Age 749, October 15, Late Evening, South of the Red Ribbon Base
Chichi
The darkening sky lit up with a flash of blue before Chichi felt the shockwave of the explosion and the tremors in the ground.
“Looks like the party’s starting.” She muttered, peeking through the trees in the direction of the fighting. “Ten…”
Chichi bit her lip for a moment before shaking her head. Ten was a big boy, and he knew what he was getting into.
He’s relying on me to get the job done. Chichi thought and began to psyche herself up for what she would need to do. And I will.
Chichi climbed the topmost branch of the tree beside her with a leap, checking her surroundings for a moment before pulling out the binoculars Ten had left with her. She adjusted her footing, not quite comfortable with her change in footwear, just yet.
Still. She admitted to herself as she shifted her weight to get a better grip on the wood beneath her. These aren’t too bad.
She pointed her binoculars towards the southern gate, watching as all but two of the stationed guards left their posts to aid in the fighting. Chichi turned her sight towards the fighting itself, seeing missiles launched towards the western gate.
Even as explosion after explosion shook the earth and sent shockwaves, Chichi was relieved that such an assault was not being leveled in her direction.
She didn’t think she could withstand an onslaught of that caliber just yet.
But I will, when I can actually train for more than a few months. Chichi thought and shook her head. There would be a time and place for contemplation and complaining later.
She dropped down to the forest floor, her boots crunching the grass and a few errant pieces of wood into the dirt below. For now, I have a job to do.
Stealing along the cover of the forest, Chichi kept to the shadows until she was at the very edge, a small field’s distance away from the entrance.
The two guards were still at their posts, though their attention was kept on the fighting to the west.
Chichi stared at the tall walls covered with barbed wire and considered leaping over them for a few moments before her gaze turned to the ground leading to it.
Various craters and holes littered the landscape, some going so deep that they revealed the groundwater, and Chichi understood what that meant; all of the fields around the base, with the exception of the roads leading to the entrance, were full of landmines.
That changes things. Chichi thought. I had hoped to sneak around the entrance tower and hope the guards were too distracted by the fighting to notice me.
Alas, that was not to be. It seemed that she would need to use the main road. Chichi considered throwing caution to the wind and trying to sneak through the minefield before she discarded it. There was no need to take such a great risk.
She turned the binoculars back at the two distracted guards before making her decision.
Chichi took a breath and closed her eyes, centering herself before opening them again. A steely glint lay within them as she rushed down the road leading to the entrance. At the base of the gate, she stopped and hugged the wall, amazed that the men hadn’t noticed her.
A louder, stronger explosion shook the earth again, and Chichi realized that they were likely far more concerned with the fighting going on over to the west than guarding the gate. She needed to take them out, however.
They were not watching the south, but they would, without a doubt, spot her if she went through the gate, towards the main building.
She also gathered that there was no time to circle the entire base just to avoid their line of sight.
And so, Chichi pumped some Ki into her legs and leapt the massive wall, dropping onto the man on the left with a double kick, crushing his head like an egg.
“What the—” The second one said, reaching for his radio. Chichi wasted no time and rushed him, kicking his arm with all of her strength.
The air filled with the sound of a sickening snap as the soldier’s arm bent out of shape, sending the radio clattering against the floor.
The soldier stared at his arm for a moment before he screamed. Chichi ended it short with a hard chop to the neck, killing him instantly.
She watched the two corpses at her feet with a cold look and retrieved one of the radios. Chichi listened to the chatter.
“That ought to blow him to bits!”
“Confirm.” A male, authoritative voice, probably the commander of this entire force, spoke louder than the others. “Is the Anomaly down? Over.”
“Overwatch, we can confirm that the target is indeed— Wait…” One of the soldiers said. “I don’t fucking believe it. He’s still alive!?”
“What was that, soldier?” The commander barked out. “Repeat your last transmission. Over.”
“He is unharmed, sir. Over.”
“Confirmed, the weapons have no effect. Over.” Another soldier said over the radio. “That was enough firepower to wipe out an entire fucking block. What is this guy made of?”
