Author's note: I really should have mentioned it before now, but this story takes place sometime between the defeat of Cell and the emergence of Bibidi.

"Asterion's Heaven"

By Son Rhandi

Chapter 3: "The Uncertainty and Your Soul"

Ginyu could hardly contain himself. Not only had he found and restored one of his men on his first try, he was also being treated to ice cream! He had to keep himself from wiggling in anticipation. For all the ease of living that came with being a lesser creature for all those years, he terribly missed the simple pleasures that sweets brought him.

"Sorry for the wait, Cap," Recoome smiled, returning to Ginyu at the picnic table. "One chocolate parfait with extra fudge." He placed it soundly in front of Ginyu, and set his own parfait down before attempting to squeeze his massive legs under the table. When that failed, he resolved to just keep his back to the table and swing his legs outside. "Er, 'bone ape tit' and all that."

"Ape-what..." Ginyu shook his head. It was better to just say nothing and enjoy the cold treat in front of him. He plunged his spoon in for the first virgin scoop, a good chunk of vanilla ice cream with a tantalizing glop of chocolate fudge spreading over it evenly. It was just too good to be true. Hell was wonderful and beautiful and nothing like he ever imagined it. No longer content to stare, he licked his lips and opened wide.

"Mmph?" He pulled the spoon past his lips, rolling the dairy treat around his tongue. Well, it was certainly icy, and it was certainly creamy, but where was the elegant flavor combination? The blissful marriage of vanilla and chocolate having their first dance around the ballroom floor that was his tongue? Simply put, it tasted like cold, silky nothingness. "Er, Recoome..." He began. "I, uh... couldn't help but notice that this parfait lacks taste..."

"I dunno. I think it's rather elegant in its design."

Ginyu's head hit the table with a 'thunk'. "Nooooooo..." He rubbed his forehead. "I mean, it doesn't have a flavor. I can't taste anything."

"Oh, that. Yeah, sorry. I guess I just stopped noticing after a while."

Clearly, thought the captain, seeing that his ginger companion had already downed half of his. "How do you just stop noticing that nature's most perfect food no longer tastes like nature's most perfect food? Or anything else, for that matter!"

"Well, it is Hell..." He gulped another spoonful. "We're supposed to be here for punishment, right? I can't think of a more effective way to drive it home than giving a guy access to all sorts of goodies, and then completely taking away what makes them enjoyable."

Ginyu paused for thought. He did make a very valid point, but then, Recoome was an undeniable sadist. That line of thinking would of course make perfect sense for him... "I think I just eat them out of routine at this point," the behemoth continued, scraping his spoon along the sides of the glass for whatever flavorless morsels he could gather.

Watching the behemoth eat so methodically and appearing so utterly joyless while doing so, he could believe it. It was a real contrast to his behavior in the past, carrying on like an excited little child during their afternoon snack break. Ginyu felt his chest tighten just a little.

"Mm, you gonna finish that, Captain?"

"Huh?" Ginyu looked up, not realizing that he had let his mind wander and his parfait begin to melt. "Nah, you... you have it." He scooted the glass to the behemoth, who dutifully began to attack it. Ginyu sighed and turned away, not wishing to endure the pain of watching him eat a sad shadow of a chocolate parfait. Resting his elbow on the table top and crossing his legs, he leisurely slipped his map out of his breastplate and began to review it, shaking it out as one would a newspaper.

The crinkling of paper drew Recoome's attention. "Whatcha got there, Captain?"

"A map of Hell, which may or may not be entirely accurate," he grumbled. Clearly, the blame lay with the cartographer. It certainly didn't have anything to do with him just plain failing to read it properly earlier... "I'm looking to get the band back together, you might say, and with the help of this map and Penny, I can do just that."

"Penny?"

Ginyu grinned, producing the Life Pen. Recoome's eyes widened slightly. "Ohhhh, that little doo-dad."

