I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the rights to any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.

Chapter 50: Invitation

"Why does this have to be so damn hard?" Lenz asked as she shook with tension.

"Relax, it's similar to how you release ki for the first time. But since you did it by accident, I guess you wouldn't know that. You can do this, but maybe you just don't have the right motivation yet. I was desperate when it happened to me, and occasionally it started to happen whenever I acted recklessly or became very emotional," Verto explained.

"That's confusing! You and Vegeta both taught me to try and control my emotions during battle. Now you say that I shouldn't?"

"Yeah, I know it's basically the opposite, but you might as well get used to something different with this. Look at it as a break from the usual training. It's not like you've followed that advice very well anyway. Once you release and control Psionic energy, you can use it to passively increase your self-control. Just be careful though, it is very easy to lose it again if you become distracted," Verto replied.

Lenz huffed a bit, "Well at least I can say that I won't go off the deep end like you have."

"Uh huh, because that performance the other day sure showed how patient you can be," Verto countered. He caught the punch aimed for his face a split second later, adding his own smirk. It had been about eight days since his match with the stranger Etarb. Ever since then, it was as if a gloomy storm around Verto had cleared out and it was sunny again. Both Lenz and Piccolo had noticed, but hadn't said a word about it. Speaking of the Namek, he was quietly meditating on the side of a nearby hill, catching the conversation easily.

Perhaps that stranger's arrival was more helpful than I thought. Verto is in better spirits than he has been for a while now. He's even stopped trying to access his dormant dark power. There's more hope for him now. Maybe it was just a short phase due to the aftermath of the Zerg and the other occurrences lately. We shall see.

Piccolo was about to resume his concentration when his ears picked up on a new sound. Piccolo turned and glanced towards the orange tinted skies of the west. There, barely detectable, he saw an object moving quickly through the atmosphere, obscured by the sunset. Even with his eyes, Piccolo probably wouldn't have seen it had it not been emitting extreme heat. To anyone else, it would have been considered nothing more than a shooting star. Piccolo would have dismissed it as such if not for the crash into the Earth. Verto and Lenz wouldn't have heard it, but Piccolo did. He immediately scanned the general area for any energy signals. It took a moment before he picked up anything, but sure enough, he did. It was an above average power, but it was far from impressive. Piccolo barely even blinked at the low reading, but still felt slightly compelled to investigate. It didn't feel like this newcomer knew how to hide his or her own energy very well, which gave Piccolo even more reason to feel at ease. He stifled a laugh momentarily, thinking back to when this level of power was a threat; Nappa. He distinctly heard Verto and Lenz heading back to the Capsule house for dinner and decided to look into this one himself. He knew that Verto wouldn't expect him to stick around all the time, so the young Saiyan wouldn't be alarmed. Piccolo stood up and donned his weighted cape before taking off towards the sunset.

He didn't fly nearly as fast as he could have, since he didn't want to alert too many people yet. He still arrived in under five minutes despite this. There, in the midst of a clearing, was a decently sized spider-like ship. Piccolo recognized its design and prepared himself for anything. He only sensed one power signal on board, the same as before. Within a few moments, the ramp dropped down and the one on board came into view. Piccolo was more than a little surprised to see this newcomer's appearance. His hair was a spiky jet-black and standing straight backwards off his head, similar to Vegeta but at a different angle. His face was a tad rough due to some sort of complication that Piccolo assumed must have been several battles. His eyes were an odd orange and brown hybrid color. He was also bearing white armor covering a black jumpsuit. But the most important feature was the tail, which was also black.

A Saiyan? The new Saiyan immediately turned on his scouter, prompting Piccolo to suppress his energy a bit. He was going to remain undetected, but seeing as no one else was there to make contact, he felt up to the job. The Saiyan glanced up and spotted him quickly, but remained calm. Piccolo slowly descended until he was facing him from only a dozen feet away.

"You're a Namek, right?" the Saiyan asked.

"Yes, my name is Piccolo. You're a Saiyan. What is your business here?"

"My name is Fuzai, and I'm only half Saiyan. I'm here as a peaceful emissary for Lord Frost. Specifically, I'm looking for a Super Saiyan with silver hair, I'm told that is quite unusual," Fuzai explained.

Piccolo's stare hardened, "A Saiyan on a peaceful mission on behalf of the son of a galactic tyrant? The mere thought of that is laughable."

