Homecoming

[Zach]

The town was decimated, even after two years there still wasn’t much of a recovery in the area. The main road had been rebuilt, but unlike it’s original route that passed strait through the town, the new one descended into the bowl of a crater more then a mile across. The curving, asphalt causeway passed between the few buildings that had sprouted up in the crater and then looped around a memorial fountain that had been erected in the bowl’s center. There was a general store, a diner an inn and a bank. A few houses flanked the road outside of the crater but little else. The land around the town had recovered though and was once again green with life, more so now that the farm houses and barns had been obliterated. Even the stone walls separating the former owner’s properties has been blown away, populating the grassy fields with rocks that were largely invisible bellow the tall greenery.

It was the anniversary of the town’s destruction and as he had the year before, Zach returned. Touching down on the edge of the crater, the boy looked down the road to the smattering of buildings below and then to the fountain beyond. Anger and sadness were starting to swirl about within him and the teen sighed audibly as he looked around at the few houses on the crater rim and then back to the town center. Having been one of the few survivors of the calamity, Zach’s return was always looked forward to especially since most of the other survivors had moved on or the presence had become common place. Zach though with his distinct style of dress was hard to miss as he walked down the street towards the memorial.

He passed the town center and stopped short of the fountain, leaning up against the wall of the inn and watched the service that was in progress. The year before he’d been asked to say something but declined, knowing there was no way he would be able to keep himself from descending into a tirade or obscenities directed at those responsible for the destruction of the town. Likewise, this year he had no intention of taking part in the ceremony, only watching from where he was. After a few minutes the ceremony was complete, being followed by a melancholy tune and a slow procession of the town’s people returning to their lives. It was a disturbing sight, like a funeral in summer, the sun was shining brightly, the birds were singing, but not a face in sight had a smile.

[pacfud]

Diane stepped of the ancient bus, taking at look at her surroundings. A confused look forming on her face, stared at the giant crater in the ground. This can't be right... She thought, turning around to tell the bus driver he had made a mistake. Unfortunately the bus was already gone, a cloud of dust on the horizon. Diane sighed. She could have flown away, but since she didn't know where she was, she would have to get some directions first. Heading towards the crater, she felt a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Weird..." she muttered, "It's like deja vu or something..." She shook the feeling off and continued into the town built in the crater.

The town was extremely small, and all the buildings looked as if they had been built relatively recently. Why would they choose a random crater to build their town in... Diane wondered. All of the buildings seemed to be empty, including the inn and the shop. Diane was about to get angry that no one was around when she noticed a congregation at the center of the crater. There was a fountain, and group of sullen-faced individuals all stood silently. Then, without any fanfare, they dispersed. Okay... Diane thought to herself, That was officially weird... Some of the melancholy members of the crowd were headed her way, so she flagged them down. "Hey!" she called to them with a smile, "Um... what exactly is up with this place?"

None of the citizens answered. They all looked at each other with awkward glances. Diane could tell they were uncomfortable with the question. "Um... never mind..." diane said quietly, walking away. She decided to find someone else to ask, but everyone she approached skirted the question and wouldn't say anything about the state of the town. Jeez... what is with these people? Diane wondered, reaching the fountain after yet another failed interrogation. Diane saw that one person remained from the strange congregation earlier. He was young, but surprisingly muscular, with blonde hair and no shirt. He was watching the fountain intently, as if it meant something...

"Um... Hi?" Diane called out, trying to get his attention. "Can you maybe tell me what this place is?" After so many rejections she wasn't expecting a straight answer, but she might as well try.

[Zach]

Following the conclusion of the memorial ceremony, Zach remained against the wall of the inn for another minute or so before a young woman wandered into his view looking at best, bewildered. He wasn’t really paying much attention to her, having his own troubled swimming around in his mind, at least until she turned towards him and started to speak. Dragging his gaze from the fountain and trying to put the memory of his family aside for the moment, he turned to regard her and put on an obviously hollow smile.

