Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball/Z/GT.
Author's Note: Heyyy! Sorry for the wait! But hey, at least it's not four years, right? Riiiiight? Heh heh… yeah.
Anywho. I ran into a bit of weird writer's block during this transitional chapter, but I think I like how it ended up turning out. The next chapter might be awhile as well. Renaissance Faire season is over now, but we're going to be moving across town in a couple weeks and Final Fantaxy XIV: Heavensward will be coming out next month… I can't promise I'm not going to be glued to that.
But I can promise to gradually work on the next chapter when I can, which will be a fun chapter to write, I think. My main problem with writing is that I tend to write different parts all over the timeline and gradually work them all together, so being distracting by future chapters also delayed this one, but I hope that isn't so much of the case with Chapter 22! I hope you like Chapter 21 in the meantime and thank you for sticking with me!
Chapter Twenty-One: Another Game
"Oh hello, Vegeta." The large, purple brute chuckled, quickly followed by the laughter of his compatriots.
"D-damn it…" The Saiyan prince growled angrily, "So close…"
"Now stop me if I'm wrong…" He continued, "But that wouldn't happen to be a Dragon Ball you've got safely tucked under your arm, would it?"
A larger member of the group turned slowly with a lop-sided grin to gaze behind him.
"And lookie here… five more, just ripe for the taking. Convenient, eh?"
His gaze landed on Parseri, who trembled on the spot. She swallowed a thick lump in her throat, her twitching brows furrowing together in an attempt to look threatening as she placed herself protectively in front of the five Balls in the fissure.
"And with the one that bald guy is holding makes seven. Well… if it isn't our lucky day." The horned man with purple bumpy flesh folded his arms over his chest with a sinister grin. He too turned to glance behind him, turning fully when he spotted the half-Saiyan standing in front of the Dragon Balls, tail waving wildly in fright.
"And who is this?" He chuckled in grim amusement, "I didn't think there were any Saiyans left after the planet's destruction besides the Good Prince here, Baldy and the guy who could have been better acquainted with a hairbrush… Yet here you stand…" He looked over her slight frame with a smirk, "…a girl. Either that or a really scrawny, pretty-faced boy. Hard to tell under all those baggy clothes… So what do you say, Vegeta?" He called over his shoulder, much to the amusement of the other four soldiers, "Are you a ladies' man after-all, or is Jeice here going to owe me money? I'm assuming this one here is yours."
Before Vegeta could snarl his response, Parseri snapped with a hiss, her face flushing hotly,
"Don't insinuate anything, you big purple bastard!"
The man crowed with laughter as he turned his attention back onto her,
"Ah, the lilting voice of femininity, it is."
"Told ya it was too obvious to be true, captain." A red-skinned man with long, bushy white hair nudged the horned one, "Pay up."
The Captain pulled a small pouch from inside his armor with a sigh, "And here I thought that he and the bald one were a thing. But a bet's a bet, Jeice… and a Captain always keeps his word."
"Alright!" The red-skinned man named Jeice crowed victoriously as the pouch was tossed into his waiting hands. "This'll buy more than a few bonbons!"
"Now…" The Captain turned to face Vegeta and the others again, "The Dragon Balls… You'll be handing them over now, yes? If you just do as you're told, you have my word that your deaths will be quick and painless."
Vegeta gripped the ball in his hands tighter reflexively, gazing down at his reflection in its gleaming surface. Suddenly, a dark grin spread across his face as he lifted his gaze to his foes.
"Those new top of the line scouters you're wearing… They can't sense Dragon Balls, can they?"
"Heh." The purple captain scoffed, "So what if they don't?"
"Then you lose!" Vegeta roared, leaping into the air to twist around and hurl the Dragon Ball in his hands off into the distance. Parseri craned her neck to peer at what was going on, receiving a small shock when the tall blue man seemed to disappear from view one moment, and reappeared again the next with a Dragon Ball in hand- the very same Dragon Ball that had just disappeared into the horizon.
"Welcome back." The Captain chuckled.
"Got it." The tall, blue-skinned man grinned as he held the Dragon Ball aloft in one hand.
"What?!" Vegeta snarled, whirling around in anger as Krillin and Gohan stared in shock.
"You shouldn't be so surprised…" The purple-skinned captain clapped a hand onto the man's shoulder, "Burter here is the fastest in the universe after all… There's no one in the galaxy that could pull the wool over his eyes… least of all you and that poor stunt you just pulled."
