Disclaimer: If I owned Dragonball Z, I'd be rich.
~Ages of the characters~
Vegeta: 12
Bardock: 11
Celipa: 10
Totepo: 10
Panboukin: 11
Toma: 11
All other characters, I never knew their ages to begin with, let alone the ages I'd put into this fanfic. *sigh* Yes, Vegeta shows up a little earlier than he should've, but it gives interest, and I can't resist writing a fanfic without Vegeta in it. I can't! I swear! I try - but Vegeta just POPS out!! ^________^
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She weaved around and through trees, running her fastest, her breath coming out in exhausted gasps.
PWOOSH!
Her flipping hair barely touched the trunk of a nearby tree. She knew that when she finally got to the safety of the pond, she'd be able to catch her breath. It was so close... so close.. There was an end to the grass, but the girl kept going, grabbing onto a tree branch and swinging her legs up-
POM!
All of a sudden, she flung herself off the edge of a cliff - she just flew right off it's edge, knowing the water was just a hundred feet below her.
"Ah.." she sighed, closing her eyes as she felt the breeze of her fall whip her hair around.
SPLOOSH!
She hit the waters surface, feeling the cool water rush around her. Before she was completely under the water, she took a quick breath, and was suddenly surrounded by silence. The girl almost snickered in the quietness, but resisted the temptation, and slowly came up for air.
She broke the waters surface, taking a deep breath, then falling back to the laziness of laying on her back and just staring at the calm sky.
Who had she been running from? Her best friends. No - it was not a life or death situation as it may have seemed - it was merely a game - of tag. It was a very useful part of training - the game sharpens your senses and keeps you in shape. She had been training alone in her backyard, when her friends jumped from the bushes and pounced on her. She only knew one way of escape - the forest behind her home. She had run on the soft grass, tearing across small fields and dodging through huge trees.
It was a familiar landscape - she usually played back in the woods in her spare time, sparring with her friends that would occasionally come to play. This time, though, they were determined to catch her, so they followed the girl with speed and agility, through the woods. When they finally witnessed the girl jump off the cliff to the water far below, they just laughed. Usually, they would decide to corner her by going down a hill to the left of the cliff's edge. Around a big rock, they would come to the small pond, where they would probably see their friend drying off. This time, though, they had a better plan.
The girl took a glace at shore - there was a small clearing, and a path which lead to her hiding place, and she knew her friends would come and catch her there. So the girl decided to try a different method of getting away. They always caught her at the end. Well not this time. She was going to climb back up the cliff.
Making up her mind, she ducked back under the water, and swam to the side of the cliff, that still jutted down further underwater.
"Ha! Let's see them catch me now!" She said to herself, grinning and pulling herself from the water up the sheer side of the cliff. It was mostly dirt, so all she had to do was dig her fingers into it to make hand- holds. "Hargh.." She pulled her feet out of the water, and began her climb.
The girl was probably four steps up when she heard a shout from above her. She shot her head up, only to see her four friends... jumping off the cliff after her. That was unexpected..
"Whew!" A boy hooted, soaring past her in a green, black and white blur.
"Hey!" Another boy yelled as he zipped down towards the pond with a splash.
Two more came whizzing past her face, making tidal waves of water as they hit the surface. She got soaked again, and then decided - what the heck? And let go of the cliffs edge to join her friends.
SPLASH!!
They all laughed, splashing each other for a while.. then finally, they pulled themselves to shore.
"So, Celipa - trying to escape again?" Bardock sneered and shook his messy hair. Water flew everywhere.
"We gotcha, didn't we?" Toma snickered, high-fiving Bardock.
"Yeah, you got me," Celipa sighed. "Hey, Panboukin? You comin' outta that water?"
"When I'm done swimming," the boy said with an air of boredom, floating around on his back.
"What if I.." Totepo splashed Panboukin, ending his mischievous sentence with an action. Panboukin instantly started to tread water as he spluttered and splashed back.
Celipa smiled and watched Totepo and Toma switch grins. Her mother always wondered why she didn't have any girl friends. All her friends were boys, and her mother always wondered why she preferred boys over girls.
"You should be making friends with young girls like yourself! Don't you ever want to play with girls your age?"
"Okassan! My friends are boys! I can't help that they look a bit different! They're my very best friends in the whole world!"
"Well, Celipa, you're ten years old, and growing up! How will you ever learn how to act like a lady, when you're hanging around men all the time?"
"ARGH! Where do you get your stuff from, Mother?! We all grow up to do the same things!"
She was sick of those conversations! Celipa just wanted to be with her friends, and learn to fight while she was at it. No harm in that! Well... harm to some poor, unfortunate race doomed to be hit with herself when she finally was old enough to work for Freeza, and slaughter aliens!!
* * * * * * * * * *
"So... do you think we'll all still know each other when we get older and go off destroying planets?" Totepo asked anyone who was listening. They were lying on their backs in the grass - from left to right, the order went Totepo, Toma, Celipa, Panboukin, and Bardock. They were taking advantage of a training break.
"I hope we can all go off and fight together!" Celipa put in.
"That would be fun - but what if one of us gets jealous of another because they destroyed their alien?" Toma asked.
