Hello, it's me..
slowpoke, the devils own..
Well, sort of. I
feel really bad for the time I took.. work and stuff. And my comic.. well, you
know. Pesky and all.
Anyways, I
finally got the first chapter looking like something I wanted it too,..
It aint perfect yet, but I decided to post it anyway. Just to get myself on
track again.
---
Empty halls and
empty corridors: a ship too big for even this voluminous crew.
Or it's
voluminous king's court. It was seldom one ventured down the halls to her laboratory
of their own free will. Even less now, with all stations heavily undermanned. That
was all fine with her. The empty halls and her laboratories trembled softly with
her purring song, and she enjoyed the feel of her native canyons.
Even if she was
off key.
Who was gonna
hear anyway? And if someone, by some strange chance did hear her, how were they
going to know she was off key? They would not; just a forgotten lullaby from a
forgotten world. The fact made her even sadder; though she had started singing
just to stop feeling this way. Again, a whole planet wiped away. Again, a whole
race doomed to oblivion. Even if it was not her people sent to their death this
time, it did hurt. The whole thing just reminded her too much of what happened to
her own kind.
Way too much.
Chesire stopped
her purring song a moment so she could gobble up the rest of the bottle's
content, then started off again as she moped around in the dark trying to find
some more liquor. She had tried. Really tried this time. The hope that the
little boy had given her, just by getting stronger was amazing. A little thing
in itself, but she had seen the potential there, and for a little while, it had
made her feel alive once again. Hope in vain, of course. She should have
realized from the start. But, lord, the possibilities! How many times would it
be possible to repeat the same process on the same individual? Would her
regen-tank keep on doubling the occupant's power? Would it work for everyone?
Would it work on
her?
Would she be
marching an army of abused, overworked scientist through the bowels
of this ship and
personally ring that little pink worms neck one day?
Kill Frieza
himself, and all those others that had kept her small all these long
years?
The though had
been wonderful, even if it was just a silly dream. But she no longer had the
strength to do this. Not after what she'd seen, as she snooped across the halls
that day, acquiring supplies. She'd only realized they were being boarded when
ship shook. But when it had, she had done the smart thing, and hid. As indeed
any intelligent creature would have. Or someone with her despicably low power
level. And then, when she'd peered out from the crack in the door, she'd seen
them march by.
The Saiyi-jins
had done it, at last; had finally gone and done what everyone had been
whispering about for months now. They had attacked. Strong, giant men, all
grim-looking and well armored. They simply radiated their immense strength,
taking down Frieza's crewmen like they were but bothersome flies. Chesire had
felt a surge of happiness as she'd seen the man in charge, smaller then any of
his giant elites, but more deadly then any of them. Though she'd never seen him
before in her life, she knew who he was on sight; Even if the Bengaal hadn't
heard stories about the Saiyi-jin king, she would have recognized his son in
him. The stories that she had heard made her heart sing: The Saiyi-jin king and
his invincible Saiyi-jin elites. In her naivety, she'd though she would not
have to wait for her liberation after all. Delirious; happy beyond a care,
she'd stayed in her hiding for over half an hour, heart racing as she awaited
the outcome of this battle.
After that,
though, reason had kicked in. If she wanted to survive this thing herself, her
best chance would be the king's son. She'd been at his door to free him and
tell him of the great news when that pink blob Dodoria had turned the corner. "And
what are you doing here?" He had asked in that usual slimy voice of his. She
had shrugged, panicking, and quietly thinking the same question about him. Was
the giant blowfish abandoning ship maybe? He didn't seem to be in much of a hurry
though. No, after searching her face for several seconds, he'd waved a dismissive
hand. "Well, whatever. Go get to Frieza's anteroom. And take any surviving
staff you can find. Oh, and bring a bucket and shovel. The place is a complete
mess."
If that hadn't
been enough to burst her bubble, scraping Saiyi-jin entrails off the
antechamber's doors had been.
And she'd cursed
herself, for thinking they could have done it.
