Recap:
Something is stirring within the Gemini Cult – where we find a group of mysterious people who have a vendetta against the Saiyan Race, and for good reason. Their race, eliminated by the Frieza Force's Saiyan team. Now, they will seek revenge on the remaining Saiyans.
Bulma and Kannon suffered a similar fate, taken against their will without a savior to stop their aggressors in time. In due time, all will be avenged. As it happened, Launch found herself in a dilemma of the heart, with Raditz on his way to kill her ex-lover Tien, she worries she won't make it in time to save either of them. With all this said and done, the fate of Earth is resting in the hands of those who would sooner sacrifice themselves than become slaves to a higher power that we, and they have yet to comprehend.
"The Solstice…I can't see the sunlight, but I can feel it…it's here…" A husky female voice murmured in the still, with a soft shuffling of motion on the dusty floor.
"Yes… Vulcane has made his first move, with that despicable dog–Grenada.'' Another responded with the clicking of her long nails on the wall. She scratched the concrete, pitifully digging between the small gaps in the steel bars that shocked them and drained their ki if they tried to touch them.
A dark shadow knelt against the far wall, picking at the shaggy remnant that was his tail, removing scabs and attempting to smooth the fur. His dark eyes glinted in the dim light, towards the ceiling.
"I hear her cries up there, pitiful thing. I thought she would be stronger..." A rasping voice said from where a gray-haired man lay curled on the floor.
"Dormant power lies in the female, Guyéthar. That is why he would try to take her in such a way." A different male voice rumbled, from the opposite side of the cages where his form was concealed by shadows.
"It is her duty as a female!" The first male growled from where he squatted, intent on cleaning the patchy fur on his long tail with crescents cut out along the top. It had been mutilated, but his tail still was at its full length. This gave him an advantage over the other males, and he knew it.
"Of course you would say that, Candor!" One of the females spat, stopping her scratching from the opposite side of the room where they were separated.
"It's the truth, and you know it. You're just bitter you don't have that ability, Rachanā." Candor graveled, stopping his grooming to stand and snarl at the far away females. They bristled back at his towering form, spitting on the floor. The tension was palpable in the room; they hadn't been fed since the last time Kannon had come down, and the caged-in feeling they all experienced never lost its novelty.
"Stop that bickering! All of you! I've heard enough!" Nappa grunted with agitation, craning his neck to look to both sides, fuming at them all. He still hadn't earned a place amongst them as a respected Saiyan. They questioned his loyalty knowing he worked for Frieza and were reasonably suspicious of his intentions. Nappa attempted to explain to them all why he had, and swore up and down that he was still General of the Saiyan Army. Some had laughed at him, while others silently accepted, knowing that there could be a glimmer of hope for their escape if they entertained him.
"Nappa feels sorry for the traitorous Gemini, how disgusting!" A gruff voice boomed from the far end of bars, where a large shadow hulked there.
"I DO NOT, Bdakka!" He retorted back, straining against the steel bar around his chest and causing tiny sparks to sizzle his raw flesh. He fell back onto the hard slab, seething with pain. The flesh on his abdomen was tattered and tight with healing, and small motions like that stretched the skin.
The other Saiyans were offended by him for getting such special treatment that they had never received for their initial injuries when they were drugged and captured. Some were able to fight through the sedatives but that only made their capture and initial torture that much worse. They had all been on the slab where Nappa now lies at one point; they had even watched their own die on that dreaded bed. So they said nothing more; the heavy feeling of dread still hung after they had all heard what happened to Kannon behind the door twenty minutes ago.
Nappa closed his eyes to the other Saiyans. They all seemed restless; their dilated pupils were luminous, having absorbed all the light from the room in the dark cages. Once bronzed, healthy skin was now pallid and sickly from being shut away from the sun for so long.
"Ugh, I can still smell the rancid odors seeping in from upstairs, why did he have to tease her like that?!" The third female whined, pinching her nose and shaking her head of shaggy, unkempt hair.
"Not your preference, Zenaya?" Candor snorted, nodding to her tattered garments where he could see her sinewy, yet soft and curvy figure.
"Hmm, perhaps I would If it were with you, Candor..." She purred, crawling closer to him on her hands and knees.
Candor came closer to the bars, sniffing. She turned and lifted her tail teasingly, showing the pinkish, puffy skin between her thighs caused by her heat. Zenaya peered over her shoulder, giggling at his reaction. He clicked his teeth together and salivated, visibly shaking.
"I have to get out of this cage, General! Before that one over there drives me to insanity like that wretched Grenada!" He whined, curling his thick brows up and pleading.
"Oh, now he's struck silly, not this again! Shut up and go lick yourself, or whatever it is you do over there, pretty boy! And you, stop that teasing, Zenaya! That could very well drive the poor boy mad!" A dry, rasping voice came from the female side, where an elderly female hunched over with her arms wrapped around her knees. Candor eyed her viciously. Guyéthar, who lay listlessly on the floor, chuckled in a grating voice.
"Hush, Faranna, do not waste time on these young whelps, they will tire themselves needlessly. But at least we are safe from being -"
"For how long? We do not have much life energy left! Shall they test how long we can go on mere scraps? Curse our blood!" She cried out, lowering her head and shaking her gray-streaked mane hopelessly.
