Author's Note: Hee hee hee… Okay, this chapter was… hilarious to write. Especially because of the random conversation I had with my fiancé on the subject matter. "Hey hon? What's it like having a penis?"
Poor guy has to put up with so much…
The reviews I got from the last chapter made me smile. I fully intend to go back and fix up a lot of the sentence structure in it when I'm in more sound and less-stressed of mind. I still don't understand why I had such a hard time with Be a Man when this chapter was much easier to write. I guess because once again, my head wanted to rush ahead to get to chapters twenty-five and twenty-six. I am happy to say that the chapter that I've been saying has been done already is the next one up! I intend to take a day or so to double check a few things, bridge a bit of a gap and then I'll post it up.
So… During a Steam Sale after Thanksgiving, I bought Dragon Ball Xenoverse again and modded the $#%& out of it! Being on PC now I can color any piece of armor I want, AND I can run around with a Saiyan tail. :3 (Plus Steam takes better and easier screenshots than the PS4 in my opinion.)
If you goto imgur and throw /a/tTTtV after the URL, you'll see the new screenshots I added to the Xenoverse Album. And if you want to see some updated sketches, I've added to that album, too:
/a/LYb6G
I've started to draw Par's hair differently. I feel like it's easier to remain consistant when I draw it that way… and I think it suits her! Anyway… I hope your Holidays were merry and your New Year was a happy one! And I hope you enjoy this big, long chapter. I'm very excited for the next.
Chapter Twenty-Five: A Debt Repaid
It took a moment for Parseri to open her eyes. She felt sluggish, disoriented… and very different altogether. It was then that she noticed the two blurry figures in the distance…
Vegeta, and… who was that? And how did Vegeta get over there so quickly? Wasn't she floating right next to him not even a second ago?
Blinking stupidly at the two, Vegeta's floating companion came into sharper view. Short, shaggy black hair that was streaked with that orange hue that was so common to her people… Fiery amber eyes, darting around in confusion… Baggy purple gi badly battle-worn in places… Long brown tail, speckled orange in that familiar, unpleasant manner… and the arm made of titanium- her gift from Dr. Brief. That was her…
That was her! But how…?
Immediately, she felt her heart leap into her throat as she looked down at the body she now inhabited. Hands… but not her hands. Larger, thicker… masculine. Flawless orange gi covered much of her body, complete with blue wristbands and boots.
No…
She flung the foreign hands to her face, clapping them to her cheeks, pinching her nose and running her thick fingers through her hair.
No… no, no, no…
With a mortified gasp, she became very aware that her lower half felt less 'snugly fit' as before. In place of her usual choice of undergarments was a pair of loose shorts… and there was just something there that wasn't there before… Just hanging there… Hanging there and rubbing against her thighs like… She felt like she was going to be sick. With a shuddering cringe, she spread her legs a little wider in an attempt to not feel the grotesque new appendage while floating in mid-air.
Gross… gross… This can't be happening… This is a bad dream…
.~*~.
Across the sky, the current occupant of her body was not having much better of a time…
"Damn it Jeice!" Ginyu's voice roared through Parseri's throat, making Vegeta lurch away in a cold shock. "What the hell were you thinking?!"
"I… I'm sorry, sir!" Jeice stared numbly at his now feminine captain.
"You complete imbecile!" He snapped, "Now because of you I'm stuck in a body even weaker than the last! And with this stupid primitive metal arm and… and…"
The captain's voice trailed off for a moment, glancing down. Blinking, he slowly pulled the fabric of his gi forward to gaze unabashedly at his chest with a crooked smirk. In an instant, that very same captain found himself sprawling and spiraling through the sky after a rock hard fist was rammed into his cheek at a near bone-crushing speed.
Vegeta stared at Kakarrot's body that had appeared swiftly beside him to deck the girl in the side of the head, recoiling in horror when he heard the familiar lilt of Parseri's voice shout from his throat, higher pitched and irate.
"Don't you dare, you dousing wretch! Keep your filthy, body-stealing hands off of mine!"
Wincing, Ginyu, clutched the side of his cheek and fixed her with a smug grin.
"What's the deal?! Not much there to look at, anyw-"
Before he could finish, the captain was given a one-way ticket to the ground below them, courtesy of a very furious Prince of all Saiyans.
