Countdown to TixMas #7: What If GOKU Was NEVER BORN? (Part 4) (Dragon Blog Z #6)

Article by Sean Wilkinson,
MasakoX fan,
Animeister,
and TixMaster

Welcome to the seventh day of the Countdown to TixMas, where crossovers with everything are bound to happen. And today, I'm gifting you all with another part to my What If GOKU Was NEVER BORN? re-write.

Last time, in Dragon Blog Z, I did a little retconning to pair Krillin and Mai (saving us all from the Japravity time travel/de-aging wish nonsense that happened with Trunks and Mai in Dragon Ball Super) and give them two children: a son named Kumu who can fight with a sword-shaped kienzan (Destructo-Disc in the dub), and a daughter named Marin. The new generation also grew to include Bahdo (the daughter of Tarble and Gure), Bulla (Bulma and Yamcha's daughter), and Straps (the carefree son of Jaco and Tights). You can check out the character art for some of the kids in my first YouTube short.

The 25th Martial Arts Tournament ran its course with a few roster changes and Bahdo winning the Junior Division, and the early portion of the Buu Saga likewise followed pretty closely to the original, with the exception of an amazing two-on-one fight involving Kumu, Piccolo, and Dabura. Also, Tarble did most of the Super-Saiyan heavy lifting this time around, even holding his own against Majin Vegeta and making an attempt to befriend the released Majin Buu. But in his absence, the plot point with Bee the dog still happens, this time with the homicidal Van Zant and his butler receiving backing from a source that I didn't foresee including this early in the story: Vomi, of the Red Ribbon Army.

See, back in Part One, I mentioned that Bulma did Forced Spirit Fission training on Yardrat. Because the Saiyan invasion didn't happen quite the same as the original, Dr. Gero's surveillance and DNA-gathering drones survived, and some of them found their way to Yardrat. Since Androids 13, 14, and 15 were destroyed, leaving Vomi and a digitized Gero to continue their revenge schemes, Vomi had taken steps to enhance herself (call her Android 21, if you like), including incorporation of data and DNA into her body and systems that would allow her to use Forced Spirit Fission. She and the Doctor had planned to wait a few more years before striking again when their technology had been more refined (and the Cell Project was fully grown), but the emergence of Majin Buu presented an opportunity too good to pass up: she and Gero had developed ki-suppression bullets that she wanted to test on Buu, and she used this to prey on Van Zant's twisted hero complex; Van Zant could be the one to neutralize Buu and save the world! And if that didn't work, she could simply absorb Buu's energy and dispose of Van Zant at her whim. But Vomi had no idea that Van Zant would target the dog first, or that Buu would have the kind of reaction that he did. Instead, she ended up absorbing the entirety of Evil Buu. This included the original Buu's rage toward Van Zant and Smitty the butler for killing "his dog."

People kept saying that Majin Buu was back. And now? Oh, yeah; I'm thinking Buu is back.
"You did well," said Vomi, concealing her concern as she held her hands up to siphon off Buu's essence.

"My pleasure, babe!" Van Zant replied with a grin. "Now, about my payment...?"
But the man was so engrossed in fantasies of riches, bloodshed, and false heroism that he didn't notice the woman beside him starting to change form. When he did notice, the woman named Vomi now had dark grey skin, white hair, and was wearing an outfit similar to what that pink blob was wearing. Weird.

Sexy-looking, but weird.

"Oh, you'll pay alright," said Evil Majin Vomi. "Now that Vomi is hungry." With that, her body began to lose form and turn into a sludge-like substance before crawling down Van Zant's throat.

Unable to control his body, Van Zant raised his rifle and shot Smitty dead.

Inside Van Zant's body, Vomi had eaten all of the man's vital organs, and began to expand until his flesh ruptured and he popped like a balloon.

"Not as delicious as candy," Vomi said, pouting. "Hey, Gummy-boy!?"

Buu looks up, having just healed Bee's wound. "You talking to Buu?"

"Yes. Vomi would like candy. Do you have candy?"

"No, Buu don't have candy...." Then Buu remembered something. "Oh! Buu's new friend said he would come back with candy!"

"Where is Buu's new friend now?"

Buu thought hard, and pointed a yellow-mitted hand in the direction of Korin Tower. "Buu's friend is that way. But really high up."

"Thank you, Buu." Vomi then fired a pink beam from her finger that turned Majin Buu into a gumball, and swallowed GumBuu in one bite. With that, her body began to change again; still retaining the djinn-like attire and white hair, but a bit more curvaceous and with pink skin. She had become Super Vomi.