"Ain't she a beaut?" He playfully tossed it and caught it with his opposite hand. "Her full name's the Life Pen. Don't ask me how we met. She kind of fell into my lap, know what I mean?"

"Not really, no," he admitted with a shrug. "But if it ain't something I should pry into, then I'll leave her alone."

Ginyu blinked. True to form, he had read between the lines. At the end of the day, the behemoth was probably smarter than him and the other members of the Force combined. "So, hey, Cap," Recoome continued. "What's with the get-up? Did Penny give you new duds, too?"

The captain sneered. "This 'get-up', as you so eloquently put it, is standard issue armor of the third tribe of the moon of Planet Brench. ...It's where I'm from originally."

"Ohhhhh..." He scanned what he could of Ginyu's outfit, then turned back to his parfait. Ginyu waited for a follow-up question or two, but was just left dumbstruck.

"...That was it?"

The ginger looked up. "Huh?"

"...Nothing. Finish your snack." He had officially given up. Except for a few bursts of intelligence here and there, off the battlefield, Recoome operated by the strict policies of 'Is it shiny?' and 'Can I eat it?', and he just had to accept that some things never change.

"Well..." The behemoth plunked his spoon into the now empty glass with a great clattering. "What now, Cap? You wanna sneak into the amusement park?"

"What I want is find the rest of our team, boy..." He exhaled sharply through his nose. "Have a look here."

Ginyu spread the map out on the table. Recoome circled around to the other side of the table so he would be able to look at the map right side up. "So we're here, right?" He poked at the mark representing Bloody Lake. "And you see these Xs all over the map? That's where we can expect to find the others."

The behemoth studied the map intently. "Well, if that's the case, the closest X from where we are is just to the northwest here." A meaty finger plunked down right on top of it, in an area of forest pockets and open country, according to the map. "That region's called the Dead Forest. That's what they call it, but it's mostly expansive plains and a few geysers."

Ginyu raised an eyeridge. "Sounds like you've been there before."

"Only once. That's where they ground you when you really act up." Recoome averted his gaze. "...It wasn't no picnic, lemme tell ya."

"Hm. Even so..." He began to refold the map. "One of ours is there, somewhere, and we're gonna go get 'im. That's basically how it is, how it's gonna be."

The behemoth appeared apprehensive, but nodded curtly, willing to follow his leader. "Only thing, though," he began. "We're gonna hafta fly over. We'll bump straight into border patrol if we walk to the Dead Forest."

Ginyu jerked in a fit of disbelief. "Border patrol? What the hell does Hell need with a border patrol?"

"Well, o' course, even with all the stuff to do around here, everything eventually gets to be dull when you have to spend an eternity here." He absently dug in his ear. "Sometimes, souls get it in 'em to go wanderin,' and sometimes, they make it out this way. They ain't been out there, so they don't know any better. But mostly, though, it's to keep stuff in the Forest, not for keepin' souls out."

Now that grabbed Ginyu's attention. "And... what is it they're trying to keep in?"

His brow furrowed. "Something I'd prefer to never see again."

The duo made their way northwest. At Recoom's behest, they took to higher ground as fencing came onto the horizon. "Yonder border," he said, pointing. Luckily, the land forked into high road and low road, and they were able to walk at an incline to overlook the border below. Ginyu could breath easier knowing he didn't have to reveal the overwhelming shame of not being able to fly just yet, especially not knowing if his problem was exclusive to him. They could see two guards posted at a booth below, with a guard tower with mounted turret further in the distance.

"Ayup, I think we oughta take off from here, Cap." Recoome shielded his eyes, calculating their distance from the tower. "We go fast enough, they won't have time enough to steady their shots if we're spotted."

Craaaaaaaaaaap. "Yeah, about that..." Ginyu rubbed the back of his neck. There was no way he could admit to being grounded, so he decide to let his lips do some flying instead. "Here's the thing: I'm thinkin' it would be better for us to, you know, to to ground level and hop the fence. You can jump pretty high, can't you?"

