Chapter 4 – The Underdweller Attack
He prided himself on all that he created in the kitchen. Each dish Lemo cooked for Broly was a work of art, regardless of quantity. At the rate the Saiyan was eating, though, they would be out of food within the next two days.
At least when it came to himself and Cheelai, only one dish was needed. His latest attempt was a bowl of hearty noodles called "Ramen," a dish Lemo scolded himself for not having discovered sooner. It was flavorful, playful to the palate, and had the tenderest pork slices he ever marinated. If only Cheelai had been as enthusiastic about eating ramen as he was.
He scoffed each time Cheelai ate very little. Ever since they returned from Paprika's vessel, Cheelai barely ate anything the rest of the day, sulking in her chair.
She did more of the same after leaving the bathroom the following morning, slumping herself on the chair facing a delicious concoction of eggs, bacon, sausage rounds, and lightly buttered toast with freshly squeezed orange juice, the breakfast Lemo hoped would perk her back up.
Cheelai blew a stray hair from her face, staring blankly at the plate. "You know, if sulking were a seasoning, you'd overpower every dish with it," Lemo mentioned in passing as he retreated to the kitchen.
Cheelai pressed her hands to her face, suppressing a loud groan. "I'm an idiot."
Lemo poked his head from behind the doorway. "That's debatable, but entertain me. What makes you think you're an idiot?"
"You saw what I did yesterday, didn't you?" Cheelai said. "I kissed Broly! Full-on the lips!"
Lemo blinked, giving her a flat look. "And?"
Cheelai's eye twitched. "And? And?! I feel bad for doing it!" she shouted, throwing her hands in the air.
"Not gonna lie to you, kiddo," Lemo said. "You've been ogling the big guy often since we got back here when that dragon sent Broly. It's only natural you started having feelings for him."
At least Cheelai began eating, starting with his fluffy scrambled eggs he seasoned with pepper and herbs. But all he could hear as she ate and talked was hemming and hawing. "I hated the way his dad was treating him, alright? What other feeling was I supposed to have, Lemo?"
Lemo pulled out a chair to sit on. While Cheelai ate with one hand, the other kept holding something buried under her nightshirt, playing around with it. Lemo kept looking at her the way a concerned parent regarded their troubled offspring. Cheelai wasn't having any of it, though. She slammed her hand on the table. "I can't eat with you staring at me like that!" she shouted, spitting food out of her mouth.
Lemo sighed. "I thought you'd have been over it after a good night's rest. Instead, you spent the entire day yesterday avoiding Broly when he tried talking to you. I couldn't give him a good answer because even I don't know why this is bugging you so much."
Cheelai's hand went back to her shirt. "Look, Cheelai," Lemo continued. "It's not my job to boss ya around or babysit ya. But we need to stay on the same page if we're going to look for a new planet. I still have a couple more of those data chips to analyze, but I'm not holding out hope for one of them to be Freeza's blacklist. Got a hunch that bastard never had it to begin with."
After swallowing, Cheelai pushed her chair back. "I'm not that hungry. Sorry," she muttered. She retreated to her room, slamming the door behind her. Lemo sighed at his cooking and brought it back to the kitchen to store it.
After Cheelai changed into her outdoor clothes, she walked past Lemo, ignoring him with a scowl on her face. "Don't stay out too long!" he warned at her back before the door closed in front of him.
Seconds after she left the house, she was back inside. "Lemo!" she shouted discreetly.
"That was quick," Lemo noted, eyebrow raised. Cheelai put her finger against her lips, pointing outside. "It's him! That Saiyan who gave us the house!"
"Hey! Anyone home?" they heard him shouting from outside.
Cheelai stared at Lemo, panicking. "What do we do?!"
"What're you asking me for?" Lemo scowled back. He looked out the window behind a set of curtains.
"I'm asking because I want you to go talk to him and find out why he's here," Cheelai whispered, which only made Lemo groan.
Things were derailing his plans far quicker than he expected. It was supposed to be simple: Gradually convince Broly to leave Vampa with them, travel the universe to find a new planet, and settle down on said new planet. Instead, all this drama involving Cheelai's girl crush on Broly plus the arrival of the Earth Saiyan tempted him to pack his things and ditch everything for a few days until this woman got her act together.
Grabbing his blaster, Lemo loaded it with a fresh power pack. He nodded to her. "Alright, fine. If it makes you feel any better, we'll confront him together."
Cheelai unholstered her blaster. "Good idea," she whispered.
