First of all, I'd like to thank dragonball256 for reviewing each chapter of Zenkai thus far. I really appreciate it! You're effin' awesome! Reviews, comments, or suggestions are always encouraged. Anyway, now that the tournament is finally over, we've moved onto the first appearance of the Red Ribbon Army! I'm very excited to get this started so without further ado...here it is!
Chapter 9: The Ruthless Prince
The Ox-King began to exit his house to check on the commotion that was happening out in the village square. Jaco caught sight of the giant man walking toward the square, and waved for him go back. The Ox-King nodded in agreement, returned to his home, and closed the door. Vegeta and Jaco stopped a few yards away from the armed men and waited on their next move. Bulma stepped out of the aircraft to get a better view of the new adversaries, but made sure to stay far enough out of harms way.
The soldiers all wore khaki jackets and pants that were each emblazoned with a red bow with 'RR' written in white on top of it and a black machine gun that were slung over their right shoulder. Vegeta took a step forward and each soldier drew their weapon with lightning speed. They each pointed their barrels at the Saiya-jin's chest, much to Vegeta's amusement. The red-headed leader rose his right hand and the soldiers lowered their weapons.
"Calm down, boys. You'll have your fun," he said with a laugh. "Let me introduce myself first. My name is Colonel Silver of the Red Ribbon Army, and as I said before, you have something that belongs to us,"
Jaco and Vegeta stared, stone faced, at the colonel. He closed his eyes and shook his head in amusement. "Don't play dumb with me. Its an easy way to get yourself killed. You know what I'm here for,"
Vegeta smirked and cracked his neck back and forth. "Well then. It looks like you're going to have to take them from us the hard way,"
The colonel turned his back to Vegeta and Jaco and took a few paces away from his men. "You may fire when ready, boys,"
His troops raised their weapons, and pointed them at both Jaco and Vegeta. The prince took this as an invitation to fight and shot off before they even had a chance to fire. He easily landed a right cross to one soldier's face, spun around and landed a wheel kick to the face of a second soldier. Jaco, who was right behind him, handled the other two soldiers with similar ease. The four shocked soldiers crumbled to the ground, unconscious.
Colonel Silver clapped sarcastically and slid his blue trench coat off of his shoulders and onto the ground. He turned to face Vegeta and Jaco, and smiled while cracking his knuckles. "I'll have you know, I used to be a professional boxer,"
"So?" Jaco deadpanned. "I don't see how that gives you any advantage,"
Colonel Silver narrowed his eyes and clenched his teeth. "You just made a big mistake!" Silver lunged at Jaco with a black gloved fist cocked back. "Nobody disrespects me like that!"
Jaco slid into a fighting stance in preparation for combat, but Silver was stopped short by a punch to the stomach that was delivered by Vegeta. Silver doubled over and staggered back and forth. "So. This is the part where we get killed, right?" Vegeta mocked as he grabbed the colonel by his throat. He held Silver by the neck and lifted him into the air. He rammed an uppercut into Silver's stomach, causing saliva to shoot out of his mouth. "Now.. About those Dragon Balls," Vegeta said with a smile.
Silver struggled to free himself from Vegeta's grip. He placed both of his hands on Vegeta's wrist and tried to pull the Saiya-jin's hand from his throat. Silver kicked and thrashed back and forth, but to no avail. His attempts to escape only made Vegeta place more pressure on his throat. Veins began to bulge from Silver's neck as he struggled to breath and saliva began to drip out of his mouth.
"Vegeta! You're being a bit extreme, don't you think?" Jaco asked as he walked up behind him. He placed a hand on Vegeta's shoulder, but was met by and elbow to the stomach. Vegeta twisted slightly and used his free hand to shoot an invisible kiai at Jaco. The pale blue alien rolled backwards in a daze and came to a rest near Bulma's feet.
"Now, where were we?" he said, turning his attention back to Silver. "I suggest you tell us where you're hiding your Dragon Balls. If you don't.." Vegeta gave him a maniacal smile. "Its an easy way to get yourself killed,"
Silver tilted his head down and looked the Saiya-jin in the eye. "I'll...never tell...you...where. You'll never...d-defeat...the Red Ribbon Army,"
Vegeta smiled. "What a pity," He rose his free hand to Silver's chest and charged up and energy blast. Jaco and Bulma watched, frozen in shock as Vegeta released the energy blast into Silver's chest. The burst of energy tore through his muscles, and vital organs, and exited through his back. When the blast and smoke subsided, nothing but a charred hole remained. Vegeta dropped the deceased colonel and began to walk back toward Bulma, and Jaco.