Recoom shook his head. "Trust me on this one, Captain. Flyin' is gonna be our safest bet, and for more reasons than just avoidin' border patrol." He began to power up, keeping his voice low. "And anyway, the fence is a good eight stories high, and I know I can't jump that high."

Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap- "Recoome, you might wanna rethink this-"

"Toh!" He leapt straight off the ledge, but the only direction he went was straight down.

"Shit!" Ginyu hissed. His hand shot out to catch his hasty subordinate by the lip of his armor and attempted to pull him back to the ledge. Recoome swung his arms back, but being the size he was, managed to give Ginyu a good pop in his jaw. Ginyu buckled, and his foot slipped beyond the ledge. Acting quickly, he drew his sword and thrust it into the ground, creating a sufficient anchor for the two of them.

"Hurrrrrrgh..!" With all of his strength, the Captain swung the behemoth's dangling body and managed a short toss, landing him squarely back on level land, then clambered back to the top, himself. Recoome lay flat on his back, taking a deep breath before bringing himself to sit up. "I... can't fly?"

"No, you can't." Ginyu slammed his sword back into its sheath. "...Just like I can't."

"Eh?" Recoome stood up and began to dust his backside. "You, too, huh?"

"Me, too..." He growled in annoyance. "Simply put, we need time to get used to having our bodies again, or so I've been told. Like it or not, we're gonna have to hoof it." Captain took a second to scrutinize the behemoth. "It'll be a lot easier to move undetected without that on." He gestured to his armor.

Recoom shrugged. "All right." He slipped his armor over his head and discarded it without a second thought. "Wow, heh. It feels kinda weird without my armor on, like I'm naked or somethin'," he chuckled, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "And yet somehow, refreshed."

"Well, refresh yourself back down to the forest floor. We need to get a move on." Nothing in life or death was ever easy, indeed.

Soon back to lower-lying land, they navigated the forest, following the span of the fence. They were able to maintain a safe-enough distance away where they could minimize the risk of being spotted, but were quick to hide behind trees when a jeep approached, regardless. They continued in this darting in this fashion for a number of miles until they came to the end of the fence, neatly wrapping into yet another cliff. Unfortunately, a problem presented itself.

"Craaaaaaaap," came Ginyu's drawn-out whine. They were met with a smooth rock wall, and there wasn't a single foothold to be found. Complicating matters was the fact that said rock was was just as tall as the fence connected to it. He would only be able to jump maybe three-quarters that high on the best of days, to say nothing for Recoome... Just then, an idea formed. He planted a fist into an open palm and grunted affirmatively. "I've got it."

"Yeah, Captain?"

"We can scale the fence, then kick off at the top and grab onto the cliff's edge." He nodded, ever confident in his notion.

"Ehh, I wouldn't recommend touchin' that fence. Have a look." Recoome sauntered to a nearby tree and broke off a branch. As easy a feat as any, especially since the plant had already since become brittle to the slightest of touches. "Dead bit o' tree, right? You might wanna step back for this."

Suspicious, Ginyu moved a few paces from the fence. Satisfied with his captain's distance, the behemoth tossed said stick. Upon contact with the fence, it immediately began to spark, before falling to the ground in a smoldering heap. "Whaaaaaaaaat." The Captain was dumbfounded.

"It only works on dead things. The ogres can come up to it just fine, though. I guess it's magic or somethin'," he shrugged. "When I was put in there with a couple of other souls, one poor sap got too close, and, well..." Recoome scratched his head. "Long story short, we ain't gettin' in this way."

"Damn," Ginyu grumbled, crossing his arms. "Then, we'll just have to figure a way to scale the cliff."

"Maybe we could try blastin' out some footholds?"

The horned one shook his head. "If we couldn't divert energy to our feet for lift-off, I doubt we could channel it into our hands to carve out rock."

Recoome's brow furrowed. "...Our hands..." His peanut gears were turning once again. "...Hey, Cap, would you mind keepin' a lookout for a sec?"