She gave him the signal to open the door, and they both ran out, aiming their blasters. "Don't move another muscle!" they shouted.
The Saiyan turned around. He didn't seem to care that they were armed. "Hey, guys!"
"That's close enough, Earth Saiyan!" Cheelai shouted as he took a step toward them. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to see Broly," he told them. "He's gotta be healed by now with those senzu beans I gave ya."
"We didn't use any of that crap, whatever your name was," Cheelai said.
"Goku! Son Goku!" the Saiyan replied. He looked more puzzled than intimidated. "You didn't give Broly a senzu?"
"Who do you take us for? Bargaining for our friendship with gifts? What makes you think we can still trust you?" Lemo said. He nodded over to the healing capsule. "Besides, we used that to heal him."
"Woah! Amazing!" Goku said, inspecting the capsule. "It's like the one I was in on Freeza's ship a long, long time ago!"
Cheelai fired a warning shot at Goku's feet, forcing him to back away. "That's far enough! We don't care how much you want to reminisce! Get your sorry butt back to Earth and leave us alone!"
"Woah, easy there! I'm not here to cause any trouble," Goku protested, keeping his voice gentle. "All I wanna do is get in some training with Broly. I thought I might help him control his anger while he's in his Super Saiyan form."
Lemo gradually began lowering his blaster. "Appreciate the offer, but no thanks," he said, "It's not up to you to decide. We'll handle Broly's temper, got it?"
"I know you guys wanna help, too," Goku said. "But if I can help him through training, he'll be able to control it better!"
"Is that all you think about?" Cheelai asked, disgusted. She nudged her blaster to signal Goku to walk away from the healing capsule. "Broly's not like you other Saiyans. He doesn't like fighting."
"But he's really good, though!" Goku noted. "I've never seen a Saiyan like him before, and I'd love to have a re-match when he's better able to handle his power. I can't do that if I can't train with him!"
"No!" Cheelai yelled. Lemo could hear the worry grow in her voice and walked over to lower her weapon. "Let's take it easy. How about we approach this more reasonably?" he asked.
"We'll have all the time to do that after he leaves," Cheelai said coldly, aiming her blaster back at Goku.
"Cheelai," Lemo spoke calmly. "You need to calm down and think clearly. I know you're worried about Broly because of what happened on Earth, but don't you think we should have the big guy himself get a word in?"
Cheelai glared at him before lowering her blaster, holstering it. Lemo holstered his as well. "Fine," she said. She paced back and forth near the house while Goku watched the beetles from the precipice.
"So it's okay for me to go see Broly, then?" Goku asked, pointing behind him with a thumb. Cheelai's glare was even more menacing than the first one she gave him. "Or I can wait here. That's fine, I guess…?"
The pair watched Goku like a hawk until his eyes perked up. His head turned to see Broly fly into view, landing between the three.
"You're…Kakarrot…?" Broly asked, pointing at Goku.
"Yep! Glad you remembered!" Goku said.
"Kakarrot here," Cheelai began, walking in front of Broly, "was just stopping by to say hi before he has to head back to Earth. Wasn't he?" She shot him a look.
"But I do want to train with Broly before I go back home, though," Goku said, not comprehending the look Cheelai gave him.
"Ignore him, Broly," Cheelai said. "Those days are long gone now. We don't need any more of the nonsense you had to be forced into back on Earth happening again."
"But Vegeta said a Saiyan should always be training," Goku said.
"Well, Vegeta can sniff flowers for all I care!" Cheelai shouted back. "Go home and train with him!"
"As emotional as she is right now," Lemo said, averting her anger as he approached the large Saiyan, "she's got a point."
Broly's eyes went back and forth between his friends and Goku, frowning. "I do train with the beasts on Vampa."
"There, see?" Cheelai said, turning to face Goku. "Broly's got plenty to do here without you laying your grubby monkey hands on him."
Lemo cleared his throat, whispering to her, "That's kind of insulting Broly too, in case you forgot…?"
Cheelai scoffed, looking away. "I know what I said! Broly's off-limits, got it?"
"Kakarrot, Is training with another Saiyan different than training with the beasts?" Broly asked, ignoring her for now. Cheelai's eyes widened, surprised.
"You can't seriously consider this!" she protested. Broly still wasn't looking at her, though. Lemo could see the worry double within those demanding purple eyes of hers.
"You and your dad must've trained a lot together when you grew up, right?" Goku asked. Broly nodded. "Then it's just like that; only it'd be with me. Or maybe even Vegeta if I can ask him to come here too!" Goku's confident grin was more noticeable, the anticipation of another good scuffle building up within him.