"Well, I'd just laugh in their face and tell them - 'sucks to be them'!" Bardock laughed.
"What if we accidentally destroy the planet altogether?" Celipa asked.
"Then Freeza'd be like - 'get those kids outta there! They're a disgrace to the whole race! They should stay home and... clean toilets'!" Panboukin said.
Toma laughed. "Yeah, then we could hide out in a hole and live forever in solitude... but at least we could beat each other up!"
Everyone laughed at the idea. Of course they didn't really WANT that to happen, but it would be funny if it happened to someone else.
"About that Freeza guy... has any of you ever seen him?" Totepo asked.
"I haven't," Toma and Panboukin said together.
"I've never seen him in person, but I've seen him on TV," Celipa nodded. "He looks like some kind of lizard of the snow - who wears black lipstick!" Everyone laughed.
"How 'bout you, Bardock?" Totepo asked.
"I don't think I've seen him - I might have when my father went off to - no nevermind... never seen the guy," Bardock sighed and sat up.
"I hope we die fighting. Alongside each other. Wouldn't that be so dramatic?" Celipa put.
"Softy! Softy!" Panboukin and Totepo chanted.
"Oh shut up!" Celipa sat up as well, swatting at the two.
"Is Celipa gonna cry?" Bardock teased.
"You shut up too!" Celipa punched Bardock, who just fell back laughing.
"Die fighting... hm.. sounds honorable," Toma said, nodding.
"See! Someone agrees with me!" Celipa said, proceeding to pounce Bardock who was laughing too hard to sit up.
"It would be cool to know each other that long - ha! Hey, Celipa? You got a crush on one of us?" Totepo laughed.
PUNCH!
"Oof! NAHAHA!" Totepo was socked in the face, and blood poured from his lip, though he was still laughing. "Is that all ya got, girly girl?!"
BAM!
Toma watched the battle - Totepo and Celipa punching each other, and Bardock had decided to take sides with no one, and punch them both. Panboukin tried to take sides with Totepo, but he was only kicked out of the way. He wondered if they really would stay friends until death. Then he joined the fight.
* * * * * * * * * *
"Okassan! I'm home!" Celipa slammed the door shut, skipping down the hall to dinner.
"Hello, Celipa - what's up?" Her mother set dinner on the table, and Celipa dug in ravenously. Through swallows, Celipa told her mother that it was just an average day with the boys.
"I see you've been fighting - think you got any stronger?" Celipa's mother asked, setting yet another humongous plate of food on the table for her daughter, and eyeing some cuts and bruises. Her armor was torn as well.
"Yep! I'm getting stronger! I've already surpassed all the girls in my class," Celipa announced.
"Good! Now finish up so you can go to bed," her mother said.
"Hai, Okassan!" Celipa answered, finishing the last bite of her third plate of dinner.
________________________________________________________________________
At the same time, far out in space....
"What do you got for me today, Zarbon?" Freeza sighed, not even bothering to open his eyes as he heard the sound of a door opening and shutting. He knew it was Zarbon. Dodoria was off on a planet raid, and no one else dared to enter before Freeza without knocking first.
"Freeza-sama..." There was a pause as Zarbon bowed. "Well - some brief news... The Saiya-jins are doing well - taking over planets as usual... nothing very new, except we've got some children on the homeworld... with high powerlevels."
"Like..?" Freeza asked.
"Estimated battle powers of over 500 - 600 maybe? Give or take a couple hundred..." Zarbon thought on it for a while.
"Any names?" Freeza asked. "How many?"
"Quite a few... names we got were, ah... Onin, Suprout, Bardock, Toma, and Celipa," Zarbon answered.
"Celipa? A female of the species?" Freeza opened his eyes and stared at Zarbon. "They just keep getting stronger and stronger... who's the strongest right now?"
"Um... we'll get info on that," Zarbon replied a little nervously.
"Is the strongest a male or a female?" Freeza asked.
"Male, sir.. I'm sure of it," Zarbon nodded quickly.
"Then who's the strongest female?" Freeza asked quite irritated from the lack of accurate answers.
"Ah.. um.. the child is she," Zarbon said. "Celipa."
"A CHILD?!" Freeza yelled. Then he calmed down a bit. "Women these days - they're so weak. We need not pay much attention to them - they have low powerlevels. Useless - I tell you... Somehow, Zarbon - get a reading on how strong that girl is at full strength, and we'll laugh later on at how weak the female of the species is. How does that sound?"
"Hai, Freeza-sama - I'll do as you wish. I wish you good night?" Zarbon said.
"Zarbon?" Freeza asked sweetly.
"Yes, Freeza-sama?"
"Don't wish me good night. It just doesn't sound.. right."
"Please forgive me, Freeza-sama."
"You are free to go," Freeza waved the green man away, who instantly turned around and exited the room.
________________________________________________________________________
Celipa yawned and sat up in bed - the sun was just rising, and it looked to her to be around six-o-clock, so she opened the window.
"Ah..." the girl sighed, breathing in the fresh morning air, hanging her arms out the window. "I think I'll get a start to training.." Celipa muttered to herself, climbing easily through the window.