He smirked. "Got an idea, have you?" Nodding in approval, the captain turned his attention to keeping a watchful eye for roving jeeps.

The behemoth, meanwhile, turned his own attention to the cliff wall. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, centering himself. Concentrating his power, his muscles warmed over with energy, building until it sparked through every joint from his shoulders down to the last knuckles of his fingers. His eyes snapped open. "Recoooooooooome... CHOP!"

The ginger man's hand shot forth, penetrating the rock deeply with a swift backhand strike. He wriggled his gloved hand out of the lesion, soothing the slight sting out of his palm. "Heh, didn't go in as far as I expected, but whatevs..." Recoome allowed himself a small smile for a job satisfactorily done. Getting right back to business, he braced himself against the intact portions of the wall and stuck a foot into the freshly-created fissure. "Well, it's a snug fit but I think it'll work," he ended on his usual chuckle.

Ginyu spared a moment to look away from the fence, able to tell right away where Recoome was going with his idea. "Very good deal, Recoom," said an impressed Ginyu with a tone to match.

"Aw, thanks, Captain Ginyu," he replied, a little red in the cheeks. "Gimme a coupla minutes to make some more foot holds. Y'oughta be able to climb up after me once I'm done. See you at the top!"

The horned fellow grunted in understanding and turned back to monitoring for patrolmen, the sound of rock crunching under his subordinate's power filling his ears all the while. Despite Recoome's dimwitted tendencies, he had always been good for offering surprisingly astute observations and insights, and in cases like these, doing a little creative problem solving, which is more than he could ever say for the rest of his team. After all the years they had worked together, Ginyu still couldn't tell if he just chose to play dumb most of the time.

Thanks to Recoome's outside-the-box thinking, hey had both succeeded in scaling the wall with no additional trouble to speak of. The view from the top was nothing short of mind-blowing. Not because it was anything that either of them could call remotely beautiful, mind. No, it was just... such an expansive panorama of desolation that stretched on endlessly. As the behemoth had mentioned before, pockets of twisted, dead or dying trees pockmarked the landscape. The ground itself was a parched, talc-colored land, and well into the distance, columns of red shot up from the very earth, only to disappear after a few seconds.

"Look, the geysers I was tellin' you about earlier," said Recoome, pointing.

Ginyu balked. "Jeez, does EVERYTHING here crap out blood? !"

"No, not everything."

"...It was a rhetorical question..." Sighing, the captain set about walking along the edge of the cliff, looking for a suitable way down. After a bit of scanning, his attention was suitably caught. "Heeeey, we got us a bit of a slope down here. We may just be able to slide right down."

"Oh, yeah?" Recoome joined him at the edge. Stooping, he looked over, spotting the reasonable incline that Ginyu had pointed out. "Well, how about that..." He grinned.

"Shall we?"

"After you, Cap."

With a bit of a running start, Captain Ginyu leapt from the ledge, landing soundly and immediately slid down, Recoome following close behind. One thing for the smooth rock cliff, it sure made for easy 'surfing'.

Keeping their balance was a bit tricky, but the duo made it down safely and in record time. The ground fast approaching, they kicked of just shy of it to avoid a trip, then hit the ground running, steadily slowing to a trot, then to a complete stop.

"Pretty smooth moves there, Captain," Recoome uttered, patting the rock dust from his leotard.

"You know the drill. Whatever we do, we do with style." He gave the behemoth a thumbs up. "Now, let's see..." Ginyu slipped the map out of his breastplate and opened it in the familiar fashion. "...Ok, so here's the cliff we just jumped... aaaaaand... around here is where we oughta find our man." He whistled. "We are gonna have some serious walking to do..."

"Captain, check out the markings here," Recoome's thick finger arced the immediate area around the X. Mesa-shaped symbols were scattered in that particular portion of the map. "Those are the geyser flats. We're really gonna hafta watch ourselves there. Lucky for us, there are thickets and such in that area, too. If we stick to the trees, we'll be able to get through safely. Probably."