.~*~.
Not only had things gone from bad to worse… but they had definitely taken a turn for the strange. Vegeta turned his gaze to the body garbed in orange… The body that he hated with a passion, but now held the soul of his obsession. The poor thing looked like a cross between spitting mad and vomiting from the whole ordeal.
Vegeta jolted as he- she… it… she turned her gaze to him. Through Kakarrot's features, he watched the creature that he had fantasized about for the past few years practically drown in her dismay… and that made him come even closer to blowing a gasket himself.
On one hand, Vegeta knew that the beam had been meant for him and that it was a blessing in disguise that Ginyu was once again trapped in a 'goody-goody' body that would take far more time for him to control than the prince would allow. But on the other hand, that bastard needed to pay for putting Parseri in such a… such an unappealing form.
He lowered his gaze to the ground where he had sent the body-snatching captain, watching him pick himself up, tail waving wildly in an angry manner. As the prince watched the tail's movements, a smirk began to stretch across his face as an idea formed in his mind.
Ginyu wanted a body that was strong… and one that was accustomed to housing a more devious mindset. There was no doubt in his mind that the once-purple bastard would try that trick again… and he was sure he could expedite that thought process easily without damaging the girl's body… too terribly much. But he would need to make sure everything was timed perfectly… He would have to lure the girl close to him before Ginyu attempted to pull his trick off again so she'd be within range, and he would have to make sure Jeice didn't interfere. He turned his gaze to where Krillin and Gohan floated nearby, still trying to wrap their heads around what had just happened.
"Hey! Brat pack!" He snarled up at them as he drifted toward the ground, "Take care of the Lady-Man for a few minutes while I tie up a loose-end."
Goku, Parseri, Krillin and Gohan all blinked at him warily as the Saiyan Prince continued, grinning pointedly at Parseri,
"In the girl's body, I'm sure it'll be that much easier of a fight for you!"
If anything good could have ever come from the mess that he had found himself in… it was the ability to watch Kakarrot's face hold the stupefied expression of being slapped.
"I beg your pardon?!" Parseri shouted, clenching her borrowed fists.
He fixed her with a sly smirk before blasting off toward his target: Jeice.
.~*~.
Parseri was having a horrible day. They couldn't get Shenron to appear, Goku was trapped in a dying body and she was trapped in his! To add insult to injury… Vegeta had the gall to push her buttons even after everything that had happened in such a short time.
"That bastard…" She hissed, trembling with barely contained rage.
"Hah!" The captain himself shouted up at them, breaking her seething train of thought, "Even trapped as the 'lesser gender,' The Great Captain Ginyu isn't going to go down so easily! This form will be more than enough to deal with you pipsqueaks and finish off my old body before I trade up! Prepare yourself…!"
Parseri watched her own body crouch low, listening to Ginyu's voice holler from her own throat,
"…For…!"
He moved forward into a low lunge with his arms spread wide and his fingers splayed evenly,
"…The unconquerable…!"
Finally, he hoisted himself up in a one-handed hand-stand, legs spread into almost a horizontal line, tail shaped in a half circle and his free arm positioned at a perfect ninety-degree angle,
"…Captain… Ginyu!"
The four of them simply stared at him, Parseri covering her face with a large hand.
"Today is a nightmare…"
"Parseri!" She heard Goku's voice calling from the purple monstrosity that he now took the form of, "Your mind and that body will have a much better chance of being in sync than that body-snatcher ever will! Just feel for its energy and let loose!"
With a frown, Parseri closed her eyes. If she listened closely and drowned out all other sound, she could hear the beating of the foreign heart within the body she now resided in.
Badum… Badum…
How could something feel so familiar, yet so alien at the same time…? With a flinch, hybrid continued to listen.
Badum… Badum…
She could hear- no, feel the rhythm of Goku's heart- His very own inner drum. There was something embarrassingly intimate about feeling a heartbeat that wasn't your own.
Badum… Bada-Badum…
She felt the heart skip a beat, eager to reach her… eager for battle. And when Parseri strained her thoughts, she could feel its rhythm begin to merge with her own distant drum. Was the body accepting her? It seemed a small and shy acceptance, but she could feel a pool of potential energy within her… a vast and intimidating lake of power at her disposal if she dare seek it. If she continued to concentrate… perhaps she could draw this strength out, little by little… And maybe even-
Her train of thought was derailed with the slamming of a metal fist into the side of her face. With a surprised cringe, she froze, feeling the cool of titanium on the skin of her cheek. Scowling, she opened her eyes to gaze upon her own body with a low growl.
