Chapter 4 ~**~~**~~**~
Once again, the burlap sack was yanked off the Vegeta's head. Frieza activated the Dragon Radar, and the Cave of Shenron rose from the sands once again. Nappa hopped onto Vegeta's shoulder and screeched in panic.
"YOU ARE WORTHY...YOU MAY ENTER," Shenron boomed.
Vegeta smirked, "This should be easy."
He made his descent into the cave with very little fear in his heart. The cave wasn't going to be a problem, but Frieza was not the kind of man to keep his word. At the most, he'd twist them. Vegeta was conjuring a strategy to his survival when Nappa's screeching being incredulously annoying.
"SHUT UP, NAPPA!" Vegeta snapped. Nappa calmed down, but continued to argue. Vegeta folded his arms and continued walking, "I have it all figured out. Get that freak, Frieza, his artifact, escape somehow and return to the princess."
Nappa began pulling at Vegeta's hair and was plucked off.
"It's not what you think. With her siding with me, we will finally have money. She will make an excellent ally," Vegeta reassured.
Nappa relaxed and screeched in excitement. Vegeta perched him back on his shoulder and resumed his path deeper into the cave. The very next room featured countless treasure. Gold, diamonds, gems and priceless statues of varying sizes lay in piles all around the room and the thieving duo stared in awe.
"Maybe I don't need the Princess," Vegeta remarked. Nappa nodded.
But Vegeta still had a mission, and with Frieza's inevitable betrayal, he needed to travel light. He filled his pockets and coin pouch with as much money and gems as he could and Nappa did the same. During the distraction, a particular gold statue was slowly coming to life.
"If I pocket that radar-thing, we could come back all we want," Vegeta remarked.
"NO!" a voice boomed.
Vegeta and Nappa searched the room, trying to identify the source of the booming yell. From the corner of Nappa's eyes, he spotted a wisp of smoke zipping through the treasure chamber. The monkey screeched in panic as he pointed and jumped around. The wisp flew closer to Vegeta and the thief was frozen in shock. It was the Thief King. It was his father.
"Father..." Vegeta exhaled.
"Vegeta, many have died here stealing from this room. I advise that you deter from thievery." the Thief King warned.
"Don't act superior. You're dead. You ran off to live like a pirate and, here you are, haunting a room of treasure. A befitting end."
"No! I — WATCH OUT!"
Thief King passed through Vegeta and the impact caused the young thief to fall to the floor and to miss the blade that was about to strike him. Vegeta looked up, and there stood a large stone statue of a warrior equipped with a sword and shield. The thief rolled away from the second attack and scrambled to his feet. His eyes shifted around the room, searching to anything to help, and fell upon a hammer. Vegeta picked up the weapon and fled, taking shelter among the treasure.
The statue patrolled the room in search of the thief. Nappa 'accidentally' fell from a pile of gold and caught the statue's attention. Vegeta climbed to the top of a mount of gold bars and ambushed the statue with a single hit to the head. The statue fell apart.
Vegeta scoffed, "That was too easy."
"Vegeta, you can't have any treasure. If you want to live, you have to leave it." Thief King said.
"Why is it that I can never have money?"
The Thief King didn't reply. Irritated, Vegeta eventually gave in. Once he and Nappa had dropped the last of their spoils, the doors opened and they were permitted to continue.
"I left your mother because —" Thief King finally spoke.
"I didn't ask for an explanation," Vegeta remarked.
"But I know you wanted one. I left because I wanted to make life better for you."
"Your plan obviously failed."
"Yes, but I can at least try to repair my honour. Why are you here?"
Vegeta didn't respond. He did not want his father's help, especially since he was now deceased. Nappa replied instead. Chattering away and explaining the situation in great detail. He was about to mention the exact moments of chemistry Vegeta shared with Princess Bulma, but Vegeta scolded him and demanded that he skip that part entirely.
"Dragon Ball? Vegeta, are you working for a man named Frieza?" Thief King panicked.
"Frieza's a man?" Vegeta commented.
"Vegeta! Frieza is the reason I am dead. He sent me on the same mission, but I was not worthy enough to enter the cave."
"And what do you want me to do about it? It's not my fault you were inferior."
"This coming from a common thief."
"Well at least I'm alive!" Vegeta yelled.
"Quiet! This part of the cave is very weak."
Thief King floated ahead. Vegeta was escorted along a narrow bridge. Dust, sand and small stones fell from the ceiling and a strange creature was seen slithering through the water. Which explained the fate of the countless skeletons scattered around the chamber. It didn't take them long to cross the bridge, and soon, they were back to speaking.
"I realize that I must kill Frieza," Vegeta spoke.
"Exactly! That power-hungry bastard needs to die!" Thief King agreed.
"For once, I agree. I refuse to be under the thumb of some androgynous lizard."