Her feet hit the dewy grass, but she didn't mind the wetness. The girl was barefoot - and in fact, was just wearing a tank top and shorts, but she had nothing to worry about. This early in the morning, she had the whole secluded backyard and forest to herself.
"Ha!" Celipa leaped high up into the air, above the treetops, then she fell to the ground, but before hitting the grass again, she grabbed a tree branch, flinging herself up into the air again. She did a flip, and landed well-balanced on her platform-like post.
The tree was very large, and the branch Celipa stood on was maybe extended five feet outward, and it was about seven inches across.
Perfect place to do warm-ups, Celipa thought to herself.
She proceeded to stretch, when she heard a noise in the bushes. Instantly, her head shot to where the sound came from.
Probably just a bird, Celipa thought, maybe I can catch it...
Bleep!
The kid's eyes went wide as she heard a bleeping noise come from the bushes - but she knew better than to look obvious, or speak out loud, so she started punching the air, pretending she didn't hear anything, and keeping an eye on the fern that bleeped.
Bleep! Bleep!
POOM!
This time, the girl almost fell off her tree branch - another bleeping noise, then an explosion caught her off guard!
"What the-?!" Celipa jumped from the tree, ready to kill whatever exploded in the fern. "Have somma this!" She crowed, tearing up the bush.
Then... silence.. A few torn leaves floated to the ground at her feet. The plant was no more... but no one was there. There was not another bleep for the rest of Celipa's training session.
________________________________________________________________________
Fifteen minutes later...
"Freeza-sama!" Zarbon entered the tyrants room, kneeling before him, not speaking a word.
"Did you receive the child's battle power?" Freeza asked, a little bored, staring out his hugigantic window. It viewed a perfect scene of the planet Vegeta-sei and it's two moons.
"Er.. Yes.. and no.." Zarbon replied uneasily.
"What do you mean by that?!" Freeza demanded, turning to face Zarbon.
"Well... I sent someone down to the planet to check her powerlevel, and, he was discovered," Zarbon muttered.
"What do you mean by that?!" Freeza repeated, growing more impatient than before.
"I mean that.. the girl heard him," Zarbon said.
"Did she ONLY hear him?!" Freeza asked dangerously.
"Yes sir, no visual," Zarbon answered quickly.
"Then she will be convinced that it was her imagination. No need to worry, she's just a dumb child, what would anyone believe from THAT mouth?" Freeza smirked.
"H-hai.." Zarbon said nervously. There was silence.
"Well? Power?" Freeza let his sentence end into more silence, but this had more of an uneasy touch to it.
"Ah.. her power increased rapidly when she was training, and the elite member got a reading of over a thousand... and then his scouter blew up," Zarbon said hesitantly, ready for Freeza to explode...
"WHAT?! A CHILD WITH THAT KIND OF POWER IS IMPOSSIBLE! ESPECIALLY A FEMALE!!!" Freeza shouted. "It MUST have been a MISTAKE! If there is a male who's stronger than her, then what's HIS BATTLE POWER?!!"
"W-we have it down somewhere.. Lemme think - it's, um..." Zarbon raked his brain for answers... then it hit him. "Um.. he's.. dead.."
"When'd he die?" Freeza asked, exasperated.
"Ahum.. a couple days ago.." Zarbon murmured. "I think it was a battle injury - they couldn't get him to a regen tank quick enough... Some sorta kamikaze aliens he fought.."
"So that must mean.. that.." Freeza let out a long breath. "That this child.. this FEMALE.. is.. THE STRONGEST of the Saiya-jin race. Zarbon. I order you to take some men to the planet. Take the girl - bring her to me."
________________________________________________________________________
"You heard 'bleeping in the bushes? Yeah - right," Totepo sneered, shoving Celipa. She only budged a few inches.
"I did!" Celipa insisted, shoving back. "You don't have to believe me, but I heard bleeping in the bushes, and an explosion!"
"Your imagination is driving me insane!" Toma sighed. "One of these days, you should learn what a large farting bird sounds like."
"Very funny," Celipa said dully as Toma and Bardock sniggered.
The five friends were walking through a desert of rocks and dirt - not an ounce of water for miles. They had been wandering around the rocky land, looking for something to do. Every now and then, a huge boulder would come into view, and they'd run around it, climbing it's top and leaping as far out as they could before hitting the ground.
"I think we should forget about the 'bleeping thing', and just do stuff. I want to fight - who's up for that?" Bardock asked anyone.
BAM!
One second, Bardock was turned towards everyone, ready for a battle, the next - he was in the dust.
"Whoo! Yeah! You show Bardock!" Panboukin cheered.
DOMP!
Celipa was shoved into a rock.
"That's what you get-" Totepo started, but Celipa was up too quickly, kicking Totepo's feet out from under him.
FOOM FOOM FOOM FOOM FOOM!!!
Nobody had expected it... None of them had time to figure out what was going on... They only had time to feel an electric sort-of shock as they fell unconscious...
________________________________________________________________________
One hour later...
"Freeza-sama! We've got the child..." Zarbon bowed and dared not stare into Freeza's eyes.
