Cosmic Crisis 2 - The Return of Orion
Written by Erin Miller - nekochan016@aol.com

Chapter 7 - The Brink of Death

	As evening set over the Capsule Corp. building, Natalie and the
others were busy formulating a plan.  
	"But we still don't know where they came from.  Dr. Gero is dead. 
Besides, if he were alive and creating androids, they would at least
have some kind of fighting ability." Trunks said, looking deeply
concerned.  Meanwhile, Natalie didn't even know who Dr. Gero was.  
	"Well they seem to want something with the girl." Vegita sighed,
folding his arms, looking over at Natalie.  
	"Who's Dr. Gero?" she inquired.  
	"Oh, he's dead now." Trunks replied.   "But he used to make androids
with unfathomable fighting strength and power.  You haven't met
Krillin's wife, but she's an android."  Natalie looked at him with
surprise.  
	"She's an android?  Then how -?" Natalie broke off.
	"She was based on a human model, don't worry.  She isn't a hunk of
nuts and bolts." 
	"Oh." Natalie said simply.  She looked as confused as ever, sitting
back in her chair, staring into space.  Everyone glanced over at her at
once, startling the girl.  "What?" she asked with an innocent look on
her face.  Trunks pulled a Kamesennin and looked her up and down, much
to her surprise. Vegita and Bulma began to converse on the side,
discussing a plan of action.  
	"Well if you hadn't disintegrated it, maybe I could do an anatomy
readout and find out where they come from!" Bulma shouted at her
husband.  The two were always arguing.  Natalie and Trunks discreetly
left the room, as they were tired of hearing the couple shout at each
other.  
	"Trunks let's go out!" Natalie suggested, suddenly full of energy.
	"Okay..." he said, looking at her with an eyebrow raised.  
	"Come on!  It's not like there's anything better to do HERE." She
said and grabbed his hand to lead him out the door.  The couple raced
down the sidewalk, heading towards the city.  The girl was practically
dragging Trunks behind.
	"Wha-what's your hurry?" Trunks cried.  Natalie turned her head to
smile at him, when she ran into something.  They both fell to the
ground, dazed. (Sound familiar?)
	"Natalie?" a voice said.  She looked up and observed Ryan standing
over her.  "Whoa, nice running into you." He said, and helped her up off
the ground.  Trunks helped himself to his feet, looking at the boy
questionably.  
	"Ryan!  What are you doing here?" she asked, surprised.  
	"Well I was about to ask you the same question.  Where are you
going?" he inquired.  "Because...if you're not busy, I was wondering -"
	"I'm heading to the city with Trunks." She said.  "Wanna come with
us?"  Ryan eyed Trunks suspiciously.
	"Oh.  No, that's okay." He said, turning to leave.  "I'll see you at
school." Ryan finished and hurried down the street.
	"Well he was in a hurry." Natalie commented, turning to Trunks.  
	"There's something strange about him." He said, folding his arms
Vegita-style.  
	"Oh, don't get jealous Trunks!" she joked, jumping on his back like
a little girl. 
	"Hey!" Trunks cried in protest.  "I'm not jealous." He said,
shrugging Natalie off of him.  She backed away defensively.
	"Hey, excuse me!  I was just kidding anyway." She said and continued
down the sidewalk towards the city.  Trunks followed, catching up with
her quickly.  When they reached the metropolis, they streets were
buzzing with people trying to go about their daily lives.  The streets
were so crowded that Trunks and Natalie were having a tough time staying
together.  Suddenly, they both heard loud gunshots followed by terrified
screams.  People began to panic and run in every which way, almost
trampling the helpless teenagers.  She scrambled to safety in a nearby
alley, frantically searching for Trunks.  She could see dozens of
frightened people hurl past her, trying to save their own lives.  She
exited the alley to look for him but he was nowhere to be seen. 
Worrying about his safety, she ran into the street to try and get a
better view.  Still yet to locate his whereabouts, she turned to head in
another direction when a bullet whizzed by her head.  Startled, she
cried out in fear, no knowing what to do.  She didn't want to reveal her
powers in public, yet she knew no other way out.  She was about to run
in the opposite direction when someone pounced on her, pushing her to
the ground and knocking the air out of her lungs.  She hit the pavement
with great force, causing her to gasp in pain, yet no air would come in.