“Sure, what do you need?” he asked and stepped away from the wall. Giving her more then just a cursory glance now that he’d actually been engaged in conversation, Zach noted that she had very distinctive pink hair. Overall she seemed to be an attractive young woman, but he didn’t swing that way so it made no difference to him. Shifting his attention from the purely cosmetic and more towards her body language and expression, he reasoned she was probably late for the memorial and continued on that assumption.

“I’m afraid you missed the memorial service miss.” he stated and stepped closer. “But if you still want to pay your respects the fountain is always open for visitors… I don’t remember seeing you here last year though.” he added, genuinely trying to recall the young woman’s face but not succeeding for the simple fact that she’d not been there and thus there was no face to recall.

“Oh, I’m sorry, where are my manners? My name’s Zach.” the blonde teen continued and held out his hand. “Will you be staying long? The inn might have a few rooms free.” he then asked.

[pacfud]

Diane took the teen's hand and shook it, glad to finally meet someone polite. His politeness, however, could not mask the fact that his mind was obviously on other things. "Nice to meet you Zach," she stated, "I'm Diane." The boy's comment on a memorial service confused her at first, but to be honest it did explain why everyone was acting so solemn. "Well," she started, not wanting to offend him, "I actually wasn't here for a memorial service. I don't even know what happened here. I'm actually trying to find a certain town I left a few years ago." Although he seemed trustworthy enough, Diane obviously didn't want to tell zach everything about what happened to her. For that reason she kept the explanation for her visit vague, telling him only what was necessary.

"It's not like i'm in a hurry though, I wouldn't mind paying my respects." Diane approached the fountain curiously, looking for something that would explain why the memorial was there in the first place. Failing to find anything initially, she turned back to Zach. Her curiousity overpowered her sensitivity, and she asked: "So what happened to the town? Does it have anything to do with the giant crater?" as soon as the words were out of her mouth she realized that she could have easilly offended Zach with the question. "I mean..." she stammered nervously, "If you don't mind me asking..."

[Zach]

“Nice to meet you Diane.” Zach replied politely and accompanied her towards the fountain. He wasn’t surprised that she didn’t know anything about the town’s destruction. In this day and age of “Don’t start an interstellar war by calling your neighbors of the damage they cause” the town’s destruction at the hands of Saiyans was hushed up. Even the memorial was bought and paid for only by the few that survived. Zach himself helped build the fountain after he got out of the hospital.

“Well I don’t know what town you’re from, but this crater used to be the village of Townsville.” Zach explained as they reached the fountain and pointed out the plaque. “Two years ago today the town was destroyed by a pair of drunken Saiyans. Only a I and a few others survived.” he continued, for the moment looking only at the water streaming down the sides of the sculpture at the center of the fountain, oblivious to any nonverbal reaction the girl might be having to the news.

“Most of the survivors moved away, a hand full stayed and built this place. Eventually the town might start to grow again but right now it’s just those houses on the rim and these buildings.” Zach added, gesturing back up the road and then turned to Diane.

[pacfud]

Diane froze in place when she heard the name of the town. Thats impossible... she tried to convince herself. She looked around at her surroundings, suddenly recognizing the terrain, noticing landmarks that she remembered from her childhood. Townsville... it's destroyed... Her body began to tremble with rage and fear. Fear of what happened to the surrounding area. If the town was reduced to a smoking hole in the ground, what happened to her farm. A fiery pinky aura flared up around Diane. Turning to the direction she believed her farm to be, she exploded into the air, cracking the ground under her.

