"Lord Slug, I am happy to say that our mission was a success, my spawn proved useful in gathering the Dragon Balls." Baachi Sr. remarked, through gritted teeth.
Junior watched in silent fear, as Lord Slug towered over his kneeling father. He didn't need the connection to Baachi Sr. to tell that he was afraid. Slug's face twisted into a hellish grin, as he walked past Sr., straight to Jr., and lifted him high enough into the air, so that they were face-to-face. He opened his eyes wide and smiled even more expansive.
"Thank you!" He said in Namekian, letting the boy fall to the ground. He turned from the Baachi's and his servants to gaze out of the spacecraft. "You have both proven yourselves useful, and for that I reward you…..your lives!" He said cackling. Beams erupted from his eyes and pierced his three subordinates who had laughed along with him. Their bodies landed on the ground with a thud, smoke pouring out the holes that ended them. "Grunt, dispose of the bodies!" Slug belted at one of the pirates.
"Who me?" The pirate asked in fear as he looked over to Honbo and Baachi. Before he could get a response, his body crumbled to the ground, wafting up a scent of burning flesh. Honbo gagged.
"I said, Grunt, dispose of the bodies!" Slug yelled in frustration, his eyes glowing with energy. Honbo and his last three crewmates, ran and dragged the bodies off to the furnace room. Slug smiled and turned to the Baachi's, "Now then join me in the war room, for the announcement." He lumbered off, and the two followed him, not wanting to invoke his wrath.
Jr. looked over to his father, and saw a look of dread and anger across his thought back to what Sr. said when he captured him, and wondered just what Sr. was hoping to accomplish by helping Slug. It didn't seem that his father even knew what he was doing, and, if his instinct was correct, he was way out of his depth in trying to deal with this Lord Slug.
They entered the war room, and were greeted by hundreds of soldiers standing at attention, waiting for Slug to speak. Lord Slug's elite officers were all standing at the balcony already, waiting for their leader to speak.
Baachi Jr. looked down at the sea of soldiers, then over to his father. A quick grin flashed over Sr. 's face for a brief second. I want this. Jr. could read the words all over that expression. His aura radiated a lust for power. There was hardly any trace of the Namekian he once was. Slug's words shook Jr. out of his daydream.
"Thanks to my new commanding officer, my youth has been restored, and my power….has multiplied!" He shouted with a dark glee. The soldiers began to chant, "Hail Slug!" as he struck poses. Slug's elite force looked over at Baachi Sr. with disgust. Sr. just winked at them and smirked. Slug began to speak again.
"In order to test this new power I will be returning home! Our new base of operations will be…..Planet Namek!" Baachi Jr. felt his blood run cold. He and his father exchanged a quick look, and he gulped, because Sr. was smiling an evil smile.
Back on Namek….
"No way! I'm technically not supposed to be here, so if I go around arresting people in someone else's precinct…..well that just won't be right!" Jaco responded as Caracoll urged him to take them to follow the ship that kidnapped Baachi. "It's bad enough I'm turning a blind eye to you guys harboring a Saiyan…."
While the two argued, Kakarott thought back to what happened. He hoped that Baachi was safe, and felt awful about not being able to do more. He looked over at Miukedah, who was now catatonic and muttering to himself. He felt guilt and anger welling up inside him, as he thought of the horrible things that might be happening to his friend. Lemon began bad-mouthing Baachi Jr. again, and Kakarott lost it.
"SHUT UP!" he yelled out as he struck Lemon in the gut as hard as he could, sending the Namekian rolling 30 meters back. He flew off in a rage to get away from everyone and try to clear his mind. This was his fault, he thought to himself. If only he had been stronger, he could have stopped his friend from being kidnapped. These thoughts echoed into his mind as he stormed into the science chambers and entered the recrafted spaceship. Without thinking, he pushed buttons that he hoped would start the ship, and to his surprise. It worked.