The man named Burter stood proudly like a child being praised by his teacher at the front of the class, his red eyes gleaming with pride.
"Now for the other one…" A smirk slid across his purple face as his gaze fell onto Krillin.
"Destroy it!" Vegeta roared over his shoulder at the monk, who cursed loudly, swinging his fist down as hard as he could onto the Ball…
…Or at least he tried before it disappeared into thin air.
"Wh-wha… Where did it…?!" Gohan stammered.
Krillin gazed up in shock, staring at the shortest of the group who now held the Dragon Ball in his small, stubby hands. The large, purple man tsked loudly with a shake of his head.
"Vegeta, Vegeta…" He drawled with a mocking tone of disappointment, "I don't think your friends even know who they're dealing with. Rude of you to not fill them in… Didn't you tell them that Guldo here can manipulate time through psychosis?"
Parseri stammered vowels in disbelief at what had transpired. If they had this sort of speed and ability… what chance did they have?
"Allow us to properly introduce ourselves. Boys?!" He hollered, the men around him falling into line in immediate response to his barked order. Parseri yelped as the second largest of the group with the tuft of reddish hair once more turned to her, snatching her up by the collar as he chuckled in a deep rumbling voice,
"Y'better get a better seat or you'll miss the show."
The dopey-looking man hurled her across the field with a roar of laughter at her alarmed scream.
"Parseri!" Krillin leapt up to catch her, but the force of the throw was enough to knock him out of the sky with her body and land them in a tangle of limbs on the ground.
"Oww…" Parseri winced; untangling herself from Krillin's groaning body. An annoyed hiss from above made her glance up to find Vegeta standing over them. In a split second, he gripped her by her upper-mechanical arm and pulled her roughly from the ground.
"Get up, you little fool." He snarled, steadying her on her feet. With a growl, she yanked her arm away from him.
"What!" She snapped up at him, "It's not like it's my fault I was chucked across a field! What was I supposed to do?"
"Tch." He scoffed, averting his gaze from her as the men before them began to hoot and dance. A silence fell across the unlikely alliance as they watched the rather odd scene unfold before them.
They were marching in place, knees and elbows high as they continued to hoot and chant. Suddenly, the large hulking man who had thrown Parseri crouched, spread his feet wide apart as he thrust his arms up at a forty-five degree angle in one of the strangest poses they had ever seen.
"Recoome!" He bellowed.
They blinked in complete dumbstruck awe, unsure of how to react.
Next, the blue man named Burter grunted, assuming an identical, but mirrored pose as his teammate, shouting his name as well,
"Burter!"
"U-uhm… Vegeta?" Parseri leaned toward him, earning a raised brow as a response, "A-are… are they Frieza's dancers? Like… the Fire Dancers?"
"No…" Vegeta grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose, "They're just…"
He trailed off as the strange display continued with a screech from the man with red skin, whirling and whipping his hair around before dropping into a kneeling position. As he thrust his arms into the air to form a 'V', he shouted,
"Jeice!"
The small, frog-like man was next. He didn't crouch, but remained standing so that he would be at the same height as Jeice's kneeling form, thrusting his hands into the air in the same pose.
"Guldo!"
The Captain stood in the middle of his group with his back to his opponents. When his turn had come, he flung his arms out wide and bending forward at the waist as if he were pretending to be an airplane. He remained in this position for several long moments, showing his backside to them with a roar of pride.
"U-uh…" Krillin stammered, his brow twitching involuntarily, "What is he-"
His purple face appeared between his legs, roaring his name with his hands splayed in the air beside his head.
"Ginyu!"
Parseri's face flushed at the display, pressing her fingers against her mouth and turning away in an attempt to muffle a sputtering laugh. This earned an amused smirk from Vegeta, quirking a brow as he glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes.
"All of us together! We're-"
Each member shifted to make a seemingly random pose, though each pose seemed to fit together as a whole.
"The Ginyu Force!"
The team remained silent as statues, frozen in their epic poses for a very long, uncomfortable span of time.
Krillin felt his forehead begin to sweat, blinking stupidly across the field,
"What… are they doing?"
"Do you think they're trying some kind of ultimate attack with that pose?" Gohan murmured.