Super Vomi flew in an upward arc towards Korin Tower, keeping Tarble's image and energy signature in mind that she had absorbed from Buu.

When she arrived at her destination, Super Vomi saw a strange sight: a talking cat, a dog dressed as a ninja, and a young Saiyan man were rushing around a makeshift kitchen like madmen, churning out all manner of desserts and snacks at an inhuman pace (fitting for two animal-people and an alien), too frantic and engrossed in their task to notice that a pink woman was floating outside the window, watching them.

"Pardon the interruption," said Vomi, stopping the horrified trio in their tracks. "You are Buu's new friend, yes?" She pointed directly at Tarble, who got into a tentative fighting stance.

"Y-yes?" said Tarble with a flinch.

"Well, Vomi ate Buu, so now you are Vomi's friend. Will you give Vomi candy?"

"Ate?" Was all Tarble could manage after processing this flow of information.

The Buu part of Vomi grew impatient at this response, and raised a glowing finger at Tarble. "Look, new friend; Vomi is hungry. You have candy. Will you give Vomi candy, or will Vomi take your candy and eat you all, too?"

This threat unfroze Tarble very quickly, and he gathered a huge pile of sweets on the biggest platter he could find, presenting the smorgasbord to Super Vomi with shaky hands.

Unlike Buu, though, Vomi (the human part of her) liked to savor food, rather than just inhale it. She took a red velvet cupcake (which had been dotted through with Senzu bean nibs and frosted with a Senzu extract buttercream), and ran her finger through the frosting, which she licked clean before taking a bite of the cupcake itself. The look on her face was like something out of Food Wars, and she popped the rest of the cupcake into her mouth before moving on to a sampler of chocolate-covered Senzu beans and Senzu-infused chocolate chip cookies, followed by a few Senzu bean-decorated gingerbread men (because I have to work Christmas into this somehow).

"I'm...glad you like them?" Tarble said with lingering unease. He didn't know how much it would take to keep this female Buu thing full, or if his plan would even work at all. But Super Vomi eventually finished the entire platter of sweets, and something strange began to occur: her aura flashed and she clutched her stomach with both hands. As she did so, her skin flickered rapidly between pink and dark grey, until both colors disappeared in puffs of smoke that then seeped into her skin and she fell to the floor, unconscious. Now, she looked more human: a red-haired woman wearing red and blue checkered clothing and a lab coat with the insignia of...

"The Red Ribbon Army!?" Tarble took a more aggressive fighting stance now, flashing into Super-Saiyan. "I thought we defeated them five years ago!"

Tarble approached the unconscious scientist, reverting to base form only after checking to see if she was feigning her condition, which she wasn't. "What do we do with her?"

"That's your call, bucko," said Korin. "Just get her outta here before you wreck anything!"

"Okay," Tarble said sheepishly. "Thank you for your help, Korin." With a bow, he scooped up the unconscious Red Ribbon scientist.

Hey, Tarble! Piccolo's voice barked in his mind. What's going on? What happened to Majin Buu?

That's a long, weird story; I'll be up in a minute to tell you what I know. My...guest...can fill in the rest.

With that, he flew up to the Lookout, carrying Vomi over one shoulder.

When he reached the Lookout, everyone present was shocked to see Tarble carrying someone wearing Red Ribbon attire, but he assured them she wasn't a threat...for now...maybe?

Tarble and Piccolo exchanged pleasantries and big developments (Tarble's tenuous exchanges with Buu and the Red Ribbon woman, and Piccolo's fusion with Kami).

When Vomi regained consciousness, she found herself on a cushy day bed inside a solid marble gazebo. Two people were watching her with cautious but concerned looks on their faces. She knew from available data that one was a Namekian (though she couldn't identify him because at the time of the Android 13 incident, Piccolo was still a child) and the other was a Saiyan named Tarble.

She glared at Tarble and lunged from the bed to attack him. "Your friends killed my dog!" But no sooner did she utter those words than she was gripped by a terrible headache, her hair flashing white, and she slumped to the floor, her fist inches away from connecting with Tarble's face.

Tarble was confused. This woman, who worked for one of the worst threats that the Earth had ever seen, was attacking them over a dog? Ir didn't make any sense.

"Let me talk to her," Piccolo said, to Tarble's surprise. "I can feel something about her that I can...relate to."

Tarble recalled his recent conversation with Piccolo, and nodded.