"It will be ok, don't worry. We will find a way before that happens, to go back home to Sadala-"
"SHUT THE HELL UP! All of you, I've had enough of your goddamn yammering!" Nappa bellowed once again, and the voices all hushed. They shuffled back to the far walls, and now the only sound that could be heard was Kannon's pitiful sobbing from up above. He squeezed his eyes shut, focusing on the rushing of water through the overhead pipes and trying to ignore the hateful sound. If he were free, he would blast her head clean off if she so wished, only to stop that fucking noise.
No. first, I have to kill that spastic fuck that caused the damn sound, I'll deal with her later… When I get out, I'm killing every last one of those three-eyed freaks...
A curtain of curly gold bangs concealed her tear swollen eyes as the other female soothed her; Propel's pale skin contrasted starkly with Kannon's tanned, scarred skin that was covered with forming bruises. Her head hung listlessly as the cult mother poured a bucket of warm water over her back and scrubbed her gently with a plush white cloth. Frothy white suds poured down her curled body as Propel sang softly to her, her soft lilting voice like a whisper in the rolling depths of Kannon's convoluted torment. Her eyes twitched beneath her lids, the right side of her face puffed and scraped up from where she had been forced into the door.
"Don't be so sad, Kannon. You'll be ok. It's always like that with Grenada. He just gets excited! Reign is a more gentle lover, maybe you would be better matched with him." She said with a tilt of her head and a soft giggle. Kannon scoffed, awakening from her stupor.
"You're so fucking brainwashed, Propel. When was the last time you transformed? They've made you into their personal meatball sandwich. Ha!" Kannon said with a sharp turn of her head, flinging drops of water. She pushed her hair back from her brow and scowled at the girl before her with the body of Aphrodite, her wet fuschia hair curling around the soft divots of her pleasing body in the steamy bathing chamber.
Propel pouted and furrowed her brow. "That's not very nice. Maybe you should transform into your cuter form, and then you too could be pretty and loved by all of them like I am." Propel huffed and turned on her heel, not getting very far before Kannon grabbed her by her long strands of hair that stuck to her back and yanked her down to the ground roughly. She slipped and fell on her back and cried out as her head hit the marble floor.
"Don't fuckin' come near me again. I don't want your goddamn help and I never asked for it." Kannon said lowly, standing; her hardened body was the opposite of her cult sister, with her golden skin hard where women should be soft, her breasts high and firm on her wiry chest. Her body was covered in battle scars, and the large bruises from Grenada's rough handling formed on her chest, her angular hips having already become purplish-blue. Kannon crushed one large, squishy breast under her foot and scowled as Propel cried out, squirming helplessly.
"I should put you out of your misery... I can't bear to see you like this any longer. You used to be so strong. What has he done to you?" She whispered, removing her foot and turning away. Propel choked back a cry as she sat up and cupped her hurt breast in both hands.
"..Lord Vulcane is only preparing me for the Solstice. You will join us. If not, he is going to do something very bad, Kannon! You must stop this ridiculous resistance to your duties! Once you have your child, perhaps you will understand why I have done what I have. They are my only joy."
Kannon lowered her head and chuckled sadly. "I had a child, Propel, on Neptune.. Long before you were old enough to spew such trash. But it wasn't safe here…I had to abandon them if I wanted them to survive. And I have only ever loved one man. That is what you don't understand, Propel. You can only love one person at a time. I will never love again. I am too... old to have another child." She said coldly, and with that she stormed out of the steam and her form faded into the white mist proudly, for as Athena riding across the battlefield, she was not a broken woman.
Propel sat and played with her long locks in a state of hurt confusion, her doey eyes brimming with tears. As the first tear dropped she gasped, jumping up with surprise. Propel touched her cheeks and cried with the joy of a woman released from her captivity, the tears that changed her form at last spilling down her face. She marveled at the new feeling of her skin, blinking with narrow cobalt blue eyes.
"I'm.. I'm awake!" She stood like a newborn calf on her newly sculpted calves, marveling at her skillful hands as they felt her firm body, and held a lock of glossy blue-black hair in her hand.
"How... How long has it been since I have been free from that prison...?" She shuddered, and followed her savior's steps out of the bath.
The meditative calm of the mountaintop sanctuary was crushed as the first segment of rock broke with a dull thud, causing boulders to crash down the sheer slope.
Raditz was anything but calm. No. The peace he had experienced during his healing, as Launch cared for him and softened his heart while he slowly regained his memories, had died within him. He cackled cruelly as he pelted the mountainside with radiant light, sending large chunks of rock crumbling down as the tranquil waterfall became nothing but a slick mudslide.
He snorted out the foul scent of his most hated opponent from his nostrils hard as a figure levitated at his back. Raditz turned abruptly, grinning down at Tien. He was surrounded by his own ki, bursting from within him in his anger, his face contorted with bitter hatred at the man before him.
"So you have shown yourself at last, Tien Shinhan. Were you hiding?" He said with a teasing tone, tilting his head and crossing his arms over his bare chest. Tien lowered his cross-legged form, slowly approaching the pulsing ruby aura of Raditz with his own golden one.
"No, I have been searching for you. While you play at the perfect picture of a gentleman, I know your true intentions. You cannot be allowed to sleep in her bed any longer. I won't let you prey upon Launch!" Tien snarled back, coming to a stand in his levitation. Raditz laughed loudly, the raucous sound harsh over the sound of rushing water.