"I think I can tell what kind of look he has in his eye, Cheelai. I doubt you could talk him out of it," Lemo said of Broly, but Cheelai shoved him back with one hand. "Butt out, Lemo!" she yelled.
"I don't like seeing you two disagree," Broly said, tilting his head down. Both he and Lemo could see her pleading face as she grabbed his hands.
"Please don't do this," she said gently. "Tell him it's a bad idea."
"Aw, don't worry about us hurting each other," Goku said. "You stay out of this!" Lemo and Cheelai both shouted back. Lemo sighed, tightening his mouth. "Your call, big guy."
He stared at Cheelai, expecting understanding from her. Her face sank. "Yeah," she said softly. "I, I shouldn't be so selfish."
Broly reflected on this for a moment, staring at Goku. He patted both Lemo and Cheelai on their shoulders. "I will train with you," he finally said, walking towards Goku. "Alright! I'm more pumped than ever, now!" Goku shouted, stretching his arms.
Cheelai exhaled, closing her eyes. Gritting her teeth, she growled in her throat before she clutched Broly's arm. "I'm going, too!" she shouted at them.
"Huh?" Goku raised an eyebrow. "Why'd you wanna join us?"
"Because if things escalate and Broly loses his temper, I need to be there to calm him down," she told him. She casually laced her fingers into Broly's hand, squeezing it without even realizing it.
"Ah, good idea," Goku said. He surveyed the landscape below. "Is there a good place to train?" he asked.
"I know of one I use," Broly said, pointing to the west. "Over there, where only one beast nests."
"Are you absolutely sure this training will help Broly control his anger?" Cheelai asked.
"Probably not right away, but if he trains with Vegeta or me often, he can control himself while as a Super Saiyan," Goku explained.
Lemo approached the three, crossing his arms. "You sure you want to do this, big guy? It's not too late to back off," he asked.
Broly nodded. "I want to control my anger. I want all of you to help me," he said. He could see the panic on Cheelai's face. "I do not want to hurt people because I lost control."
The "OK" sign he showed to her from his hand was his best one, more accurate as his thumb and index finger touched without error. It helped relax her face. He scooped her into his arms, nodding to Goku.
"Make sure you're not tearing this planet apart!" Lemo shouted behind them as the Saiyans floated off the ground. "My cookware has a lot of sentimental value!"
"We'll be careful!" Goku shouted back before he and Broly powered up to fly away.
A pair of buttes were close together near the single nesting ground of a Vampa beast. While it wasn't Ba, Broly avoided Ba's nesting crater to ensure that only he and Goku were training. Releasing Cheelai, she unholstered her blaster.
"If I see this going south quickly, I'm going to fire a few warning shots, got it?" she told them.
"Yeah, good idea. Is that alright with you, Broly?" Goku asked.
"I have a moment before my head goes fuzzy. That's when Father said I could no longer control myself. The only thing that stayed in my memory was the collar when Father pressed the button on his controller," Broly said, touching his neck with a pained expression.
"Well, ya ain't gotta worry about that anymore!" Goku said. "You're free to do whatever you want!"
"Thank goodness," Cheelai whispered, clutching her blaster to her chest. It brushed against the pendant through her uniform, forcing her hand to touch it. She closed her eyes for a few seconds. "Please, don't let this take too long."
She found a rock that jutted from the top to sit on, watching Goku stretch and warm-up before engaging Broly. Broly moved his body to position himself, facing Goku while finding the right stance to prepare himself. He occasionally looked at his hands to see whether they were correct or not.
Once they began, it was next to impossible for her to keep up with their movements. Each blow sent small shockwaves cascading down to the ground, shaking the foundation of the butte she sat on. Some blows were so powerful it nearly knocked her off.
"Hey! Go easy, both of you!" she was on her feet again, glaring at the two Saiyans.
When Goku caught one of his fists, Broly's body looked to slow down in response to her voice. "Good, I can still reach him," she said with a sigh of relief.
They resumed sparring until she noticed how more aggressive Broly looked in his attacks, his face mimicking the one he had back on Paprika's vessel when he engaged those goons. Broly…!
She was ready to raise her blaster in the air to fire a few shots to stop the scuffle, which was escalating into a full-on brawl.
"Broly, focus your energy!" Goku shouted. "Try to keep your head clear!"
It fell on deaf ears as Broly rocked Goku back with a powerful punch to the face, sending the Earth Saiyan crashing through a few buttes.
