isn't enough?" she asked, not daring to look up at anyone. "What if, for the first time ever, Good doesn't emerge the victor over Evil?"

"You can't think that way," Trunks said firmly. "As soon as you begin to wonder about the 'what ifs' you lose hope."

Tears slowly made tracks down Kat's cheeks and she silently cursed at herself for showing weakness in front of others. She was a demi-god, the Creator even, she had to be the one always in control. Trunks reached out a hand to comfort her but it hesitated directly above her bowed head. "I don't know what to do anymore," she admitted softly. "At first I thought that I would always have the answers seeing as everything in existence emerged from my mind and by my will but I don't even remember my time as Kaitlyn the Creator. What happened to my memories? Will they ever come back?" She rubbed at her eyes with the back of her hand. "I feel so weak and helpless against the Thief. I *hate* feeling weak and helpless!"

Vegeta began to laugh and everyone started abruptly at the unexpected sound. At first it was only a low chuckle but it quickly grew into a loud belly laugh that made Katrinka's blood run hot and her hands itch to strangle him so that the sound would die. Just when she was close to moving, he wiped the tears from his eyes and spoke. "Do all onnas live to make things complicated when there is a simple solution?"

"Just what do you mean by that?" the goddess growled in a low voice. It sounded too animalistic for her throat to be the source. Her ki rose sharply with her burning rage, changing to a crimson color to match her mood. Heaven, Hell, and the Universe beyond all paused for a moment wondering what caused the sudden pressure that they felt in the very air around them. Katrinka could suddenly feel her beings, feel the fear that she was causing them, and instantly lost her anger at the saiya-jin prince. Nothing was worth more to her than the happiness and contentment of everyone and everything that she had given life to. Kat realized what had happened and her hand flew to her mouth in shock.

"That shouldn't have happened," she whispered to herself. "That link should never happen between me and Creation."

Her mother spoke gently but straight to the point. "It happened because you are the Creator. You are the one that they thank for giving life and you are their only hope stopping the Thief from taking it away."

Kat felt the Thief moving in Time, finding another piece to steal. She felt it rip a hole as a physical pain and cried out softly. Yet another space in time and yet another weight in her soul. "The Thief is nothing that I have created," she said in a voice both familar and foreign. "It forms from the hunger of the starving, the fear of the dying, and the hoplessness of the people. As long as there is no peace in the Universe, no balance in the hearts of the people, it will exist. The Thief of Time feeds on the negative energy the People emit and uses the energy to solve the problems." Her eyes softened and a look of wonderment came upon her face. "It's only trying to help."

***

"What are we going to do with them?" Bulma said as she rubbed her forehead. She and Gohan were in the lab still working on the project from before. "We now have fifty saiya-jins that can eat enough food to feed a small country for a week and absolutely nowhere to put them."

Gohan typed as he spoke, eyes scanning the scientific code quickly. "I've been thinking of a solution to that problem, Bulma-san. They can help us." He handed her a chart without pausing in his work. "That is the basic DNA structure of a saiya-jin. It is what makes them different from ningen but also makes them able to interbreed. If we can create artificial saiya-jin DNA and find a way to add to an already existing genetic code then we could create more saiya-jins."

Bulma looked at him as if he had gone insane. "Why the hell would we want to do that? What Chikyuu *doesn't* need is billions of saiya-jins eating everything!"

"Saiya-jins eat a lot to sustain their high metabolisms." He grinned. "I know that from experience. We get weak very quickly when we're hungry." He entered one last bit of code and saved his work. "I want them to form our army until the volunteer ningen can be trained and given the saiya-jin genes. Fighting to a saiya-jin is like swimming to a fish: it comes naturally."

The queen studied the paper once more, glad that the information was written in a way that the saiya-jin could understand without a detailed explanation. They were in the backyard sparring (or so Vegeta had said) and the kids were all watching. Pan was probably *participating*.

"I'm going to get the pharmaceutical company on the phone and see when I can fax over the information. So far everything is turning out okay."

The beeping of the communication monitor caught both of their attention. Bulma hit the button and Kallen's face appeared on the screen, covered in dust and blood. Bulma gasped softly and the woman immediately launched into a quickly spoken report.