Frieza was a
god; He couldn't die. Her plan had no chance of success. She had no chance. And,
again, a whole race had died trying. Like her own brave people. Well aware that
they were not half the warriors they needed to be for the task, but not willing
to live in slavery. Only she was left of the brave heritage: a little girl-scientist,
too cowardly to die along with her people. So she'd gone back to her old ways,
trying to escape the pain and shame the only way she knew how. What else was
there to do? She didn't even have the courage to face the little prince, not
after having a close look of what had been left of his father. The sheer
thought of him asking her what she knew made her sick. Sick both at the memory
and of herself.
Chesire started
singing louder, finally finding a half-full bottle amongst her dirty den of a
lab, and made her way back to her favorite workbench. She startled too late,
senses clogged by the alcohol, at the figure standing stock-still atop the
table. Hands crossed and stance wide, for once managing to glare down at her
from his aloof position. The boy stared her down for several seconds, his tail
twitching agitatedly behind him his only movement. Then, just as the Feline was
about to burst into hysteric tears, he spoke. "Three days, cat. Three days you
said. Not three weeks!"
It was too much
for the scientist to take. With a high-pitched sob, she embraced the boy's
stiff form. "Vegeta! I'm sooo sorry! I,..I" She couldn't go on. Sobbing, she
held him tightly against herself. Only for about five seconds, though: Even in
her intoxicated state, she realized something was decidedly wrong with his
posture. Something she could not in any way associate with a grief-stricken
youngster. Finally she shifted his un-giving form so she could peer into his
face.
The shock on his
face was quickly replaced with indignation. Then, he roughly fought himself
free from her grasp.
"What's your problem anyway, cat! Do you
really think begging will help you now?" He seemed at a loss then,
unnecessarily straightening out his training suit. "You were supposed to work
on that regeneration tank, remember?" Odd would have been an understatement, as
far as Chesire was concerned. She reached out again, but he jumped back, adding.
"And you have no right to be touching a prince." Chesire stopped, hand still
extended before finally adding two and two together.
"My Kami. You
don't know, do you?"
--
Why it always had
to be him in charge of the master's sick little operations still eluded him.
Something to do with the creature's favor and trust, he figured. Whatever the
reason, Zarbon knew he was supposed to see it as an honor.
And he tried to see it that way. Tried to see
this as an enjoyable hunt, as his companion did. He couldn't. At the end of the
road, Zarbon was smart enough to see just what it was he was doing.
Genocide.
It might have
struck him as ironic that the Saiyi-jins, that had themselves killed off many a
race, now actually fell victim to their own holocaust. But not when it was him
doing the killing. Patrolling around the empty quadrants of space, searching
high and far for any bastard unlucky enough to have survived the death of his
planet. He had a whole scout patrol helping him look for anyone that might have
made it out alive. They never had a chance. Zarbon was pretty sure he'd got
them all. He and Dodoria had hauled the view they'd found from their broken
pods, and dealt them their mercy shot.
Well, he had.
Dodoria had
'played' some with his.
Great fun. Or so
his companion thought. Then again, everything about Dodoria disgusted him.
He wasn't too
happy when the fat pink blob came back from his mission. Even less pleased when
it appeared Freeza couldn't think of any excuse to send him across the galaxy
again. But putting this drooling sadist on a mission with Zarbon himself. It was Freeza's way of making sure his
'right hand' suffered "as bad as himself" The tyrant no doubt felt.
Oh yes! Freeza
was descending into one of his infamous depressions. As if the young warrior
didn't have enough to worry about. The reason, of course was, again, the
Saiyi-jins. Coming back to haunt them all from beyond the grave. The ruler of
the universe had been ecstatic the day after killing his monkeys. He'd had a
great time planning his grand 'asteroid' lie, changing the date of the planet's
destruction three days late, getting himself and his ship far enough away not
to be a suspect.
Planning the lid
up on it all by killing any survivors.
But two days
later, when Dodoria had finally caught up with them, the Ice-jin's initial high
had worn off. And Zarbon had finally realized just how much the Saiyi-jins had
meant for his master's mental health. The Saiyi-jins had been trouble: They had
always been trouble. Loud and violent, full of threats, even to Freeza's face.
