(A/N: Sorry for the delay. Things have just been crazy, first with the earthquake- my first- then the hurricane. I do hope everyone is doing ok. The next installment is here. Enjoy.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 25: Time To Fight

Vegeta's head snapped side-to-side, up and down, and diagonal as Guldo proceeded to punch and kick the saiyan prince's head while he was immobilized. Locked in time, there was nothing Vegeta could do to defend himself against Guldo's assault. In fact, he wasn't even aware the attack was taking place at the moment since time itself had stopped.

But as Guldo continued to exert himself, the need to breathe became greater. Unable to hold his breath any longer, he flew a good distance away from Vegeta and let out the breath he had been holding.

As the blast Vegeta had fired off earlier exploded against nothing, the saiyan prince grasped his head, wincing in pain. He suddenly had a headache, and he had no idea why.

Spotting Guldo a short distance away, looking smug, it didn't take long for him to figure it out. "You miserable coward."

The four-eyed toad just laughed. "Don't hate me because my abilities surpass your own."

"Trust me," Vegeta muttered, "that's not why I hate you."

Then he charged. Guldo let out a yelp of surprise as Vegeta's fist came flying at him. "TIME FREEZE!"

When the blow didn't come, he figured he made it in time, but when he cracked his eyes open, they nearly popped out of his head. Vegeta's fist was right there in front of him. A millisecond longer, and he would have had the saiyan's fist smashed into his face.

Stepping back, he grabbed Vegeta's outstretched arm and swung him around. He let go, but Vegeta didn't go flying as he expected.

'Oh, right, gravity is frozen.'

Instead, he jumped up on Vegeta's back and slammed him to the ground where he proceeded to stomp on him. Feeling the need to breathe again, he flew up high and fired an energy blast down at the saiyan prince. The blast exploded and froze as it became locked in time, but Guldo was confident that within the frozen cloud of dust, Vegeta had been blown to pieces.

He breathed out and time began moving again. "That'll teach you to mess with me."

But when the cloud cleared, Vegeta was revealed to be very much alive. He didn't even seem that hurt, if at all. He was more angry than anything as he climbed to his feet.

"Now it's my turn." He grumbled.

Disappearing from the ground, he reappeared in the air beside Guldo.

"Ah! TIME FREE-"

Vegeta's foot collided with him, and Guldo went crashing to the ground. The saiyan prince smirked as the rest of the Ginyu Force looked slightly frustrated.

"Hey, c'mon, Guldo, quit foolin' aroun'!" Recoome shouted.

"Yeah, mate, your making the rest of us look bad!" Jeice added.

Guldo mumbled under his breath as he stood up. He was shocked to see Vegeta right in front of him again.

"Prepare to die, toad!"

"TIME FREEZE!"

Time froze once again. Guldo seemed to realize that he needed a new strategy. So he summoned up his ultimate power and unleashed it upon the frozen saiyan.

'It's time for Guldo's Special!'

He unleashed his attack, and a dark cloud appeared around Vegeta. Smirking triumphantly, he let out his breath and time returned to normal. Though he was no longer frozen in time, Vegeta found himself unable to move.

"What? What is this?"

Guldo laughed. "Yeah, how do you like that? It's my Guldo's Special. Now you can't move."

"Damn you." Vegeta swore. "Do you really think you can hold me prisoner?"

"Struggle all you want, you'll never break free. Not even Lord Frieza would be able to escape that. Now, take this!"

Jumping up, he resumed his previous onslaught with punches, kicks, and energy blasts. This time Vegeta felt each and every one, but was unable to do anything to stop it.

"Big brother!" Tarble cried.

"Come on," said Gohan, "we've got to help!"

They charged towards Vegeta and Guldo, but the large form of Recoome suddenly appeared in their path, shaking his finger at them as if they were misbehaving kids. "Uh, uh, uh. You two be good boys and wait for yer turn."

Vegeta was getting angrier with each blow. This annoying toad was making a complete fool out of him. How was he supposed to fight if he couldn't even move?

"How's it feel to be put back in your place, Vegeta?" Guldo mocked.

Vegeta summoned up all his power. "Why don't you tell me!"