"No...! This is bad...!" Cheelai said. She opened fire with her blaster, shooting several bolts above her.
"Broly, stop! That's enough!" she shouted. No response. "Broly!" she shouted again, yet there was still no acknowledgment of her voice. Broly continued the offensive, chasing Goku to where he landed.
"Dammit!" Cheelai growled. She ran to the edge of the butte but could go no further. She pressed the blaster to her chest, hands clasped around it as if praying. My voice has to reach him!
Bright light spilled out from the debris before the area exploded. Goku emerged with a golden aura surrounding him, hair flared up like a golden flame and piercing blue-green eyes staring back at Broly. He craned his neck, rubbing it with his hand. "Hoo boy, you're really making this difficult, huh?"
Growling, Broly was assuredly in a full state of rage, much like how it was on Earth. Cheelai glared at Goku. "I knew this was a bad idea, Goku!" she yelled. Aiming her blaster, she wanted to point it at Goku, but instead, she was aiming for the space between Goku and Broly. "I'm sorry, Broly! I have to put a stop to this somehow!"
She opened fire. She accounted for the trajectory of the blast along with how fast Broly was flying to Goku. But by the time the blaster bolt reached them, it struck Broly in the back of the head.
Goku and Cheelai both reacted to the impact in their own way. Their eyes widened, yet Cheelai covered her mouth, gasping. "Shit! I wasn't supposed to hit him!" she cried.
Broly touched the back of his head, stopped mid-flight. Goku stared at Cheelai, bewildered. "Why'd you go and do that? I had things under control!" he shouted.
Turning to face Cheelai, Broly was lost in his rage, too angered to think logically. Cheelai could see how quickly this idea backfired and backed off, tripping over a crack on top of the butte to land on her rear.
"Broly, don't!" Goku shouted, cursing under his breath before chasing after him.
"Broly! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hit you!" Cheelai shouted, trying desperately to reach him, but all she could see was an irate Saiyan with yellow-colored eyes closing in.
As she rose to her feet, she looked over the edge. "Either I jump, or he makes mince-meat out of me!" she said in a panic. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Goku put two fingers against his forehead. He disappeared, reappearing in front of Broly to catch his fist before it reached the butte. He caught his other arm by the wrist to hold him in place.
"Can you climb down from there?" he asked, glancing behind him. Cheelai frantically searched for footholds to help her down the butte. "I think so!" she shouted.
"Then go down quickly!" Goku ordered.
"My voice reached him before!" Cheelai protested. "Please! Let me talk to him again!"
The ground began to quake below, causing the butte to shake violently. Broly continued struggling violently against Goku's grasp, opening his mouth wide to build energy into a dark green sphere.
"What the?!" Goku shouted and let Broly go to catch the blast in his hands. It pushed back against him, increasing speed. "Broly! Stop! Something's coming from beneath us!"
Another tremor shook the butte, causing it to crack and break apart. Cheelai flailed her hands until she lost her balance, falling forward with a scream. Her hand caught the edge of the butte, leaving her hanging. The blaster pistol slipped out of her hand, falling to the ground below.
"Broly! Help me!" Cheelai screamed. Goku echoed her panic. "Broly! You need to stop and help her! Try to control your power!"
"Broly!" Cheelai screamed, even louder. Each attempt to grab the ledge with her other hand was met with another tremor that broke down more of the butte, leaving very little of it still intact. "Help me, please!" she shouted again.
The colossal Underdweller burst out from below the three, using its barbs to launch itself from the ground. Its scythe-like mandibles spread out to open a mouthful of razor-sharp teeth, ready to swallow Cheelai first.
Goku's eyes widened in a panic at the creature's size, followed by Broly's, whose eyes quickly shifted out of their yellow color. The green energy shrank until it vanished from his mouth. Anger quickly became fear when he saw where the Underdweller was headed.
"Cheelai!" Broly screamed. The vibration from the Underdweller shook enough of the butte to make it crumble, forcing Cheelai to release her hold on it. She frantically tried to grab onto something as she began falling, screaming for help.
"Shit…!" Goku propelled himself down to the worm to strike at it with a punch, yet it didn't budge, continuing its one-way trajectory to Cheelai. There was little time to react, not even enough to teleport the three to safety.
Cheelai continued screaming as she fell to the worm before Broly was able to catch her. Her breath caught mid-scream when her body hit his arms, only having enough time to hear a loud gasp of pain as she heard something pierce flesh. Her face was inches away from the tip of a large horn-like object, looking above at a screaming face. "Broly…?!"