"Perfect," he grinned evilly. "Send her in."
"Well," Zarbon retorted, "she's in a regen tank... we had no choice.. the only way to knock them out quickly was with a large ki blast."
"Them?" Freeza asked.
"The girl and her playmates, sir," Zarbon replied.
"Feh! Fine! Bring me the girl!" Freeza ordered more sternly.
"She's reviving.." Zarbon repeated.
"Take her out! She should be fine by now!" Freeza yelled.
"Yes master!" Zarbon zipped out of the room.
"Oh, it's so hard to find obedient people these days..." Freeza muttered, rubbing his eyes after Zarbon had left.
"Spacepod alert - docking procedure count-"
The annoying computerized voice of an intercom rang through the halls, and around the walls of the metal room.
"Who is it now?!" Freeza growled, staring out his window. Suddenly, his jaw dropped. "Vegeta! What is HE doing back?! He's supposed to be dead! It's impossible! I sent him on the hardest mission!" He took a deep breath. "Ooh...Argh.."
The door opened, and Zarbon walked through it with the child slung over one shoulder. "I've brought the girl," he said. "She's still unconscious, but she'll wake up in a moment - should I drop her here?"
"Fine," Freeza answered as Zarbon dropped the kid on the hard floor. "Zarbon - Vegeta's returned!"
"Should I kill him?" Zarbon asked.
"That won't be necessary... Do you realize that we have the two strongest Saiya-jins' on this spaceship? We'll lock them in a room - they'll follow their instincts and fight each other until their stronger than our elites!" Freeza ordered.
"Yes, master," Zarbon said. Then as a second thought... "Freeza-sama - do you really want those children to become stronger? Won't they rebel?"
"Not if we teach them not to. We give them a home, we give them food, we give them armor... They'll learn to follow orders, and they'll learn to forget their race. Power is worth more to them than anything, trust me. I've known these Saiya-jins and their king for a while now."
"Yes, master," Zarbon said. "Permission to leave?"
"Retrieve Vegeta, I shall deal with the girl," Freeza growled, waving Zarbon away.
________________________________________________________________________
"Ow... damn.." Bardock dazedly opened his eyes, cursing. He was staring at dirt, and when he turned over, he was looking at the sky. "Totepo? Toma?"
Bardock felt confused. What had happened? What time was it? And why did he hurt so much? With effort, he sat up, looking around. Beside him, lay Totepo, Panboukin and Toma... who was he leaving out? The boy tied to think, but he was braindead at the moment...
"Kuso - gah.. what just happened?" Toma grumbled, stirring as he regained consciousness.
"Toma!" Bardock muttered, "Why are we here?"
"I dunno - that you Bardock? I feel like I've been burned," Toma growled, opening his eyes, staring fuzzily at Bardock. "There's only one of you, right?" Toma squinted and rubbed his eyes.
"This is weird..." Bardock commented as Toma sat up, looking to see that his tail was still there. It had unwrapped from around his waist, but it was in good shape. He flipped it around for a bit, seeing how it still worked. Bardock laughed.
"Nice tail, Toma... It's got a life of it's own?" Bardock asked, sniggering some more.
"Well, I have to know if it's working, because nothing else seems to be!" Toma remarked, wrapping the tail back around his waist.
"Friggin'- what the-?!" Bardock shouted. "The top half o' my armor is gone!" He stared down at little shreds of his green tank hanging off of him - barely a hem at the bottom. His pants were going to fall down, because he had no top part of the jumpsuit to hold it up, so he ripped the remains of shirt off of him, and tied it around his waist like a belt.
"Put some clothes on, Bardock," Toma remarked after the whole show.
"Wasn't my fault! I swear!" Bardock shot. "Do you have ANY idea of what coulda happened?"
"Lemme guess..." Totepo moaned, keeping his eyes closed, but talking still. "We were ambushed."
"You're up," Bardock said, helping Totepo sit up. "Panboukin's turn. What d'ya mean we were ambushed? Nobody lives here, travels here, and nobody knew WE were here!"
"They musta," Toma grumbled, picking at what was left of his armor. Mainly, only the jumpsuit was left - but at least it was still in one piece.
"Somebody made some huge ki blast!" Totepo growled. "Boy are you guys bloody!" He started to laugh.
"Wul, so are you!" Toma shot back.
Totepo looked down at himself and shrieked. "AAAARRGH!!!!! MY TAIL!!!!"
Such a loud outburst made both Toma and Bardock jump, and Panboukin wake up.
"My tail's gone! It was here just a minute ago! What time is it?! How long have I been tail-less?!!!" Totepo was frantic. "How will I ever turn super Saiya-jin?!!"
"What happened? Ouch..." Panboukin moaned, sitting up and staring at everyone. "Whoa - I think we were hit you guys!"
"We figured that! But by who? Who would? Who has the power?" Bardock asked.
"MY TAIL!!" Totepo grumbled.
"It'll grow back, now will you shut up so we can figure this out?!!" Toma yelled.
"Where's Celipa?" Bardock asked.
"Right there-" Panboukin pointed to dirt. "Well... I thought she was there..."