The ship sputtered to life and launched into the sky. Kakarott continued to press buttons angrily as the ship left the atmosphere. It was working! He didn't know how he was doing it, but he was flying the ship...or so he thought. As the ship exited Namek's atmosphere, it stalled. Kakarott slammed hard on the control panel, and the board began to smoke. The ship jerked back and forth and then zipped out at lightning speed away from Namek. Kakarott was flung around as a screen came on, and a frazzled scientist peered in through the static. Kakarott had unknowingly smashed the function that allowed for remote piloting, so the scientists back on Namek, could not steer the ship around. He managed to gather himself and rushed back to the control panel, as the scientist frantically tried to scream instructions through the broken signal. Kakarott managed to get the ship to stop, but simultaneously launched a distress signal, so any craft nearby could detect the vessel. He fainted to the floor, stressed and angry. He had no idea what was going on, and he hated feeling so helpless.
Kakarott stood up and peered out into the empty void of space and quietly reprimanded himself for being so reckless. He felt his stomach growl and looked around, realizing there was no food on the craft. He sat and crossed his legs and meditated, hoping that somehow, someway his friends would find him. His mind began to wander. Instead of recentering, he decided to replay his fights, looking for weaknesses in his style. He reviewed every punch, kick, feign, and headbutt, trying to keep himself distracted from the cold. Usually, anything fight related was able to hold his attention, but the feeling of helplessness crept back into his skin. He wished he could talk to Guru. He'd help. Instead, he was hungry, angry, and alone in a cold spaceship waiting for help. Helpless. Again.
Everything was happening so fast, and none of it seemed to make sense. He tried sensing Baachi Jr.'s energy, but he couldn't locate anything and the rumbling in his stomach was starting to get louder and louder. Then his senses went off. He sensed Nail, and another power approaching fast. He peered out to see Jaco's ship outside, and the Galactic Patrolman getting out to hook the ship to his own and tow it back to Namek.
"Hey look at me, Jaco roadside, broken ship call your Insurance….1-800-Jaco…" He cursed under his breath as he was really resenting going to Namek. He had clocked a large unidentified spacecraft nearby, but he was too busy to pay it any mind. He looked up to see the Saiyan inside frantically waving his arms about. Jaco smiled wryly and gave him a thumbs-up as he cursed him out in his mind.
Back inside the ship, Kakarott had sensed Baachi Jr. and was trying to tell Nail and the other guy that he was in that large ship that was headed towards them. The spaceman….Taco? I had just given him a thumbs up, but didn't seem to hear or even understand what he was trying to say. He waved at Nail, who looked back at him confused and angry. Why'd you run off without me? Nail's face read. Kakarott felt a quick pang of guilt, but that was quickly overshadowed by the looming energy that was fast approaching. Kakarott frantically pointed towards the energy and tried to get Nail to understand, but it was useless. Taco had got back in the ship and was driving away.
He had to get them to stop. He ran full speed at the side of the ship and felt it slow down and shake. For a brief moment, he thought he heard Taco yell out in anger, and so he kept pushing. The metal started to bend, and his shoulder started to hurt, but he kept trying. He felt Taco's ship come to a skitter to a stop as he sensed Baachi's energy getting closer. He smiled. He was going to save his friend! As he thought this, he felt his ship being pulled closer towards Baachi Jr's energy. He peeked out to smile at Nail and Taco, and gave them a thumbs-up, but Nail looked furious and panicking. Taco looked like he was crying, as he slammed his head into his steering wheel. Kakarott looked up at the ship taking him and had to look away as a blinding light filled his eyes. He rubbed his eyes out and looked out at Taco's ship just in time to see Taco and Nail speeding away; Nail frantically banging on the ship's interior. Kakarott blinked in confusion as to why they looked so freaked out.