"Believe what you want to Namek, I don't really care what you think. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a mission to complete."

"And just what do you intend to do should you find this Super Saiyan you're looking for?" Piccolo asked.

"That is my business Namek. I suggest you stay out of it." Fuzai said as he lifted into the air.

Piccolo blocked his path, "Make use of that scouter and you'll see that you won't bully me around."

Fuzai didn't bother with it, "Am I supposed to feel intimidated by you? You clearly know very little about me or Lord Frost. Now get out of my way!"

"I know more than you think. I'd guess that you are a Rotarian-Saiyan hybrid, seeing as all other pure blood Saiyans are on this planet. Even the prince Vegeta is here," Piccolo pointed out.

"Hmph, what is your point? I could care less about the Saiyans or their prince. I only live for myself and don't care what I have to do to survive," Fuzai snapped back.

"Even if that means following the one who destroyed your people and your planet?" Piccolo pondered.

"I won't say that it doesn't bother me to some extent, but I'm not dumb enough to openly oppose Lord Frost. I'd rather be on the winning side, even if that means I'm going against my own people. My sister was a good example of what not to do," Fuzai replied.

Piccolo smirked, "Your sister eh? Sounds like she inherited the brains of the family."

"Watch yourself, Namek. As for her, it was her own fault that my people were reduced to a few hundred. She betrayed Lord Frost and he punished them for it. I won't do something so foolish as to rebel like many others have!" Fuzai growled.

Piccolo's smirk held, So that's who this is. He's just angry at the galaxy for his personal loss. This should be easy to turn around on him, and then I'll find out what he's really here to do.

"What are you smiling about green man?" Fuzai grumbled, "Last I heard, your planet was torn to pieces by Lord Frieza!"

"No need to remind me. Whatever you're here to do, it can wait. I know someone who would like to meet you first. Would you like me to show you to her? Or do you want to wait here?" Piccolo offered.

"Whatever you're up to, I have no interest. All you're doing is delaying my mission, and I can't have that!" Fuzai claimed.

"Verto, can you sense where I am?" Piccolo called out silently.

"Yeah, why?"

"Come here at once, and bring Lenz along. She'll want to see this if my guess is right!"

Piccolo could already hear Lenz complaining even through Verto's thoughts, "Fine, but this better be worth it. We just sat down to eat!"

"So, Fuzai is it? Can you sense energy levels without the use of a scouter?" Piccolo asked.

"No, but what does that have to do with anything?" Fuzai countered.

"There will be two others here shortly, and one of them is just like the Saiyan you're looking for."

"Fine, but no tricks Namek. You've delayed me long enough!" Fuzai then turned on his heel and went back into the spaceship.

"What's wrong? Ran out of patience already?" Piccolo said in a mocking tone.

"Obviously your people have no need to relieve themselves. That might explain why you're green," Fuzai calmly stated. Piccolo ignored the insult as Fuzai entered the ship. Within a few minutes he was back, a bit perplexed as he turned on his scouter.

"Two incredible powers are on their way here. What is the meaning of this?" he asked.

"You'll see," Piccolo said.

Fuzai grimaced, "If it's a fight you want, I'll have to decline!"

"No it isn't, though that does depend on what you plan to do here. Do not take my words the wrong way. I'm not threatening you, I'm merely curious. As the former Guardian of this planet, I have every right to know what you are doing here," Piccolo warned.

"Hmph, you sure do talk a lot Namek. If my scouter hadn't told me your strength, I wouldn't have minded to remove you from my sight!" Fuzai claimed.

"Don't presume, only weak-minded fools do that on such a regular basis."

Fuzai snarled, "If you don't shut up, I'm gonna…" Fuzai stopped cold when his scouter beeped loudly just before Verto and Lenz dropped in next to Piccolo.

"Alright, what's the emergency?" Verto asked.

"Maybe Piccolo ran out of water, try the lake over there!" Lenz pointed out. Neither of them noticed Fuzai yet, who appeared to be at a loss for words.

"I don't sense anything significant, so what is it?" Verto asked again. Piccolo motioned towards the newcomer, drawing Lenz's wide-eyed stare.

"B-Big Brother?" she asked in a shaky voice. Fuzai was hard to read at first, but it was clear that he was happier to see her than he showed.