"We have an even bigger problem now," she said with more than a little weariness. "One of the rifts is opening again and not by mortal means. Hundreds of skeletal riders on black steeds pour through the hole spreading death and destruction wherever they go. I had no idea where our forces were disappearing to until Jas said that the Riders erase existences. You can see evidence on the battlefield that people were there by the weapons and clothing but I couldn't name someone to save my life." Her silver eyes stared at Bulma, completely devoid of sorrow now. "Where are Vegeta-oui and General Goku?"

"Away," Bulma said softly. "They can't help you now." There was another call on a second line and something told Bulma to answer it. "Hold on for just one moment, Kallen. I have another call. Moshi moshi?"

"You don't know me, Bulma-ouhi, but I am Appuru," the man spoke to her in a pleasant tone that made Bulma like him instantly. "Katrinka's my daughter."

Bulma smiled at him. "What can I do for you?"

"Our problem has not been solved but we think we may have a way to at least still the effects. Is there a major battle going on somewhere that you know of?"

"On Tale-sei there is one between the Tale-sejin and the Kamoku-jin. Kallen has just contacted us with news about Riders joining the war."

"Oh dear," Appuru said sadly. "There may not be any hope then." Gohan's eyes widened behind his glasses and Bulma's face paled.

"What do you mean?" she asked. "There's always hope."

"There may not be enough time to get to them, Bulma-ouhi. Katrinka is new at her job. I don't think she can locate the correct point on Tale-sei for an exit portal."

"Have her come here with everyone else," Gohan said with an expression of determination familiar to Bulma. "We will take care of the rest."

"If you are able to get Katrinka to Tale-sei it will be enough," he bowed. "Good day, Son Gohan and Bulma-ouhi. May the Creator's light shine upon us and keep us well." The call disconnected and Bulma switched lines.

"Kallen just hold on for a little while longer!" Bulma said to her frantically. "We're coming with help!"

***

Katrinka didn't have any memories from the time she had been the Creator -- or so she thought. Kaitlyn was just a completely different woman that she had never met.

Now her feelings were beginning to change and Kat wasn't entirely sure that was a good thing. She had heard the story of how she could be two different people in the same body several times but something just didn't make sense to her. Why did the High God choose Katherine? Was she special in some way or was she just a friend?

Kaitlyn the Creator had come from a realm where wonderous ideas were the norm. She had lived with her parents and older brothers in a beautiful glass and steel home that her mother had designed. Her entire family had at least one original creation to their credit but she did not. Kaitlyn had ideas but nothing that she could call her own.

At school she had been teased mercilessly, the other students comparing her classwork to the architecture of her mother, the art of her father, the stories of her eldest brother, and the poetry of her middle brother. Her ideas were never good enough, never creative enough. Even the instructors had said so themselves. So she had fled her realm and, after millennia of searching, found another.

Many realms had already been taken by various deities but the girl searched for once that was perfect. Chaos swirled in the empty blackness, a force that none before had been able to tame. Kaitlyn was just about to move on when something about the realm appealed to her. So she stopped the Chaos not by destruction but by being kind to it and offering it a place in her universe. It took her a *very* long time but it was worth it. The destructive force coalesced into the form of a man and Kaitlyn assigned him the task of creating a punishment place for the future people that wouldn't reform. Thus Hell came into existence. Kaitlyn, seeking balance, created Heaven so that the good people would also have a place to go.

Between the two realms of the dead there was a emptiness that she yearned to fill. The Creator then formed beings in the shape of her ideas and breathed life into them, giving them the best gift that mortals could receive: free will. After also summoning lesser gods for places in the hierarchy, she watched her people grow, live, and love for countless years never noticing the longing that grew deep inside of her.

Several hundred decades passed and Kaitlyn wished to be able to experience a mortal life at least once. Turning herself into a spirit she had her most trusted god, the Dai Kaio, find a mother suitable for the child. Kaitlyn was eager for a mortal life but also sad because she knew that her memories would be lost until the day of her death. The High God sensed this and acted accordingly. Instead of making the Creator completely mortal, he decided to make her a demi-goddess thus making it possible for her to regain her memories when they were truly needed. Katrinka was born nine months later and was raised on Vegeta-sei without the knowledge of her true parents.

Kat and Vegeta had become close friends from day one seeing as she was the only other child in the palace. For two years the two children drove the king and all of the palace officials insane. Then came the day when Vegeta left go get work from Furiza. She had been five and he had been six.

'V-chan,' she had said that day, 'I won't make you promise to return because even I know you might never get the chance.' She had a bad feeling that day as if something was about to go seriously wrong. After Vegeta had gone to the ship she waited ten minutes before hopping into a stolen space pod without telling anyone. Kat had learned long ago that adult saiya-jin regarded the children as little more than mild annoyances. They would never listen to her, let-alone believe her.