"Where's Celipa?!" Toma shouted.
"I don't know!" Bardock shouted back. Panboukin looked around frantically.
"We have to search for her... she coulda been blown away by the blast..." Toma suggested, dread in his voice.
"Toma..." Bardock looked at his friend, giving him a funny expression filled with regret.
"Is she - dead?" Totepo asked slowly, forgetting his tail. Everyone was silent.
"Celipa.." Toma muttered. "Goodbye, girl - we'll never forget ya."
There was more silence as everyone thought about Celipa for a moment... How could she just die? It just wasn't Celipa-like...
"We'll never forget ya!" Bardock shouted to the sky, staring up at the clouds. "We'll never forget ya!" Totepo crowed, standing up and yelling to the heavens.
"Never!" Panboukin yelled as well.
________________________________________________________________________
Five minutes later...
Vegeta exited his spacepod with not even a scratch on his skin. There were no signs that he had just fought the toughest race in the galaxy.
"Vegeta."
The boy looked to the door, and there stood Zarbon. "Come with me," he said sweetly. Vegeta saw right through him.
"So Zarbon, being Freeza's messenger pidgeon again?" Vegeta asked as sweetly as Zarbon.
"Freeza-sama," Zarbon shot. "Show some respect, kid, if you know what's good for you."
Vegeta just grunted a reply, walking on past Zarbon.
________________________________________________________________________
Elsewhere, still inside the spaceship...
"Ugh.." Celipa awoke, staring around, her vision fuzzy. She seemed to be laying on a hard, metal floor. "Wh-where am I?!" The girl asked, puzzled.
"Ohayo - beautiful day, isn't it?" Freeza asked. Celipa shot her head up, instantly standing.
"Where am I? Who are you?" Celipa demanded. Where have I seen this person before? She thought.
"I am Freeza - and you are?" Freeza trailed off.
"Why am I here?!" Celipa asked harshly. Freeza gritted his teeth, but kept his act going.
"You are a lucky one... ever heard of the desert Saiya-jins? Ruthless bunch they are. You're lucky my men came by right when you were attacked.. sorry to say... you were the only survivor," Freeza sighed, and looked concerned. "You poor girl..."
"No other survivors?.." Celipa muttered. Freeza nodded solemnly.
Bardock, Toma... Totepo.. Panboukin.. All dead? Celipa thought to herself.
"No! You're lying!" Celipa shouted.
Freeza was overtaken with surprise, then quickly hid it. How had she figured it out so quickly?!
"My friends cannot be dead! No way! You must have checked them wrong!" Celipa insisted. Freeza let out a sigh of relief.
"No - we checked them well... no ki left in any of them - yours was faint as it was," Freeza answered. "Can I take you to a training room? We have some of those - it will make you more comfortable."
"I don't..." Celipa thought on it. Freeza sounded like a nice guy... he just wanted to help - and fighting would get her anger out.. "Okay.. Hai. I'll go."
"Oh, please - follow Zarbon - he's a nice gentleman," Freeza smiled happily, embarrassment flowing through every part of his body. Get this kid outta here quick...
* * * * * * * * * *
BAM!
The heavy metal door to the training chamber was slammed shut, as the girl was consumed by darkness.
I will avenge your deaths... Celipa thought, thinking of her lost friends. And when I'm strong enough, I'm going back to the homeworld. I'll find those desert warriors. And I'll kill them slowly.
"Hey, you! You might wanna turn on the lights - because sooner or later, you're going to have to fight me," an arrogant male voice was heard from somewhere to the right of her. "I can't believe I'm even wasting my good time on weak third class Saiya-jin females. Feh."
"Who are you?!" Celioa demanded.
CLICK!
The lights were switched on, and there stood next to her, a spiky haired young boy - none other than the Saiya-jin prince himself.
"Prince Vegeta?!" Celipa cried out in surprise. She had recognized him from his fame on the planet Vegeta-sei - besides, she recognized the royal seal that was on his chest.
"Heh - you look surprised. That's okay - you're going to be knocked out in a minute anyways, then I won't have to see that dumb expression," Vegeta grunted.
"Do you know how much anger I contain inside of me right now?!" Celipa shouted. "I could explode at any moment! And to tell you the truth, I doubt YOU will get outta here conscious, let alone unscathed, my prince." She sneered.
"Fine - come at me with all ya' got, girly," Vegeta muttered, smirking and taking a battle stance.
BOOM!
Vegeta was flung against a soundproof wall - causing it to form a dent, not even considering that this stuff was said to be unbreakable.
"RAAGH!!" Celipa yelled, letting all of her anger out on this rotten brat.
Punch! Punch! Punch! Vegeta was decked in three places - stomach, face, and nicely below the belt.
"Don't tell me I can't fight, you ugly, sick excuse for a Saiya-jin prince!!" Celipa crowed, kicking Vegeta some more.
BAM!
Vegeta sent a heavy blow to the girl's face, which set her off balance for only a second.. One precious second that was plenty of time for Vegeta to fling Celipa to the ground, and wrench her up by her neck.