He unleashed his energy in a massive explosion without moving a muscle. Guldo cried out as the blast consumed him. And when the blast died down, Guldo was gone, and so was the immobilizing cloud that had surrounded Vegeta.

"No way!" said Jeice. "He beat Guldo?"

"Even while he was immobilized?" Burter finished.

Recoome blinked, as if something had just happened that he couldn't understand. Like a spoiled child, he turned to his companions and whined. "Hey, Jeice Burter, can he do that? Ain't that cheatin'?"

Burter crossed his arms. "Apparently not. It seems Vegeta found a loophole in Guldo's attack. He couldn't move his body, but he could still control his energy."

"Oh no!" Jeice cried. "How's this going to affect our pose?"

The other Ginyus looked horrified, as if this were the worst tragedy that could ever happen. Quickly they got into position and resumed their poses.

"We are the Ginyu Force!" they shouted.

They remained where they were for a few moments, as if waiting for feedback.

"Aw, man. The cap'n ain't gonna like this." Recoome complained.

"We'll make you pay for this!" Burter swore. He glanced at his companions. "So who's killing who now?"

"Well," said Jeice, "since Guldo is out of the picture, I guess we'll go again to decide who gets Vegeta, then we'll do the others. Ready?"

"Rock, paper, scissor! Tie, go again! Tie, go again! Tie, go again!"

"All righ'!" Recoome cried. "I win, I win!" He turned to Vegeta, grinning. "I hope yer ready to die."

Vegeta just glared at him. Though Guldo had the best abilities of the group, he was also the weakest. Recoome on the other hand, though he wasn't much on brains, was the strongest after the captain himself. This would be when the real fight started.

"Eraser Beam!" Recoome roared, firing a powerful energy blast from his mouth.

Vegeta vanished out of the attack's path and reappeared beside Recoome, delivering a powerful kick to the giant's head. The Ginyu goon went down, dazed, and Vegeta quickly grabbed hold of his feet, spinning Recoome around throwing him. He flew through the air, slamming into a rock wall, only to have Vegeta's knee collide with his chest, followed by a powerful energy blast.

Taking a breather, Vegeta jumped back and let the smoke clear. He was disappointed, though not surprised, to see Recoome on his feet, dusting himself off.

"Hey, not bad, Vegeta." He commented. "That hurt more than I expected. Yer pretty fast too. But let me show you what yer really up against." He glanced at his teammates. "Hey, guys, you migh' wanna step back for this."

"Is he gonna…?" Burter asked.

"Probably." Jeice replied. "He never did know how to hold back."

As the two of them took to the sky, Recoome began striking a series of poses before taking on a stance. "Recoome… Ultra… Fightin'…"

Vegeta didn't let him finish. Instead he fired a Galick Gun attack. Recoome's eyes bulged out just before the attack hit, blasting him straight through the rock wall, causing the entire stone structure to collapse on top of him.

Jeice and Burter were surprised. Vegeta was stronger than they expected. How very interesting.

Glaring down at the pile of rocks, Vegeta scoffed at the fallen mercenary. "That's the problem with you fools. You spend too much time talking and trying to look fancy. If you were smart, you'd just attack."

The pile of rocks exploded and Recoome lunged at Vegeta. His large hands closed around the saiyan prince's throat, bringing him to the ground as he cut off his air supply.

"Thanks for the advice, monkey." He mocked, squeezing Vegeta's throat.

The saiyan prince was unable to pry the giant's hands off of his neck, and instead began slamming his fist into Recoome's side and his knee into his gut. If the blows caused Recoome any pain, he ignored it. In fact, he was laughing as his grip tightened.

"It'll all be over soon." He said, as if talking to a child that had been put on timeout.

As Vegeta's blows became weaker, help came in the form of Gohan as the young saiyan attacked. But his punches and kicks were a mere nuisance. Recoome merely glanced at Gohan in annoyance before letting go of Vegeta's throat with one hand to elbow the young saiyan.

As Gohan went flying, Recoome turned towards Tarble, who was frozen in fear. "Well, aren' you gonna try?"

When Tarble didn't move, Recoome brought his hand to his face, touching his thumb to his nose, and wiggled his fingers at the boy while sticking out his tongue.

"Hey… Recoome…" Vegeta grunted.