Then he felt it. A dark presence was up there, and it was unlike anything he had ever felt before. The hairs on his body stood on end, and a pit formed in his stomach. He held his nose, as an awful stench invaded his nostrils. Vomit began forming in his throat. He felt it bubbling to the surface. He wasn't sure if he could hold it in anymore. The doors to his craft opened and an unleashed an assault on his sense of smell, which expelled the floodgates, expunging any semblance of control he tried to maintain over his guts.
"Looks like we got an Albino Namekian…." the tall blue man's words were cut off, as he stood there, sopping.
"Angila, Medamatcha what is it you fou…fou...what foul odor is that?!" Screeched a portly looking gargoyle of man. The two creatures known as Angila and Medamatcha turned to face the man, with a look of disgust and anger. The taller of the two responded, as he wrung out his blonde hair.
"Well, Bull, you oafish troll, can you not see for yourself what this might be?" the tall blue man clenched his fist in anger. The short green one's tongue extended out and cleaned off the bile from his head.
"It's not half bad Angila, this boy must have eaten nuts and berries recently!" Medamatcha scooped some of the ick off his neck and reached his hand out to Bull, who's grey skin turned a shade of green similar to Medamatcha.
"No thanks." He said, backing away slowly. Angela turned and kicked Medamatcha into the wall nearby.
"Scoop the creature up yourself, you disgusting creature! If Lord Slug needs me, I'll be in showers." Angela said bitterly. Bull screamed and ran off as Angila lumbered towards him.
Kakarott, who had been apologizing profusely, was now quiet looking at Medamatcha. "You guys smell kind of strong, but you also smell like bad guys." The little green man laughed at this comment, and rotated his head 180 degrees.
"Does that scare you little boy?" he said as his body contorted, and he crab crawled at Kakarott, until he was right under the young Saiyans face.
"Nope! It makes me excited to beat you up!" He said, patting Medamatcha's face. "But before I do that…." He said as his stomach growled. Medamatcha looked around frantically as the sound startled him. "I'm hungry. Where do you guys keep the food?" Kakarott asked, pushing past Medamatcha. He stretched and looked about the room, his tail smacking Medmatcha in the face.
"T….t….t..tail?!" Medamatcha said, his voice cracking. Kakarott laughed and nodded as he apologized about smacking him with his tail. "Hey kid, you wouldn't happen to be a Saiyan would you?" the little green man gulped as Kakarott started walking away.
"Mhmmm. I'm Saiyan, but I was raised on Namek, now are you going to show me where the food is? I'm starving!" He responded as he rubbed his stomach with both arms, his orange vest sliding off his shoulders as he cleaned off the edge of his mouth with his scarf.
"I knew there weren't any albino Namekianans!" Medamatcha thought out loud, as he inched away from Kakarott. "So, all Hail Lord Slug, conqueror of worlds, and self proclaimed strongest above all, pledge your allegiance, to our great leader, or suffer the consequences!" Medamatcha said as he backed further and further away from Kakarott, as if afraid.
"Sorry I don't fight for the bad guys, I'm just here for my friend. Me and you can fight if that's what you mean, but only after I eat ok?" Kakarott said nonchalantly. He started to wonder as he sniffed the air for food. Medamatcha tried to pounce, but Kakarott ducked and the little green man went sailing into the wall.
This continued as they made their way to the cafeteria. Medamatcha was starting to get irritated that this Saiyan kid was ignoring him, but he didn't want to disobey orders. Any strays caught by their tractor beam were to be brought to Lord Slug, alive, as soon as possible. If they were to be killed, it was to be by his hand and his hand alone. Medmatcha gulped, thinking about how he got one of his old crewmates killed after he ate a stray fly-man instead of bringing him straight to Slug. He looked around and realized that there was no one for him to blame this time so he'd have to take this one to Lord Slug himself. The Saiyan started to shovel food in his mouth at the buffet line, and Medamatcha ran over to snatch him away. He tried to drag him away, but the Saiyan slipped out of his clothes and ran back to the buffet. Medamatch gasped in fear, as he exited the cafeteria holding only a shirt. He ran back inside to see the Saiyan boy smiling on the floor in front of the buffet line, rubbing his stomach. Then, without warning, he snapped up to his feet.