"That… kind of hurt."
Parseri watched a look of shock wash over the body-snatcher's face before reeling back and hurling a fist of her own into the captain's face. As she watched him plummet to the ground in her body, she marveled at how much force she was able to put into the punch. With a bright grin, she hollered to her friends, pointedly Goku himself.
"C'mon! Let's convince him to return our bodies to us!"
Goku returned her grin as Gohan and Krillin whooped enthusiastically, the two of them shifting into airborne battle stances. Goku gave a curt nod, unable to fight himself as he clutched a clawed hand to his copiously bleeding chest.
"I'm counting on you guys!"
.~*~.
Meanwhile at dizzying heights above them in the sky, the battle between Jeice and Vegeta was turning ugly… and Jeice was losing what little control he had actually had on the fight.
No matter what the soldier did, it seemed to have no lasting effect on the rather resilient Prince of all Saiyans… It made no sense! Vegeta was nowhere near his power level, so why was it getting more difficult to land a hit? And to make matters worse, the bastard was laughing… Laughing at him! He, an elite member of the esteemed Ginyu Force! Jeice, the Red Magma! How dare that space gorilla mock him?!
How dare he?!
"Don't get cocky, you bastard!" Jeice snarled, losing his cool completely, "I'm still a member of the Ginyu Force- the best that this universe has ever seen! You'll never beat me in a million years!"
In a frantic lunge forward, the elite soldier managed to finally land a hard punch to the Saiyan's jaw, making his simian opponent barrel backward in shock.
"Hn. Serves him right, the delusional freak." Jeice thought with a harsh smirk, "Only fitting that I'm the one to put him in his place…"
Or so he thought until he heard a low, sinister chuckle come from the Saiyan's mouth,
"You know, Jeice… If I were capable of pity, I would almost feel sorry for you right now…"
To his horror, Vegeta turned his head to face him again. Jeice could see a small trickle of blood running from the side of his mouth… but he was still sporting that smug smirk that he so hated.
"Wh… what…?"
"I'm stronger than you." He stated simply in a low and gravelly voice, looking him dead in the eye with a cold, obsidian gaze that chilled the Red Magma to the bone. "And you know it, too. No matter how tough you try to sound, I can still hear it in your voice… You're afraid."
Jeice let out a barking laugh that ended up sounding more nervous than anything,
"You're just a delusional tosser, Vegeta. Your power-level is leagues below mine- Always has been!"
"Oh really…" The Saiyan Prince chuckled grimly, "How about you check your precious scouter? We wouldn't want you to make a fool of yourself, now would we?"
Once again Jeice attempted a laugh, this one sounding more confident than the last as he tapped the button on his scouter,
"Oh, right! One look at your power level and I'll be wetting myself, huh? Oh that'll be the day!"
He grinned as the numbers rolled before his eye, knowing that looking at Vegeta's stunted reading would be just the confidence boost he would need to finish the job. It was ridiculous enough that he had lost his nerve already. This was Vegeta! There was no way he was stronger!
10,000… 15,000…
Good, it should start to slow down soon.
20,000… 25,000… 30,000…
That's right. He had grown stronger since we'd last seen him. He was sporting a higher level than his regular 24,000 when he fought Recoome. Nothing to worry about…
35,000… 45,000…
Why wasn't it slowing down?!
55,000… 65,000… 75,000…
Jeice's reddened flesh began to pale as the numbers kept rising. It had already passed his own power level and still it continued to climb without any sign of slowing! When the numbers pushed over one-hundred thousand, he ripped the device from his face, crushing it in his hand with an enraged snarl,
"Gyah! Stupid piece of junk!"
Vegeta let out a howl of laughter,
"Oh don't worry, it wasn't malfunctioning." He grinned devilishly, "You see… I've definitely taken my licks as of late… Over… and over… and every time I've crawled back from the brink I've become more powerful- almost to the point that I scarcely know my own strength anymore. The fact that there's no limit to how strong I can become is frightening even to myself, Jeice… You're not dealing with your average fighter, you know… I belong to an elite warrior class. I represent the pinnacle of my race.