“Keep firing! Units fi—” The commander interrupted himself as explosions continued to erupt in the distance. “Units five to ten, go and reinforce whatever’s left of our men. We cannot afford to lose this base! We must safeguard our assets. I want boots on the ground yesterday.”
Chichi listened in to the chorus of ‘Yes, sir’-s and officers reporting for duty before she threw the radio to the side. She hadn’t been caught, and Ten looked to be doing just fine.
Everything was going according to plan. Chichi turned her gaze to the two soldiers she had just killed. She wasn’t bothered by the dead— she’d grown up watching her dad kill anyone who tried to take his treasures or lands. She was a princess, after all.
There’s no need to feel guilty. She thought to herself, filled with the sense that she was right. These monsters are kidnapping children.
There was no doubt in her mind as to who the bad guy was in this situation. She and Ten were doing the world a great service by ridding it of the Red Ribbon.
She looked away from the soldier’s face, captured in a rictus of agony, before she checked the two corpses for anything useful. She found a few useless odds and ends on the first one and grimaced. “No luck.”
The other one, however, might have had something useful. Chichi got back to her feet and stared at the laminated plastic card in her hands.
“3A.” She read, turning her gaze to the building in question. “Third floor…”
It was only halfway to the top, but Chichi figured that it would be a good place to start checking.
Besides, no experiments ever happen on the top floor. She thought. It would be in the middle. Maybe.
Chichi took a breath before pocketing the card, snatching one of the rifles and moving away from the corpses.
She ran down the stairway and over the road towards the main building. It took everything she had to stop herself from running towards the continuing fighting to the west.
I have to trust in Ten. She repeated to herself a few times as she approached the entrance doors, where she was stopped by one of the two stationed guards.
“Stop right there.” The guard said, aiming his rifle towards her. “Fuck you doing here, Private? Fighting’s over there— get your ass there, yesterday!”
“I can’t, sir.” Chichi said, thinking quickly. “Private Shu, reporting, sir! I’m here to… get stationed on the third floor. Sir.”
The guard blinked, though he seemed suspicious. “Then why aren’t you inside, Private?”
“I, uh…” Chichi said, hesitating and readying herself for a fight. “I was sleeping, sir.”
“This absolute dumbass…” The guard beside him glared at Chichi with disgust. “Fuck off, private!”
Chichi pulled the access card out of her pocket and flashed it to the guards. “I have orders, sir. To safeguard the assets. Are you disobeying the commander’s direct order?”
They stared at it for a moment before the one on the left nodded, lowering his weapon.
“Fuck it. If this shit gets back to me, I’m going to make your life a living hell, you understand me, Private?” The guard on the right snarled at her.
I’d end you in an instant. Chichi thought but nodded. Give it your best try.
The soldier stared at her for another second and pulled a card of his own to swipe against the scanner by the door. There was a beep and a click before the guard opened the door, holding it for her.
“Thank you, sir.” Chichi said, nodded and walked past the two, surprised that she was able to make it this far. She had thought that she would need to fight her way in.
Still, questioning her good fortune was both a disgraceful and ungrateful thing to do, and so Chichi stopped that line of thought and continued her mission.
Her black eyes swept over the surroundings, taking note of the layout before she found the elevator.
She held her head up high and moved through the large hall, sharing nods with the various guards inside before pressing the button to call the elevator down.
Chichi stared up at the digital screen displaying where the elevator was, acutely aware of her precarious position.
She worried for a moment; what if any one of the guards behind her decided that her presence here was too suspicious?
It was true that her enhancement techniques granted her a certain strength and durability, but she was not keen on testing them against whatever new improvements the Red Ribbon Army had made for theirs.
Why else would they be carrying rifles if their physical bodies were already strong enough to do considerable damage?
Chichi knew that this thought wasn’t rational. Despite the soldiers’ enhancements, a hail of bullets was still the better option, even if the weapons hadn’t been upgraded.