"By the way, Vegeta, it's dangerous to go in alone. Take this," the Thief King said.
He handed Vegeta an dagger. In fact, it was an incredibly small dagger. The hilt was around 4 inches long and the blade was just as long.
"What kind of shit is this!" Vegeta exclaimed.
"It's a Sgian dubh, a dirk —"
"I know what it is!"
Close to yelling again, Vegeta opted to resume his quest. He went beyond the final door and arrived in a corridor illuminated by the orange glow of the Four Star Dragon Ball. It truly was an enchanting artifact. It sat alone on a pedestal that could only be reached upon climbing a considerable amount of stairs. Once Vegeta took the first step, torches came to light and the entire room was illuminated. Paintings on the walls were now visible. They were all pictures of a green strip that almost took up the canvas, an looking at them all together, it was seen that they were actually segments of a single image: that of the dragon, Shenron.
"Whoa! Whoa! Who's out there?" a voice in the Dragon Ball asked when Vegeta reached the top. The voice was male and sounded very lighthearted, as if belonging to a childish man.
"You speak?" Vegeta exclaimed.
"I just did, so yeah," the voice replied, "Welcome, Master."
"I'm just here on a retrieval mission," Vegeta revealed.
"Oh I see. So you're not my new master," the voice sounded disappointed, "Is my new master nice?"
"Nope," said Vegeta.
"Not in the slightest," the Thief King added. Nappa screeched angrily.
The voice gasped, "You have a monkey! Let me outta here, I want to see it!"
Vegeta folded his arms, "And how, exactly, would I go about doing that?"
"You have to rub the ball," the voice said.
"Gross," remarked Vegeta.
Now most people would approach and pick up the Dragon Ball with caution. Not Vegeta. He walked over, snatched the artifact up and shined it as if he was trying to scrub out a stain. A trail of smoke emerged from the orb and formed into that of a genie. He was a couple of inches taller than Vegeta, but was just as muscular. He had spiky black hair and wore an orange suit with a navy shirt underneath. He grinned with childlike exuberance and pat Vegeta on the back.
"Thanks a lot!" the genie said. His smoke-like bottom half turned into legs and he began stretching, "It's been a long time since I've been free."
"Who the hell are you?" Vegeta blurted.
"Oh!" the genie cleared his throat, "I am GOKU the GENIE!"
"A genie! Could you bring me back to life?" the Thief King asked.
"No can do. I can't bring people back from the dead, make people fall in love with each other, or kill people," Goku explained, "Oh! A monkey!"
"With a genie, I don't need to report back to Frieza," Vegeta speculated. A sneer appeared on his lips.
"That and you were the Worthy One, so you must be cool," Goku said.
With a new prospect, Vegeta shoved the Dragon Ball into his coin pouch. The cave began to shake and everyone, but Goku, was startled.
"What's going on?" the Thief King panicked.
"Since you removed me from my pedestal, the cave is falling apart." Goku replied.
"Then get us out of here, you fool!" Vegeta yelled.
"Is that a wish?"
"No, but if you save me, then you won't be stuck in here any longer."
"Right!" Goku realized, "NIMBUS!"
Moments later, a small yellow cloud flew in. Vegeta, with Nappa on his shoulder, hopped onto the cloud and took off. Goku and the Thief King followed by flight. The group were flying over the bridge when a sea serpent emerged from the waters. The beast dove head-first towards the heroes in an attempt to grab a meal, but took a large chunk of bridge instead. Determined to grab it's lunch, the serpent lashed it's tail. Vegeta steered Nimbus to the best of his abilities, but was hit and sent spinning. Once he regained his composure, Vegeta pulled out his new knife and threw it with utmost accuracy. The dirk became embedded in the serpent's head, right between the eyes, and the beast screamed as it went crashing into the waters. Whole rocks began to fall from the ceiling and the heroes resumed their hasty exit.
"Perhaps the cave is larger than I thought," Frieza commented.
"Or maybe he's dead," Dodoria spoke.
Frieza snapped his head towards Dodoria, "Keep your mouth shut!" he bellowed.
"Sir, look!" Zarbon exclaimed.
Frieza looked forward. The Cave of Shenron was falling apart and returning to the sands. Frieza screamed. The Dragon Ball was lost along with his hunt for power until he heard something: the sound of sand in movement. Bursting from the desert came Vegeta riding a gold cloud and being followed by spirits. In his hand was the Dragon Ball.
"Surrender the Dragon Ball!" Frieza demanded.
"Suck it, Frieza!" the thief hollered back.
Attempts to shoot Vegeta down were bound to fail, and Frieza had no choice but to watch Vegeta fly off with his Dragon Ball. Frieza growled. He had the urge to kill someone. He looked to his Captains. They weren't completely useless, so he had to keep them alive. Frieza returned home empty handed yet again.