"And at last, it seems I'm truly discovering what that means…" Vegeta continued lowly, enjoying the growing look of terror on his opponent's face, "I'm becoming a Super Saiyan."
At this, Jeice snapped in a voice that sounded higher than usual,
"Don't think making up a wild story will save you!"
Vegeta merely laughed again,
"Oh it's more than a tall tale, I'm afraid. Haven't you heard the old legends? They spoke of the Super Saiyan's ruthlessness and unquenchable thirst for battle..." His eyes glinted malevolently as he spoke in a slow, smug tone, "You see, Jeice… This is where I hold the edge over Kakarrot. He's not the stone cold monster that I am."
"N-no…." Jeice shook his head with a roar, clenching his fists as if he were trying to grasp onto the way of the world he once knew… A world that slipped through his grip like sand. "You lie!"
Across from him, the Prince of all Saiyans cackled heartlessly, looking at him through narrowed eyes and a sardonic grin,
"Do I?"
.~*~.
It was the snarling, animalistic cry that drew their attention before the blinding red light lit up the sky. Parseri, Gohan, Krillin and even Ginyu froze as Jeice threw every bit of energy that he could into a last frantic attempt of an attack.
He threw blast after blast of red hot energy at the Saiyan Prince, once colliding with the other until the explosions grew, expanding at an alarming rate like a chemical reaction and staining the sky a vibrant crimson hue.
But even through all of that, the Prince of all Saiyans remained resilient. As he emerged through the glowing, fiery cloud of Jeice's attack, Vegeta hurled a hard fist into the soldier's face to send him reeling… but he didn't finish there.
The sinister simian quickly followed up with a long, sweeping chop to Jeice's side as if his hand were a sword, shattering his armor and striking his kidney. After the crimson skinned man flipped with the inertia of the blow, coughing and spitting in pain, he opened his eyes…
Jeice could see the ghoulish grin of Vegeta through the splayed fingers of his hand that was positioned mere inches from his face. The thrill of murder… the lust for blood… Jeice saw it all in the prince's evil eyes.
"V-Vegeta…" He croaked softly, horrified. "P-please… Have mercy… I beg y-"
But Jeice would never get to finish his last words… and the rest of the onlookers watched in horror as Jeice dissolved in a white-hot blinding light. When the light faded and the dust cleared, Jeice was no more. The rest of the fighters were silent, staring up at the single man in the sky in shock. It was Goku who spoke first,
"Vegeta, no!" He shouted through the pain in his chest, "You didn't have to go that far!"
The Saiyan Prince cackled down at him,
"Oh that's rich, when right now you're a shining example of where mercy gets you. So you just keep nurturing that bleeding heart of yours, Kakarrot and make way for a real Super Saiyan, because all those soft thoughts are going to do is hold you back!"
Scowling, Parseri opened her mouth to shout up at him when Ginyu growled nearby,
"What…?! So Vegeta's the Super Saiyan now?!"
"Damn it…" The captain hissed inwardly, "I've got to get ahold of that body!"
Fixing Ginyu with a grim smirk, Vegeta zipped from view, appearing right behind him,
"And for my next trick…"
Suddenly, all Ginyu who hear, think and feel was pain. Pain… Pain in the form of Vegeta gripping the captain's stolen tail with a near crushing force. Through the blood rushing to his ears, he could hear the howling, ridiculing laughter,
"Oh what's wrong? Does that hurt?"
Krillin, Gohan and Parseri watched in horrified awe as Goku shouted in pleading tones for him to stop.
"What's that, Ginyu? I can't hear you. Does it hurt?" Vegeta chuckled, gripping the furry appendage tighter near its tip, "How about now? I bet you're regretting taking the body of a Saiyan now, aren't you? Of course… not all of us had left this weakness untrained."
The captain felt his body convulse, tremors of pain wracking every inch of the cursed body he had found himself in until he collapsed… but the prince did not let go. He continued to squeeze harder… and harder until soon Ginyu feared that the thin appendage would shatter in his hands. Ginyu wanted to scream… but found that the pain was so intense he simply couldn't.
"Vegeta, stop!" Parseri cried, earning a malevolent grin over his shoulder.