"...Perhaps you are jealous that you can only charm one of them, while I have both girls like putty in my hands." Raditz said, tilting his chin back cockily. His eyes darkened and his power surged once again as he relived the horror of Launch's revelations, of the pain she experienced when her other half and Tien had been together. He scoffed at the memory and wrenched the sordid thought from his mind. "Face it, you are too weak and inexperienced to handle such a harlequin beauty such as Launch. Such a special woman requires a real man who can, Oh how do you say it, multi-task? Heh. Step down, and allow me to have her, or else I will kill you where you stand." His voice ground deeply, with every intent to kill.
Tien did not back down. He clenched his fists and observed the pink, fleshy area on his opponent's broad chest, nearly eight inches in width. He noticed how small trickles of blood seeped from it as he became more enraged. Tien stood with renewed confidence. "She wanted to be defiled, Raditz. She practically begged for it, what was I to do when a beautiful woman like that was sitting on my lap? Perhaps I should have sent the little blue-haired bitch home with a present for you too while I was at it." He snapped back, licking his lips with the tantalizing memory flashing through his mind. Raditz was becoming more enraged; his ki spiked and with it his black locks rose from his back as veins started to bulge from his body. "...I got to have her first, she's nothing but a lush, just get her drunk and you can-" Raditz growled; surging towards Tien, he sent his fist flying at the maddening three eyed man. Tien dodged away swiftly and came up behind Raditz, chuckling softly. Raditz whirled around, wrapping his tail around his waist protectively.
"I know about the weaknesses of a Saiyan, Raditz. That fluffy tail of yours is the most sensitive part of your body. From what I heard, you were sent to your knees blubbering like a baby!"
Raditz's thick mane bristled with rage as he roared. He barreled towards him then wrapped his arms around his waist tightly, squeezing him into submission. Tien pushed up on his solid biceps, snickering as he escaped his grip, leaving a fleeting image of himself in Raditz's arms. He dashed through the air, leaving a shadow of himself with every quick movement, then disappeared behind his opponent's back.
Raditz felt the form in his arms give and grunted in confusion as he turned and saw the fleeting forms, then felt a sharp pain in his back as Tien kicked the base of his tail firmly. Raditz bellowed in agony, falling many feet down to the ground. He panted heavily, turning back towards Tien furiously.
"That was a cheap shot." He growled. Tien simply shrugged and formed himself back into one body.
"You're a pretty cheap fighter from what I've heard... I wonder if that's why your strength is stunted, always using backhanded tactics to avoid being hit... don't you know that's why you'll never be better than Goku?" Tien said, lowering down the ground. He moved his hands in a confusing yet familiar pattern and Raditz's eyes tried to follow it until they heard a shrill cry from behind them.
"Tien!"
They both turned to see the white capsule home giving way under the waterfall's pressure, and as the rocks gave and crumbled, Chiaotzu was trapped inside.
"Chiaotzu! Oh, how did I forget?!" Tien cried out and stopped his preparation for his next move, dashing past Raditz, who grabbed him by the red obi on his green pants and yanked him back viciously.
"No more distractions, Mars man. This is our battle. Your little friend in there is a victim of your own fault. Let him be crushed by the weight of the mountain!" He said coldly and pulled the fabric harder until Tien ripped away from his grip.
"Shut up! You wouldn't know a thing about protecting someone you care about!" Tien shouted and blasted off towards the house as large cracks formed in its exterior. The shell of the small building gave, but not before a small form burst free like a bullet. Raditz looked down at his bare feet in the mud and thought about the words the Gemini had said.
I know nothing about protecting the one I care about? Is that not what I am doing? Or is this the wrong way to show I care for her...?
He heard the resounding sobs from the boy as Tien took him in his arms and soothed his friend's cries. Raditz watched the scene, blinking. He remembered Launch's words before he left her to kill Tien.
'No! He doesn't have to die!'
He shook his head, removing the thoughts vigorously. It is the only answer. I am protecting her, fighting is the only way I know. I am sorry, Launch. This is for your own good...
"Raditz!" He heard the cry from the path broken by the mountain's fall, then Raditz turned sharply to see her familiar form jumping off the motorcycle, standing at the cliff's edge to beckon to him. He swallowed, glancing nervously back to Tien, then back at her and suddenly felt a strange wave of guilt pass through him.
"Raditz! Please don't do this!" She cried out, falling to her knees, sobbing. He lowered his eyes and shivered with the rage that was still coursing through him. He turned, slowly showing his back to her. Raditz blinked hard as Launch screamed for him; feeling pained by hearing the sound, he clenched his fists and closed his eyes to whisper in her mind telepathically.
Stay away. It's not safe here.
That was all he could think to say, there were no soothing words he could comprehend to stop her cries; he knew that she would one day thank him for what he was about to do. She didn't understand that this was necessary. Tien must be punished for what he's done.
There was a low rumble, and with it, the remnants of the house were crushed by rock and the last of the waterfall spilled down the edge of the steep summit. Now there was only the mud that Raditz waded in, as he approached the heartwarming scene that would have warmed, say – someone with a golden heart like Goku's. Raditz only saw a pitiful display of emotion that was unfamiliar in his mind. Males showing affection for one another?! It was offensive, unfathomable. He sneered with disgust, spitting on the ground.
He would never embrace Nappa in such a way that was not in a rare bout of playful wrestling. Especially not Vegeta! Only a child does such foolish things. Once they were whelped, Nappa treated them both as if they were strangers and any attempts to receive those fatherly affections were met with a hard fist to the face. The only form of affection between males that Raditz was familiar with was fighting; holding back from the kill shot was a proving factor in whether or not they dared to show they held some semblance of concern for one another.