Kakarott, sprang up, and looked around, his hairs standing on end again. He could smell Baachi Sr. nearby. He rolled over to the door where the smell was most pungent and waited, as soon as the door opened, he whipped his leg as hard as he could. He prepared his stance and prepared to fight. Only it wasn't Baachi Sr. that he had hit, it was someone else he recognized. Hanbo muttered incoherently on the ground as he held his sides.
"Take him to the infirmary!" Baachi Sr. barked at someone just outside Kakarott's view. Baachi Jr, walked forward nervously, as he started to drag honbo over to the infirmary ward. He was so transfixed on what he was doing that he overlooked Kakarott, until the Saiyan was pulling at his shirt, indicating they should leave. Jr, looked up to see Sr. holding his stomach in pain. Before anyone could react, Medamatch kicked Kakarott in the face sending him back into the wall.
"Good job, soldier!" barked Baachi. "I'll take it from here, I'll be sure to let Lord Slug know you helped apprehend this Saiyan scum." he spat. He lifted Kakarott up by the tail and motioned for Jr. to follow him to the infirmary. Once there, he slammed Kakarott on the ground and left the three alone to report to Slug.
As Kakarott regained his composure, Baachi Jr. started to speak. "Why are you here? They're going to kill you!"
"We have to go Baachi!" Kakarott said, ignoring the question.
"They want to conquer our home!" Jr. yelled out angrily. Kakarott paused. "They want to conquer Namek, my dad is trying to get a ship to warn the others….." Suddenly an idea struck Jr. "You can stow away with him and help. Warn everyone back home about what's coming!" Jr.'s eyes widened with hope.
Kakarott shook his head. "Nail and Taco tried to come rescue me….but they left."
"Who's taco? You mean Jaco? That space patrolman who was at the tournament?" Baachi Jr. asked, confused.
"Oops!" Kakarott laughed, "Yea him! Anyway, I'm sure everyone back home knows by now where we are, and they'll be coming." Kakarott said, as he looked around.
Baachi thought about it for a second. Thought about the scared elders back home, thought about Lemon and the others there who didn't like him. Before anyone could say anything else, Medamatcha walked in.
"Lord Slug requests your immediate presence!" he cackled, his head turning in circles. "If you don't comply…" He skittered over to Jr. and snatched him up. "Baachi said to kill this one! Lord Slug agreed."
"Leave him alone!" Kakarott growled as four soldiers appeared into the room. He lunged at Medamatcha, but was shot by four stun guns, and passed out. The henchmen dragged the two boys to Lord Slug's throne room, where he and Baachi were waiting for them.
Once there, the soldiers woke Kakarott, and sat him in front of Lord Slug. Silence filled the air.
Slug stood up and smiled as he looked down at Kakarott. Without hesitation, Kakarott pounced, lunging at Slug, but he was slammed to the ground with ease.
"I see what you mean, he is most definitely a saiyan." He kicked the boy across the room where he crashed into the corner of the ceiling and crashed back down. "Although he doesn't seem to be like the last Saiyan I employed." Kakarott stood up into his fighting stance, ready to attack again. Slug blinked, as if he recognized him. "Did you ever know a Saiyan by the name Turles?" Slug asked Kakarott.
Kakarott responded with a ki barrage. The attacks landed, but Slug was unfazed. He stretched his arm out and lifted Kakarott into the air by his hair. He retracted his arm and yelled really loudly in Kakarott's face. The Saiyan tried to shield his ears, but it was no good, the vibrations alone shook him to his core. Instinctively he flipped up and bit Slug's hand then charged full force at his eye. Slug staggered back, then slapped the Saiyan away as if he were swatting away a fly.
"You pesky little!"
"Lord Slug….if I may intervene...remember he is more useful to us alive right…." Baachi was lifted up his throat.