Tears began to well in Bulma's eyes at the sight of Vegeta's cruelty. Jaco got up from his knees and stood in front of her. "Vegeta.." he began. "You had no reason to kill him! He was no threat to you!"
"He was in my way!" Vegeta growled. "If we're going to collect these Dragon Balls, we're not going to make the same mistakes as last time!"
Jaco took a step toward Vegeta. "And why are you so intent on collecting these Dragon Balls, Vegeta? I know you don't care about Bulma's wish. Whats in it for you?"
Vegeta turned his back to Jaco and crossed his arms. "So.. You think you've got it all figured out don't you, spaceman?" He closed his eyes and smiled. "Its simple. I want immortality,"
"Immortality?!" Bulma exclaimed. "But why?"
Vegeta's expression became more severe and looked over his shoulder at Jaco and Bulma. "I don't plan on staying on this worthless planet. I spent years traveling from planet to planet looking for a way to find the power to defeat the evil tyrant that enslaved my people. My ship was damaged, and knocked off course and that is how I found myself here. After hearing the story of these Dragon Balls, I decided to take my chances and stay for a while in hopes of finally achieving my destiny. My destiny of becoming the strongest warrior in the universe! And the only way realize my goal.." he was cut off.
"Is to kill Frieza," Jaco finished for him.
Vegeta spun around and looked at Jaco with surprise. "How do you know about Frieza?!"
"I'm in the Galactic Patrol," Jaco said. "How can I not know about Frieza? We would have done something long ago, but he's far to strong for even our most powerful patrolmen," Jaco looked back at Bulma and saw fear in her eyes "There's someone out in space thats even stronger than you two?" she asked; her voice cracking. Jaco placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "There's no need to worry, Bulma. His operations take place on the opposite side of the galaxy,"
Bulma looked down at the ground and brought her knees up under her chin. Jaco turned back to the Saiya-jin prince. "As for you, Vegeta," Jaco continued. "How do you think immortality is going to help you?"
"Thats the best part about the Saiya-jin race," Vegeta said; his expression relaxing. "The more we fight, the stronger we become. Frieza can beat me to within an inch of my life and I'll just come back more powerful each time! Every injury I suffer will be a nail in his coffin! And no one here will stop me from fulfilling my destiny!" Vegeta dashed past Jaco with lightning speed and picked up the Dragon Radar that Bulma had dropped on the ground. Jaco grabbed at Vegeta's leg as he took off for the skies, but missed.
Bulma and Jaco watched as Vegeta disappeared into the clear, blue sky. "What do we do now?" Bulma asked. Jaco hopped up into the aircraft and offered a hand to help her in. "We're going to Master Roshi's to grab your spare Dragon Radar. We can't let him succeed,"
Bulma's aircraft hovered near the shore of Master Roshi's island, and kicked up sand as the thrusters steadied the craft for landing. Launch, and Master Roshi stepped outside of Kame House and watched the aircraft touch down. The door opened on the side with a clang and Jaco hopped out. "Jaco? Its a surprise to see you again so soon," Master Roshi said as he met the alien on the beach.
"I wish I was here on better terms," Jaco began. He explained the events that had occurred at the Ox-King's village and followed Master Roshi into the house the find the spare Dragon Radar. Bulma finally made her way out of the ship and walked up the beach to Kame House. "What a way to start summer vacation," she said to Launch with a sigh.
"Jaco seemed to be pretty shook up," Launch replied as she gave Bulma a hug. The lavender-haired girl nodded in agreement and ran a hand through her hair. She and Launch entered Kame House and saw Jaco rifling through drawers in the kitchen while Krillin and Yamcha received a debriefing from Master Roshi.
"I knew there was something off about him," Yamcha announced.
Krillin pounded a fist on the kitchen table and rattled the plates that were sitting on it. "We have to stop him at all costs!"
Vegeta had followed his Dragon Radar north toward a grouping of two Dragon Balls. The closer he approached to the Dragon Balls, the more the weather worsened. Winds howled, and snow blew wildly around the Saiya-jin prince. It didn't make matters easier that his extended flight time was tiring him out. He scanned the ground for a place to land and decided upon a clearing at the outskirts of a forest.
