Chapter Text
“YOUR WISH HAS BEEN GRANTED. FAREWELL!”
Those were the words that echoed from one realm to two mortal realms, setting in motion events to one’s wishes. As the Dragon left, the great demon who summoned him smiled. “This should be fascinating… one step closer to a perfect universe.”
—-
The world was red.
Kale couldn’t see anything in the haze. Everything around her was a potential enemy and that terrified her.
Things were crushed. The small little things around her splattered under her boots. And the Great Apes around her… only one she seemed to know. W-what is this…? Are we…
Kale couldn’t stop herself. A moment of hesitation as soon overwhelmed by bloodlust. The planet of Carmel was destroyed by her hands…
What would it feel like to not exist? That thought entered her mind as the fact they lost set in. It was just going to happen now… She would cease to exist, along with everything she ever knew and loved. It was simply how it would be and she couldn’t do a thing about it. A level of fear she didn’t think was possible and yet…
Kale woke up at the start. She felt weak… she couldn’t figure out exactly why however. After all, transforming into a Great Ape tended to leave one exhausted… wait, no. that wasn’t right either. Kale blinked, the world around her shaking. She should… she shouldn’t be. The last thing she remembered
Was seeing the full moon of Planet Carmel/ Was being Erased.
Her head hurt a lot. She was Kale, the two pulls of memory were consistent on that. She was a Sayian, from
Planet Vegeta/Planet Sadala
Planet Sadala was destroyed/ Planet Sadala was her home.
It hurt, so she tried to push it aside. She was Kale, a Saiyan… her tail, by muscle memory was around her waist. Tail? Why do
Because Sayians have Tails.
We lost them eventually.
We need them to transform.
Kale took a break from thinking too hard about every little thing, standing up and trying to ground herself. Planet Carmel’s major population center was in ruins all around her, and both sets of memories seemed oddly silent and mournful.
I did this.
Yes, she did… the other side was eager to tell her.
We crashed down here, and killed everyone we could. The planet needed to be cleared for Freiza and so you and Caulifla could eat.
She didn’t feel hungry, and she had a very disturbing thought she pushed aside for why. Wait, that meant…
—-
I’m stronger than this.
It was an odd thought to have when you were an Oozaru. A mighty being that was strong enough to destroy entire civilizations in the course of a few days. But it felt natural to Caulifla to think that; she knew she was stronger, but even now it felt long beyond her and that fueled her rampage as much as the bloodlust coursing through her from her transformation. She barely was aware of herself or her actions; only shame. She failed everyone because she was weak weak WEAK.
And when the moon set, a city beneath her feet seemed to grow larger and larger around her, feeling even that amount of strength vanishing from her in anger only grew. She barely noticed the others around her, save for Kale, in strange armor as she collapsed close by. She stumbled towards her before just falling to the ground.
Weak.
She came in the morning. Standing up was hard as two voices screamed in her head.
You’re the one in charge of a Squad.
You Were first among equals
You can’t fight back, because you need to eat.
You’ll sacrifice what you can, everyone will keep getting stronger.
You’re a failure.
What?
You hate this as much as anyone else, but you can’t just let these guys starve.
You and Kale weren’t strong enough. YOU weren’t strong enough.
She shook her head, memories of two lives blended together… She shouldn’t exist. Still exist anyways. So how did… why did… It was easier to go with the flow, the flow of the left memory.
“Caulifla!” Kale’s voice echoed out, something familiar in a strange way. She turned to see Kale… but what on Salada/Vegeta was she wearing? It was a pink undershirt, over which armor with two silly extended pauldrons appeared. Along with pink undershorts it looked really… off.
That’s just her Armor/Looks like those old suits of Sayian armor
Her head was pounding now. She should do something right now, but both voices in her head… Her right one told her what she needed to do. They embraced and cried, having only the faintest idea why.
She’s your best weapon/She’s your protege.
“Caulifla? What’s going on? Why are you…?”
“Are you… real?” Caulifla stopped herself. Breath, figure out what’s going on . “What happened? I-I…”
Don’t show weakness to your weapon!
She’s our friend!
There’s no room for that kind of trust here! She’s an asset…
Why so unsure?
“Do you hear voices in your head too?” Caulifla asked. Finally noticing her own set of Sayian Armor: She went with a red undershirt and pants, with the boots and armor to match, not to mention the pauldrons. Her own tail neatly wrapped around her waist which… was an odd sensation. “I…” She frowned, looking over the ruins of the planet.
Another Job, this one will keep you both fed. Land, look at the moon, go home.
“Caulifla?”
We did this
She had a smile on her face, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “What happened to us? What did we do?”