"Say goodbye to your body, Parseri…" He chuckled cruelly, looking her dead in the eye. "I admit this isn't how I'd wished this scenario be played out, but it can't be helped. What a tragic waste…"
Parseri watched him casually sling her occupied body away from him, her face growing pale as his words echoed in her mind. The distant memory of a nightmare began to surface before her eyes and to her horror, she noticed how similar it felt to the here and now.
.~*~.
"Vegeta, no! Why are you doing this?!"
He didn't answer, but only continued his vile cackling, slowly raising a hand up to her with an evil glint in his eye and a crooked smile. She froze, wide-eyed as a bright blue light began to form in the palm of his hand. The familiar sting of tears burned anew in her eyes, soon feeling them trickle down her face as she choked out,
"N-no… Why?!"
His laughter grew louder and derisive as he hurled the ball of light at her, blasting her through the stomach. Gagging, she began to fall backwards, only to be caught and held up by Vegeta. He kept a hand, supporting her back so she lay limply in his arms and with a twisted smile, he studied her naked and now mangled body.
"Such a tragic waste…" He leered, bending to lick away the blood trickling from her lips. With a grim chuckle, he simply dropped her, letting her body crash to the ground beneath his feet before turning and walking away.
.~*~.
"No!" She shouted as she watched Vegeta slowly raise his hand toward Ginyu who was just climbing to his feet. Parseri scrambled forward in a panic, flying as fast as she could toward him and noticing the flicker of blue energy form in the center of him palm. "Don't do it! Please!"
Gazing up into the sky, Ginyu felt his borrowed heart quicken. He had survived that torturous assault in this obviously flawed body… but it looked like his time was coming to a close soon if he didn't make a move! Shakily, he lifted his arms… He had one shot.
"CHA-A-A-ANGE!"
.~*~.
Vegeta smirked victoriously at how easily everything had come together. The yellow beam of light was surging forward towards him, but Parseri had appeared beside him in Kakarrot's body- right on schedule. As she made a swipe for his attack-primed arm, he let the flickering blue energy fade and grabbed her by the upper arms to yank her in place just in front of him. With a smug grin, he held her there, enjoying the shocked flutter of energy coming off of her as she was struck in the gut by the yellow beam of light.
.~*~.
Once again, Parseri shook her head in slow, sluggish movements, feeling completely disoriented. Through the swimming sensation inside her head, she noted that her left shoulder felt sore and her entire body felt stiff as if it had come under recent strain. When she felt the distant throbbing of a familiar furry appendage, she slowly began to comprehend what recent strain had occurred.
Opening her eyes, she looked down at her hands, smiling as one of flesh and one of metal came into view. The sound of Vegeta's voice met her ears, making her look up to the sky in time to see him utter something into Ginyu's stolen ear before pummeling the body to the ground below. As the body-stealing captain lay stunned several meters from Parseri's feet, she caught the prince's eye.
Vegeta grinned deviously down at her, clearly enjoying the rise he had gotten out of her, resulting in the successful transferring of bodies. With a wincing grin of her own, she let her trembling tail rise and fall into her open hands, still tender from his abuse.
"You didn't have to be so rough, you know…" She called up to him, earning a loud chuckle before he dove toward Ginyu again, delivering a knee to the fallen captain's borrowed chest with a satisfying crunch.
Parseri crossed the battlefield with a wobbling walk, taking extra care to keep clear of the pummeling that Goku's poor body was receiving. By time she reached where her friends floated above, her stride had become more comfortable and she found she was soon able to drift back up into the air to join them. With a careful flinch, she gingerly wrapped her sore tail back around her waist, smiling at Gohan and Krillin.
Goku had drifted clumsily up to them as well, grunting in pain as he clutched a hand to his chest,
"So it is possible to return to your body."
"Yeah… but who knows what condition you'll get your body back in…" Krillin pointed below.
Every blow Vegeta landed on Ginyu was more brutal than the last. Goku watched his occupied body be bashed back and forth like a cat's toy, cringing with every snap and crack of bone that rang out through the air.
"He's…" Gohan shouted in a panic, "He's going to kill Ginyu in your body!"
"Vegeta don't!" Goku cried, "You've made your point!"