 Seeing no other alternative, she powered up and forced her ki outward,
throwing the person off of her body with tremendous speed.  This caused
even more panicking, making the situation worse.  She struggled to her
feet, intending to find the person that jumped on her.  She turned in
the direction that he flew, seeing a dark figure in the alley across the
street.  Knowing that she could take him on, she approached.  She poked
her head around the corner to get a closer look, but the figure was
gone. 
	"What the -?" she said, greatly confused.  Suddenly, something hit
her from behind and forced her into the alley.  She spun around in a
defensive stance, preparing to attack.  She looked up to see who was
trying to hurt her, when she fell back in surprise.  "Goku!?" she cried,
greatly alarmed.  "What are you doing?"
	Goku came towards her with a menacing look on his face.  She backed
away, her heart beating so hard she was sure he could hear it.  Suddenly
he lunged towards her and pinned her against the ground, his face mere
inches away from hers.  Her instinct suddenly took over, causing her to
power up in sudden bursts of energy which sent Goku flying backwards
into the brick wall.  She immediately sprung to her feet and charged
toward him, intending to slam her fist into his chest.  Unfortunately
for her, he dodged, and her fist met with the brick.  She cried out in
pain, grasping her hand.  She looked up at Goku, who was preparing to
attack her again.  This time, when he leapt for her, she stuck out her
leg and kicked him in the stomach.  While he was down, she took the
opportunity to bring her fists crashing down on his back.  
	Suddenly, Trunks appeared in the alley and observed Natalie and Goku
fighting.
	"Natalie!  What are you doing!?" Trunks shouted, obviously confused
with the situation.  He rushed over and pried her off Goku's back,
getting elbowed in the side mistakenly.  
	"Trunks let go!  This isn't Goku!" she cried, struggling to get
free.  Trunks soon realized that it was probably another clone, and set
the girl free.  Unfortunately, Goku was already coming at them.  He shot
his fist into Natalie's stomach, causing her to stumble back into
Trunks, sending them both crashing to the ground.  The clone continued
to beat on the girl who was desperately trying to get herself off of
Trunks.  He kicked her sharply in the side, breaking on of her ribs. 
Natalie screamed in pain and coughed up some blood.  Trunks managed to
get out from under the girl, and stood up, ready to fight.  He looked
down at the coughing, bleeding Natalie in horror.  This enraged Trunks,
who went Super Saiyan and lurched towards the clone.  His fist met with
Goku's face, sending him flying backwards.  Trunks shot a powerful ki
blast in his direction, hitting its target dead on.  When the smoke
cleared, Goku was still standing.
	"That's impossible!" Trunks cried in surprise.  Goku sprinted
towards Trunks, who easily dodged.  Suddenly, he realized that Goku was
heading for Natalie.  The clone leaned menacingly over the girl, who was
on the brink of consciousness.  He scooped her up in his arms and took
off for the sky.  He landed on top of a building, holding Natalie in his
arms.  She was trying to get free, but failed as a result of her
weakened body.  She looked up at him, her face stained with her own
blood.  Seeing no other choice, she weakly lifted her arm, placing a
finger on Goku's forehead.  
	"Akiyah..." she whispered.  Her fingertip began to glow brightly,
much to Goku's surprise.  He looked down at her with a bewildered
expression on his face.  With a final burst of energy, she concentrated
all of her power into her hand.  Her body began to grow numb, and she
muttered her final word.  "...Meh!"
	It was all in slow motion.  Goku dropped her body like a hot coal,
but it was too late.  The energy erupted into a massive explosion,
engulfing the entire building in its fiery brilliance, surging outwards
like a thermonuclear explosion.  The Goku clone screamed in terror, his
very flesh being incinerated before his eyes.  Trunks was still in the
alley, watching in amazement as the power billowed above him.  Seeing it
rush towards him at neck-breaking speed, he held his hands over his head
and cried out, forming a ki shield around his body.  No sooner than he
had done that, everything around him was vaporized instantly.  He shot
towards the top of the building, observing Natalie's body emitting a
tremendous amount of energy.  The Goku clone was screaming in pain and
terror, as he was not quite dead yet.  Trunks ran for Natalie and held
her head in his hands.  She was limp, not moving or even breathing.  He
panicked, not knowing what to do.  Energy was still exploding from her
body, surrounding the whole building in its deadly grip.
	"Natalie!" Trunks cried, shaking the girl's limp body.  "Wake up!" 