The wind rushed through Diane's hair, and she was flying so low to the ground that vaporized the grass directly under her flight, cutting a path of dirt in her wake. It took her under a minute to reach her old home, and when she made it she wished she had never left Vegeta. The farmhouse was a pile of rotted rubble, the farmlands overgrown with weeds and wild plants. Diane approached her former place of living with tears in her eyes. "No..." she whispered, her voice barely audible. "My home..." Diane's throat burned as she fought back sob rising from her chest. Liquid clouded her eyes, but she rubbed it out with her arm. She looked at the remains of her home, trying to find any evidence that her family was okay. Something caught her eye under a moldy plank of wood. Picking it up, she realized it was a doll, her little sister's favorite. It was her sister's most prized possession, and that girl never would have left it here under any circumstances. Seeing it in the ruins of her destroyed home, Diane was unable to hold back her grief. She fell to her knees, clutching the doll to her chest. Tears were now flowing freely down her face. Her family was dead, and if Diane had been there she could have saved them. It was her fault.

[Zach]

After turning to face Diane, Zach could immediately tell that this was in fact the town she was looking for. He knew at once what she was feeling, the dread over not knowing if her family was still alive and the rage at those who’d murdered them if they weren’t. She took off though before he could say anything, prompting him to follow. He knew well what a distraught person with the kind of powers they had could do and it was best to be there when and if she exploded, so that at the very least that destructive rage could be channeled on him, a guy who could take it rather then anyone else.

Lifting off after Diane, Zach poured on as much speed as he could but wasn’t fast enough to catch up, not until after she landed. He arrived about a minute after her and touched down outside of the house’s remains. Some of the grass was still smoldering from her arrival but nothing was hot enough to start a fire so he paid it little attention. Approaching slowly, Zach walked up behind Diane and got down on one knee, placing what he hoped would be a comforting hand on her shoulder. He would have tried to say something if her were the type of guy to talk, but he was one of action and hoped this action would help.

[pacfud]

Diane didn't know how long she sitting there, hugging the doll to her chest. All she knew was that in the inky blackness of depression, nothing else mattered. She was numb to the world, yet completely vunerable at the same time. She was unaware of the body touching down behind her, yet the sound of it was like knifes in her ears. She didn't notice the sound of footsteps approaching her, yet the vibrations of the feet hitting the ground rattled her bones painfully. It was only when a hand touched her shoulder that she was jolted out her stupor.

In her mind, something snapped. A fiery feeling bubbled up in the pit of her chest, clearing her eyes of tears. Her intense grief was replaced with an all-consuming, white-hot rage. Still gripping her sister's doll, Diane roared and swung her clenched fist at the newcomer. It connected with Zach's rock-hard abdomen, and in her fury Diane launched an instinctive ki pulse. As the ki pulse went through, the doll in Diane's hand exploded into rags and stuffing, the head of the doll falling to the floor.

Upon seeing this, what little consciousness Diane retained blew away instantly. She was no longer in a mixture of saddness and anger. She was instead a being made entirely of destrucive rage, her only mission to destroy all in her path. Her pink aura flared ever-stronger, and a barbaric yawp sounded from her lungs. The first thing in her vision was the form of Zach, who had come to comfort her. Now he was only a target, and Diane wouldn't stop until he was a bloody stain on the ground.

[Zach]

Kneeling behind Diane, Zach laid his hand on her shoulder in what he hoped would be a consoling manner, instead it had the exact opposite effect. The young woman seemed to explode with rage and hammered him in the stomach with a punch that could probably have split a tree in half. Zach grunted from the punch and then went a bit wide eyes as the doll in Diane’s free hand erupted in a violent explosion. By her body language alone he knew she was flying out of control, he didn’t need to read her mind to know that.

Remaining on his knee, now in front of her as she had turned to deliver that first punch, Zach retracted his arm but made no other moves aside from tightening his already tense abdominals. He was going to make sure that if Diane was going to burn her rage out on someone, it would be him.

“I know it hurts.” he said, not trying to avoid getting hit, but rather help in as many ways as her could. “I lost my family too. But if that anger is too much to bare, you can have at me. I was took weak to stop this all from happening, worse, I was asleep when it happened.” he confessed.

[pacfud]

Diane's punch hit Zach solidly, but the teen's ironlike abdominal muscles were sturdy enough to withstand the hit. Diane's arm was jarred by the resistance provided, but Diane wasn't able to notice it on account of the numbness her raw anger provided. Even though Zach refrained from attacking, Diane still continued her fit of rage. In her enraged state, she didn't even slightly acknowledge Zach attempt at consoling her with words.