But his cries fell upon deaf ears as the Saiyan Prince landed another bone-shattering blow to the captain's ribs… And another to his arm… and another to his leg… and another… and another… drinking in each pained scream in savage glory until at long last he sent the crumpled body spiraling below with a heavy hit to the skull.
.~*~.
Ginyu was getting desperate… Goku could tell as he watched his own body writhe in pain. Hearing Vegeta's victorious crow from overhead, he watched the crippled body closely. He knew that Vegeta had pushed the captain into a corner and that if he was going to make one bold, final move… it would be 'now or never.'
"Time to die, Ginyu!" Vegeta roared with laughter, "You'll have to forgive me for not being interested in any final words."
It happened. It happened so quickly, but Goku was on his guard and ready for it. In a rapid succession of unfolding actions that he was able to follow, he was finally able to make his own move.
Vegeta had begun to plummet fists first toward Ginyu stolen and broken form with every intent on destroying what was left of him. As this happened, the crippled captain shouted in a choked voice, letting the abnormal waves of energy reverberate from his shattered body one last time… or so he hoped.
"CHA-A-A-ANGE!"
"Yes!" Goku crowed, "That's it! Now's my chance!"
And with that, Goku flew as fast as he could push his borrowed, wounded body to speed ahead of the glowing yellow beam. Much like last time he had been struck by it, he felt the air thicken around him, making it harder to breath as he veered right in front of it, blocking Vegeta.
.~*~.
Vegeta had been preparing to swerve away from the beam to land his final blow while his prey was occupied… when a massive purple body flew in front of him. With a jolt of shock, he whirled away, shielding his eyes from the blinding golden light that exploded as it struck the body before him.
Growling, he opened his eyes again in a squint, glaring at the body of Captain Ginyu, who to Vegeta's knowledge was still occupied by his fellow Saiyan.
"What the hell are you doing, Kakarrot?!" He snarled.
But when he looked at the purple creature… he recognized the puzzled look of confusion upon its face. Slowly, the expression changed into a frustrated snarl, glaring down at its own clawed hands… And Vegeta felt a slow smirk slide across his face.
So that was it… Ginyu.
Chuckling lowly, the Saiyan Prince glanced down at Goku's broken form, straining in pain, but grinning proudly all the same.
"Well now… It seems that Kakarrot made it back into his own body… Too bad for him he won't get much use out of it anymore…" His gaze snapped up to Ginyu's with a jeer, "And the same can be said for you, Ginyu. Just give me a few moments to demonstrate…"
.~*~.
Ginyu didn't even have a moment to react as Vegeta began to pummel him into the dirt without abandon… and that suited him just fine.
Blow after blow was delivered to his breaking body… Blue blood was bleeding copiously from his nose and mouth, his left eye was nearly swollen shut, and he was certain his ribs, collarbone and right leg were broken… but still the purple man found reason to smile.
He would find another opening soon… and then he would have control over Vegeta's body, where he would be left broken and useless. As he was hurled upward into the sky by the horns, he chuckled darkly. So what if the other two had gotten their stupid bodies back? None of that would matter in a moment as he stretched his arms out wide, roaring loudly as he fired the long yellow beam toward his Saiyan prey.
"CHA-A-A-ANGE!"
…But Vegeta was wise to his tactics, and with a mocking sneer, he swerved to avoid the beam altogether, allowing it to careen downward towards the ship and those around it… where shouts could be heard as Krillin, Gohan and Parseri lurched away to avoid it.
Damn it…
Ginyu bristled inwardly as he shifted to face Vegeta again, throwing his arms out wide in another attempt to trap him by his odd attack.
But once again Vegeta avoided the beam easily…
And again…
And again…
With each evasion, he would land several bone crunching blows to the captains quickly crumbling body, making it more difficult to continue.
"D-damn it all…" He hissed into the dirt after a particularly nasty hit upside the head that sent him straight into the dusty earth. As he watched the blue blood oozing from his mouth sink into the soil beneath him, his mind whirred frantically.
No matter what he did, Vegeta was avoiding every attempt to steal his body. He had completely lost the element of surprise and his wounds had completely taken speed out of his arsenal. With a wince, he pushed himself up onto an elbow.
…If he couldn't outmaneuver the sly simian into entrapment… he was left with one option: Taking a page out of Guldo's book. After all… who had helped him perfect such a technique?