Seeing this to prove useless, he locked his ki onto hers.  He felt a
tremendous surge of power, knocking him back.  He struggled to keep the
energy under control.  Finally, with one final move, Trunks exploded his
ki, causing hers to subside.  When the dust settled, Trunks was seen
covering Natalie's body with his, breathing heavily.  He looked around,
seeing the remains of the Goku clone lying nearby.  He knew that the
reporters would be here soon, so he grabbed Natalie and Goku and took
off for Capsule Corp. faster than anyone could see.  His ki was
completely exhausted from the battle.  He looked down at the girl,
seeing a trail of blood running down her chin.  He sped up, reaching the
Capsule Building in less than five minutes.  He burst through the door,
carrying the two bodies in either arm.  Vegita emerged from the kitchen,
producing a look of shock on his face as he observed his son carrying
two limp bodies in his arms.
	"What the hell happened here!?" he shouted, rushing over to the
three.  Trunks was still trying to catch his breath.  Vegita could sense
that his son's power was completely gone, as well as Natalie's.  He
looked them over, locking his eyes on the beaten Goku clone.  "Woman! 
Get in here!" Vegita shouted to his mate.  Bulma came out of the room,
crying out in surprise when she saw the sight.  She ran to Vegita's
side, looking absolutely terrified at the scene.  
	"Wh-what the -?" Bulma tried to speak, but no words would come out. 
Bra came bounding down the stairs joyfully but stopped dead in her
tracks when she saw her brother holding two unconscious people in his
arms.  Trunks looked absolutely worn.
	"We -" Trunks started.  
	"What?  What is it?" Vegita asked, stepping forward.
	"We need...help..." he finished, and fell to the ground.  Bra
screamed and ran up the stairs with Bulma following after her.  Vegita
ran as fast as he could towards his son.  He felt Trunks' neck for a
pulse and found one.  He sighed in relief and picked him up, taking him
to the medical wing.  Natalie and Goku were still left lying in the
foyer.  
	Vegita placed Trunks into rejuvenation tank and switched it on.  The
tank filled up with water and attached an oxygen mask to his mouth,
followed by two wires with round pads on the end attaching to his
temples. When the setup process was complete, Vegita returned to the
foyer for Natalie.  He felt for a pulse on her as well, but found none. 
Alarmed, he put his head to her chest to listen for breathing or a
heartbeat.  There was still nothing.  
	"Oh hell!  WOMAN!" Vegita shouted.  His voice echoed through the
building.  A few seconds later, Bulma appeared.
	"What is it?  I'm trying to calm down out daughter!" she cried,
angry for being disturbed.
	"The girl!  Her heart isn't beating!" Vegita said worriedly. 
Bulma's eyes widened and she ran to Natalie's side, checking her vital
signs (or lack thereof).  
	"Oh god!  We need to get her to the medical wing ASAP!" she cried. 
Vegita grabbed Natalie under one arm and Bulma under the other, fading
out and then reappearing in one of the emergency areas.  Vegita placed
the girl onto a table while Bulma prepared the machines.  "She's in
cardiac arrest!  If we don't get her heart beating she'll die!" Bulma
cried, trying to keep herself rational amidst all the panic of the
situation.  She pulled two wires from a machine on the wall, each with
round pads on the end, similar to the ones in the rejuvenation tank. 
She then placed them on Natalie's temples and switched on the machine.
	"What are you doing?" Vegita asked, looking down at Natalie.
	"These should send electric impulses to her brain to make her heart
and lungs start up again.  Hopefully." Bulma said, hooking up the heart
monitor to her body.  There was a steady line flashing across the
screen, signaling that there was no heartbeat.  After a few seconds, she
still wasn't responding.  
	"Do something woman!" Vegita said, trying to make sense of the
jumbled wires and electronics on the wall of the room.  Bulma raced over
and cranked up the machine attached to her temples.  Suddenly, Natalie's
body gasped for air.  
	"Her lungs are working!" Bulma cried joyously.  Her joy was stifled
by fear when she noticed that the heart monitor was still showing an
absence of a beat.  "Her system is going to start shutting down if we
don't get her blood circulating!" Bulma said, frantically searching the
room for something of use.  She reached into one of the cabinets,
pulling out a box of capsules.  She forced the box open, spilling the
capsules all over the floor.  She got on her knees and searched, her
eyes locking onto a grey and white medical capsule.  "Yes." She said and
compressed the top of it, causing it to explode in a tiny puff of smoke,
forming a device of some sort.  Bulma stood up and placed it on the
girl's chest, pressing a blue button located on the side.  "If this
works," Bulma said, "we might be able to pull it off."  The little
machine started to emit a low, humming sound.  Bulma then pressed
another button, causing an electric current to surge forward, connecting
to Natalie's chest.  Natalie once again gasped for breath, this time her
face began to turn red.  Bulma repeated this process, causing
electricity to flow through the girl.  