"I dunno… I don't really sense any kind of energy that would indicate anything like that, do you?" Parseri answered in a whisper, "Are you sure they're not dancers? They're certainly not… normal warriors…"
She glanced at Vegeta, who kept his gaze forward. She caught the side of his mouth give an involuntary twitch as if he was trying not to smile at her comment before grunting irritably, "No, they're not. They're just… idiots."
Krillin, Gohan and Parseri each jumped in alarm as the Ginyu Force made the sudden movement to shift from their ridiculous poses, standing upright again.
"Well! Now that we have the formalities out of the way, how's about we get started? What do you think, boys? Let's show our new friends here a good time." Ginyu smirked, eying the four of them across the field.
"And when he says a good time," Jeice piped in eagerly, "he doesn't mean we're gonna play pretty princess dress-up time and braid each other's hair… He means we're gonna murder ya!"
Jeice received a smack upside the back of his head by his captain with a growl,
"Damn it, Jeice. You don't need to spell things like that out!"
.~*~.
"So what now…?" Krillin scowled up at Vegeta, "Are we really gonna fight these guys?"
"Well it's obvious we can't outrun them if you haven't noticed that already." Vegeta growled irritably, "We aren't left with much of a choice, so we may as well stand together on this one."
"Together?" Gohan blinked up at the Saiyan.
"What- you didn't hear me?" He snapped, "Yes, together. After seeing the three of you fight on Earth, I doubt you'll be worth much… but at least it's better than nothing."
Vegeta paused for a moment before snapping down at Gohan again,
"Is it really true that Kakarrot didn't come here with you?"
"Yes. I was telling you the truth when I said we didn't bring him." Gohan scowled warily up at him.
"Damn it." The prince cursed, clenching his fists angrily, "This isn't going to end pretty with just the four of us… As much as I can't stand that bastard, we need him here!"
Once again taken aback by the prospect of the uneasy alliance she had found herself in, Parseri mumbled tentatively, making him snap his burning gaze onto her,
"A-ah, well… He's on his way, though… He'll be here soon."
He stared at her in silence for a few moments as he digested her words, snarling in hushed tones as he averted his gaze back across the field.
"Soon isn't good enough."
.~*~.
Across the field, Ginyu smirked at the small group of fighters before turning to his men,
"I'll take care of Vegeta… the rest of you can decide who gets the rest."
The Captain was met with an immediate roar of incredulous disapproval. Their soon-to-be victims stood rigid and tense, listening to the soldiers whine and complain about not getting their chance at the big game. Finally the purple-skinned leader lifted a hand with a smile and a sigh,
"Alright, alright. How's about I take these Balls to Frieza, and the rest of your play Rock-Paper-Scissors to decide who gets what? Aren't I nice?"
The rest of the Force pumped the air in rambunctious enthusiasm. Their reactions were like a fine drink that their Captain gladly drank up,
"Who's the greatest captain in the universe?!" He roared with them, grinning with pride when they bleated his name in response.
.~*~.
"Huh…" Krillin murmured as be blinked at the four warriors across the field, throwing hand signs in the center of their group, "I guess the game's universal."
"This is just some sick game to them…" Parseri growled lowly before whipping her head to the side and scowling at Vegeta, "What is wrong with you people?!"
Taken aback by her sudden verbal assault, Vegeta snapped back at her.
"Wha-?! What do you mean, you people?! I'm not with them!" He thrust a finger forward to point across the field at their opponents.
"Yeah, but you did the same thing to us on Earth!" She countered.
"Listen, you little-" He stepped forward menacingly, hackles raised. Before he could say another word however, a victorious roar interrupted the makings of their spat before it fully matured.
"Yeah, alright!" Jeice pumped the air with a smug grin, "I get Vegeta! I've been waiting for this."
"I guess I get the consolation prize…" Guldo grumbled irritably, glaring up at Recoome with all four eyes as he crouched down to pat the frog-like man on his shoulder.
"Aw, don't be upset, Guldo…" Recoome drawled, "You get both of the squirts. That way it won't be over too quickly."
"Not like your prize, Recoome." Jeice snickered as his eyes slid across the field to rest on Parseri, "That little filly looks about as strong as a toothpick. You'll have to be extra careful if you want to have any fun with your fight."
The dense giant only guffawed in amusement at his comrade's comment whilst the four soon-to-be victims trembled across the field.
Krillin, Gohan and Parseri looked pale, quivering in fear at what was to come.
"Wh-what… What will we do?" Parseri whispered frantically, "These guys are crazy!"
"We fight." Vegeta hissed, shaking with fury, "What other option is there at this point?"
