Fact: The Aranean race consists of three separate genders: male, female, and hijal; hijals are considered to be the superior gender.

The Hardest Thing

Chapter 4

Futatsu dodged the punch just as Piccolo expected, but he wasn't about to let up. Ignoring Mr. Popo's pleas to stop, he went on to deliver another series of attacks which she was easily able to avoid and then decided that it was time to turn up the heat. His attacks became increasingly faster and harder until his fist finally connected with the side of her abdomen. She tumbled to the ground doubled over and breathing in slow, haggard breaths. Piccolo floated above her and waited impatiently for her to get back up. How odd that woman had only tried to dodge his attacks, why didn't she try to defend herself? "What's the matter?" he egged her on, "don't you know how to fight back?"

"No reason," she stood up with one hand over her stomach, "until now!" Her free hand flicked in his direction as if tossing a handful of dust and a Technicolor spray of tiny Ki balls shot from her finger tips. A sharp smell burned the inside of his nostrils as the hot sparks detonated in front of his face leaving a hot white after image on his eyes.

Piccolo had been quick to cover his eyes with his arm before the trick could do any real damage, but in the short moment of confusion he felt his weighted turban slip off of his head. He turned to see it flying back at him and moved to catch it. No, wait! Piccolo held up his arms again. The turban clanked against his arms, followed by three quick blasts of Ki.

"Nice tricks!" He called out as a devious smirk spread across his lips. By using Ki, Futatsu had opened the proverbial Pandora's Box. Piccolo decided that if she was going to use it, then so would he. "Too bad that's all they are!"

He released a volley of blasts that the blue-haired alien attempted to dodge just as he knew she would. Piccolo kicked up his speed and moved to another position and fired off another series of Ki balls that Futatsu had no choice but to block. The last blast had barely hit her before his arm stretched the ten foot distance between them and he snatched the unsuspecting Futatsu by her neck.

Her sharp nails stabbed and raked at the skin about his wrist as she struggled to get free but it was of no use, a few pricks of pain weren't enough to stop him. Still smirking, Piccolo lifted her higher and prepared to slam her into the floor.

But, as he reached the apex of his hammer-slamming attack the muscles in his arm—nay, the muscles in his entire body—began to seize up and spasm. It felt as if he was being pricked a millions of times over with white-hot needles! His antennae felt as if they were wilting, his ears had gone numb, and his teeth felt as if they had been fused together! The woman, the damned woman, was trying to electrify him! It was a commendable effort which might have worked… if he had been a mere Earthling, but he was not!

Piccolo gritted his teeth and forced his muscles to push through to complete his attack. Futatsu's back slammed into floor and he heard the distinct sound of cracking rock. He felt her grip on his arm loosen, released her throat, and pulled his arm back to normal. She remained so still that, for a split moment, Piccolo feared that he might have accidentally killed her; and, then, she breathed.

Piccolo stepped forward, half expecting her to launch a surprise attack. Futatsu's eyes shifted to focus on him and it seemed as if they were darker than they were before. Her hair which was spread out across the marble looked like several raging rivers converging onto a single point. How badly had the shock affected her? Well, it was a valid but desperate tactic. If you know you're about to go down, take your opponent with you.

He kneeled down and offered her his hand, "You weren't at your full power."

"You… neither…" She gasped and accepted his hand.

Piccolo pulled her up and looked her over once more. She was no Gohan by any means, but she still had a lot of potential; and, by keeping her close he wouldn't have to visit the Lookout and deal with Kami any more than he had to. "You're coming with me."

The color in Futatu's eyes faded back to their original shade of pale violet as her brows knit together, "What?"

"But, Piccolo…" Mr. Popo muttered, stepping forwards with a worried look in his usually expressionless eyes.

Of course the genie would assume the worse. Piccolo sneered, pointedly ignoring Mr. Popo and kept his attention on Futatsu. Gohan had turned out ok, didn't he? "Kami has said that you are to be my responsibility. If I'm going to have to keep an eye on you, it's going to be a place of my choosing, and not his."

Futatsu's lips pursed into a slight pout, "I do not… need a sitter."

"You really don't have a choice in the matter!" Piccolo stated bullishly but then decided to try another avenue, "You don't know the language here, I do; and, I can help you improve your skill in battle."

The woman sighed, her pale eyes drifted to the right as if she would find the answer she sought there. "Very well," she said finally, "I shall go with you."

"Good," Piccolo's smirk returned to his lips, "We leave now."

When Vegeta stated that there had only been four Saiyans left after the destruction of their planet, he was wrong. He had forgotten about his little brother Tarble and the countless children that had been sent across the universe to conquer and destroy. Some of them were still alive and one of them was named Jatoba.