	"Stop that!  What are you doing?" Vegita asked, stepping closer.  
	"Vegita I know what I'm doing!  If this thing doesn't get her heart
started, I don't know what will." Bulma shouted, pressing the button
once again.  Natalie's body began to spasm, causing her to almost fall
off the table.  Vegita had to hold her down as Bulma continued to send
electricity through the girl's heart in hopes of it starting up again. 
After several more tries, there was still no heartbeat.  Bulma slowly
withdrew the tiny device from Natalie's chest, her whole body shaking
with fear.  "N-n-no..." Bulma said, choking back tears.  She began to
sob uncontrollably, dropping the machine and causing it to shatter into
hundreds of little pieces on the cold, hard floor.  Vegita looked as if
he were in shock, just staring at Natalie's lifeless body on the table. 
He suddenly snapped back to reality, producing a look of sheer
determination and anger on his face.  He clenched his fists and shut his
eyes, becoming infuriated.  Bulma placed a hand on his back, causing him
to power down again.  
	"Vegita there was nothing you could do." She said softly, stroking
his arm.  
	"But there is." He said angrily, walking over to where Natalie lay. 
He placed his palm on her forehead and began to concentrate.  Bulma
looked up with a tear-stained face, watching Vegita hopelessly.  His
palm began to glow a brilliant blue and white color.  He gritted his
teeth and concentrated harder, his hand glowing brighter.
	"Vegita...?" Bulma said, reaching out to him.
	"Not now." He said through clenched teeth.  He focused all of his
power into her, weakening himself substantially.  Finally, after
draining all of his energy, he collapsed to the floor.  
	"Vegita!" Bulma cried, jumping over to his side.  He was barely
conscious, trying desperately to breathe.  Suddenly, a beeping noise
caused Bulma to jump.  She sprung to her feet and looked around for the
source of the noise.  It then came again.  And again.  It started to
develop a pattern, appearing faster until it was on a steady beat. 
Bulma looked over at the heart monitor and gasped in utter happiness. 
Tears streamed down her face as she realized that Natalie was alive! 
"Oh she's going to make it!" she cried, jumping into the now standing
Vegita's arms.  She gripped him tightly, crying tears of joy.  The beat
of the heart monitor was music to her ears as she and her husband stood
next to the table where the girl lay.  "You saved her!" Bulma said,
looking into Vegita's eyes.  She never knew he would be capable of
something so miraculous.  She stood next to Natalie, holding the girl's
hand in her own.  
	"We need to get her to the rejuvenation tank." Vegita muttered. 
Bulma shut off the machines and disconnected them from Natalie's body. 
Then Vegita picked up the still unconscious girl and walked into the
room where Trunks' tank was.  There was another tank next to Trunks',
identical in size and capacity.  Bulma set the controls on the panel
while Vegita placed her inside, putting the oxygen mask over her mouth
and the wires on her temples. When they were both finished setting up,
Bulma closed the glass door and started it up.  They both stood back and
watched the tank fill up with water and begin the healing process.  
	Suddenly, Trunks tank started beeping, signaling that he was
finished already (this is possible because he didn't have many
injuries).  Trunks' eyes opened slowly and he looked around, trying to
figure out where he was.  Bulma switched it off and opened the glass
door.  Trunks ripped the equipment off of his body and jumped out of the
tank, his body still dripping with water.
	"Where's Natalie?" he asked, ringing out his hair.  Vegita gestured
to the tank beside him and Trunks walked over, placing his hands on the
glass, looking at Natalie's unconscious body inside.  Her clothing was
torn to shreds, and there were a great amount of cuts, scrapes, and
bruises on her.  She suddenly coughed up blood into the oxygen mask,
which removed the contents into the back of the tank where all waste was
disposed of.  Trunks looked at her with a worried look on his face.  "Is
she going to be okay?" he asked, turning to his parents.  Bulma nodded
her head softly, looking at Natalie with a grateful expression.  She was
afraid to tell Trunks of the events that had taken place, fearing that
he would get extremely upset if he found out.  She was so thankful that
Vegita had been there.  If he hadn't been...she dismissed the thought
immediately and turned to leave the room.  The sun had now set below the
horizon and the stars glittered in the night sky.  Vegita followed,
leaving Trunks alone in the room, still looking into Natalie's tank as
she coughed up more blood.  He suddenly remembered that he had brought
the Goku clone with him.  He ran after his parents to inform them. 