Vegeta touched down, and leaned up against a tree to catch his breath for a moment. He glanced down at the Dragon Radar and saw two circles blinking north of his location. He weaved back and forth between the trees until he exited the forest. He raised his right arm over his eyes so he could get a better view of his surroundings, and off in the distance loomed a towering building. It was cylindrical, with platforms and spikes jutting out from the sides. Below, it appeared to be surrounded by a tall chainlink fence and fortified by dozens of soldiers.
Khaki clad army men paced on each side of the chainlink fence with their weapons slung over their shoulder. Vegeta raced toward the tower, but was spotted by the soldiers the moment he was out in the open.
"Stop! You are trespassing on grounds administrated by the Red Ribbon Army!" a voice cried out. Soldiers trained their weapons on the Saiya-jin, but he continued to advance.
"This is one final warning!" one of the soldiers shouted, but Vegeta refused to heed the warning. A soldier thrust his arm forward. "Fire!"
An explosion rocked the shores outside of Kame House and sent a wave of water crashing into the small dwelling. Jaco, Krillin, and Yamcha dashed out of the front door and came to a skidding halt. A fleet of battleships were slowly advancing on the island, manned by more members of the Red Ribbon Army. At the bow of the lead battleship stood a blonde-haired, blue eyed man wearing a khaki army uniform, skinny red tie, blue armband, navy blue horseback riding pants, and black military boots. He lowered a pair of binoculars from his eyes and motioned for the ship to fire again.
Jaco, Krillin, and Yamcha watched as another shell erupted from the battleship and began close in on the island. Bulma, and Launch peeked out from behind Master Roshi, who was observing from the doorway. They watched as Krillin, Jaco, and Yamcha scattered on the beach before being knocked backward into the house from the force of the blast. Roshi walked out onto the beach, and threw his cane onto the ground. He tore his orange Hawaiian shirt off and cupped his hands in front of his face. "Ka.. me.. ha.. me.. HAAA!"
An enormous blue energy blast shot forth from Roshi's hands and rocketed toward the approaching battleships. Jaco looked at Krillin, and Yamcha, and motioned for them to follow him. The three raced to the shore and each released a Kamehameha blast of their own and demolished the remaining battleships. Krillin, and Yamcha pumped their fists in the air in celebration, but Jaco and Master Roshi remained composed and focused on the horizon.
The blonde-haired army man rose from the azure blue ocean sputtering for air. The right side of his khaki military jacket was torn off during the explosion and his chest was now covered with cuts and scrapes. He carefully treaded water for a few minutes as members of his military unit slowly began to surface as well.
"General Blue!" a soldier cried out. "What are our orders, sir?"
General Blue turned to his soldier. "We wait. I have submarines that will be here in a matter of minutes,"
Vegeta dashed around the tower's compound with a hail of bullets closely following him. He planted a foot against the stone tower and launched himself into the air. The prince released a series of energy blasts the scattered the army and made them run for cover. Vegeta landed and began to blow up ammunition reserves, soldiers and vehicles as he raced around the base of the tower.
Commanders from inside of the gigantic structure had begun to close off the entrances and blared sirens to scramble the soldiers into action. The entrances were covered with heavy titanium doors that not even Vegeta's energy blasts could penetrate; much to his frustration.
Loud rumbling sounds in the sky caught Vegeta's attention as Red Ribbon Army bombers began to drop paratroopers into the fenced off compound. The Saiya-jin jumped into the air and began to pick off the soldiers with energy blasts one-by-one as they descended.
Submarines silently rose from the sea behind General Blue and his few remaining men. Blue swam over to the closest sub and unlocked the door to enter. He dropped down into the nautical vehicle and was met by salutes from the soldiers piloting it.
"Sir!" the soldiers clicked their boots and saluted in unison.
"Fire your rockets. All of them!" he instructed.
A soldier walked over to a large computer that housed the parascope screen and dozens of blinking lights. He typed in an access code, and pressed the large, red launch button. The submarine shook slightly as the payload was released from the launchers on the top of the sub.
The group on the beach watched as the missiles erupted from what seemed like nowhere. Without a word, Jaco shot up into the sky and took off toward the incoming rockets. Jaco paused in mid air and shot a kiai at the rockets to knock them off course, but the rocket's speed proved to be too much to be sent back. The inhibited rockets stayed on course and collided with the pale blue alien.
"Jaco!" Krillin yelled from the beach. "No!"