"Oh, goody." Ginyu sighed. He was steadily becoming aware of how often he was doing so since he agreed to this little bet. "Well, at least after all this, no one can say we led boring afterlives. Let's get a move on."

They trekked across the largely barren land for what seemed like tens of hours. Recoome, whose knowledge of this place was far more intimate than Ginyus, was allowed to guide their course, zigzagging from thicket to thicket. They would reach each stand; Recoome would peer out and scan the horizon with a thick tension around his aura; then they would move to the next thicket, the steps repeating. Ginyu hadn't the foggiest idea of what the behemoth was on the lookout for, but he trusted in his subordinate's judgment.

That's when it hit him: he trusted his subordinate. Ginyu wasn't sure why his mind had chosen this particular moment to remember. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there were only three things he could believe in: His belief in the sense of fairness that the ideal warrior should possess, his afternoon snack, and his men. The memory warmed him, just a little.

"Captain."

Ginyu snapped back to attention. He immediately noticed the hushed tone in which Recoome had spoken, and the fact that he was doing his best to stay hidden whilst peering behind a tree (even moreso than previous times) was incredibly hard to miss. "Look there," he whispered.

Unsure of what to expect, Ginyu crouched, moving to a tree adjacent to Recoome and peering out in similar fashion. The captain drew a breath, his eyes growing wide.

Several hundred, or perhaps a good two thousand, feet away, he could spy what looked like a giant, gnarled tree—one not entirely dissimilar to the ones they had been hiding behind—at first glance. But as Ginyu continued to watch, he could see that it was moving. It appeared to be crouching, if trees could crouch. Then, said tree turned toward their direction, and began to approach. The creature rose, revealing its full form and full height. He could see that it possessed a somewhat humanoid shape. It had a clear head portion, as though someone had uprooted a dead tree, turned it upside down, and set it upon a pair of shoulders. It formed a crown of roots, beard of dried branches, and from what he could see, two vertical slits giving way to blackness—he assumed these were what passed for its eyes. Two arms cascaded from knotted shoulders, spreading out to four root 'fingers,' and two legs fell from a relatively thin trunk, leading to feet not much different from its hands... and holy mother of space sodas, was it ever gigantic! It was easily more than half the size of the cliff he and Recoome had scaled only hours ago.

"A Soul Ent," said Recoome, glowering. "And on the hunt."

"The hunt?"

"Watch the ground below it."

So he did. He could here the low rumble of the creatures movement, a slow tromping that increased in volume as it approached ever closer. Below it, little souls began spilling over the horizon like a flock of sheep fleeing in terror from a vicious wolf. They hopped and scattered in every direction—some reaching the relative safety of nearby thickets, densely packed enough to keep them from the creature's clutches, some choosing to make a mad dash and put some space between them. Those unfortunate enough to be a little too slow found themselves caught in the tendrils of the beast. As spindling root fingers closed around the poor unfortunate souls, a great maw opened—punctuated by the sound of wood splitting—forming jagged bark 'teeth' and a great black pit. With souls and rocks and dirt all in its grasp, it gobbled them all in a disgusting glut. Sated but by no means full, the beast turned it great head back in the direction of Ginyu and Recoome, who quickly made themselves hidden behind their respective trees. It could see a stray soul making its way toward their thicket, but had apparently decided it not being worth the effort to pick through the trees and made its way back from whence it came. The Ginyus breathed sighs of relief once it disappeared beyond the horizon.

They remain there for several minutes thereafter, waiting for their tension to pass. It had been a very, very long time since Ginyu had felt fear on a strictly primal level. He didn't know if Recoome had ever felt it. He cast a glance to the behemoth, and was surprised to find he had sunk to the ground, eyes shut tight and lightly trembling. "Hey, Cap, wanna know somethin'?" He asked, a forced chuckle escaping thereafter.

Ginyu's expression softened. "Sure."