He turned to Krillin as Guldo took his first steps into the battlefield.
"Hey you, get over here. It looks like you two are up first."
Ignoring the mocking coos from across the field, the three of them gathered around Vegeta as he spoke in a low, rushed tone.
"Don't let that little freak fool you with his power. His energy may be low, but his psychic abilities are nothing to be trifled with. So keep your guard up and don't just rush in."
"R-right." Krillin glared warily up at him, still not used to someone like Vegeta doling out battle advice. He looked down at Gohan, brows furrowed in determination, "You ready?"
The child nodded in response.
"Remember our image training on the ship." Krillin murmured as they stepped forward into the field, "We've got this."
"I did that training, too…" Parseri muttered bitterly to herself, "How come I don't get to team up?"
Out of the corner of his eye, Vegeta watched her pout and kick at a piece of gravel in interest. Her disappointment in not being able to join her comrades in battle seemed rather odd to him… She had never shown any hint of wanting to fight anyone before- At least not in his presence that he could remember.
He turned his gaze back to the battlefield with a light smirk. If whatever training she had received in his absence brought that Saiyan quality out of her, then perhaps it wasn't a waste after all. She was hesitant and still afraid of many things, yes, but the will to fight was there.
As Krillin and Gohan unleashed their power, Vegeta found himself just as shocked as the Ginyu Force. Their power seemed to be sky-rocketing well beyond anything he remembered them being capable of when they met on Earth. But how could they have improved so quickly?
Beside him, Parseri was leaping into the air and cheering happily. He gazed at her warily for a moment as she watched her two friends rocket into the air faster than their froggy-faced opponent could follow, hurling enormous blasts of ki down onto him.
He remembered the bald one mentioning a power-up of sorts when he insisted on Parseri visiting the 'Grand Elder.' Had all three of them received such an increase of strength? He inwardly cursed himself for not checking into the matter while he had the chance and made a mental note to find that mountain again if there was time… if he lived through this.
.~*~.
Random explosions rained down from the sky, each of them seeming to miss their target by several yards. Guldo seemed to be using his ability to stop time to narrowly evade each attack. Panting and out of breath, he scampered to and fro, popping in and out of the air after stopping time.
"Awesome!" Parseri whooped, throwing a fist in the air. She whipped her head to the side to beam happily at Vegeta, who froze as he stood beside her. He flinched, feeling an odd, familiar clench in his stomach at the light of excitement in her eyes- a happiness that was so rarely directed at him while he was awake.
"They've got him on the run!" She clenched her fists enthusiastically, "We've got this in the bag!"
That clenching feeling in his gut tightened and crept up into his chest as his cheeks flushed lightly. It was too much for him to look at her while she was smiling like an idiot, so he snapped his gaze away to focus on the fight on the field. It was then that the tables began to turn…
Guldo let out a screeching howl throwing his hands up into the air in what somewhat resembled what Parseri had learned to be called a 'praying mantis' on Earth. A strange, eerie aura shifted through the air, making it feel thicker than normal. Something was wrong…
Flinching, Parseri lifted her gaze to the sky where her two friends hung in the air, enveloped in a purple, inky ethereal cloud. They looked as though they were straining with all their might to move, but to no avail… They were paralyzed in mid-air.
"Fools…" Vegeta snarled, making Parseri snap her attention back onto him, "Didn't I warn them not to go barreling in?!"
"Wha… But what is-" She began to ask, halting when she witnessed a tall tree being pulled from its roots, lifting into the air under the close supervision of Guldo.
He curved his hands, waving them to and fro in the air as if he were a potter at a wheel. Branches and bark were shaved from the tree, quickly filing each end into a deadly pointed tip.
"Oh nooo…" Guldo cooed in amusement, "Here comes a big scary stick! You'd better move out of the way or this is going to hurt!"
Redoubling their efforts did nothing as Krillin and Gohan cringed, trying to move even an inch. The jagged trunk rose into the air as the frog-like man howled with laughter.
"Come on, it's not even moving fast! Are you telling me that you can't even dodge something like this?"
As the trunk coasted leisurely towards her friends, Parseri lurched forward with a shout,
"Krillin! Gohan!"
She had to get to them and help them somehow… Maybe knock the tree away? Move them herself? Distract Guldo? She had to try something-
A strong hand gripped her around the metal of her upper arm, pulling her back.
"Stay back, you little fool." Vegeta hissed at her, fixing her with a stony glare.