"I thought you were killed by Lord Frost?" he asked first. Lenz nodded slightly as a wide smile spread across her face.

Fuzai remained confused, "Then how?" Lenz didn't answer, but did rush forward to embrace the shocked demi-Saiyan.

Verto grinned slightly as he glanced at Piccolo, "I see why you insisted on this, nice call."

Piccolo nodded and responded accordingly, "His motives and mission are still unknown, but for now it's fine."


"…And that's how I came back to life. Thanks to this little guy, I'm much stronger than I was back then!" Lenz boasted as she filled in some of the blanks for her elder brother.

"So the supposed Namekian legend is true after all?" Fuzai asked as he glanced at Verto and Piccolo.

"Only if they trust you enough to warrant using them. And they have to use their own language to even speak a wish. Besides…" Verto explained before he promptly smacked Lenz's backside. This drew a heated glare from Lenz before she tried to continue the subject.

"What was that for?" Lenz shouted.

"Insurance, and you called me little again," Verto smirked.

"You are little!"

"Only in body." Piccolo smirked slightly as it appeared to him that neither Lenz nor Fuzai had caught on to Verto's antic.

"Nice play kid. We'll teach her about trust and suspicion next," he thought out, though Verto didn't answer.

"So, you're still into children, eh sis?" Fuzai laughed.

Lenz blushed, "No! This one is different. Besides, ya gotta start em young or they'll never learn!"

"I guess I'll remember that next time we do a patience drill. I'll probably age a few years before you catch up," Verto said. Lenz grumbled a bit, but said nothing.

Fuzai chuckled lightly before glancing at Piccolo, "So, Namekian, where do you suppose I can find the Super Saiyan I'm looking for?"

"What? It's not me?" Lenz asked. Verto grimaced slightly as Piccolo did the same.

Fuzai's eyes narrowed, "Are you saying you're a Super Saiyan, Lenz?" Lenz promptly built her power up and transformed, nearly blowing Fuzai down with the energy surge just before the scouter exploded. Fuzai stared in wonder as he looked Lenz up and down in pure disbelief of her golden state.

"What? Does my hair look that bad like this?" Lenz asked.

Verto snorted, "I'd say it's a perfect match. Blonde hair, blonde attitude."

"You be quiet!"

"That'll be the day."

"Incredible," Fuzai said as his body trembled.

Lenz powered down with a deep grin of satisfaction, "Yeah, I am awesome!" Verto cleared his throat, drawing her glare again. Piccolo rolled his eyes at this and decided to get back to the point.

"So, would you like to tell us why you're looking for a Super Saiyan with silver hair?" he asked. Verto's eyes were instantly narrowed while Lenz was confused.

"That business is only for that person to know. So until I find him, you will know nothing," Fuzai replied.

"Oh, I know who you mean. We could go…" Lenz stared.

"Lenz!" Verto interrupted.

"What?" she said as she flinched.

"Your mouth overrules your brain, girl!" Piccolo added.

"He's my brother, we can trust him," Lenz argued.

"He works for Frost," Piccolo pointed out.

"Every Rotian-Saiyan does!" Lenz shouted back.

"I understand, I'll find him myself," Fuzai said as he began to lift off. He had barely gone two feet into the air before Verto stopped him.

"No need," he said. The wind kicked up sharply as Verto's powerful aura appeared just as he transformed to Super Mystic within a few seconds before stopping.

Fuzai's eyes were wide, "So you're the one I'm looking for, somehow I expected you to be older."

Verto's eyebrow went up, "Perhaps, but it will suffice for now. Tell me what you want here." Fuzai wasn't sure what to make of this development quite yet.

"Is it just me, or does he look like our younger brother?" Fuzai asked Lenz.

"That's what I said, why do you think I call him little brother?" she said without thinking.

A spark of lightning struck the ground near Verto's feet, "Enough stalling!"

Fuzai stepped back cautiously, "I came here primarily on orders from Lord Frost. He wants to parlay with you on a truce."

"But he wants every Saiyan dead! I heard it from Frost himself!" Lenz remarked.

"Maybe, but rather that's the case or not, why didn't he come here himself if he wants a truce?" Verto countered.