"I had a good while to think about stuff while after I died. Like, years, I think." The behemoth sighed heavily. "I never knew what it was like to be a little guy before then. Helpless, I mean." He wiped away a bead of sweat hanging from his nose. "Not gonna lie, even as just a fluff nugget, I was every bit as bad as I was when I was alive, but every other nugget around was on equal footing with me, whether I liked it or not, y'know?" He breathed deeply. "It didn't matter that I was one of the strongest fighters in the universe. When you're hoppin' for your very existence to avoid being eaten by a tree... nothing you were—or have been,—is worth a damn. Ever. The first time I saw one of those... things... I think that was when it really hit me."

The Captain's brow furrowed in disapproval. "Recoome," he began. "Tell me why you were so devoted to the Ginyu Force."

He reacted as though the answer should have be obvious. "Same as anyone else in Frieza's army. It was better than dying like an animal, right?"

"That's not what I asked." Ginyu crossed his arms. "True loyalty in Frieza's soldiers was a rare trait. Even that lapdog Zarbon would have escaped if he thought there was any place in the universe outside of Frieza's grasp."

"Frieza led with terror. You led with respect."

The captain closed his eyes, searching for the words. When they reopened, Recoome felt his red eyes bore into him, as though they were looking into his very soul. "...Then respect the time you served under me, and the role you fulfilled on the team," Ginyu words rolled out, thick with gravel. "Respect the fact that you had nothing to fear from me. Lastly, even in death, respect yourself. ...Everything you were, and I were, and we all were, was, if nothing else, worth at least one damn. No monster tree in Hell nor god in Heaven is going to make me think otherwise."

Recoome stared back at Ginyu, absorbing his words. Breaking the silence with a laugh, he placed a hand on his head. "Ha ha, I guess that's why you're the Captain, huh?"

"If the lowest of monkeys can conquer a dragon, surely you can conquer your own doubts." He smirked. His smirk quickly dropped into a mildly surprised expression, catching the tail end of a white puff darting behind Recoome's massive frame. "Oh ho? A little eavesdropper?"

The behemoth swung his head in the direction his leader was looking. Sure enough, a stray snack of the Soul Ent managed to make its way to relative safety in the company of the Ginyus. "Hey, come on out, fella. We don't eat souls. Cross muh heart."

Reluctantly, the soul revealed itself. Whether it was just an issue of it being tired (did souls even get tired?), it seemed a touch dumpier than the usual variety of fluff, sagging in areas and being less fluffy overall. Was this a result of living on this frontier? "Hey, Captain. Maybe y'oughta introduce it to Penny? Y'know, since it's right here an' all..."

"Good call. Might as well. Hey, Fluffs, mind hanging about for a second?" Ginyu dug into his breastplate, revealing the Life Pen in his fingers. "This won't hurt a bit. Hold still now..."

He shined the pointer on the soul in the familiar fashion, and drew the figure to set things in motion. Just as before, the light broke down as it was want to do, entering the soul. The shape grew a little, but in no way as dramatically as it had for Recoome and Ginyu. Really, it just became lumps upon lumps. Puff gave way to pimples, and before them stood Guldo.

"Ha! Talk about luck!" Ginyu gave Penny a little toss and caught her in his opposite hand before nestling her in the place close to his heart. "Mighty fine to see you, Guldo."

"Heya, pally," Recoome grinned. Even while sitting, he was still inches taller than the toad. "All things considered, you look pretty all right. What's goin' down?"

Guldo looked at Recoome, then at Ginyu, then to his own hands, swathed in white gloves. They moved to his gut, which still hung over everything, moreso with his armor on. He patted his belly, then felt about his face and chins. "Whoa..." He uttered. "How did you do that?"

"That little girl you just saw. She doesn't say much, but ain't she just the greatest?" Ginyu laughed with mirth.

He blinked four times, once for each eye. "I guess you all were hidin' out from the Soul Ent, too, huh?"

Recoome nodded. "Can't be too careful out here. No joke."