"Enough, either let the child fight, or save him from being destroyed." He graveled, becoming blind with anger, Raditz formed a ball of fluorescent white-ruby ki in his hand, the reflection across his features creating a motley of dancing light on the sharp planes of his face. Tien got to his feet, holding Chiaotzu back with one hand.
"Go with the others. Tell them not to interfere in this fight, Chiaotzu. I have this under control." He said sternly. He was serious as the white-faced fighter looked up and nodded subtly, flying away quickly while looking over his shoulder.
"Probably for the best. Or your little friend would be smeared across the mountainside with just this one blast." Raditz said lowly, flexing his fingers and rolling the small ball like dough in his hand. He concentrated and constricted his power densely into a compact sphere, remembering how the green alien had made such a skillful show of power. It still amazed him now as he remembered and wondered if he could ever be capable of learning such an interesting technique, one that nearly killed him.
"Fine. I see you have no sympathy, I don't think a pea-brained ape like you is capable of understanding such a pure relationship." Tien said, but the words only angered Raditz anew as he floated up and whipped the ball at Tien, hitting him hard in the thigh. It pierced a hole cleanly through his leg, and with a cry Tien lost his footing, clutching his bleeding wound. He hadn't expected such a small shot to have such an effect on him. Tien removed the torn strip of fabric from his obi and quickly fastened it around his leg before standing. Raditz awaited him patiently from above, looking down in that suspiciously smug way.
Tien felt himself suddenly bristle once again, remembering his words, glancing at the figures on the sideline. He felt a rushing urge to protect all of his good friends. Perhaps with his defeat of this brutal savage, he would try to approach Launch again and they would move at a more respectable pace with their relationship.
Lately, Tien felt like Jekyll and Hyde with his emotions; he didn't know what to think anymore as he stared up at the swirling black-umber locks at Raditz's back and delved into those cold, unwavering eyes. An unspoken pact formed between the two. As their eyes connected, Tien sent his thoughts to Raditz, seeing the large warrior react by twitching in abhorrence. Winner gets the girl? He asked, grinning wryly.
You won't get the chance. Raditz responded after a brief spell, and Tien felt a mental shield form in the Saiyan's mind before he could speak again. Tien rose his digits once again and firmed his stance. Tien raised one finger and formed a golden ball of light then aimed it.
"Dodon Ray!" Tien shouted. Raditz observed its approach coolly, moving one forearm swiftly to block the narrow golden beam. Tien watched as a thin line of blood streaked through the dark hairs on his forearm.
Raditz's eyes widened with the unexpected surprise. Damn! I should have known! He's playing tricks like those two did before, and without my scouter I can't read his battle power! He rumbled audibly in his chest with rage. Tien stepped back a pace as Raditz lowered, chuckling.
"You're more powerful than I had expected, Shinhan. You actually pierced my flesh." He said, almost impressed, then licked the trickling blood from his arm. Raditz pulled back with a satisfied sigh, lapping at his lips hungrily. Tien backed away – suddenly his heart was thundering in his chest as the large warrior clothed in nary but a black strip of clothing approached. Tien observed his heavily brawned sinew moving with each lumbering step. Raditz was like a wild animal, panting at the scent of Tien's blood. Tien tensed, then put his hands to his third eye, sending his ki rushing to the spot.
"Solar Flare!"
Unexpectedly, everything became blinding white to the Saiyan; he squeezed his eyes shut and couldn't feel the fleeting aura of the other warrior at all. Tien came around and sunk a hard kick with his shin into the back of his knees. Raditz grunted, falling forward, the light still flashing through his eyes. He felt another crushing pain as Tien's foot stomped cruelly into his lower back. He arched his back and bellowed in pain, following the resulting crunch and pop of his spine.
Raditz got onto his knees, snarling and practically foaming at the mouth in sheer disbelief of the sneak attack. "You- You little cretin! You'll regret that!" He shouted, and got back up into the air, his surroundings returning to the familiar, strange colors of the red and blue planets intermingled in the sky. Turning into the soft velvety violet that reminded him of her precious eyes as the golden sun began its long descent.
Raditz turned to see Launch being held by Krillin and Master Roshi as she sobbed inconsolably.
Launch.. I.. I will be okay, do not be frightened. He said into her mind as he turned and rose up to meet Tien's hard expression of determination. He knew that the girl had no mental power, but he could at the very least send her comforting messages.
I love you, Raditz.
He heard a tiny voice at the back of his mind and shuddered; it tickled the very base of his subconscious and sent shivers down his spine. He shook his head, fisting his fingers at his roots as the voice continued to tickle there.
I love you. Love you. Raditz don't! Raditz don't do it. Don't die! Tien! Please don't die. I love you. Love Raditz. Raditz. Don't die. Don't kill Tien! Please don't die!
It was an unorganized stream of consciousness that she sent him, not knowing that the feeling overwhelmed him as his chest began to heave with the reaction. He felt a swelling and bursting feeling in his chest, then clutched it with one hand. Raditz blocked off her messages, shutting off the telepathic stream that would only serve to weaken him and distract him at the moment. He blinked with surprise; he had never expected her to be capable of responding, the little female gave literally no aura of strength or mental ability off.