Through the viewport in the space pod Kat watched the only planet she had never known grow smaller and smaller. She had no idea where the pod had been programmed to head toward but hoped that it was someplace nice and had never known the evil of Furiza. Almost a day later, she landed on the nearly forgotten planet of Sentai, discovered by a kind hunter and his dog. He raised her as his own child, showing her the affection and love that she had never received on Vegeta-sei. Katrinka grew up in a peaceful forest with her papa and his dog Blue as her favorite companions. Then he became ill and died, leaving Kat all alone once more.

The bad memories she hated but there were enough good ones to keep a balance. Katrinka only remembered her life on Vegeta-sei vaguely knowing only that V-chan was always right beside her. Even earlier memories, those of Kaitlyn the Creator, would come back in time.

Not paying attention to what was going on around her, Kat was startled when she stepped into the bright sunshine of Chikyuu. She blinked several times and then marched off around the back of the house where she knew that the laboratory was located.

"If you twist a little when you hit someone in the nose," Pan demonstrated the move to thirty or so attentive saiya-jin, "then you'll definitely break it."

"Can you do that with kicks too?" a young saiya-jin in the back questioned her.

"Sure! Do you want me to show you how to dislocate someone's kneecaps in the most effective way? If you're strong enough you can break them."

Katrinka was amused at the sight of a ten-year-old teaching grown men battle techniques. She was considering trying to sneak up behind her but before Kat could even take three steps Pan spoke to her.

"Tousan's waiting for you. Some guy named Appuru called and said that you would be on the way."

"Why is there a large group of saiya-jin here?" Mia asked as she blinked several times, trying to make sure that she just wasn't seeing things.

"They're the ones Kat-chan resurrected!" Pan grabbed one man around the legs. "This is Bardock-sousofu." Bardock was startled for a moment before he smiled and patted her on the head. Affection was hard to get used to.

"You're my ojiisan?" Mia asked. "Well, you *do* look a lot like tousan."

Jakina emerged from the lab, a worried frown on her face. She spotted her papa and without speaking motioned for him to follow her. Vegeta grew worried at her expression and did as she indicated.

"Is it bad?" Goku asked softly. Pan sighed.

"I think so. Jackie-chan actually cried before. I was being battle instructor until you came back because Bulma-obaasan said we might need a lot of fighters. Will you let me fight with you just this once?" Her tone was hopeful but she knew that it was a lost cause.

"Pan-chan..." he trailed off, really thinking about it for once. Pan could handle herself incredibly well for someone her age. "Hai, Pan. You can come too."

Shock flashed across her face. "Can you repeat that, Goku-ojiichan? I don't think that I heard you correctly."

Goku smiled at her. "I'm giving you permission to come. Just don't tell your parents or ChiChi."

"SUGOI!" She jumped into the air with a raised fist. "My first real battle!"

"You mean that you've never fought anyone for real before?" Raditzu asked. "I was younger than you were when *I* first went into battle."

"Oniisan," Goku said to him in a respectful tone. "This isn't Vegeta-sei. We don't send children off to fight wars unless we have no choice. Gohan, Goten, V.J., Trunks, and Mia were all brought up in the middle of battle. It was very fortunate that didn't happen to the younger kids. They didn't fight when the Kamoku-jin attacked and they shouldn't have to fight now."

"They do," Goten said with a sad expression. "and it's horrible. When you have no childhood you never learn how to have enjoy yourself and that's a necessary part of life. Trunks and I always tried to make time for that but niichan didn't get the chance." Trunks took his hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. Katrinka's suddenly stiffened and, with one arm extended, turned slowly to face another direction. There were plenty of confused stares but they knew that she would eventually tell them what she was doing.

"I sense the Thief," she said, eyes narrowed. "In that direction but not on this planet."

"We have to leave *now*!" Vegeta came running. "Things are getting worse on Tale-sei and planets under my protection are not allowed to be destroyed by an evil alien empire. Kakarotto!" Goku nodded and held out his arm.

"Grab on." Everyone, including the group of saiya-jin, laid at least one hand on Goku or an adjacent person and he teleported the large group away from Chikyuu.

Bulma stepped outside to greet Goku and the others and noticed that her backyard was completely empty. "That's odd. I could have sworn that I heard people out here."