Although there was no immediate reaction to Zach's words, Diane did hear them. They burrowed into her mind and set to work trying to bypass her near impenetrable wall of fury. In the meantime the enraged Diane continued her crazed assault against her tough-as-nails opponent. Usually Diane would analyze her foe before engaging, but in her state she wasn't in much of a position for analyzing anything. Instead of realizing that Zach was too durable to be taken down in an all out attack, Diane continued hammering at his body with vicious punches, trying to wear down his defenses. She threw her attacks wildly, not caring wether they hit or not. Each of her attempted strikes was coupled with a ki pulse, so even if Zach dodged an attack, staying in the path of the punch would result in taking damage.

Throughout her angry assault Diane kept up a constant stream of bellowing and yelling. Each of Diane's strikes was punctuated by a roar of primal hunger, or a dark and inhuman growl. All the while her pink aura was flashing with every punch thrown, kicking up dust and threatening to shatter the ground around the fighters. If the fight wasn't stopped soon, things could get ugly for the ruins of Diane's old home, and next nearest population center was the newly rebuilt Townsville.

[Zach]

As Zach continued to remain kneeled in front of Diane and her emotions continued to pour out in a steady barrage of punches to his stomach, Zach couldn’t help but feel in some way that he deserved the punishment. However unlike Diane, Zach wasn’t there for a fight and hadn’t powered up, he was running on his muscular strength alone. The first dozen or so punches stung but didn’t penetrate, not until Diane’s ki energy started to go to work on his abs. Slowly the muscled began to loose strength and Zach could feel her comparatively tiny fists starting to dig into his body.

He let the barrage continue, stomaching the pain as best he could, eventually though even someone built like a tank will crumble under a steady assault and that’s what Zach’s midsection was doing. The boy’s muscles tensed all over his body in a vain attempted to sure up his failing abdominals. A dull, throbbing ache was spreading through his guts, robbing him of more strength as Diane took her grief out on him, but it was ok, she needed the release more then he needed to be comfortable.

Eventually his abs gave way entirely and the girl’s fist met no resistance at all, freely pounding into the blonde’s innards and being stopped only by his body mass. By that time Zach was having trouble breathing and even starting to gag between shots. His back was hunched up, skin covered in sweat and he was almost off his knees from the upward motion of the barrage. It was still all ok though, he deserved to be punished, that’s what he kept telling himself, and she needed someone to punish.

[pacfud]

Zach refused to let up, taking blow after blow from Diane's fists. Each punch was hurting Diane's arms as well as her opponent. Finally, when the resistance broke away, the surprise from Diane striking softer flesh shocked Diane enough to provide an opening in her mind. Consciousness began to pour through, and Diane's steady attack faltered. Why isn't he fighting back? Diane wondered with a mixture of anger and confusion. Why is he just letting me hit him? She found her fury draining away, the blue poison of depression seeping into her veins. The anger-fueled power was leeching into the air, dissipating along with her fiery aura.

She drew her fist back farther than before and delivered a halfhearted punch into Zach's stomach. "Fight back!" She screamed, tears forming in her eyes once again. She threw another punch. "Fight BACK!" Her arm drew back again, but her next punch was a mere tap compared to the others. "Hit me..." she sobbed, trying to provoke an attack out of her opponent. Trying to take some sort of punishment for the sins she was shouldering. "God damn it..." she whispered, pulling her arm back to strike yet again. "I deserve it..." she threw her fist forward again, but the punch went wild, and she stumbled forward at her foe.

She fell into Zach, his words hitting home. "I know it hurts. I lost my family too..." He was as much a victim as she was. He too felt the burden of guilt she felt. He understood her pain as no one else did, and she was sitting their trying to beat him up. Diane closed her eyes, trying to shut out what she had seen, wishing she was still on planet Vegeta, getting beat up by her superiors like she deserved.