"Let's fucking go! No more distractions! It's just you and me, Shinhan!" He roared, drowning out his feelings and powering up. Raditz used his conflicting emotion as a battering ram as he honed in on the green clothed figure above. He came at him swiftly and met him with a barrage of flying fists and kicks, which to his thrill the Gemini matched evenly. Raditz reveled in the feeling of his fists digging in, bouncing off the opposing flesh with hard smacks. They spun in a flurry of blows in the air, face to face. The smaller man flattened his hand and hit him with a sharp chop to his chest wound. Raditz backed away quickly. Feeling the throbbing there, he ignored it, instead making multiple ki balls in his fists and pummeling Tien with a shower of light.
"Here, have the Weekly Special!"
Tien attempted to block them, but there were too many to keep track of. The hot balls of ki pelted him and made his body jerk as each one hit with the impact of a point-blank bullet. Smoke rose from Tien's burnt skin as he struggled to move, one injured leg moving slower than the other. Raditz smirked as he pulled back and held his hands together to form a large ball, as Tien regained his balance in the air and jumped back in anticipation.
"Here's a present!" Raditz shouted, then whipped the ball at his thigh before the other warrior could block it. The blast sent Tien dropping down screaming, the fabric of his pant leg burning away as he rocketed down and landed with a hard splash into a puddle of mud.
Raditz heard the collective screams for Tien's safety as he approached him, chuckling softly. Tien moaned and clutched his burnt leg to his torso.
"You're not a very good team player. You were supposed to catch the ball!" Raditz said with a teasing voice.
"Catch this!" He heard a cry from behind, and saw a streak of light in Tien's eyes, then the battered warrior smiled. Raditz whipped around quickly to see the incoming missile approaching him, the oblong shape of it tearing through the air as Krillin threw the disk with all of his might in defense of his fellow fighter.
Raditz smiled, "Finally, someone who knows how to throw a frisbee!" He laughed, and caught the bright object in his hand quickly, then swung it back with twice the velocity. Krillin anticipated the return and dodged it swiftly, thankful for the training that he and Tien had done relentlessly with their own ki attacks. "You'd better stay down, baldie. You have nothing on your fellow cue ball here. But at least you know how to play the game properly. Normally, we played it with severed limbs, but that works just as well!" The small man looked up at Raditz with a determined expression.
"Not a chance, Raditz. I'm still not happy with what you did to Goku, and I won't let you do the same to Tien!"
Raditz smiled, nodding. "All you Earth warriors are very brave, I'll give you that. But bravery won't save you on the battlefield. All a warrior needs is his strength. If that means leaving your partners in the dust, so be it. At least you left with your neck." He said and rose, summoning his power once again.
Krillin and Tien stood at either side below him. The larger one shouted, getting up on one leg like an injured bird and balancing on it skillfully. "That's not how it's done on Earth! We help one another, we fight together!"
Raditz suddenly tensed his hold on the ki balls forming in his hands as he had a startling revelation.
We fight together.
Is that not what Vegeta had said to me once in the past? He recalled being briefly confused by his words, and retorted with the scathing remark,
No shit, what did you think we were doing here, Vegeta?
He remembered the smaller Saiyan making a scoffing sound of disapproval before leaving him, shaking his head, back when they were fighting on Planet Lystraya. Could the former prince have meant more than the obvious statement he had taken it for?
Vegeta? He asked to the air, sending a questioning message with little hope of getting a response. He couldn't hear anything, not the familiar touch of his mind, nor his sneering voice in return.
Was it possible, he actually..?
"Hey! Ya big muscle-head! Wake up!" He heard a laugh, and resounding chuckles from below. With a bellow of rage, he erupted.
"Double Sunday!"
Raditz pierced the darkening sky with streaks of scalding pink light. The beams rocketed down and enlarged into growing orbs of fiery ruby light, becoming wrapped with ribbons of wet soil. They pulverized the ground beneath them with a great thunderous boom. Screams rang out all around them as the mountain collapsed, and Raditz wrenched his face to see the neighboring pathway giving way to collapse, with the three standerbys running to the top of the tilting road.
Raditz blasted through the air in a second's time, hovering above Launch as she scrambled to grip the rocks. He caught her in his arms, observing as the old man was pulled up with some struggling by the smaller white-faced fighter. Raditz pulled Launch to him in an embrace as he looked for a place to put her, before feeling her nails rake across his cheek and hearing her hoarse cry.
"Raditz! How could you!" She screeched in his ear; he cringed back and looked down at her viciously. Raditz's eyes widened, he grit his teeth and felt blood seeping from the lacerations.
"Do not scratch me, girl!" He spat at her, in total disbelief of her actions.
"I h-hate you! I hate you, Raditz!" She cried out, tears running down her cheeks.
"W-what..?!" He asked, suddenly stopping in the air. They turned to see the mountain collapsing into a large pile of dust that rose in great clouds and blanketed the skyline.
He faced her and looked at her with a deep hurt in his eyes. Raditz clutched her to himself as he righted them, searching for any sign it was a lie.
Launch reared back and crashed her forehead with his, and to his surprise, it actually hurt! He pulled back in stunned shock, a small welt forming. Her forehead swelled and bled but she did not back down, holding herself away from his body with her sharp nails digging rivers of blood into his forearms.
"I told you not to do this, and what did you do?! Krillin and Tien could very well be dead from that blast!" She shrieked.