As far as she and Ten knew, the soldiers hadn’t been training with any Ki, and so their only method of dealing damage at range was still with their various weapons and gadgets.
Chichi knew firsthand how difficult it had been for her to manifest her Ki. To be fair, however, she had done the work herself after seeing Ten’s use of the power. Her initial exploration of Ki manipulation had been almost completely without guidance.
It was only when Muten Roshi had shown her a few pointers that she had started grasping its basics. It was what had spurred her on to try creating her Boomerang technique. Still need to figure out a name.
The doors before her slid open with a chime, revealing an empty elevator. Chichi stepped inside, marveling at how expansive it was, and pushed the button for the third floor, watching the doors close with a sigh of mild relief.
A few seconds passed before the doors opened again with another chime. She stepped out and stared at the flurry of activity before her for a few seconds.
Men and women ran around in lab coats, carrying various blueprints, schematics and other assorted things from spot to spot while a small group of guards oversaw the process.
One of the guards spotted Chichi and moved her way.
“You’re not in uniform, Private.” The soldier, a woman in her twenties, said by way of greeting.
“Sorry.” Chichi said and gestured in the general direction of the fighting, where she could still hear and feel the explosions coming from. “I was sleeping when this all started and came as soon as I could.”
The superior officer nodded in understanding. “That’s fair enough. One more pair of hands on deck is always welcome, here.”
Chichi swallowed and nodded. “What are your orders, Ma’am?”
“You—” Was all the officer managed to say when the elevator chimed behind Chichi. The two turned to see a man and a woman in lab coats. “What is it? I sent you down to fetch the prototypes.”
The two scientists sent each other nervous looks before turning to the officer. “There was no one down there and we can’t haul this equipment!”
The officer swore under her breath before glaring at the two. “How hard is it to move a few containers? I’ll go down, myself.”
She motioned to two of her soldiers to approach.
“Yes, Officer Violet.” One of the men said.
“You have this floor, Lieutenant.” The woman— Officer Violet— spoke before turning towards the other. “You’ll be second in command.”
“Ma’am!” The two saluted.
Violet then turned to Chichi. “You’re coming with me. That enough to haul everything?”
The two scientists looked between each other again and nodded in the affirmative. “This will do.”
“Great.” Violet slapped both Chichi on her back. “Let’s go, men! To the elevator.”
Chichi, Violet and the two scientists made their way back to the elevator, in which the female scientist hovered her ID tag over a nondescript hole in the elevator’s wall. To Chichi’s surprise, a green light came out of the hole and ran over the tag, beeping twice before the doors closed.
Secret floor. Chichi thought, swallowing with nervousness as the elevator began to go down. She watched as the floor indicator went from ‘3’ to ‘2’, and then to ‘1’ before turning off altogether.
Still, the elevator continued to go down for a few more seconds before stopping.
“All right.” Officer Violet spoke as the doors opened. “Take us to whatever it is that needs carrying.”
“Of course.”
Chichi followed the group, her eyes noting just how different this level was to the others. Where the rest of the base looked to be fairly sleek and efficient in design, this floor was riddled with wires going every which way.
Chichi strayed too close to one and almost flinched at the strong hum of electricity that her ears picked up.
The Red Ribbon’s torn this floor apart and adjusted it to carry extreme amounts of electricity. Chichi thought. But, for what? What could need that much power?
She got her answer a few seconds later, as another set of doors opened, revealing a room full of intricate machinery she was sure that even Bulma would be hard-pressed to figure out.
The machines were hooked into various beds, which held many men, women and children who were unconscious.
Chichi stepped in, barely able to stop herself from gagging at the powerful scent of chemicals in the air, wafting in her knows. What were they pumping into these poor people?
“I hate this damn place.” Officer Violet muttered before turning to the two scientists. “What first?”
“Come.” The male scientist said, a small grimace on his face as he led the way to the main office. Chichi followed the group, her eyes smoldering with fury as they flitted from bed to bed.
All of these poor people were already dead, or just about there, judging by Chichi’s limited experience at reading monitoring equipment. But what the hell is that?