Hopefully, Bulma would be able to determine what it was and where it
came from. 
	"Mom!" he cried, catching up to his mother.  She turned around,
expecting to hear bad news.  
	"What is it?  Is Natalie okay!?" she cried.
	"She's fine." Trunks said.  "Mom it was a clone!" He continued while
Vegita overheard and walked over.
	"Did you kill it?" he asked.
	"Natalie did.  I brought it back so you could analyze it." He said
and ran into the foyer to retrieve the body.  When he returned, Bulma
got a sickening feeling in her stomach.
	"THAT thing is supposed to be Goku?  How can you tell!?" she said,
looking nauseated.  
	"It used to look just like him.  Before Natalie killed him." Trunks
commented, carrying it into the science wing to be tested.  He plopped
it onto the table and turned to his mother.  "Here you go."
	"Uh..." she said, hesitant to even get near it.  "Are you sure it's
dead?  It looks only about half baked to me." She asked.  Vegita walked
over and placed his hand on the clone's chest, powering up and shooting
a beam through it.
	"It is now." He said.  A trail of blood ran down the side of the
table and dripped onto the floor, much to Bulma's disgust.  She walked
over and slipped on an apron and gloves, preparing to dissect.  First,
she took a tissue sample and put it on a microscope slide to be
examined.  Next, she took some blood to be looked at as well.  Trunks
and Vegita left Bulma to her work, returning to the living quarters of
the Capsule Corp. Building.  Bra was sitting in the main living room,
playing with her gameboy.  She looked up from her game with her bright
blue eyes.
	"Trunks!" she cried and ran over to her brother.  
	"Wha-?" he said, holding his little sister in his arms.
	"I thought you were dead!" she said in her cute little-girl voice. 
Trunks laughed at his sister, placing her on the ground.  "It's not
funny!" she said sternly, crossing her arms.  Trunks continued to laugh,
further infuriating Bra.  Finally, she punched him in a not-so-great
place, causing him to double over and fall to the ground.  Vegita burst
into a fit of uncontrollable laughter at his son's fate.  Trunks shot
his dad a "that's not funny" look, while Bra had an amused look on her
face.  
	"That's funny!" she said and then proceeded to do the same to
Vegita.  His face turned red and he fell to the ground, rigid, just like
a board.  Bra laughed and ran into another room, leaving the two Saiyans
in pain.  She ran into the science wing, calling for her mom.
	"What is it dear?" Bulma asked, inspecting the clone's DNA strands. 

	"Hey mommy!  If you punch daddy in between the legs, he falls down!"
she cried happily.  Bulma looked up from her high-powered microscope and
looked at her daughter in shock.
	"Bra Briefs!  Did you hit your father?" Bulma said sternly.  Bra had
an ear-to-ear grin on her face as she nodded with delight.  Bulma sighed
and looked into the microscope again.  "Mommy's busy, honey.  Go play
somewhere else." 
	Bra frolicked down the hallways and back into the living quarters. 
She was full of energy, so she decided to run around the house.  She ran
down the hallway towards the medical wing, stopping abruptly when
something caught her eye.  She spun around and discovered Natalie in the
rejuvenation tank.  She walked over curiously and pressed her face
against the glass, observing the warrior floating in the tank of water. 
Suddenly, the machine started beeping and a red light flashed on the
control panel, startling the girl.  She looked at the control panel and
pressed a series of buttons, draining the water and opening the glass
door.  Natalie awakened to Bra crawling into the tank with her.  
	"Huh?  Where am I?" she asked, looking around.
	"Natalie!" Bra cried, jumping into the teenager's lap.  Natalie
picked the girl up in her arms and stepped out of the tank, beads of
water chilling her skin.  She set the girl down and shook the water off
of her body.  Bra soon noticed something strange about Natalie that
wasn't there before.  
	"Natalie!" Bra cried, walking around the back of Natalie's body.  
	"What is it?" she asked, shaking the water out of her thick mass of
brown hair.  Suddenly, a painful sensation crashed through her body,
bringing her to the ground.  She turned around to discover Bra gripping
a long, furry brown object in her hand.  "You have a tail!"