"I was only protecting you from him! Launch, you said that you loved me! Did you mean that?!" He yelled back, feeling the heat of unshed tears pooling and blurring his vision.
She seemed taken aback, gasping.
"I-I never said that! I don't know how I feel anymore, Raditz! You're-you're a monster!" She cried out, flinching back from him. Launch hid her face in her hands and sobbed. Raditz lowered his head and softened his grip on her. Launch looked up to see his response, but only saw a mask of her former love. His eyes, cold and guarded. He lowered them both quickly to the ground as his shed tears fell and were quickly absorbed into the dry dirt where he stood, unmoving as she ran to dig for the buried fighters.
Raditz felt his chest aching as he stared down at the ground, hearing the crumbling rocks and the sobs of the small female he cared so much for but didn't understand how to show her, how to make her no longer hate him.
"Krillin! Krillin!" She cried as she pulled the small body from the dirt, her body wracked with hoarse cries. Krillin's burnt head lolled to the side and his eyes stared unblinking towards Raditz behind her. He glared into the deadened eyes and felt nothing within him of sympathy.
There was another crumble, and a cloud of dust as Tien stood from the rocks and brushed himself off. "Tien!" Launch cried out, then stumbled over the stones to embrace him. He held her back from him at an arm's length, glaring only at Raditz. Raditz looked on in horror as she actually, actually embraced his worst enemy! He felt that horrible pain in his chest and clutched it, hunching over. She-she told me she was afraid of him!? I don't understand!
"Tien! You're alright!" His blue-haired beauty said with relief. Tien walked away from her, returning his attention to his enemy. He saw Krillin's crumpled form on the ground and growled, guttural.
"Krillin... You will regret this, Raditz."
"I do not feel regret." He responded icily, raising his eyes to meet the others.
"Run far away from here, Launch." Tien said before stepping out of the dirt to approach Raditz. They met one another's gaze coldly, then began to rise back into the air together, slowly.
Launch wiped her eyes and sobbed, clutching the front of Krillin's shirt. She cradled her head to the deceased and cried. The dust slowly settled, and as she looked up to see the figures on the horizon fading to small dots, she sneezed softly, and changed once again. But her emotions did not change. She felt hurt for both men, but now felt her displaced affections wonder where they should attach.
Instead, she stood and walked to the crumpled S-Cargo on the ground, taking her semi automatic out of the trunk.
"Oh no... Krillin..." She heard the soft voice of Master Roshi and the cries of Chiaotzu. With that she walked away and cast a long shadow on the ground, as the lights from the fighters above met and created a dazzling orange light-show of clashing ki that was only intensified by the brilliant orange sun like a cutout before the scarlet sky, marking the end of the Solstice at last.
Blood dappled the arid soil and soaked it between his white, now pink-stained boots. Vegeta spat on the ground and laughed gruffly. The two Gemini had been tormenting him now for some time, rather unsuccessfully. He lifted his head to see the flickering green eyes of his tormentor before him, then laughed again and tilted his head back, gazing at the orange sun that was beating down on them.
"Remember now... those cries, the blood shed of your victims as they clung to your heel in despair. Our people had done nothing to deserve this destruction; they had in fact taken you in as their child, cared for you, treated you as their own-"
Vegeta shook his head shamefully as the Gemini man attempted to upset him with the memories of the purging of Planet Neptune.
"Not biting, blondie." He chuckled, and the red-headed pyromaniac burnt him again as punishment, searing the already dripping and mangled flesh of his upper body. Vegeta clenched his teeth, tilting his head back and roaring in reaction to the feeling.
"Burn! Burn!" Grenada growled, and in Vegeta's paralyzed state he had no other option but to allow the psychopath to sear his flesh like charbroiled meat until it blackened and fell away, the stringy red muscle beneath exposed and bleeding profusely.
"Dig deeper, Reign. You're not having enough of an effect to break him. You must remember that the Saiyans do not feel sympathy. You must show him his own deepest pain." A rasping voice seethed from behind, as he placed his gnarled hand on the shoulder of the man attempting to harm their captor with sheer thoughts alone.
Vegeta panted as the green fires burning him died, and Reign put his fingers back into a tented pattern, the small black pupil of his eye becoming green again.
"You are no better than your poor, dead father, Vegeta...!" Frieza mused, as his tail came cracking through the air and left a shallow indentation across his back that quickly pooled with blood. The three Saiyans hunched down on their hands and knees as Frieza lashed them once again. Each of them, screaming in turn as the crack of flesh on flesh echoed through the darkened room. Various bits of limbs lay decaying; the burnt end of a fingertip rolled across the ground and touched with Vegeta's as he stared at the ground, the pooling blood there. A long, white appendage slithered across the ground before them, smearing the blood across the floor in a snail-like trail, before curling and tickling Vegeta's cheek distastefully.
"Such a mighty race, were you not...? How the mighty have fallen! To the level of pitiful ditch monkeys scratching the lice from their filthy mange! I can't take that filthy smell any longer. Don't you think it's time you had a bath?" Frieza cackled, causing their backs to tense. Vegeta glanced at Raditz at his side and their dark eyes met for a split second. In the larger Saiyan's eyes he saw the familiar glimmer of spite hidden deep within.
Raditz nodded grimly, turning his eyes back to stare at the ground. He swallowed as he heard the dragging of a hose on the ground; squeezing his eyes shut, Vegeta prepared for the incoming torrent of painful liquid that was to come.