"Did I say you could speak worm?" Slug hissed as he tightened his grip around Baachi Sr. 's throat. "If you don't hold your tongue, I'll find an easier way to rid you of that fungus rattling around in that diseased brain of yours…." Slug began to crush Baachi Sr. 's head, until he felt a wetness in his hands. He dropped the Namekian and smiled. "Count yourself lucky, that you three are still of some use to me." Slug spat as Baachi Sr. struggled to get up. "Now what was so important for you to say that it was worth risking your life over?" Slug barked at a now trembling Sr.
"As I said before…..killing him in front of the Namekians will ensure that they bow to your will my lord…..he is the strongest…..and is well liked by our Elder Guru….." Baachi was yelling this out, as he was having a hard time hearing.
Slug smiled. "Fine...how much longer until we arrive?" he barked out, pushing a button on his throne.
"We are fast approaching sir…" a voice buzzed out through his throne. Kakarott stood up weakly, ready to attack again, but this time Medamatcha pounced. He slid under Kakarott and kicked the Saiyan up into the air, then leapt up above him and slammed him back down to the ground. Kakarott was furious. He mustered all the strength he could and launched a tremendous energy wave at the green man as he landed on the floor.
"Medamatcha move!" Bull yelled, causing Medamatcha to duck. However the blast kept moving as Kakarott expelled as much energy into it as he explosion plowed forward towards it's real target: Lord Slug. Slug slapped the beam away and screamed in pain. The blast tore a hole through the wall and started a small fire. The hand that Slug had used to swat the explosion away had burned down to a shriveled black husk. He tore it off and regrew it screaming out in pain. As he did this he launched an eye beam at Bull, exploding him into nothing.
"If it weren't for that idiot, Medamatcha would have taken the blast and my ship…..and most importantly my hand, would not have suffered!" He turned his gaze towards Kakarott, but the Saiyan was now unconscious on the ground. "When that brat wakes up I will tear him apart!"
"Lord Slug…" The voice on the throne rang out as the ship's alarms started to blare. "We're going to have to make an emergency landing. It appears something has damaged our engine…..thankfully we are landing on Namek, but we'll need some time to repair the damages. What happened up there?" The voice asked in a rushed, panicked tone. Slug smiled.
"Did you just say we are set to land?" Slug asked, with evil glee. He stared at Baachi Sr. and motioned for them to prepare for landing. "Wake that brat up, I want the last thing he sees before he dies to be the scared faces of his people." He cackled with laughter as Baachi Sr. tried to slap Kakarott awake.
"Don't you mean our people?" Baachi Jr. asked, clenching his fist. The little Namekian was terrified, but seeing Kakarott go all out sparked something in him. "Are you not one of us? You forsake our people with your evil ways...both of you!" He said, pointing at Baachi Sr. as well. He started to run at them, but Angila intercepted him, and knocked him unconscious with one quick strike. Kakarott started to wake up. Slug roared his head back and laughed as he was lurched forward by the ship crashing down to the planet. He motioned for his soldiers to push out. They shoved Kakarott out of the ship and into the sunny sky.
Kakarott blinked and looked around to see the same rolling hills and lakes that he grew up….but something was different. He sniffed the air and spit out. The trees were a different color, and there were buildings unlike any he had ever seen before. He smelled the air again and spit once more. This wasn't Namek. Wherever this was, he didn't feel safe. Kakarott felt an itching in his brain, and then suddenly two Namekians seemed to materialize out of nowhere.
"Hello, welcome back to Namek! We were worried about you…..Kakarott…..who are your friends here?" the Namekian asked as the soldiers poured out of Slug's ship. "Oh hey look it's Baachi! How ya been friends?" He winked at Baachi. "Hey Zaarco, look Baachi and Kakarott are back….uh call, Snail…..
"Nail." the other Namekian coughed
"Call Nail the Snail and tell him they're back and he doesn't need to look anymore….." The namekian speaking began to sweat as Slug walked out.