Kale seemed even more concerned with her words and expression. “I-I’m not sure… W-We were supposed to be erased but the voices… D-don’t… agree…”
She pointed behind Caulifla only for the latter to feel something small, but full of force hit the back of her head. “OW!”
Turning angrily only to see an alien. Dark skin with pale yellow splotches, square ears and a bald, humanoid head. Dressed in civilian clothing and holding a primitive gun. A Carmelion… and it seemed that Caulfila’s resilience broke the man.
“H-hey, I-I’m-”
“Just… finish it.” He growled. “You killed all of us…”
Sorry wouldn’t cut it, nor would any excuses of the weird time they were having. Because, after all. It was a job. A part of her wanted to just give into his request. It would be just simple, there’s no difference at this point, right?
He’s a civilian!
Caulifla had to fight the voice to try and spare the man’s life, helped in part by the fact she realized she couldn’t sense him, and that if she did, she’d have been able to dodge the bullet… was she really that weak now?
This is just how life is. It’s him or you.
We’re better than this.
No we’re not.
The Left voice sounded genuinely sad at that. The Man threw the gun to the floor, backing away from them slowly, seeming to realize that nothing he could do mattered. Caulifla and Kale had helped destroy his home…
Luckily for Kale and Caulifla, they didn’t need to do anything. The Man was struck by a blast of energy, expiring long before his body crumpled to the ground, the ki cauterized the wound instantly… but the smoking hole left little to the imagination. “You don’t usually toy with your food that much Caulifla.” A new voice said.
A Four-Woman team sent to tear up Planet Carmel. You, Kale, Karela and Parslee.
Parslee smiled dissonantly as she approached. “Sorry for cutting it short but you know how much they hate stragglers… You two okay?”
She looks kind of like the Parslee we know.
Pareslee’s hair was the same. A bit more unkempt, but still the same spiked mass she liked to keep it in, She was also dressed in the same style of outfit: purple undershirt, and weird Arcosian-style armor. She had weird green lens in front of her left eye. “I went back to the attack pods to get the Scouters.” She handed Kale, who took it nervously before putting it on, and Caulifla, who decided to follow her lead. The ‘Scouter’ and how to operate it came quickly to her at least… but dissonantly concerning. Why did she need something like this…
Tracking and cleaning up.
We could just sense their energy
Don’t be ridiculous.
“You two must be sick or something.” Pareslee said with a frown. “You guys can head south, Karela’s still finishing off some of the remaining villages. We should be ready to leave soon at least.”
“Y-yeah. Thanks.”
—
Kale didn’t mention to Caulifla that they weren’t flying as fast as they could remember. Caulifla didn’t want to talk about it, and neither did she for that matter. She never was the talkative sort either, but she really wanted to talk to her. She, at least, was herself… The memories of her were both different, but if there was one thing Kale was sure of is that her commander/big sister would help her.
She believes in you.
But… she failed her.
?
We weren’t strong enough. I wasn’t strong enough…
…
They landed next to the four, round craters with their sayian attack pods. She remembered coming down to this world with them, nervously twiddling her tail as it opened and they began their assault… That was one reality. The other was equally true, but she didn’t want to think of that. That everything was lost…
“... I’m sorry Kale.”
“W-why are you sorry?”
Caulifla just sat down on the ground, in front of the pods. “... You remember too.”
“It’s not…” Kale winced. “I-I’m the one who should be apologizing…”
They took off the scouters, just to be sure no one was listening, leaving it in the pods Caulifla frowned. “No, none of that. I’m your C… I’m… I’m the one in charge, I take the blame. We’re weaker then we’ve ever been now… and we’re stuck here. It must be Hell…”
“B-but… that’s not how I think it works…”
Caulifla smiled wryly. “We were out of our depth with it… I just thought we could fight some of the strongest people in the Cosmos, now… We’re not anywhere close to the weakest of them..”
Is she going insane?/ Don’t blame yourself…
Kale wasn’t sure how to be the comforting one. “Do you think Cabba or the others are here too? M-Maybe they remember…”
King Vegeta’s kid? W-We probably shouldn’t mess with them.
He’s a PRINCE?!
“They’re fine, if they got here too… but everyone else…” Caulifla frowned. “... I almost wish we forgot. Ignorance really is bliss…”
“Y-You’re not acting like yourself at all…”
“Which self?...” she turned to face Kale. She was… genuinely empty. “Kale whatever memories we were given, or ‘selves’ we were forced into… It doesn’t matter. I can’t change what… what Zeno did. I can’t even muster the power to do half the stuff we could back home… I… I’m a failure…”
She sighed. “... We did this too… These people didn’t even want to fight and we killed them for money. And we both know we can’t go against that Frieza guy, especially now…”
“So… what? We’re just going to give up?” Kale asked, putting a hand on Caulifla’s shoulder. “We can still train… we know what we’re capable of. And if we’re in something like Universe 7 then…”
Caulifla thought about it for a moment. “... It won’t be easy. Which probably means it’s worth a shot, but…” She pointed to the sky and Kale’s eyes spotted the other two flying back. “We’ll need to be smart about it…”
Caulifla wasn’t feeling better… but it was a start.