But also so incredibly dense it was always easy to turn their anger onto
someone else.
And that was
just it.
Dealing with the
Saiyi-jins had always been one of the tyrant's favorite pass-times. Add to the
fact that his other current pass time was doing solitary, it shouldn't have
surprised Zarbon how sour the changeling had suddenly turned. And, as always,
when Freeza suffered, he made damned sure everyone around him suffered three
times as much.
Zarbon had been
doing just that for the last two weeks. Suffering.
That, and trying
to figure on a way to lighten his master's mood.
Zarbon threw a
quick glance at Dodoria's smooth, pink visage. Wondering quietly if he couldn't
think of a way to make his long-time rival take the front if Freeza's
displeasure. It would be two birds in one stone; Freeza would be endurable for
a few days. And Dodoria would be… Dead. Smoothly, Zarbon's mind shot into gear,
thinking of all the possible stupid things the creature might say, if prompted
right. Of all the stupid things it might do.
Then, just as a
plan began to emerge, a call came in. Well, it wasn't like such musings
couldn't wait. Half repressing a sigh, the green haired warrior pressed the
receive button. And was promptly rewarded with the smiling visage of his
leading scout. She was one of his own kind, and an old friend, so it was no
surprise that he, too felt a smile tug at his lips. Beautiful and slender and
feminine, the looks of her always convinced him that those that mistook him for
a woman on first glance where just plain dumb.
Dodoria was less
pleased.
"What do you
want, bitch?"
Zarbon growled
softly, but the scout smoothed it over. "Greetings, my lords. We have found
some Saiyi-jin survivors for you." She proclaimed happily. Dodoria tried
shifting in the chair he was stuck in. Though any fool could have seen there
was no room to. All the same the pink blob smiled. "Aah. Good. I was getting
pretty bored out here. I'll enjoy snapping their necks."
The scout,
however, made a displeased grunt.
"They were not
on the planet at the time of the tragedy though. In fact, they have been
briefed on the commit incident..."
Zarbon caught
the speculative look her eyes, but Dodoria just pressed on, heedless. As
always.
"Doesn't matter
what they were told. Freeza said kill them all, and that's what I intend to
do."
-"hmmm." The
woman mused thoughtfully.
Zarbon smiled thinly.
"But you have a different suggestion, my dear lady?"
-"Indeed." She
answered his smile.
"I do believe
our lord and ruler might be… more amused if he met these
Saiyi-jins in
person."
---
Chesire sighed
again, looking through the wiring of the regen tank.
"Maybe the
scouter's busted. And you sure you don't feel any stronger?"
The Saiyi-jin
prince scowled at her back, legs swinging as he sat on the medic-bench once
again. "I don't think I could miss a thing as getting twice as strong, don't
you?" he said in his most patronizing voice as he rubbed his hair dry on a
drying-cloth.
Chesire thought
it was kind of funny being patronized by a six-year-old, but she really didn't
have the energy to get into it right now. Four hours of working on
this machine had
left her painfully sober and with one killer of a hangover to boot.
Sighing, she got
back to trying what had gone wrong this time, ignoring the
stares directed
at her back.
"Maybe I wasn't
in there long enough." Vegeta finally offered.
Of course, that
didn't add up either. "Should have felt at least read some power increase,
right?"
-"I guess."
She continued
prodding the wires for a little while, thankful for the silence.
But then, she
knew it was coming. She had only delayed the inevitable.
"Cat?"
-"What is it now,
monkey."
-"Don't call me
that." He retorted, and for a moment she'd thought she'd thrown him off. Only
for a moment, though.
"What did you mean, before?"
-"When?" she
inquired innocently.
-"Before. What
did you mean with, 'you really don't know?' "
Inevitable.
Indeed. She should tell him. Fair is fair. After all, better to hear such a
tragedy from a friend, right now, then later, from a stranger. Telling would be
the honorable thing to do. Still.
"Never mind,
little prince."
Chesire wasn't
honorable.
She was just a
coward.
"It 's just a
girl thing. We get funny that way."
No honor.
But maybe she'd
get to live a little longer for it.