"True enough," the Captain chimed in. "But anycrap, man, did we ever luck out findin' you when we did. Now we only need to get Burter and Jeice over here and the whole team'll be back together." And maybe, just maybe, I'll be eating a chocolate parfait-flavored chocolate parfait at the end of all this. He licked his lips. "Well, I think we've stayed still long enough. According to the map, we need only keep a straight path from here before it transitions to a valley beyond the geysers."

"Wait," Guldo interrupted, feeling a bit chilled. "You're heading toward the geyser flats? In the same direction as the Ent we all just avoided being eaten by?"

"'Fraid so, bub," Ginyu responded matter-of-factly. "Simply put, we've got places to go and people to meet, and no piece of wood with an appetite for cotton is gonna stand in our way. Saddle up."

"Right, Cap." Recoome stood up, dusting his backside before joining Ginyu.

"Well, you guys have fun with that! Thanks for giving me my body back and everything!" The toady headed off in the opposite direction.

"Waaaaiiiitaminnit." Ginyu marched back up to Mr. Toad and pulled him back by the lip of his armor. "Where are you going with such a spring in your fat?"

Guldo struggled in the captain's grip. "Well for starters, I think I'm not going to be eaten by the 'piece of wood' I just narrowly escaped not 10 minutes ago!"

"Hey, watch it there, Guldo," Recoome chided. "You're disobeyin' a direct order from Captain. That's insubordination."

"Insubordinate to whom?" The toady huffed. "I don't even know who you guys are!"

Ginger and lavender balked. "What do you mean you don't know who we are?" Ginyu shouted. "Why would you even engage us for so long if we're complete strangers to you?"

"Look, bud. All I know is two bruisers who smelled vaguely of beef and looked like they could handle themselves seemed to know exactly who I was and were happy to see me. Look at me. Look at my situation. Am I somehow wrong for taking the scraps I've been tossed?"

Ginyu looked back at Recoome. "...We smell?"

Recoome sniffed his clothing. "Well, a little."

"In any case," Guldo growled, thoroughly annoyed. "I have no business with you guys, so if you wouldn't mind putting me down, so long, and thanks for all the flesh."

"Not so fast, Guldo." The captain twirled him around so that they met eye to eye. "Fact of the matter is, we have business with you. Whether you believe it or not, you're one of us."

"Right, because I'm such a textbook example of better body building..." He rolled all four eyes. "And what do you mean, I'm one of you? Who are you guys?"

"Ha, 'who are we,' he says... Show 'im, Recoome!"

"Right! I'm..." He kicked it off with his classic introductory pose. "RECOOME!"

"And.." He tossed Guldo to the ground carelessly, pulling his body into the 'low bridge.' "Captaaaaain GINYU!"

"Together we are... the Ginyu Force!"

Guldo blinked, then snapped his fingers. "Ah! I think I've heard of you guys! You're a dance troupe, right?"

On the outside, the captain and behemoth's faces faulted, but on the inside they both thought the same thing: If only! Still, Guldo was no closer to remembering either of them or his place on the team, and that in itself was disheartening. "Listen up, G," Ginyu started. "You'd really be a lot better off hanging with us."

"Somehow, I find that hard to believe." Toady crossed his arms.

"Believe it, pal. You go that way, you're just gonna get stopped by border patrol. There ain't nothin' safe in stickin' around here. I'm giving you an opportunity to leave this place. Little guys have nothing to fear so long as they're with us." He looked over his shoulder. "Right, Recoome?"

Recoome blinked, then pulled his face into a smile. "Yeah. That's right." He turned to Guldo. "Anyway, that Ent'll have two beefy souls to take his pick of. He wouldn't want to bother with a snack like you when he can have meals like us."

"Hey, you got a point there, Red." Guldo nodded thoughtfully. "Ok, I've decided. I'll hang with you guys, though only until we get out of this stink pit."

"Happy to have you aboard," Ginyu slurred, not entirely sure whether he was being sarcastic.