"Now, don't forget to lift those nasty little shit-swipers so I can power-wash your hindquarters, monkey trash..." Frieza spat. With a hiss, the crank on the hose was turned to allow the acid to be released. The sharp, putrid scent of sulfur densely fogged the air as the resulting screams bellowed around him.
Vegeta squeezed his eyes shut and truly believed, 'The pain is good... the pain is good, every bit of pain will only serve to strengthen me, that is where he made his mistake...'
Vegeta remembered this and it only cemented his resolve, as the Gemini behind him now seared his back to imitate the burning of hot sulfuric acid.
"Hotter, Grenada! It has to be hotter!" Vulcane hissed, then placed both hands onto Reign's. In turn, his own pupil turned red as it joined in the telepathic torment. Suddenly, all was fully fleshed; Vegeta was there in the room! He could feel the acid burning his skin! Hear the hoarse cries of his brethren in his ears, the cackling laughter that he despised.
No, we must dig deeper! The voice of Vulcane seethed in his mind now, curling its forked tongue in his ear.
Why don't we explore the mind of the torturer...?
Vegeta's eyes widened as his perception of the scene changed; now he could see his own back, his own curled form on the ground! The combined power of the third eyes crawled across the ground sizzling with toxic gas, up to his three-toed feet, his pink flesh, and up, until he stared into his own worst enemy's crimson eyes.
Frieza... What deepest darkness lies in those eyes? Vulcane rasped, and the light became fleeting streaks of color as they entered his mind.
"Get on your knees, trash.." A voice seethed, as the familiar foot crushed down the back of a royal blue cape, flocked with scarlet red. "Pledge fealty to my Empire or die."
"I secede... Lord Frieza, Planet Vegeta is yours...!" His father cringed, and was let up, to brush off his white royal armor with shame. King Vegeta turned and lowered his head as Frieza smiled, looking to Zarbon, who nodded, and commenced the tearing of the royal crest of family Vegeta from the walls, shredding the silken tapestries. Purple paint splashed over the large mural of King Vegeta on the wall, surrounded by flames as he held the head of a Tuffle in his hand by its hair, the face with a blue scouter staring out with deadened eyes.
"Remove any trace of the Saiyan Empire. Give the soldiers their new orders to turn over all communication devices immediately, all sectors in alliance with Vegeta will be under my order by the evening..."
Vegeta looked on with large, hollow eyes; all he had been shown were things he knew of, although the reality of seeing it through his own overlord's eyes was a different experience entirely...
"...Vegeta, I am giving you a very special mission, you're old enough now to go into space. I'm entrusting you with the best man of the Saiyan Army, General Nappa. He will be coming with you in order to protect you..."
"I don't need to be protected, father!"
"Listen, things are... difficult to explain here, but I know that you will keep your father's wishes.. Do not forget who you are, son, do not forget the pride of your Saiyan race..." King Vegeta knelt down, shamelessly showing his brow to his son, who in turn ignored him and appraised the tall man before him and the other boy at his side, grinning snidely.
"Let's go, I'm ready, Nappa."
Vegeta frowned as he considered his father's words from the past, his eyes squeezed shut as he was hit with more memories in rapid succession.
"You can't do this! You will not take my throne, what have you done to my wife?!" He gasped as Vasenya fell to the floor in a pool of her own blood, her throat slit. King Vegeta barreled forward, bellowing as he charged through the masses of soldiers attempting to hold him off, taking them down with brilliant blue light radiating from his powerful form.
"Let me see him! Let me see Frieza!" He bellowed; bursting free from the restraints, he approached his own throne and stood before it. Blood dripped from his temple as the familiar crimson eyes looked him over.
"Come closer, your majesty..." The curdled voice whispered, and he stepped closer until he stood at the base of the throne. Frieza put out the back of his pale hand and held it below the usurped King's chin in wait for the kiss of surrender.
"Kiss the king, monkey boy... You're all just puppets in my game! Next is that sweet little prince. He's going to be my personal plaything and by the time I'm done breaking him in, he'll be begging for mercy.." He cooed, licking his black lips with a pink, slimy tongue.
"You have taken my wife, my throne. You cannot take my son!" King Vegeta said sharply, lifting his hand and forming a ball of ki in his fist. He raised it to strike him and was quickly detained by Zarbon holding his arms forcefully against his back near to breaking. King Vegeta made a harsh, garbled cough of a choked back cry as Frieza dug his claws into the back of his spiky raven red hair and pressed the Saiyan's mouth to the back of his hand. As the king's lips pressed, Frieza lifted one finger and sent a beam of light piercing through the eye cavity of the surrendered king. The back of the dying king's head fell away in an empty shell and a pink splatter of brain matter trickled down his arm as Frieza lifted his other hand and laughed with euphoria.
"That's enough!" Vegeta spat, tearing himself from the horrible visions; his eyes burned with unshed tears that would never meet the air. His entire body quivered as his ki rose to the surface, covering him in bright golden light that clashed with the blue tendrils that acted as transparent barbed wire around his body.
"Ooh, it seems we've hit a sore spot at last.." Vulcane grinned, watching Vegeta's struggling with an amused expression. "But that's not even the worst of it. Do you think your puny brain could handle the magnitude of what you're about to see? How fitting, that the destroyer of our planet is about to witness the destruction of his own precious planet..."