Her eyes stopped at the bag filled with bright green liquid being injected into one of the still-living test subjects. Is that what they’re experimenting on these people with?
Even worse than that; there was no sign of the child, Upa.
Is he not here? Chichi thought in confusion. Where is he? Have they already…?
Another door ahead of the group whirred to life as it opened, bringing Chichi back to reality.
“Yes, what is it?” The voice of a tired, frazzled and annoyed man came out of the office. “Well don’t just stand there, come in!”
“Doctor Oswell.” Officer Violet greeted with a frosty tone as she checked her surroundings. “We…”
She stopped in surprise, which then turned to anger. “You haven’t even put anything away? Do you realize what danger we’re in right now, you old fool?”
Chichi inched to the side to get a good look at the head scientist. A clean-shaven, reedy man in his fifties, with short, slicked back hair that was more silver than black
“Oh, yes.” Oswell said, his eyes glinting with a strange, foreboding excitement as he rubbed his hands together. “The Anomaly is here! Is it not exciting?”
“Exciting?” Violet said, incredulousness in her tone. “Do you not realize the level of danger you’re in, old man? This kid single-handedly destroyed a force of three hundred men, including General Blue!”
“And yet, this presents us with a unique opportunity.” Doctor Oswell said, and Chichi saw the glint of malevolence in his eyes as he nodded towards his two scientists, who began to move towards Violet and Chichi at a slow, unnoticeable pace. “We could learn a lot about what makes him tick, you know. We just need to capture him, and then I’ll get the funding I deserve!”
“Didn’t you hear what I just said, dumbass?” Violet stepped forward, her threatening tone brooking no arguments. She stopped for a moment as she came to a realization. “Wait, they said there was no one down here…”
But it was too late. The female scientist drove a syringe into Violet’s arm before she could fully grasp the situation, drawing a gasp of surprise from the woman.
Just as that was happening, Chichi dodged to the left, the male scientist’s syringe missing her by a hair’s breadth.
She retaliated with a kick, driving her foot deep into the man’s gut. She felt his inner organs give against her strength with an eerie squelch as the man dropped down silently, his mouth open in an expression of agony.
The syringe fell to the floor beside him, breaking and spilling the bright green liquid everywhere.
Officer Violet smashed her fist into the female scientist’s throat, crushing her larynx before pulling the syringe out and turning to the Doctor, anger in her eyes.
“What the fuck did you just do, Oswell?” Violet approached the man as she threw the syringe to the side. “Have you completely lost your mind?”
“You would like to think so, wouldn’t you?” Doctor Oswell said, backing away from the enraged woman.
“Give me one reason I shouldn’t snap your neck right now.” Violet said, before stopping and shaking her head.
“Because it’s too late, you see.” Oswell said. “There’s nothing you can do.”
Violet opened her mouth to say something, before she bent over and began to vomit. “Wha… What did you do!?”
Oswell didn’t answer for a moment, happy to watch the woman convulse.
“The Greenlight Serum is already coursing through your body.” He finally deigned to explain to her. “Not that you can really hear me right now, I suppose. I was saving a better dose for you, but since you’ve shown your true colors, I don’t have to feel guilty giving you the weaker variant.”
Oswell turned his eyes to Chichi, who’d been watching the whole thing with wide, disturbed eyes. “And you, child. You could have reached such heights, if you had let the good doctor give you the injection as well.”
“Why?” Chichi ground out, pointing at the spasming officer between them. “So I can end up like her or one of your dead patients? No, thank you.”
“You soldiers are all fools.” Oswell said, unimpressed by Chichi’s statement. “You do not understand what the human body’s capable of, what limits you’re able to break!”
Chichi gestured down at the convulsing woman, as well as the rows of beds in the other room. “Considering all of those who died in your quest for knowledge, I would say that it’s you who doesn’t know a thing.”
“Oh, but that is the very essence of science, child. The very goal.” Oswell said, waving her reply off. “Do you think progress happens overnight? No! It is achieved through a process of trial and failure. The great minds of our people have failed a thousand times— no, a million times over before they succeeded even once.”