When Recoome glanced down at him, Vegeta's fist slammed into his chin, snapping the giant's teeth down on his tongue. With a painful cry, he released Vegeta, covering his own mouth. The saiyan prince was instantly on his feet, breathing heavily as he massaged his throat.

"Ow! Hey!" Recoome whined. "You made me bite my tongue!"

"I'd rather you bite the dust!" Vegeta replied, and began firing a series of energy blasts.

Immediately forgetting his bleeding tongue, Recoome grinned and began swatting away the blasts, laughing all the while. "Ha, ha! This is fun! C'mon, Vegeta, give me a real challenge!"

"Fine then!"

He charged at Recoome, firing energy blasts all the while. With his hands occupied with knocking away the energy blasts, he couldn't react fast enough before Vegeta kicked him square in the face.

Using the impact with Recoome's face, Vegeta pushed off him, jumping straight up. As Recoome nursed his bloody nose, Vegeta fired a powerful energy blast down at him. The explosion was massive, the hole it left greater still, going down so deep that the bottom couldn't be seen.

Vegeta stepped up to the edge of the hole and looked down. Seeing nothing, he tried to sense if Recoome had survived the blast. Gohan too limped over and looked down while Tarble decided to remain at a safe distance away.

"Did you beat him?" Gohan asked, rubbing his sore shoulder.

It wasn't Vegeta that answered, but a voice from deep within the hole. "Recoome… Ultra… Fightin'…"

Vegeta realized what it was a moment too late. "GET BACK!"

"BOMBER!"

The hole lit up and the ground blew open around it from a massive energy blast. In the air, Jeice and Burter stayed out of range while Tarble was able to flee from the blast in time. Vegeta and Gohan were not so lucky. As if caught in a mighty storm, the two were tossed about in the blast.

"Betcha that one hurt." Jeice commented.

As the smoke cleared to reveal a hole several times deeper and larger than it was before, Vegeta forced himself to his feet. The power of the attack surprised him, and left him far more wounded than he would have expected. At least he hadn't fallen in the hole afterwards.

"Where is that overgrown oaf?" he muttered.

Recoome's laughter came from behind him. "Righ' over here, Vegeta." Covered in cuts and bruises, but not even noticing them, Recoome stepped forward. "I think you dropped somethin'." He held up a battered Gohan, holding him by his leg. "One of the last saiyans alive, and he's in my grasp. Don' you wanna save him?"

Vegeta just glared at him. "Hiding behind a child, are you? Coward."

Recoome grinned. "Not quite."

He charged at Vegeta, swinging Gohan like a weapon. Not expecting this, Vegeta received a blow to the head by Recoome swinging the boy at him. When swung Gohan again, but this time Vegeta blocked. Unfortunately, this still meant pain for Gohan as Recoome swung him again and again.

Vegeta swore as the dodged Recoome's so-called weapon. How could he fight back without hurting the boy? Not that he cared about him, he told himself; but as the saiyan prince, it was his duty to see to it that his species survived, and killing one of the last three saiyans didn't exactly fall into that category.

As Recoome swung Gohan again, Vegeta jumped back. This time Recoome threw Gohan at the saiyan prince. Reacting instinctually, Vegeta caught him, then had Recoome slam into him from behind, resulting in him landing right on Gohan.

Laughing, Recoome turned back towards Tarble. "You sure you don' wanna join in?" When he received no reply, he shrugged. "Suit yourself, but feel free to jump in at any time."

"Hey," Burter called down to him, "go easy on the kid, and don't provoke the other one. They belong to us."

"Yeah, yeah." Recoome mumbled, kicking Vegeta on his side off of Gohan. He picked the boy up by his tail, swung him around a few times, then tossed him aside. Looking down at Vegeta, he grinned. "Hey, you still alive?"

He received no reply. Frowning, he reached down and lifted Vegeta's head up by his hair. When he slammed the saiyan's head back down, he heard a painful grunt, making him smile.

"Oh good, you are." He licked his lips, as if he were about to enjoy a tasty treat. "Lets have some more fun."

(A/N: Things aren't looking so good. And this time there's no Goku to come and help. By the way, how did you like Vegeta's 'reason' for not attacking while Recoome had Gohan? It looks like it's all up to Tarble now. Oh, and yes, in case you were wondering, the chapter title did have a double meaning.)