"He likely thought that you and the others would attack him. His reasoning is simple: Coming here and conquering this backwater planet will only hurt the empire both strategically and financially. He is very aware that the combined efforts of the Super Saiyans here could destroy him and so…" Fuzai continued nervously before Verto cut him off.

"So he wants to call a truce to focus on efforts elsewhere I'm guessing. It sounds smart and mutually beneficial, however…" Verto stopped cold for the moment and gave Fuzai a hardened death glare.

"What?"

"Pull that listening device out and shut it off. I won't discuss anything more until you do," Verto warned.

"What? How can you tell if he has one or not?" Lenz asked.

Verto ignored her, "I can sense that you're nervous about something other than me right now, which is not very prudent when you don't know what I'm capable of. If Frost actually does want to discuss a peace treaty, then he will understand." Fuzai sighed and pulled a small button-like device from inside his armor and crushed it in his palm.

"Impressive perception," he complimented.

Verto powered back down to his normal form, "If Frost wants to call a truce, I can only think of two reasons for it. One, it's simply a trick in order to take a few of us out, and that won't work. Two, the more likely case, he's come into conflict with another force and he doesn't think he can win two wars at once. While we aren't officially going after him at all, he has realized that we know exactly where his home base is, and we could strike without much warning."

Lenz stared in wonder at Verto, "Little brother, you can't possibly know…" She stopped talking immediately when Verto's glare shifted to her for a brief second.

"That is correct, multiple bases have been attacked and raided for all supplies in the past few months, though this particular attacker has been seen randomly over the past year and a half. At first we believed them to be the remaining Rotian-Saiyan rebels because of the residual energy detected was Saiyan in nature. But that doesn't appear to be the case," Fuzai said.

"And why is that?" Verto pressed.

"I don't have the fully confirmed details, but it was said that their power signals were in a constant state of flux. I'm afraid I can't give you any more accurate information than that. As for why it couldn't be my people, well there's only about two hundred of us left, and the invaders were said to be very powerful by comparison. Up until just a moment ago, the strongest Rotian didn't exceed a power level of ten thousand."

Lenz looked confused again, "How can there only be two hundred of us left? Most of them were hidden in the military and Frost doesn't know about any other secret bases!"

"Frost found them a few months ago, and either he or Lord Bojack took care of most of the rebels. Anyone with half a brain decided that rebelling wasn't worth extinction. And someone specifically told Frost where all of the bases were anyway, so it was fruitless to resist. I can't say that they've been treated well, but at least they're still alive, right?" Fuzai countered.

"A traitor? Who would do such a thing?" Lenz wondered.

Fuzai hesitated, something that only Lenz missed, "He was probably very desperate."

"I don't doubt that," Verto sneered slightly, "So is that all?"

Fuzai nodded, "That was half of my mission. The other part is escorting you personally to Lord Frost's capitol, where you've been before. Let's go."

"Not so fast, we will not leave until we have discussed all of this with Vegeta and the others," Verto ordered.

"Only the silver-haired Super Saiyan was invited, no one else. There's a limited amount of time I can spend here before we have to leave, otherwise we will miss the shortcut I found to get here and it will take nearly three months to go the long way. This passage won't be open for another year, and it will only take two weeks if we leave now. However, I doubt Lord Frost will mind if my sister and the Namek were to tag along," Fuzai explained.

"Clean out your ears, I said we will discuss this with the others before anyone leaves, including you. I don't care about your shortcut because it may not get used," Verto said a little louder.

"I don't take orders from toddlers," Fuzai replied. Lenz cringed as Verto's death glare came back, and his eyes threatened to flicker from their normal blue state.

"We could do this the hard way, and I think even you understand how that will go. What's it going to be?" Verto asked.

Fuzai sighed heavily, "Fine, lead the way."

"I'll guard your ship so that no one decides to make use of it," Piccolo offered.

"Just don't step inside. There's a security lockout in place. If anyone but me tries to use the ship's computer in any sort of way, the whole ship will blow up!" Fuzai claimed.

Piccolo hid his surprise, "Good to know."


After all three Saiyans tore apart the remaining Capsule food, Verto and Fuzai stared each other down while Lenz told battle stories. Only when she seemed to have had enough and went to bed did either of them speak a word.

"So, you trained my sister to be a Super Saiyan? Has she trained you into her submissive pet yet? It seems like you're well on your way," Fuzai pointed out.