The kid flailed around wildy, kicking at Vegeta - punching at him - but the prince held her far enough out that her blows were nothing but air to him. She chocked and gagged, scratching furiously at Vegeta's tight gripping hand.
"Heheheh.. now..." Vegeta let go of Celipa as she stumbled, but still didn't fall. He decided that this wasn't enough, and before she could counter, he had his flat palm an inch away from her stomach. "Bow to your prince, or I'll kill you."
"What'll you do? Fan me to death?" Celipa sneered, staring down at Vegeta's hand.
"Haven't you ever heard of a ki blast?" Vegeta sighed, energy glowing around his hand.
"Yeah - you ever heard of someone else using one?" Celipa balled both of her fists, purple energy glowing around them. "We'll see who's ki blasts are faster, hai?"
Vegeta's hand was less than a centimeter away from Celipa's chest now. "Oh come on. You know you're going to lose. By the time you bring your hands from your sides, I'll have already fired, baka."
Celipa knew it was true... she didn't know what to do, but she wasn't bowing anytime soon. She had to think of something quick..
"Now! Bow to your prince like a nice little scum-bag!" Vegeta sniggered.
He had her... he had her.. wait!
"Heheh.." Celipa smiled mischieviously. In a moment, the girl had her tail wrapped around Vegeta's extended hand, then she launched herself into the air, flipping over Vegeta's head and landing behind him - twisting his arm around as her tail still held the arm. It was unexpected. It was un-Saiya-jin like. It was embarrassing. But she had hurt the opponent.
"ARGH! Foul scum!" Vegeta howled, ki flaring and blasting everything.
"Stop! You're going to blow this place up!" Celipa yelled at Vegeta as his blasts repelled off the walls and filled the room. Instantly, it was as hot as an oven. Celipa could do nothing but resort to ki blasts as well - for hopes she could knock the little kid out.
With blue and pink blasts everywhere, it was madness. Neither of them could see each other, and with their great senses, they dodged all of the others attacks.
FOOM! FOOM! FOOM, FOOM, FOOM, FOOM!!
It wouldn't have been surprising if the walls started to melt.
FOOOM!!!
Celipa stopped firing - her energy was completely drained, and she could fight no more - one hit was more than a enough to knock her unconscious.
The only sound was Vegeta's heavy panting - sweat on his brow, he lowered his hands. "Heh... Heheh.." Vegeta snickered between heavy breaths. It was the most training he had had in a long time.
FWIP!!
With a last ounce of strength, Celipa kicked Vegeta's feet out from under him, sending a weak ki blast in his direction. It hit him square in the face.
"Ha!" Celipa announced in triumph as everything went black...
* * * * * * * * * *
A soldier stepped into the training room - Vegeta and Celipa had been fighting in there for more than an hour - but his scouter hadn't gone off for thirty minutes.
"Hmph - little kids.." the soldier muttered, viewing both young warriors on the floor. They were bloody and broken - both almost an equal match for each other. The lone man picked up Vegeta and slung him over his shoulder - next went Celipa on the other. "Freeza would want you two getting to regen tanks, I think," he commented to as well as no one.
* * * * * * * * * *
Four years later...
"Bow to your prince," Vegeta sneered, his palm an inch away from Celipa's chest.
The girl gave a mocking and extremely exaggerated bow, swinging her foot behind and above her head, flipping and bringing it down square on top of Vegeta's point hair, smashing it to his forehead and sending him into a dazed expression. He quickly got over it, kicking Celipa 'round the back.
"Phew - for a moment there, I thought you were gonna spear me with that pointy hair of yours!" Celipa said.
"Hell - you comment my hair again and I'm sending this whole spaceship to it's doom!" Vegeta burst, raging at the fourteen year old girl.
"YA!"
"YA!"
Vegeta and Celipa charged each other, and were about to go head to head - when the door opened and distracted them both. Celipa's foot was almost touching Vegeta's side, as his fist came in close contact with her face. They paused and sighed as a soldier entered the room.
"What do you want?!" Vegeta demanded.
"Yeah! I was ABOUT to kick the Supreme Ruler's butt!" Celipa smirked evilly as Vegeta shot a deadly glance.
"Gomen - but I must inform you that we're serving-"
"Goodbye!"
"Move it!"
Vegeta and Celipa shoved past the man - he didn't have to finish his sentence. They both knew that it was time for breakfast. Four years on the same spaceship can do that to you.
The soldier sighed. "Will I NEVER get respect from those two? I clean them off the floors every day, and what do I get? Move it?" He sighed again, closing the door behind him.
________________________________________________________________________
In the Eating Hall...
"You know - you eat like a girl," Vegeta commented through gulping chunks of food sliding down his throat.
"At least - that's all I do like one - Princess," Celipa shot over through her own ravenous shovelling.
A lone guard stared up from his first plate, looking at Vegeta and Celipa prove to each other that THEY could eat more. Those kids.. eating like there's no tommorow.. He thought, rolling his eyes at the massive stacks of bowls and plates.
They have been competing against EVERYTHING for years! Another man thought, peering at the two over his newspaper.
"I got one more bite than you," Celipa taunted, taking one last chopstick-full of rice.
"You're wrong there, girly," Vegeta said, taking one long swig of his water.