"One more thing; I think it'll be safer for what's left of the world if we go in the Room of Spirit and Time. If we don't come out after two days, blow up the door."

Tarble looked shocked at this, but nodded in understanding. "See you in a few days, Piccolo. Good luck!"

Piccolo grunted, carried Vomi into the Room, and shut the door.

Awaken. Vomi heard the Namekian's voice in her mind, and a wave of awareness washed over her, causing her to bolt upright. "Where are we?"

"Remain calm...Vomi, wasn't it?"

"Yes." Vomi took a deep breath. "Can you answer my question, Namekian?"

"It's Piccolo;" he corrected her. He then proceeded to tell her about the properties of the Room, which she took with much suspicion.

"So, are you planning on keeping me prisoner here?"

"Nah," said Piccolo. "I'm not the Guardian type. I just wanted to talk to you on neutral ground."

"What about?"

"First of all, what was that about us killing your dog?"

"Did I really say 'dog'?" asked Vomi, a hand on her forehead. "No, that's not right; that maniac sniper I hired was the one to kill the dog."

"Then why is your organization still trying to kill us?"

"When those two friends of yours attacked Muscle Tower back then--Yamcha and Krillin--my son, Gevo, was killed in the collapse. I've been planning my revenge ever since!"

"That's stupid," said Piccolo flatly.

"How dare you?" Vomi screamed, powering up and launching herself at Piccolo.

Piccolo, who had grown ridiculously strong since absorbing Kami, dodged her easily and restrained her with a Dragon Ball classic: the full nelson.

"Revenge is stupid, Vomi," said Piccolo. "Think about it; instead of wasting all these years and resources to send instruments of destruction against us, you could have just collected the Dragon Balls and wished your son back to life."

Vomi stopped struggling, now hit with the full weight of her error in judgement, and slumped forward, staining the ground with her tears.

Though it wasn't exactly in his nature to do so (maybe it was the Kami in him), Piccolo put a comforting hand on Vomi's shoulder. But in the instant he touched her, Piccolo felt something that made him recoil: a dark sadness and emptiness was building inside her.

"I didn't know what would happen!" Vomi said through her tears. "It wasn't supposed to be this way! All the planning, the Androids, that stupid sniper, all this power, and it got me nothing!"

"Why?" Vomi asked no one in particular. "Why?" The Room of Spirit and Time began to shake more and more violently with each repitition. "Why do I feel so empty!?" She screamed this last, a smoky ki seeming to emit from her pores, staining her skin a dark grey; the Evil Vomi persona had returned.

Tarble! Piccolo shouted with all his mental strength. Blow the door! NOW!

An instant later, the living quarters that marked the inside exit of the Room wavered and disappeared around them, leaving Piccolo and Evil Vomi trapped in the white void.

"What did you do?" she screamed.

"I made a choice to protect the people I care about," Piccolo said. "From the biggest mistake of my life. Now, we're both trapped in here together; forever!"

"Now, Vomi is empty! Hungry! Let Vomi out or Vomi will eat you!"

"You can if you want, but then you'll be stuck here, and with three more voices in your head!"

This thought, this perpetual, maddening emptiness and hunger, was enough to terrify even Vomi. She screamed into the void, louder and louder, making Piccolo dizzy with the increasing volume, and now there was a pink mist coming from Vomi's pores. She soon transformed back into Super Vomi, and her screaming continued, becoming ki as much as it was sound, such that (just like in the original) it tore a hole in reality: a hole to the outside world.

Upon seeing the architecture of the Lookout once again, Super Vomi leapt through the spatial tear, with Piccolo just managing to follow her before the hole repaired itself.

When he next laid eyes on Super Vomi, she was standing in a triumphant pose, her hand raised and gathering a ball of pink energy.

"Vomi will do you a courtesy," she said. "You," Vomi pointed at Tarble, "were kind to the one who gave Vomi this form, and you gave Vomi delicious, filling sweets.

"As for you," now pointing at Piccolo, "You tried to trap Vomi, but you also tried to help Vomi. Vomi also needs Dragon Balls, so Little Green will be spared, too. As will your loved ones. The rest of humanity must die!"

And that's where we'll end things for now.

Stay Tuned, wait smart, and save those Ticket Stubs for tomorrow's edition of the Countdown to TixMas. Also tune in as I wrap up the Vomi Saga in Part 5 of "What If GOKU Was NEVER BORN?", next week in Dragon Blog Z!

Animeister,

MasakoX fan, and

TixMaster,

Out.