Just put on a brave face. Kale needs to see some confidence.
Karela and Parslee landed with the sound of a clicking. Karela grinned, proud as she saluted Caulifla. She was the shortest of the three of them. Her hairstyle was a bit wilder than her usual pony-tail look, but of the four of them she seemed… the word Caulifla would call it was ‘professional. “Sorry I’m late, ma’am. The last resistance on Carmel thought they could hide.” Caulfila wanted to say something but couldn’t. Karela usually was the schemer of things, when Caulfila needed it. Now… well, her memories of this world told her she was a perfectionist and a social climber wannabe, still… the act needed to be maintained with her.
“Good!” Caulifla said a bit too forcefully. “Any other business before we go home?”
“The Planet will be able to be resold, ma’am.” Parsley replied. “We were very thorough, as much as Oozarus can be.”
Caulifla tried not to show anything on her face. “Good, let’s go.” They entered the Pods, Caulifla and Kale letting their left memories guide them with setting coordinates and putting on the long-sleep…
Both of the Universe 6 Sayians looked at the planet they had turned into a grave as they lost consciousness. It remained in their dreams, a battleground between two minds that should never have been in contact, that Caulifla felt she had no right to even look at. This wasn’t strength, this wasn’t something to be prideful over… what was the point in lording over and killing people who couldn’t even fight back?
It doesn’t matter. Frieza has our entire race by the tail. We get to live. You really think you’re going to be the one to change the universe?
You aren’t. You’ve got no pride. You’re just a coward letting them control you.
… Guess you don’t remember what happened to our brother? The left voice paused at the other’s silence. Yeah, that’s right. I’m not losing my comrades to appeal to pride. You want us to be stronger? Fine, I get it. We’re not going to be super sayians. That’s a myth. This is how the universe works. You’re just a figment of my imagination. I probably just hit my head.
Then what about Kale?
….
I’ll prove it to you. I’m not going to play second-fiddle to someone who can’t even sense energy. You get it? We’re both Cauliflas, so you know I won’t quit and you won’t either. But the difference is? I don’t have a limit on myself. Just you wait.
—-
The Supreme Kai of time had an infinite amount, technically speaking. She had Trunks to help her out, she had the Time Patrol to take care of anything, even a sort of city now… really, she was doing fine, just peachy. Today (as much as that applied) she was just going to check the time. Naturally she checked the one section most often changed (which was always anything involving universe 7, it seems. She hadn’t figured out why yet but figured it would be best to not question it) and… It took what was a routine into another Time Breaker Crisis.
“What do they want now…” Chronoa took a breath. Okay, she caught it and it wasn’t too late… it even, oddly seemed to be trying to work with the flow of time properly. Which was concerning… especially considering it seemed to just generate extra people, even smaller changes butterflying themselves back and front… and what was worse was perhaps that universe 6 was GONE. It was supposed to return in the end…
“TRUNKS! WE HAVE A PROBLEM!” She paused… Right, needed to go find him first. And the others.
—-
“Your coffee, sir.”
“Thank you Davoff.” Malaboro replied as he sat in his chair. The Observation Station he had set up was gathering data much faster then he could keep up with… but personal observations were highly interesting to him. The Demon looked much like his contemporaries; the blue skin and crimson eyes of the Demon Realm’s Core People, with pointed ears and a red, eyelike Crystal in the middle. He was spindlier than most, though with lithe muscle.
He was no fighter. He was a Demon of Science.
Davoff bowed and went to clean something around the quarters of the lesser minions. The Xeno Saiyans he had recruited would be important to distract the interloping Time Patrol. Towa’s schemes interested him little, as did his old king…. What was the point? They were destined to lose of course. The Timeline could not truly change… not while the true enemy was still out there.
He took out a Small Viewing Globe, an image appearing within it of someone long gone. “... Time may be fixed, but we have so many ways around that now don’t we, Chema?” He let out a cough, grunting and turning to the screen, watching the Two Merged Sayians. “But they had their own little timeline, no? Space and time, interlinked. We merely had Mao Shenron bridge the gap. Fill them up… let them take care of their precious Timeline! It will continue as they wish… but this universe should be far, far stronger for it.”
“The True Universe will be One.”