When she got her bearings together, she examined her predicament and gasped loudly when she saw what the horn was. It was one of the Underdweller's mandibles, pierced directly through Broly's shoulder. His free arm held the top of the worm's mouth to force it open, using his leg strength to push on the bottom. No…!
Screaming in agony, Broly pushed himself forward to free his shoulder from the worm's mandible. Goku flew in to push the mouth up, adding a boost of power to aid him. "Come on…!" he growled.
Once Broly was released, he powered up to speed away from the worm, despite the excruciating pain. His body flew awkwardly, nearly dropping Cheelai. She clutched onto his torso. "Broly! Oh, God…!"
Broly's blood gushed from his open wound, splashing some onto Cheelai's coat. The Underdweller continued its pursuit.
Goku wasn't about to allow this titanic worm to follow them any further. Cupping his hands together to build energy between them, he lowered them to his side. With one swift thrust forward, he fired a large blue-white beam of energy directly into the creature's mouth, filling it up until it began to expand. One extra battle cry from Goku amplified the energy beam, expanding the Underdweller until it burst. Pieces of its colossal flesh flew everywhere before they landed. Some struck beetles as they scurried about, while a few crashed into the Vampa beast, burying it.
Cheelai looked frantically around her, then at Broly, whose eyelids were getting heavier by the second. "Broly! Stay conscious! We're almost back at the house!"
It was getting worse. Broly drifted in and out of consciousness, losing his ability to control his flight as his body dropped a couple of times. A few seconds later, Broly's body forced the two into a nose-dive, passed out from the pain and blood loss.
Cheelai's scream alerted Goku as he launched himself from the dead Underdweller to catch Broly before he and Cheelai crashed into the ground.
"Hang on tight!" he shouted. Cheelai wrapped her arms and legs around Broly's chest.
Lemo let the tool he was holding drop to the ground when he saw Goku return with Broly in his hands, a frightened Cheelai hanging on for deal life against Broly's torso.
"What the hell happened?!" Lemo yelled as he ran up to them.
"Get those senzu beans I gave you! Hurry!" Goku barked. Cheelai hadn't released her grip on him.
Lemo nodded and rushed back into the house. He kept the beans stored in a small tin case in the kitchen, running back outside. He tossed them to Goku. "Here!"
Goku caught the case and opened it, dropping the beans into his hand. "Get his mouth open!" he ordered.
"Cheelai! Let go so we can help feed those beans to him!" Lemo shouted at her. She realized where she was now and backed away from Broly, shaking. "Oh, God…!" she whispered to herself repeatedly, eyes welling up.
"Broly! C'mon, big guy! Wake up!" Lemo yelled, shaking Broly. Broly's eyes fluttered open, his breathing shallow. "Eat these."
Lemo propped open Broly's mouth for Goku to drop the two senzu beans inside. Broly closed his mouth and began chewing, breaking them down before he swallowed. Goku kept staring, waiting for something to take effect, but then panic started to come across his face. It looked worse once Broly started screaming again, pressing his hand against the open wound.
"This is bad! The senzu beans aren't working!" Goku said.
"What?!" Cheelai shouted, voice shaking. "What do you mean?! You told us they'd help him when you gave them to us!"
"Something's keeping the beans from healing him!" Goku said. He draped Broly's arm around his shoulder, lifting him to his feet.
"Here!" Lemo shouted, suddenly on his feet. He beckoned them to the healing tank. "We can use this!"
"It won't work!" Goku said. He put two fingers to his forehead. "I need to take him to someone I know who can help him!"
"Huh? Take him? Take him where?!" Cheelai yelled. Tears continued flowing down her face.
"Back on Earth. Grab onto my arm if you want to come with me!" Goku said, offering his hand.
Lemo grunted, staring hesitantly back at the house. "We don't have a lot of time!" he told him. "If we don't get Broly to my friend Bulma soon, he'll die!"
Cheelai gasped loudly. "It can't be…!" She turned to Lemo. "Lemo?!"
"Damn it all," Lemo growled, grabbing Goku's arm. He took Cheelai's hand. "Do it!" he said to Goku.
Goku stared ahead with a focused expression. Cheelai wrapped her arms around Broly, burying her face into his chest. Lemo let out a cry of panic as he saw the scenery shift while Goku teleported them off Vampa to Earth.