"All hail Lord Slug!" he squeaked out as he bowed.
"This isn't Namek." Kakarott said looking around, as he tried to break free of his chains. "Who are you and why are you pretending to be Namekians?" the two Namekians exchanged a quick glance at each other, then over at Baachi Sr.
"After you ran off…...from the tournament…...we were looking for you….and well...you must have hit your head hard….."
"Enough!" Slug said as he looked around for other Namekians. "Where is everyone? I am here to conquer the planet, and since you apparently know who I am, then you know what I am capable of. WHERE IS EVERYONE?" The namekians looked at each other again, and sighed.
"They all left with Nail to look for Kakarott, they were scared of you so they used the namekian fusio…." before the Namekian could finish his sentence, Baachi Sr. had pounced.
"You dare speak down to lord Slug as if he is your underling?" He screamed at the Namekians face.
"Baachi, please put Raiti down!" the Namekian known as Zaarco pleaded. "Raiti no!" He yelled out. Just then Baachi Sr. Jr. and Slug began to scream in pain.
"Zaarco the others!" Raiti yelled as he ran towards the ship. Kakarott felt an explosion go off in his mind. His eyes felt as if they were going to tear out of their sockets, he looked around to see everyone falling to the ground in pain, Lord Slug included. He tried to stand up, but the pain was making it unbearable.
"Damn it the ship is broken! What are we going to do?" the Namekian calling himself Raiti asked frantically. His skin started to turn pink, and his features began to shift. Kakarott tried to push through the pain as he managed to stand on his feet and walk towards Raiti and Zarco.
"I don't know Raiti, but we have to get off now! This place is driving me mad! What if we just tell this Slug guy who we really are and offer ourselves in service to him." Zarco's face began to shift into some pink creature. "I got it!" he said beaming. "Let's search for the engineers and force them to fix the ship, then hold our grip on everyone until they finish. Look, some of them are already passing out!" As he said this, hundreds of soldiers fell to the ground, some convulsing. Kakarott's vision began to blur, then suddenly the pain stopped. He looked over to see energy blades protruding from Raiti and Zaarco's chest. Their bodies changed to reveal their true form, as the planet began to melt away. Kakarott looked around to see that they were on a desolate wasteland with nothing but sand; an empty world. Baachi Sr. had pierced their hearts, and as the pink creatures fell to the floor, they looked up at Baachi.
"B…..b...but.. You said….." He then finished them off and put a finger to his lips to tell Kakarott to quiet down, as he jerked his head to Slug's direction. He then inhaled and started to yell.
"Which idiot screwed up the navigation?" as the rest of the crew members started to stand up groggily. He spotted the co-captain and stretched his arm out to grab him. "You fool, your mistake nearly cost us our lives…..what were the coordinates you punched in?"
The man stammered out a number, as tears streamed down his face.
"That was not the number I told you, you switched them around!" He then cursed and turned to face Slug.
"Lord may you be so kind as to let me dispo…." Before he could finish the thought, the man crumbled into ashes, as Slug removed his helmet in frustration. He rushed a group of soldiers and killed them in a blind fury. He then flew over to Baachi Sr. and lifted him into the air.
"Make sure these idiots get this ship fixed as soon as possible, or it's your head!" He yelled grimacing. He dropped Baachi and shoved his hands in his ears as if to stop some incessant noise. Kakarott looked around confused. Something was off, but whatever it was, he was glad that it gave his brothers back home some time to prepare. He sat down and hoped Nail, Caracoll, and Guru were okay.
After about an hour, a scared engineer limped out and cowered before Slug. "We got it in flying condition sir, it will need more repairs, but she'll last us until our next stop w.. W… who... Wh...whi...which...uu...un f.f.f.f.f. ….w….w..w..won't be Namek, sir."
Lord Slug screamed in frustration as Kakarott silently chuckled to himself.