Vegeta furrowed his brow and spat "My planet was destroyed by a meteor! I know that, what could you possibly show me that I don't already know?!"
The corner of the kimono clad figure's mouth curled up wryly as he adjusted his thin hands around the other Gemini's, and Vegeta was sunk back into the demented mind of Frieza.
Brilliant golden light, dazzling...
The figure of a man attempting to hold back the great blast, his form becoming lost to the golden aura. Bardock tilted his head back and smiled as he died for his planet. The swirling red planet in the background became alight as the golden orb sunk into it, and with a sparkling array of golden tendrils, the surface became segmented and slowly erupted from within. In a blinding flash of blue light, the planet was decimated, reduced to dust as the blast reflected in Frieza's eyes, who laughed as if on the very edge of insanity as Planet Vegeta was eliminated once and for all...
"NO!" Vegeta cried out, his voice ragged as he panted in frantic breaths, his eyes widened with the realization of the truth at last.
"Now do you understand our plight? Can you see now why we hate your kind so much...?" Reign asked in a soft voice, lowering his hands and allowing the small red piece of fabric that was Vegeta's childhood royal cloak to flutter away.
Grenada backed away from the growing power of the compact fighter as Vegeta began to quiver from the very depths of his soul, breathing in harsh, ragged breaths that burned deep down to his belly. Vegeta squeezed his eyes shut and allowed the tears to fall as he screamed, bellowing with all his might and making the ground shake. The Geminis backed up further, observing how the Saiyan's aura became tendrils of smoke that surrounded him and danced as he screamed. The light burst forth from the very bottom of him and upwards into the darkening sky in a flame of bright yellow ki.
When Vegeta opened his eyes they were white, and he looked at his own fist and marveled at the power there, surrounded by golden fire. The barbed wire bonds broke, and he laughed with the feeling of freedom at last. Vegeta rocketed towards his scarlet haired torturer and sunk his fist into that smug expression, knocking him to the ground. Vegeta rose into the air and laughed with exhilaration.
"Is it true? The Super Saiyan of legend?" He lacks the golden hair.. " Vulcane whispered to the others, observing how the flame of hair atop the demented face of their former captive was writhing with power, raven hair alight with a red aura.
Grenada growled in anger and made a fist with his blackened hand. He formed a black grenade-like ball swirling with absinthe green and threw it at the Saiyan. Vegeta grinned as it came towards him, and as it hit and washed him in the green flames, he spread his arms in welcome. The phosphorous fire was a cool, licking burn that paled in comparison to the heat coming off of his body, washing him in a ruby red cast.
"Hmm! He's not hurt!" Grenada growled, tensing as the red washed warrior lowered to the ground and began approaching him slowly with a tilted head and crossed arms. Grenada created and threw grenades in rapid succession, pelting him until the figure was nearly invisible in the wall of green eruptions. Grenada gasped as one leg came from the swirling fire, then another as Vegeta was suddenly upon him before he could react.
Vegeta rose into the air and glared down at him with those crazed, colorless eyes, and with one invisible motion he felt a fist barrel into his sternum, then again, each punch burning and searing away the fabric of his gi. Grenada fell back, gasping. He crawled back on his rear and screamed as one pink boot came down and pulverized his groin into the ground. Grenada was paralyzed with pain for a moment as Vegeta's foot squashed him thoroughly to flattened, and he looked up and whimpered at the scene of Satan himself come to earth. The Saiyan laughed coldly and left him there to suffer, approaching the blonde-haired Gemini, beckoning him with one hand.
Reign raised his hands in defense and moved into a fighting stance.
"Ready, pretty boy? Or do you miss your precious swords?" He questioned, awaiting the Neptunian's response. Reign surged at him, meeting him with a barrage of swift blows, using his quick fists to punch through the swirling fire and find solid form. Reign was relentless in his attacking, but Vegeta was only calmly stepping back, observing his attacker with a bored expression.
Vegeta thrust one hand forward and clutched him by his throat, lifting him off the ground and watching him struggle to claw at the fist washed in flames. He tossed him to the ground unceremoniously and began to approach the cult leader. Vulcane darted his eyes and looked to the others. Grenada and Reign got to their feet, then ran and hid behind the optical illusion-like dragon pattern of his kimono.
"Conceal! Kakusu!" Vulcane enveloped them with the billowing sleeves of his kimono, and with that, they were gone.
"What?!" Vegeta snarled, looking back and forth for them. He growled, blasting the soil with fire, then darted through the air where they had stood and swore in frustration.
"Fuck! Where did they go?!" He hovered and looked at the footprints in the soil, waiting to see any more prints forming that would give away their place. There were none; the shore had already begun to erase the signs of the fight.
He flew to the rock wall and searched for the camouflaged obstruction from before, but now as he looked at the wall he saw only the sandstone. Vegeta reached back and punched it with both fists then was thrown back violently by an invisible force field.
He panted and sighed heavily as his aura of fire died out and fell to his knees, landing on his hands. He stared at his shadow on the ground and saw the tell-tale shadow of the scouter on his ear. With one motion he tore it off and blasted it into non-existence.
"Frieza... You will pay for what you did..."
A/N: Wow! What was that transformation? Sound off with your theories in the comments below! Things will begin to get more intense and action-packed from here on out, and I hope you all are prepared! I'm so thankful to have the assistance of my beta reader polkapan to help these scenes sparkle and make reading easier for you all!