Chichi filed the name and gestured at the now immobile Violet. “And that is another one of your expected failures, I take it?”
But Oswell smiled. “Is it? Officer Violet, stand before me.”
In an instant, Violet went from being prone to standing upright. “Yes, sir.”
“How do you feel, child?” He said, ignoring Chichi’s gaping expression.
What the hell is going on? Chichi thought, gobsmacked. The woman had died right before her, but now she was up like nothing had happened.
“Fitter than ever, I would say, sir.” Violet replied in a monotone; her voice was a far cry from what it was, not five minutes prior.
“Good, good.” Oswell said before focusing his attention back at Chichi. “Observe. Turn around, Officer Violet.”
Violet turned around to face Chichi. Violet’s eyes had been blue, but now they were tinged with the same green as the serum which was injected into her. Oswell took the rifle slung around the woman’s shoulders and held it before her. “Crush it.”
Violet obeyed in an instant; the air filled with the sound of tortured metal as Violet’s strength continued to mangle and crush it into a compact ball.
“See what just a fraction of my research has yielded? Look at how powerful Violet has become.” Oswell said with a wide smile before it fell off, replaced with a scowl. “You have no idea of the hardship it took just to get one person to accept this strain of serum. Obtaining the… compatible test subjects alone was almost an insurmountable task.”
“So it was you.” Chichi said, getting angry. “Who sent the order to kidnap children!”
“Children, adults.” Oswell said with an uncaring tone. “Anyone I could get my hands on, really.”
“You sick fiend.”
“Your words are as asinine as they are short-sighted.” Doctor Oswell waved her insults off. “I grow tired of this one, Violet. Kill her.”
“Of course, sir.” Was the only thing Violet said before throwing the compacted scrap at Chichi.
Chichi stepped to her right, keeping her eyes on her opponent even as the impromptu projectile flew past her, crashing through the reinforced glass doors and into one of the beds.
Fast! Chichi thought, barely able to raise her arms in a block before Violet was on her with a leap kick. Chichi grunted and held her ground as she channeled Ki to her forearms, absorbing most of the blow and sending her skidding a few feet back.
Violet did not give Chichi any breathing room, aiming a kick at Chichi’s shin in the hopes of bringing her down into the ground. Chichi jumped over the kick, driving a kick of her own down at Violet’s head.
Chichi’s boot smacked against flesh as Violet raised her arm to block the hit. With a yell, Violet threw her foe upwards into the ceiling. Chichi flipped and landed feet first on the lintel, coiling her legs as she collected all of the power from the throw.
Enhancing her body with her Ki, Chichi sprung forward, the lintel destroyed by the sheer stress it had to endure as she flew to Violet, charging her fist with all the Ki she could muster.
Violet, not expecting that, took the punch in the chest and was sent flying past Oswell, smashing into the wall and embedding herself within.
The man looked at Chichi for a moment, unruffled by the events which took place. “Very impressive. No soldier at this base is this strong, and yet you wear our garb…”
Chichi stared at him for a second before pointing at the now-dead Violet. “Don’t you care that she died?”
“Whether she dies or not is of no consequence.” Oswell said, giving the young woman a shrug as he took a few steps forward. “But what makes you think she’s dead?”
Chichi opened her mouth to reply, before shaking her head.
No more talking. She thought and rushed to the man’s position, deciding to end his life with one blow. He can’t be allowed to live after what he’s done.
Just as she was about to hit the doctor, she was knocked away by a kick from her left. Chichi fell into a roll, getting to her feet and staring in shock at her no-longer-fallen foe.
“‘But I hit her so hard that she should have died!’ Is what you want to say, yes?” Doctor Oswell said, smiling at Chichi’s glare. “But as I said, you have no understanding of what I’ve accomplished. Even Doctor Gero will be baffled by all the progress we made, here!”
He moved towards Violet and gestured at the various cuts, bruises and wounds she had suffered through, before focusing on the biggest one— the massive red stain in her midsection.