"Don't think so - you gotta stop sometime..." Celipa made a small humored smile, and took on more bite of rice.
"Heh - men can eat more than women, and that's final," Vegeta snorted, taking a bite of rice as well.
"Heh - let's see you do this-" Celipa poured a half a plate of vegetables down her throat.
~Ages of the characters~
Vegeta: 12
Bardock: 11
Celipa: 10
Totepo: 10
Panboukin: 11
Toma: 11
All other characters, I never knew their ages to begin with, let alone the ages I'd put into this fanfic. *sigh* Yes, Vegeta shows up a little earlier than he should've, but it gives interest, and I can't resist writing a fanfic without Vegeta in it. I can't! I swear! I try - but Vegeta just POPS out!! ^________^
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She weaved around and through trees, running her fastest, her breath coming out in exhausted gasps.
PWOOSH!
Her flipping hair barely touched the trunk of a nearby tree. She knew that when she finally got to the safety of the pond, she'd be able to catch her breath. It was so close... so close.. There was an end to the grass, but the girl kept going, grabbing onto a tree branch and swinging her legs up-
POM!
All of a sudden, she flung herself off the edge of a cliff - she just flew right off it's edge, knowing the water was just a hundred feet below her.
"Ah.." she sighed, closing her eyes as she felt the breeze of her fall whip her hair around.
SPLOOSH!
She hit the waters surface, feeling the cool water rush around her. Before she was completely under the water, she took a quick breath, and was suddenly surrounded by silence. The girl almost snickered in the quietness, but resisted the temptation, and slowly came up for air.
She broke the waters surface, taking a deep breath, then falling back to the laziness of laying on her back and just staring at the calm sky.
Who had she been running from? Her best friends. No - it was not a life or death situation as it may have seemed - it was merely a game - of tag. It was a very useful part of training - the game sharpens your senses and keeps you in shape. She had been training alone in her backyard, when her friends jumped from the bushes and pounced on her. She only knew one way of escape - the forest behind her home. She had run on the soft grass, tearing across small fields and dodging through huge trees.
It was a familiar landscape - she usually played back in the woods in her spare time, sparring with her friends that would occasionally come to play. This time, though, they were determined to catch her, so they followed the girl with speed and agility, through the woods. When they finally witnessed the girl jump off the cliff to the water far below, they just laughed. Usually, they would decide to corner her by going down a hill to the left of the cliff's edge. Around a big rock, they would come to the small pond, where they would probably see their friend drying off. This time, though, they had a better plan.
The girl took a glace at shore - there was a small clearing, and a path which lead to her hiding place, and she knew her friends would come and catch her there. So the girl decided to try a different method of getting away. They always caught her at the end. Well not this time. She was going to climb back up the cliff.
Making up her mind, she ducked back under the water, and swam to the side of the cliff, that still jutted down further underwater.
"Ha! Let's see them catch me now!" She said to herself, grinning and pulling herself from the water up the sheer side of the cliff. It was mostly dirt, so all she had to do was dig her fingers into it to make hand- holds. "Hargh.." She pulled her feet out of the water, and began her climb.
The girl was probably four steps up when she heard a shout from above her. She shot her head up, only to see her four friends... jumping off the cliff after her. That was unexpected..
"Whew!" A boy hooted, soaring past her in a green, black and white blur.
"Hey!" Another boy yelled as he zipped down towards the pond with a splash.
Two more came whizzing past her face, making tidal waves of water as they hit the surface. She got soaked again, and then decided - what the heck? And let go of the cliffs edge to join her friends.
SPLASH!!
They all laughed, splashing each other for a while.. then finally, they pulled themselves to shore.
"So, Celipa - trying to escape again?" Bardock sneered and shook his messy hair. Water flew everywhere.
"We gotcha, didn't we?" Toma snickered, high-fiving Bardock.
"Yeah, you got me," Celipa sighed. "Hey, Panboukin? You comin' outta that water?"
"When I'm done swimming," the boy said with an air of boredom, floating around on his back.
"What if I.." Totepo splashed Panboukin, ending his mischievous sentence with an action. Panboukin instantly started to tread water as he spluttered and splashed back.
Celipa smiled and watched Totepo and Toma switch grins. Her mother always wondered why she didn't have any girl friends. All her friends were boys, and her mother always wondered why she preferred boys over girls.
"You should be making friends with young girls like yourself! Don't you ever want to play with girls your age?"
"Okassan! My friends are boys! I can't help that they look a bit different! They're my very best friends in the whole world!"
"Well, Celipa, you're ten years old, and growing up! How will you ever learn how to act like a lady, when you're hanging around men all the time?"
"ARGH! Where do you get your stuff from, Mother?! We all grow up to do the same things!"
She was sick of those conversations! Celipa just wanted to be with her friends, and learn to fight while she was at it. No harm in that! Well... harm to some poor, unfortunate race doomed to be hit with herself when she finally was old enough to work for Freeza, and slaughter aliens!!