She immediately struggled against him, trying to wrench her arm from his grasp.
"No!" She cried, "I have to do something or they'll die!"
He snapped angrily, giving her an extra yank to keep her rooted beside him,
"Do you want to die? If you go out there, you're just going to meet the same fate as those idiots! It's their own damn fault for not heeding my warning."
Guldo reared back, psychically hurling the trunk through the sky and sending it sailed straight toward where Krillin was still pinned, immovable in the air.
Parseri let out a wailing scream of horror, her struggles renewed in full force,
"Please let me go! Let me help them!"
In the split seconds of time from the throwing of the tree trunk to what had happened next, several things happened in rapid succession:
Still holding her roughly by her bionic arm, Vegeta spared a brief glance at Parseri's face. Pure authentic terror and loss were written all over it, shining in her eyes as they remained glued on her friends and their useless endeavor to break free of the psychic hold they were under. Once again, that familiar, gut-wrenching feeling took hold of him in the pit of his stomach.
He hadn't minded when she was afraid before… when she was afraid of him. In fact, he had often found that quite amusing. But when that fear was directed at something else, much like it was all those years ago with Dodoria, it caught him off-guard. He didn't like how it made him feel, to be honest… even if he couldn't put his finger on exactly how it made him feel.
What a bother…
With an annoyed growl, he threw her backwards as he sprinted forward into the fray. She might have spotted the fleeting glimpse of his retreating form before he made his next move.
The Prince of all Saiyans appeared behind the stubby little green man, swinging his arm in a blade-like fashion across the fat of his neck…
…completely severing Guldo's head clean from his body.
The psychic hold on Krillin and Gohan had all but dissolved, and not a moment too soon as Krillin was able to duck away from the jagged end of the tree that hurtled toward him.
All was quiet but the soft footfalls of Vegeta's boot clad feet and the grunting of Guldo's severed head that lay in a bleeding heap on the ground.
All eyes were on the Saiyan Prince as he casually approached the twitching head.
"N-nngh… No fair, Vegeta…" Guldo's head growled, "This fight was supposed to be against me and those little runts."
"I don't remember agreeing to your little rules, do you?" Vegeta chuckled darkly, "You left yourself wide open."
"I can't believe it's come to this…" The four-eyed head hissed, his voice strained, "To think that I'd be taken out by a lowly monkey freak like you… It's disgusting. Embarrassing."
"Hn." Vegeta scoffed with a devilish grin as he lifted his hand in a lazy fashion, "Don't worry… You won't have to feel that way for very long."
Guldo didn't even get the chance to gasp in shock as Vegeta blasted him away with an effortless fiery flash of light.
.~*~.
As the remaining members of the Ginyu Force brayed in disbelief at the prospect of having to redo their entire pose lineup, Krillin, Gohan and Parseri cautiously approached Vegeta.
"I have to admit," Krillin furrowed his brows at the Saiyan, "I never thought I'd ever be saved by somebody like you, Vegeta…"
"Thank you." Gohan smiled gratefully up at him.
"Khh…" Vegeta scoffed irritably, "Don't be stupid. I saw an opening to rid myself of that fat blob of a frog and I took it- nothing more. I could care less if you live or die, so don't get any ideas."
As Krillin and Gohan glanced at each other with a shrug, Parseri's gaze caught the Prince's eye. She observed him quietly, eyes narrowed in thought as she studied the recent memory of what had just happened and compared it to his behavior now. He watched a tiny smile curl across her lips as her brows remained furrowed in suspicion.
With a low growl, he turned sharply so that he faced away from the group and scowled out across the field,
"Just keep your guard up… The real hell is about to begin…" He grumbled.
With his back to them, Parseri could no longer see his face… but with a squint of her eye, she could just make out the tinge of red at the tops of his ears. She bit back a soft giggle, but was unable to stop the warm smile that stretched widely across her face.
Thank you, Vegeta…
"Hmm? You sure look happy, Par." Krillin blinked up at her, turning her attention to him, "What's with the big smile?"
"Oh." She grinned down at him, sparing one more fleeting glance at the back of the Saiyan Prince before continuing, "I'm just glad that you're both alright, is all."
The three shared a smile and a chuckle while the Ginyu Force across the field quarreled over who would fight next.
Their victory may have been fleeting… but they sincerely hoped that they were on a roll. Parseri had faith that somehow they were going to make it through.