The one I caused. Chichi thought, staring at the woman. She should be dead from that much bleeding.
“This is the power of the Greenlight Serum.” He said, moving away from the dead-eyed woman. “Officer Violet is stronger, faster, more durable and is possessed of a greater factor of regeneration than before. A true super human!”
“Clearly not, if she loses sight of who she is. What’s the point of becoming a super human if you’ll be in a vegetative state for the rest of your life?” Chichi said, her eyes narrowing at the doctor. “She’s nothing more than a glorified attack dog, now. You’ve killed her, and she just doesn’t know it yet.”
“How foolish.” The doctor was amused by her speech “Flowery, self-righteous talk; I suppose you must be an accomplice of the Anomaly. It makes sense now. You share his ideals, and you wish to… save all of the good people, yes?”
Chichi gritted her teeth at being mocked before she noticed the man’s smile. He’s trying to bait me into attacking, but why?
She calmed herself down just in time to realize that the male scientist she thought she had killed before had crawled right next to her, a syringe in his hand. Chichi jumped out of the needle’s path and smashed her foot down into the man’s skull, ending his life with a crunch and a squelch.
“Now, Violet!” Doctor Oswell said.
Violet dashed towards Chichi again, a syringe in hand. Chichi strengthened her body as far as it would go, leaping back from the dead scientist, but Violet matched her course, closing the distance before Chichi could get her footing.
Violet drove the syringe towards Chichi’s neck, hoping to end the fight then and there, but Chichi shifted herself to the side and snatched the woman’s wrist.
I’ve gotten used to your movements now. Chichi thought and snapped the woman’s wrist, forcing her to let go of the serum.
Chichi pulled the older woman down with her, using the leverage and slight momentum to drive her fist into Violet’s head. Headshots kill.
But Violet tilted her head back, taking Chichi’s full powered fist in the jaw. Chichi suppressed the urge to grimace as she tore through the woman’s jaw, sending saliva, blood, flesh, cartilage and bone flying off to the side.
Violet did not so much as scream from the pain she was likely feeling, instead driving her one good arm into Chichi’s midsection. Chichi winced in slight pain but pushed herself off and got her footing back.
Chichi stared down at the pitiful wretch at her feet trying to crawl to her so that she could continue the fight. She truly is dead, and does not know it.
At that moment, Chichi knew what she had to do. With one swift motion, leapt towards Violet and drove her boots down into the woman’s cranium, turning it to paste and once again sending blood and brain matter flying everywhere.
Chichi held back the angry yell that she wanted to let out, instead turning her attention to the man behind all of this horror.
He’s next.
Before she was able to take a single step, she heard a hissing sound in the air. Chichi looked around with frantic eyes, wondering if the man had thrown a bomb or something, but there seemed to be nothing at all.
The realization came to her a moment too late as she turned her eyes to see Doctor Oswell wearing a gas mask. Poison gas!?
She rushed towards him with hate in her eyes, intent on ending his life in the instant it took for this poison to kill her, only to lose control of her legs before tripping and falling onto her face.
The world began to spin around her.
“Astonished just what a bit of science can do, isn’t it?” Doctor Oswell’s voice was a little muffled behind his mask, but Chichi heard him just fine.
Now if he can just get a little closer, I can kill the bastard… She thought, but the man made no move to close the gap.
“I’m very impressed with you, however. Being able to stay awake and cognizant when exposed to enough sedatives to knock out a T-Rex is nothing short of phenomenal.” Oswell said, staying right where he was as he opened one of the nearby, still intact fridges. “Truly remarkable what levels the human body can reach without any assistance.”
He took a vial of the green serum and began to extract its contents with a syringe. “This is the purest serum we have. Officer Violet, she was given something a little weaker; this is the good stuff.”
Chichi tried to move, to do anything to stop this, but she couldn’t. She was only able to watch as the man finally decided to approach her, bright green syringe in hand.
“Now, hold still, won’t you?”
All she could feel was terror.
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