Bulma turned from the explosion and buried her head into Launch's shoulder as Jaco's smoldering body fell into the ocean. Krillin raced off into the water and recovered Jaco's injured body. He lie the unconscious alien down on the beach and pounded on his chest a few times. He placed his ear on Jaco's chest to listen for a heartbeat but quickly sat back up. He turned to Master Roshi. "I hope this doesn't sound insensitive, but I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be listening for. He is an alien after all,"
Before anyone could reply, the group was interrupted by the sound of guns clicking as they were being prepared to fire. The soldiers shoved the barrels of their guns into Master Roshi and Yamcha's backs, and forced them to the ground. General Blue walked through his grouping of soldiers. "Bravo. You fought back more valiantly than I had anticipated," He pointed toward the house and two of his soldiers brought both Bulma, and Launch down onto the beach at gun point.
General Blue began to pace with his hands clasped behind his back. "Now, here's how this is going to work," he began. "You are going to hand over the Dragon Ball and come with us. Because we can't risk another mishap like we had earlier with Colonel Silver, you are all now prisoners of the Red Ribbon Army,"
"We're not going anywhere!" Krillin shouted. He lunged at General Blue's face with a right cross, but the general easily dodged by leaning backward. The soldiers raised their guns at Krillin but were waved off by Blue. "If he wants to become our captive the hard way, I'm all for it,"
General Blue motioned for his soldiers to give him some space, and the soldiers obliged. Blue lowered himself into a fighting stance and beckoned for Krillin to attack. The monk took the invitation and swung a right kick toward Blue's ribs. The general blocked and retaliated with a straight left to Krillin's face. Krillin brushed the punch aside and threw a left uppercut to Blue's jaw. The blow connected, but to Krillin's surprise, Blue kept coming forward. General Blue threw a push kick to Krillin's stomach and knocked him to the ground. Krillin rolled backwards and rushed at Blue with a flurry of punches that failed to connect.
Blue landed with a left cross and followed it up with a right one. He grabbed the back of Krillin's head, and slammed the the monk's head into his knee. Krillin fell forward and landed face first in the dirt. Krillin attempted to stand, but Blue placed his boot on Krillin's back. "Anyone else?"
Yamcha and Master Roshi gritted their teeth and said nothing. Blue kicked Krillin over toward Roshi and smiled. "Thats what I thought," He resumed pacing in front of the group again. "Now which one of you has our Dragon Ball?"
Bulma squeaked with nervousness and dug into a small blue bag that was attached to her hip. She removed the Dragon Ball and rolled it out onto the beach. Blue walked over and picked it up. He rose the magical object above his head and examined it as the bright sunlight gleamed off of its translucent orange surface. "Ah.. the Six-Star Dragon Ball,"
He looked back down at his prisoners and grinned. "I think its time you came with us," The soldiers pressed the barrels of their guns into their captive's backs again and led them to the nearest submarine. Blue pointed at Jaco and had one of his soldiers pick him and and take him along.
Vegeta stood in the cold at the base of the tower with his hot breath rising in front of him. Behind him was a scene of destruction. Soldiers' bodies lay strewn about, and craters pockmarked the battlefield. The Saiya-jin was all but sealed out from the stronghold, but he was determined to find a way in. He looked up and saw a beam of light coming from a small window on the second floor. Vegeta smiled and hovered silently toward the opening. The window was covered in iron bars, but nothing the Saiya-jin prince couldn't handle. He rose his right hand and blasted the barred window apart.
Vegeta made his way through the hole in the wall and planted his feet on the tile floor. The room was bathed in florescent white light that bounced off of pale green walls. Vegeta looked down at the Dragon Radar and it looked like the Dragon Balls were right on top of him. He began to walk toward a sliding metal door, but before he could reach it, the door slid open to reveal a large, hulking man on the other side. The giant had a short, dark red hair on top of his head and wore a dark gray flack jacket with tight, black pants, black gloves and a pair of sunglasses.
"Now what do we have here," Vegeta said, amused.
The giant ducked under the doorframe and entered the room. It moved mechanically into a fighting stance and awaited Vegeta's next move. "Well.. It looks like someone wants to play,"
Red Ribbon Army! This is the first time in Zenkai that two different story lines developing at the same time, which is a lot more fun to write. This story arc has some many different possibilities I'm looking to explore. I can't help but say it has me excited! Let me know what you guys think! I can't wait to get the next one up. If possible, I may get another chapter up before next Thursday. We'll just have to see how it goes. As usual, thanks for reading, all! I hope you're enjoying it as much as I am writing it. Til next time!