With a pained roar, Ginyu swung his free arm upward, twisting his torso as much as possible through the agony he was feeling, spreading his palm out toward Vegeta who was speeding in for another deathly attack.
From his fingertips shot waves of golden light, spreading quickly and conically through the air to strike Vegeta before he could evade them. As the Saiyan Prince's eyes widened, Ginyu grinned victoriously up at him.
.~*~.
His muscles felt like stone, quickly becoming stiff and solid and unable to budge a fraction of an inch. Vegeta grunted, straining in desperation as he realized that he couldn't even twitch his jaw, let alone move it to shout. He may as well have been turned to stone, unable to move or even look away from his incoming fate as once more… Ginyu spread his arms wide and opened his mouth to holler up into the sky,
"CHA-A-A-ANGE!"
.~*~.
Goku strained, unable to move an inch of his crumbling body.
"Somebody do something…!" He hissed in pain, "If he takes over Vegeta's body... we're done!"
Gohan, Krillin and Parseri gaped at each other in panic… There was no time! What could they do?!
And that was when Krillin spotted it- A slimy little frog-like creature was hopping merrily along the ground not too far away from them as if it wasn't the end of the world. Acting on impulse, Krillin lurched forward to grasp the slippery amphibian, dropping its squirming body once before he successfully clutched it tightly with both hands.
Snapping his gaze upward, he noticed that the large yellow beam had already erupted from Ginyu's mouth.
"Oh, shi-…!"
.~*~.
Out of the corner of his eye, Vegeta spotted the diminutive monk speeding through the air towards him. He had one fleeting moment to inwardly scoff incredulously at the plucky, yet foolish pipsqueak as his doomed loomed closer and closer.
It was just yards before he was struck where he realized that the monk had hurled something into the beam's path… but before he could make out what it was, he was blinded by the yellow light of what was surely him being transported into Ginyu's useless body…
But after several long moments, the prince noticed that he felt no pain or injury that marred his body. As his aching eyes watered from the flash of light, he moved two gloved hands up to his face to discover two things: This face was truly his own, and he could move once again.
Slowly opening his eyes again, he gazed down at the blurry shapes on the ground until he could make out the purple body of Captain Ginyu, scrambling ridiculously away in a frantic frog-hop. He slid his gaze toward Gohan and Parseri, staring up at him in shock, before his obsidian eyes rested on Krillin… his unlikely savior.
The two glared at each other, uncertain of what to say. Krillin was not a brave man, save for a few brief spurts like his recent spur of the moment idea… and Vegeta could recognize the deep-seeded conflict happening behind his narrowed gaze.
Of course.
And then Vegeta understood... This wasn't an act of charity as it was an act of self-preservation. It was smart on Krillin's part to ensure that Ginyu would not have taken Vegeta's body… but there would have been something more difficult with continuing to live with the knowledge that his life had been spared by an enemy.
Though he certainly hadn't saved the monk's life for his sake… he had still saved him. This was Krillin paying him back in kind… They were square.
And so there were no words that needed to be said after all… Vegeta just nodded, a single, slow and purposeful nod that Krillin returned.
.~*~.
As they joined the others on the ground, they were met with the pained chuckle of Goku, grinning up at his bald friend,
"I dunno what you did… but whatever it was, it worked."
"Heh heh…" Krillin scratched the back of his neck with a soft chuckle, "Well, I didn't think it would actually work, but I can have the occasional idea up my sleeve too, y'know…"
"Speaking of which," The Earthlings tensed up as Vegeta took a few steps closer to them, arms folded and watching Krillin with a calculating stare, "what happened to Ginyu?"
A slow grin spread across the monk's face as he turned his gaze to the side,
"I think Par's got the right idea." He pointed to the hybrid crouching with her back to them not far away, her tail waving slowly in amusement, "See that little alien frog-lookin'-thing over there? That'll be Ginyu."
"What?!" Vegeta snapped his gaze over to where Parseri was poking the slimy amphibian, her body shaking in a fit of giggles. With a smirk, the dark prince padded softly to her side, staring down at her and the frog with equal amusement as she continued to prod the helpless pest into hopping around in an attempt at escaping.
"Not so scary anymore, are you?" She half-snickered, half-cooed. As the terrified creature hopped forward again with a croaking squeal, she crept after it to poke it again.