[Zach]

Taking a few more shots to his decimated stomach, Zach felt the power and the rhythm of Diane’s strikes break. The punches were no longer timed regularly and the strength diminished, although even the lightest of touches was making the boy’s body twitch in anticipation of more pain. He looked down at her as she broke into tears, practically begging him to hit her back. He of course wouldn’t, not only because she’d done nothing wrong, but because his father had instilled in him a deep sense of chivalry.

Then she stumbled, directly into him and Zach acted totally on instinct, raising his arms and wrapping them around her. If he was interested in girls this probably would have on some level been a romantic moment, but this was exactly what it appeared to be, one person giving some much needed support to another. He held Diane against him, feeling the warmth of her face against his chest and gently rubbed a hand up and down her back.

“It’s ok.” he said quietly. “I know how you feel, believe me. This was exactly what you needed, don’t feel bad about it. I’ve held the same rage in for two years. It’s better that you take it out on someone who understands.” the boy continued. He waited a few moments, giving Diane time to process before saying anything more.

[pacfud]

Diane fell into into Zach's arms, and while she was comforted by his words and reassuring presence, she knew this had gone on far enough. Straightening up and clearing her throat, Diane separated herself from Zach, trying to regain her composure. She was done playing the helpless girl part, and was ready to kick some ass. She just needed to be pointed in the right direction. Wiping her face of any remaining tears with the front of her shirt Diane looked Zach dead in his eyes, refusing to show any shame for what had happened.

"Thanks Zach." she began, putting on as strong a voice as she could muster. "I needed that..." She glanced down at his abs, wincing at the look of them. "Uh, sorry about that, I guess i got carried away..." she apologized. Looking back up at his eyes, Diane continued. "This isn't where it ends." she stated, her voice rising with excitement. "Whoever did this to me... To us... They need to pay." She turned around, glaring at the destroyed remains of her former home. "This can't go unpunished..."

Unable to continue looking at the ruins, Diane averted her gaze to the ground, her eyes falling on the tattered rags that once made up her little sister's doll. She knelt down to get a closer look, noticing that the largest piece still intact was the head. It was a soft orb stitched together from coarse rags, adorned with buttons for eyes and bits of yarn for hair. It was pitiful looking rag doll, more akin to a scarecrow than anything else. Diane pocketed the treasure without a word, rising to face Zach once more. "Whaddya say Zach?" she asked with a determined smile. "You wanna get back at the bastards who destroyed our town?"

[Zach]

Zach held Diane for as long as she wanted and made no move to stop her when she pulled away. She seemed to be reassembling herself pretty well and even thanked him. She repeated exactly what he’d already known, but the compliment felt good anyway. Then she looked down from his face to his reddened stomach and commented on the destruction she’s caused there. He tried to laugh but the ache he was still feeling inside made it sound forced.

“Heh heh… Not a problem. I’m tougher then bricks, any time you need to hit something just look me up.” the boy replied with a smile. He wasn’t going to let on how drained he was though, at least not yet. When Diane started to talk about how she would take revenge and wanted him to help her, Zach wasn’t sure whether to gladly except the help, or deny her and hope she wouldn’t follow on the dark road he was already traveling. Perhaps, just perhaps he could accept her help, but when the time came, keep her from committing the ultimate sin of killing the two responsible for the town’s destruction.

Nodding and smiling weakly again he replied. “Sure. I think we will work pretty well together. I’ve been on the road to getting those two for two years, I’d welcome the company.” the blonde replied. “But first… I need to lay down.”

Hauling himself up to his feet, Zach waited a moment for Diane to follow and then headed out of the house’s ruin and about fifty or so feet away, far enough into the tall grass that one couldn’t see the dwelling’s remains. There he all but collapsed into the grass on his back, his arms dropping out to the sides.

“Errr… Some big hero I am. Take a ten minute pounding and my innards feel like pudding.” Zach joked and tried to rest.