The Araneans were a ravenous spider-like race that reproduced by the thousands and required an ample amount of space and food to do so. Their government had decided that it was simply less costly to hire the Planet Trade Organization to send out agents and prepare the planet for them. They had been surprised that such a massive organization had sent a single Saiyan child to the planet; but, the young female completed the task a year ahead of schedule. Pleased with her work, the Aranean Government quickly paid the Planet Trade Organization for her work and asked for yet another planet to be prepared. Jatoba was sent out again and again, preparing planet after planet to become Aranean breeding grounds.

As Jatoba reached adulthood she became dissatisfied with her work. She was tired of the Planet Trade Organization. Her work was no longer challenging and lacked all the thrill of battle. She detested all aspects of the Aranean race and the very thought of them made her skin crawl in disgust; and so, Jatoba devised a plan. She and her band of cohorts would revisit the very first planet she had been assigned to 'prepare'. It was a thriving metropolis, full of young Araneans and their swarms of hatchlings.

Destroying the entire planet had been much more satisfying. Jatoba and her gang set out on an extermination spree, eliminating as many of the spider worlds as they could find and killing anyone that got in their way. The Aranean Government contacted the Planet Trade Organization, urging them to take control of their errant agent and her goons but their pleas went ignored.

It was up to the Triad Alliance to take care of the problem; but, each time they believed they had defeated her, she came back stronger and more ruthless than ever. When it seemed like nothing they could do would ever effectively kill her, an advisor to one of the Triad leaders proposed an interesting question: "We continuously choose the same road when there are other avenues we can take. Why kill her when there are other options available to us?"

The Aranean Emperor announced that she was going to hold a summit on Latrodus Two in order to plan a way to do just that. Jatoba saw the summit as a great opportunity to destroy several Aranean leaders and their cohorts in one go. It never occurred to her or her minions that the entire meeting was a sham to lure the Saiyan woman into the web they had woven just for her. Aranean silk is an amazing material: organically made, it had a composition similar to that of some of the strongest metals known to exist; and, when charged properly, Aranean silk can be used to syphon energy from another source, namely that of a victim caught in an Aranean web.

Jatoba and her gang made it to the planet's surface with ease eagerly killing everything in their path as they headed for the summit hall. They never realized that every spider they met was merely a mindless drone hatched for the very purpose to fight and die by their hands. The gang entered the hall, hoping for a good battle but soon discovered that the energy signatures they had detected had been falsified. All they found was a single hijal Aranean waiting for them which they quickly killed, but not before it activated the webbing that made up the summit hall's floor.

The Aranean silk was able to weaken the gang just enough for the stasis gas to do its job.

Rather than kill them, it was decided to surgically remove Jatoba's tail and keep the gang in stasis until they could be sent to a suitable prison planet. This proved to be a disastrous mistake as Jatoba had more allies than the Triad Alliance ever realized.

Imoni had worked tirelessly to gain a position in the Felidean Prison Guard system but his work was far from over. He did his best to gain the confidence of her superior officers, but quickly becoming known as a clumsy idiot, but hard working deputy. His work eventually paid off and he was placed where they believed he could do the least amount of damage: The Hibernation Facility, night shift.

His job was simple: guard the door and let no one in unless they had the proper codes and do not, under any circumstances, touch the equipment. Working the night shift meant that Imoni wouldn't have to deal with many of the Hibernation Facility operators and the less he was charged to do, the less likely he was to screw up.

However, Imoni may have been clumsy, but he was by no means an idiot. In fact, the scrawny male Felidean was actually a technological genius! He understood the Hibernation system better than the operators themselves. He knew how to quickly and safely wake someone up from stasis and was able to hide his modifications with surprising ease. All Imoni had to do was wait for the most opportune time to hit the switch.

His chance came soon enough. The ship would take several more months before it reached its destination and it was light years away from any feasible form of assistance. With just a few taps into the computer, Imoni was able to hack the ship's system, disrupt communications and doubly ensure that no help would come. Then, and only then, did he dare to awaken his friends.

Jatoba was the first to step out of stasis, the acrid scent of gaseous ice filled Imoni's nostrils and made his eyes water. The Saiyan woman gazed broadly about the chamber as her furry brown tail unfurled itself from her waist. "Jatoba," Imoni spoke with a nervous laugh, "Nice to see you up and about!"

"How long have I been out?" She asked.

"A-a year…" He stammered, "Or-or s-so."

Before he could even blink, Imoni was slammed against the hospital-white walls of the Hibernation Facility with Jatoba's crushing grip on his throat "What do you mean 'a year or so'?" She snarled. Imoni sputtered and choked, pawing helplessly at her hand. Jatoba scoffed and released him and let him sink to the floor. "Well?"

"It took time," Imoni gasped, "and planning. I had to make sure everything was perfect. Th-the others should be waking soon."

"And then what? Where are we?"

"On-on… a prison transport," he replied.

"Oh yeah," She rolled her eyes, "because that's just perfect!"

The other chamber pods hissed open, revealing three other tired individuals. Imoni smiled, "don't worry, miss, I have a plan that I know you're going to love!"