Paprika's vessel coasted several parsecs away, with the impish businessman pacing back and forth before a blank view screen. He generally considered himself in control of all situations and rarely have any past transactions went south. The blunder involving that Saiyan with his two small friends couldn't have possibly gone any more south.
There was a table lined with objects, low enough for Paprika to easily grab an item. His underlings, or what remained of them, knelt before him on one knee.
"Imbeciles!" Paprika yelled, grabbing an object to throw at them. He threw another, shouting, "Ungrateful buffoons! Filthy degenerates! Worthless! All of you! Worthless! Worthless! WORTHLESS!"
The underlings looked at each other before they saw where the items had landed. Not a single one struck them.
"Master Paprika," said the furthest one to his right. Paprika waddled quickly over to him and craned his neck to glare at him. "What is it, Coriander?" he said. Coriander remarked with an eyebrow at how calm Paprika kept his tone. Hailing from an aquatic-looking race, Coriander was among many engineers who terraformed a planet after brokering a deal with Freeza. His technology rapidly produced clones of him, bred and fashioned into the underlings that knelt before Paprika.
"Forgive us, O gracious one," said Coriander, lowering his eyes. "We underestimated the strength of the Saiyan and his companions."
Paprika's face couldn't get any redder than it was now. He slapped the head of the clone to Coriander's left. "You! Kill that one at the far end!" he instructed. Before the targeted clone could protest, he found himself with a blaster bolt through his skull, knocking him back dead.
Paprika marched back and forth in front of the underlings again. "It's supposed to be simple with you ingrates! We clone you and feed you! I have one of you assigned to clean the droppings of the others on the weekend! I even grew special ones to be strong men to kill any threat to me! And what do I get out of it?" He glared at Coriander. "A SIMPLE MONKEY AND HIS FRIENDS YOU COULDN'T ELIMINATE!"
"Master, it would be unwise to cause duress to the clones," Coriander said, but it was already too late. The stress of Paprika's anger unnerved the clones so much they began to break down and dissolve into puddles of mush on the floor.
"Ah, damn it all," Paprika muttered, sighing. "Blech," he grumbled, making a disgusted face while treading around to avoid stepping in the puddles. "Clean that up, Coriander. I have work to do," Paprika said in passing before exiting the bridge.
Retiring to his private chamber, he examined himself in a full-length mirror, adjusting the many rings he wore in his hand. "I am certain he has forgotten by now," he told his reflection.
Wearing his slimiest businessman smile, Paprika opened a channel to hail a vessel light-years away. The screen on the wall switched to a view of another bridge where all activity ceased. The individual front-and-center lounged in his hovercar, yet when he saw who was on his view screen, his hand crushed the chalice he held in his hand, spilling its contents. The dwarf-sized woman with a mushroom-top hairstyle and blue skin continued smiling as she stared at him, despite the tension that accelerated.
"Freeza, my old friend! I did not catch you at a bad time?" Paprika asked, snickering his annoying laugh.
Freeza leaped from his hovercar to land behind his soldiers, glaring menacingly at him. His lips eventually curled in a smile while moving his hands behind his back.
"Paprika," Freeza said. Paprika expected fury but could still sense ice so cold it made the vacuum of space warm in comparison. "You're either the bravest soul I've ever met or possess the most foolish mentality if you're speaking to me again after that stunt you pulled."
"Fah. Little stunt here, little stunt there," Paprika said, moving his hands. "I won't waste our time. I've come across some troublemakers who pilfered my contraband. Unfortunately, my pets were not capable of containing such brute strength, but I know your might will crush them for sure and return what was taken."
Freeza barked a laugh. "How ironic! I never expected a thief to get his loot stolen out from under him!"
"Surely you jest, Freeza," Paprika said, maintaining his smile. "I do not steal. Our attempted business deal was merely halted prematurely."
"That was thirty years ago, you ignorant imp!" Freeza screamed, slamming his fist on the console before him, creating a huge dent. The soldiers cried in fear, backing away quickly. "Temper, Lord Freeza," the woman in blue said from behind him. Freeza glared back at her, of which Paprika couldn't help but laugh.
Composing himself, Freeza sighed. "I'm far more patient than I used to be, so consider yourself lucky I'm allowing you to live for the moment."
"I assure you, Freeza," Paprika said, rubbing his hands together. The clinking of his rings hitting each other was grating on Freeza's ears, however. "I will return the money you invested from our old transaction if you could eliminate my problem."
"Is that so…?" Freeza raised an eyebrow. "What gives you the slightest inkling I'd ever work with you?"