"If you have a problem with me, then spit it out. I'm her teacher because no one else is qualified for it," Verto replied coolly.

"Or she goaded you into it so you could feel her up on a regular basis and get away with it. She likes the attention if you haven't noticed. I know how a teenage Saiyan mind works, those little urges can be difficult to control at first," Fuzai said with a deep grin.

"I'm not quite there yet, at least I don't think so. And at times I wish it were that simple, but it isn't. As far as our unusual arrangement goes, I usually have to pull her ass out of the fire when she gets in over her head," Verto explained.

"I don't see how that can be since everything is over your head. Maybe you should start nursing off of her and see if you can actually get past waist level," Fuzai countered.

"The short jokes are getting old. Besides, she's the one who makes the advances."

"Didn't seem that way earlier, nor did she seem to mind. Most females would have probably killed any idiot that tries to cop a feel like that, but again, she likes attention," Fuzai hinted.

"What's sad is that you can't see what I did. Lenz has a bad habit of saying too much in front of people, rather she trusts them or not. I'll break her off that eventually."

"How did you meet her anyway, did you stumble into the whorehouse? And why are only you qualified to instruct her, surely the all mighty prince Vegeta could have thought of a better teacher?" Fuzai asked in a mocking tone.

"Hmph, I thought you already knew how I met her? As for why only I can train her, it's because of her hidden potential. It's not unique anymore, but only a select few Saiyans can achieve it and use it properly right now."

"I see, and how is that?" Fuzai continued.

"She can tell you that later, though I heard that all Rotian-Saiyans have special talents, what's yours?" Verto asked as he flipped the conversation.

"Mine is…complicated. And I'd have to show you, it's a lot easier than explaining it," Fuzai claimed.

"I can figure things out fairly well if you can't tell. If it's something that powerful, I prefer the verbal way," Verto said.

"To be honest, it works differently with people. Specifically, it only works best when I use it under a certain set of circumstances. It's a mental power that creates a metabolic abnormality in others."

Verto's eyebrow went up, "That probably covers a lot of dangerous ground. What does this abnormality end up doing?"

"It will eventually slow down the target's metabolism while creating a disruption in the biological cycle so to speak. It only takes a couple of seconds to kick in, and the effect is temporary. The actual danger with this ability is minimal."

Verto yawned, "Slows down metabolism while disrupting the cycle…you mean it induces a coma?"

Fuzai smirked slightly, "More or less. The deep state of unconsciousness lasts longer if the target has had a full meal, but I've never been able to make it go more than two full days. Fortunately, I can use it on more than one person at a time as long as I have eye contact for at least five seconds. It may not work for very long on your Namek friend, but it will be enough," Fuzai explained. Verto gasped as he tried to move, but he was only able to lift up about two inches before he sunk down into his chair, eyelids drooping.

"No doubt you've noticed how dizzy and weak you feel now. I suggest you just let it happen, you won't be able to concentrate any energy at this point. Don't worry, you will wake up and you won't be hurt, but I'm afraid it will be too late by then. No matter how strong you are, you are no threat while you're asleep. My apologies, but you gave me no choice," Fuzai said. Verto managed to look Fuzai in the eye once more, shaking as he struggled under the gaze.

"When I wake up, you're fucking dead," he whispered. He slumped down into sleep and barely even twitched after that.

Fuzai snorted at this, "Right. Now for my dear sister."

A/N: Cliffie of doom strikes again! But the Verto-Frost encounter is now in motion, so be happy with that at least!

Next time on DBV: Gohan, Vegeta and Goku find Piccolo unconscious with Verto and Lenz missing. After hearing what happened, they contact Kibito Kai for help. Meanwhile, Verto and Lenz wake up on the ship, heading straight for Frost's base. Verto accepts the eventuality, but not without taking some of his anger out on Fuzai.

WDG: Not sure if it should be classed as an 'invitation', seeing as they're being kidnapped… :P And Fuzai is going down the fast track to great-pain-and-generally-not-feeling-very-whole, I imagine. One thing I wonder is how Bojack fits into this, though that's probably because I missed something in an earlier chapter.

VB: Meh, call it what you want, since when do I name a chapter that says exactly what's going to happen all the time, no fun if I keep doing that. You likely didn't miss anything with the Bojack angle, though it will get some exploration at some point.