"That's almost sad enough to keep me from squishing you!" Vegeta cackled, advancing on the poor amphibian with a cool stride. In mere seconds, he had the frog trapped beneath his boot with a devilish grin, "…Almost…"
"Don't!" Parseri leapt to her feet, tugging at Vegeta's arm with laughter still in her voice, "Isn't being stuck like that punishment enough?"
Vegeta froze at her touch, cutting her a glance out of the corner of his eye. Her face was brightly decorated with a wide smile, her voice lighter with laughter… That clenching feeling within his chest was back, damn her…
Still gripping the fabric of his sleeve with one hand, she hunched forward slightly, clutching her stomach as she dissolved into another fit of giggles.
"A… f-frog…" She laughed loudly enough for Krillin to hear, who was helping Gohan pull his father to his feet, "You t-trapped him inside of a frog!"
Behind him, he could hear laughter burst from the others- even through Goku's strained lungs. Beneath his boot, he noticed that Ginyu the Frog had begun to flail wildly at a comical level, making his usual smirk reappear on his face.
"Very well… I guess I'll spare you… But only because I find the thought of you flopping around like that amusing."
To Parseri's relief, he lifted his boot from the small, squirming critter, allowing it to hop madly away to freedom. Finally releasing her hold on Vegeta's sleeve, she clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle another oncoming fit of snickering. As the frog faded from their line of sight, she turned to look at Vegeta… and quickly wiped the bright smile off of her face.
He was staring at her, his expression hard and calculating, eyes roving over her entire form as if he was taking in every detail… She watched his gaze flit to her tail… rising to her shoulder… resting on her face... paying particular attention to her left and right cheek. It was then she understood that he was assessing her for damage.
"I… I'm fine…" She mumbled, backing away slightly.
The smirk was back with a light scoff, and he opened his mouth to say something before they were interrupted by a guttural groan from nearby.
Krillin and Gohan were barely supporting the towering form of Goku on their shoulders, who was cringing in agony with every breath. At this, Vegeta's smirk grew into a sinister grin as he stepped forward.
"Dad…!" Gohan murmured in concern, trying to grip him as gently as possible.
"Tell me you've got at least one Senzu Bean left, Goku…" Krillin frowned at him, trying to keep him propped up.
"Sorry…" Goku cringed with a strained chuckle, "I'm all out."
"Well, well…" Vegeta chuckled lowly as he stood before them, "There's really nothing standing between you and utter annihilation anymore, is there?"
"Wait, what?!" Gohan stared up at him in shock as the prince took a step closer.
"You…" Krillin growled, "You bastard!"
Vegeta simply laughed again, even as Parseri stepped in front of him. Spreading her arms wide, she took the familiar stance of shielding her friends from him.
"You know, Parseri," He tilted his head to the side as he hummed in amusement, "This is really turning into a bad habit of yours isn't it? How much have you lost at the cost of protecting these Earthlings?"
She hissed angrily, opening her mouth to reply when Goku's pained voice spoke from behind.
"Don't… let him rile you up…" He chuckled in a raspy voice, "He won't do anything to us. Not just yet…"
The prince gave a barking laugh, folding his arms over his chest as he responded,
"Well Kakarrot, you're more clever than you look. Indeed I won't… not until the Dragon Balls have been unlocked at the very least… And beyond that, your strength may actually be of some use to me in my fight against Frieza."
Krillin, Gohan and Parseri stared at him warily, unknowing of how to respond. Their eyes followed him as the Saiyan Prince moved past them, walking with purposeful strides as he called over his shoulder,
"Follow me. We're going inside."
"What?! Why the hell should we go anywhere with you?!" Krillin snapped, distrust dripping from his voice.
"I'm going to treat his wounds, you idiot…" The prince snapped back, "But feel free to waste away out here, if you prefer…"
The three of them watched Vegeta drift up into the air, heading for an entrance atop Frieza's ship while Goku struggled to remain conscious. Noting this, Gohan murmured to Krillin that they had little choice but to follow.
Parseri stared up at the ship with a cold numbness spreading throughout her body. There it was… the place that she never hoped to return to in her darkest nightmares and here she was, preparing to willingly follow her former captor inside. In a strange roundabout way, Vegeta had kept the threatening promise he had made to her some years ago…
He had found her, and he had brought her back... just like he said he would.