"The thieves in question were led by a Saiyan. A large one. I thought they were all dead, but since the rumors were true, one of those monkeys survived," Paprika explained. His hands were moving faster, increasing the frequency of the rings rattling against each other. Freeza's eye twitched in response to the noise, yet his grin widened. "A Saiyan, you say?" he asked. "And you said he led a group of thieves?"
"Two. A dangerously delicious green-skinned female and a man with a grotesque orange hat on his head. I've lost valuable data chips among my merchandise," Paprika said with a soured tongue.
"Ah yes, those two," Freeza muttered, hand to his chin. "Those were the thieves who stole something important from me. It wouldn't surprise me they're still traveling the galaxy with that Saiyan."
"Then we have a mutual understanding!" Paprika said, his grin widening to show his prized gold tooth. "I had a tracking device placed on their ship while they were led to my merchandising room. They're on a planet called Vampa."
"Oh…?" Freeza said yet lacked any sort of surprise on his face. "So that's where that woman's wish sent him back to. How amusing they haven't left that barren wasteland yet," he whispered.
"Is it a deal, then, Lord Freeza?" Paprika asked, adding the vernacular title to emphasize his query. Freeza only began laughing again.
"A deal with you?" he said but immediately looked back in anger, scowling at him. "Who do you take me for?!"
"Your money is still secured on board my ship, along with this," Paprika said, pulling a data chip from the inside pocket of his suit. "Your blacklist."
Freeza's eyes narrowed. His scowl deepened, but after what seemed like the longest pause ever felt by Paprika – enough to make him sweat from his brow – Freeza's face relaxed into a smile.
"Quite the bargaining chip you've offered me, Paprika," he said. "Though I would certainly rather have your head mounted on a plate at the front of my bridge for me to admire as I travel the cosmos, I suppose you've convinced me enough to accept. We will rendezvous at Vampa."
The view screen shut off, leaving Paprika alone in his dimly lit room. He pocketed the data chip with a snicker.
"You will rue the day you mocked me, woman," Paprika said, licking his lips. "I will have you all to myself as my most prized pet, ever!"
Back on Earth, Lemo put his hand to his mouth, stifling his nausea. He had never teleported before. Of all the times he's traveled through hyperspace, instantly moving from one location to the next made his head spin. He leaned forward with his hands on his knees.
Cheelai opened her eyes to see their new surroundings. A large domed building lay before them with the words "Capsule Corporation" written in blue letters painted along the side.
"Is this also a part of Earth?" she wondered. She released one arm from Broly but was still very much attached to him like glue. She could see Lemo hunched over, groaning. "Are you okay?" she asked him.
"Yeah," Lemo said, nodding quickly. "I'll be fine."
"Vegeta! Bulma!" Goku shouted from behind her. She spun to see the other Earth Saiyan she vaguely remembered from their first encounter at the arctic landscape. It had only been less than two weeks, but seeing these faces felt like it had been months. She looked at him warily but noticed the blue-haired woman to his left running up to them.
"Oh my God, what happened?!" the woman named Bulma asked. Dressed in a lab coat, she held her arms out to catch Broly as Goku helped ease him down onto the ground.
"I'll explain later!" Goku said quickly. "But we need your help! He ate two senzu beans, but they didn't work!"
Broly began thrashing and screaming again. "Broly!" Cheelai yelled, holding him down. "Broly, it's okay! We're going to get you some help!"
Bulma examined the wound on his shoulder and gasped when she saw sickly-looking black veins extending from it. She touched his face and forehead, jerking her hand back.
"Vegeta!" Bulma shouted. She pulled out a notepad with a pen from her pocket and scribbled down a few things as fast as her hand could allow it. She then tore the page off and handed it to him. "Fetch these as quickly as possible!"
Vegeta scoffed at Goku and Broly before sprinting off into the building. "Hey, you two, are you his friends?" Bulma asked Lemo and Cheelai.
"Yeah," Lemo said. Bulma waited for an answer from Cheelai, but all she got was a quick nod. "Help me carry him to the medical wing. Here, wrap this around the wound to stop the bleeding," she told Cheelai, undressing her lab coat to throw it at her.
Cheelai awkwardly bunched the fabric around the open wound. The hole the Underdweller's mandible made was so pronounced part of the lab coat fit through to poke out the other side. She pressed the coat down on the wound as best she could while Goku hoisted him on his shoulder.
"Hurry, this way!" Bulma shouted as she led them down a small path to a series of buildings identical in size with a red plus sign on each front entrance.
"So, what's the situation?" Lemo asked, breathing heavily as he kept up. "What's happnening to Broly?"
"If the senzu beans didn't work to heal that wound, my only hunch is that he's been infected with a virus," Bulma deduced.
"Is Broly going to make it?!" Cheelai asked, nearing hysterics. Goku was running so fast she couldn't hold on to the lab coat any longer and left it to soak up the blood.
"We don't know yet until I have a chance to analyze the virus. It also doesn't help he's losing a lot of blood from that open wound of his. This way!" Bulma shouted as she entered the second medical building.
They loaded him onto a gurney to wheel him into the closest empty room. Bulma signaled nurses to follow her, instructing them along the way so they could immediately work on affixing what was needed to keep Broly stable once Goku transferred him to a bed. "When was he infected?" Bulma asked Cheelai.
"I, I don't remember. A half-hour ago, maybe?" Cheelai said. She tried to reach for Broly, but the nurses kept her at bay while working on him.
"He's running a dangerously high fever. We need to cool him off with ice packs until we get transfusions going. Goku, we have ice at the main building. Grab as many bags as you can," she ordered him. Goku was immediately out of the room.
"I need a sample of his blood at the source of the wound for analysis!" Bulma shouted at the nurses, who nodded. They applied a syringe to absorb Broly's blood with a nasty blackness to it, passing it to Bulma. Cheelai gasped when she saw the blackened blood. She examined her hands, all covered with it.
"Sink's at the back," Bulma said, keeping a quiet voice. She turned to Lemo. "Do you know what happened?"
"I minded the house when I saw Goku return with Broly's arm draped around his shoulder and Cheelai clinging to the big guy. I was told to fetch the senzu beans Goku gave us along with the house. We fed them to him, but nothing happened as he said. I thought those things were like miracle beans, or however briefly he explained it."
Bulma nodded through Lemo's explanation and sighed. "Senzu beans aren't panaceas from what I've experienced." She glanced at the syringe. "We'll administer viral blockers to slow the spread, but that's the best we can do until I've isolated what type of virus this is to create the proper anti-virus to cure him. I'll work non-stop as fast as I can to help him. I promise you both I will keep him alive."
Cheelai clumsily dried her hands, which wouldn't stop shaking. She continued wiping tears from her face, trying to take Bulma's hands into hers. Bulma grabbed hers instead to steady them. "He will survive this. You're fortunate Goku was there to bring you all here when he did."
The mention of Goku's name set her off. She jerked her hands away. "None of this would've happened if he hadn't shown his face on Vampa in the first place!" Cheelai yelled.
"Cheelai," Lemo said, raising his hand, but she slapped it away. "Don't act like you don't want to blame him, Lemo!"
Lemo frowned. "I'm not. Unlike you, I can rationalize this with a clear head. It was an accident, Cheelai. It's nobody's fault."
She scoffed loudly, storming out of the room, but not before nearly bumping into Goku and Vegeta, who had returned with the items they were ordered to retrieve.
"You!" Cheelai yelled, stabbing Goku with a finger. "This is your fault! You and this stupid Saiyan obsession with fighting! I'll never forgive you if Broly dies!"
Vegeta passed a box full of what Bulma needed to her, staring at Cheelai. "Kakarrot is not to blame for anything. Your lack of understanding is noticeable. But it's not an obsess-"
"Shut up! Shut up, both of you!" Cheelai sobbed. "Broly's nothing like you! Broly hates fighting! He hates it!"
Vegeta scowled back but didn't say anything. He glanced at Bulma and walked away, leaving Goku standing awkwardly with bags of ice bundled in his arms. The nurses each grabbed a bag from him before Bulma approached him.
"Go on. We'll talk about what happened later," Bulma told him, nudging him to turn around so he could leave. She regarded Cheelai with sadness in her eyes. "I'm sorry," she told her.
Lemo approached her, resting a hand on her shoulder. Her bottom lip continued quivering. "Lemo…?" she turned to face him.
"Let's leave the nurses to do their thing. C'mon," Lemo said, putting his arm around her to escort her away from the room.
"I can't lose him!" Cheelai said. "Not him! Not my Broly!"
Lemo sighed, pursing his lips. "Your Broly, huh?"
"Wh-what…?" Cheelai mumbled. "What did I say?!"
She collapsed on her knees, sobbing uncontrollably against Lemo. He knelt and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tight into an embrace as she shook against him, her sobs echoing down the hall.