* * * * * * * * * *
"So... do you think we'll all still know each other when we get older and go off destroying planets?" Totepo asked anyone who was listening. They were lying on their backs in the grass - from left to right, the order went Totepo, Toma, Celipa, Panboukin, and Bardock. They were taking advantage of a training break.
"I hope we can all go off and fight together!" Celipa put in.
"That would be fun - but what if one of us gets jealous of another because they destroyed their alien?" Toma asked.
"Well, I'd just laugh in their face and tell them - 'sucks to be them'!" Bardock laughed.
"What if we accidentally destroy the planet altogether?" Celipa asked.
"Then Freeza'd be like - 'get those kids outta there! They're a disgrace to the whole race! They should stay home and... clean toilets'!" Panboukin said.
Toma laughed. "Yeah, then we could hide out in a hole and live forever in solitude... but at least we could beat each other up!"
Everyone laughed at the idea. Of course they didn't really WANT that to happen, but it would be funny if it happened to someone else.
"About that Freeza guy... has any of you ever seen him?" Totepo asked.
"I haven't," Toma and Panboukin said together.
"I've never seen him in person, but I've seen him on TV," Celipa nodded. "He looks like some kind of lizard of the snow - who wears black lipstick!" Everyone laughed.
"How 'bout you, Bardock?" Totepo asked.
"I don't think I've seen him - I might have when my father went off to - no nevermind... never seen the guy," Bardock sighed and sat up.
"I hope we die fighting. Alongside each other. Wouldn't that be so dramatic?" Celipa put.
"Softy! Softy!" Panboukin and Totepo chanted.
"Oh shut up!" Celipa sat up as well, swatting at the two.
"Is Celipa gonna cry?" Bardock teased.
"You shut up too!" Celipa punched Bardock, who just fell back laughing.
"Die fighting... hm.. sounds honorable," Toma said, nodding.
"See! Someone agrees with me!" Celipa said, proceeding to pounce Bardock who was laughing too hard to sit up.
"It would be cool to know each other that long - ha! Hey, Celipa? You got a crush on one of us?" Totepo laughed.
PUNCH!
"Oof! NAHAHA!" Totepo was socked in the face, and blood poured from his lip, though he was still laughing. "Is that all ya got, girly girl?!"
BAM!
Toma watched the battle - Totepo and Celipa punching each other, and Bardock had decided to take sides with no one, and punch them both. Panboukin tried to take sides with Totepo, but he was only kicked out of the way. He wondered if they really would stay friends until death. Then he joined the fight.
* * * * * * * * * *
"Okassan! I'm home!" Celipa slammed the door shut, skipping down the hall to dinner.
"Hello, Celipa - what's up?" Her mother set dinner on the table, and Celipa dug in ravenously. Through swallows, Celipa told her mother that it was just an average day with the boys.
"I see you've been fighting - think you got any stronger?" Celipa's mother asked, setting yet another humongous plate of food on the table for her daughter, and eyeing some cuts and bruises. Her armor was torn as well.
"Yep! I'm getting stronger! I've already surpassed all the girls in my class," Celipa announced.
"Good! Now finish up so you can go to bed," her mother said.
"Hai, Okassan!" Celipa answered, finishing the last bite of her third plate of dinner.
________________________________________________________________________
At the same time, far out in space....
"What do you got for me today, Zarbon?" Freeza sighed, not even bothering to open his eyes as he heard the sound of a door opening and shutting. He knew it was Zarbon. Dodoria was off on a planet raid, and no one else dared to enter before Freeza without knocking first.
"Freeza-sama..." There was a pause as Zarbon bowed. "Well - some brief news... The Saiya-jins are doing well - taking over planets as usual... nothing very new, except we've got some children on the homeworld... with high powerlevels."
"Like..?" Freeza asked.
"Estimated battle powers of over 500 - 600 maybe? Give or take a couple hundred..." Zarbon thought on it for a while.
"Any names?" Freeza asked. "How many?"
"Quite a few... names we got were, ah... Onin, Suprout, Bardock, Toma, and Celipa," Zarbon answered.
"Celipa? A female of the species?" Freeza opened his eyes and stared at Zarbon. "They just keep getting stronger and stronger... who's the strongest right now?"
"Um... we'll get info on that," Zarbon replied a little nervously.
"Is the strongest a male or a female?" Freeza asked.
"Male, sir.. I'm sure of it," Zarbon nodded quickly.
"Then who's the strongest female?" Freeza asked quite irritated from the lack of accurate answers.
"Ah.. um.. the child is she," Zarbon said. "Celipa."
"A CHILD?!" Freeza yelled. Then he calmed down a bit. "Women these days - they're so weak. We need not pay much attention to them - they have low powerlevels. Useless - I tell you... Somehow, Zarbon - get a reading on how strong that girl is at full strength, and we'll laugh later on at how weak the female of the species is. How does that sound?"
"Hai, Freeza-sama - I'll do as you wish. I wish you good night?" Zarbon said.
"Zarbon?" Freeza asked sweetly.
"Yes, Freeza-sama?"
"Don't wish me good night. It just doesn't sound.. right."
"Please forgive me, Freeza-sama."
"You are free to go," Freeza waved the green man away, who instantly turned around and exited the room.
________________________________________________________________________
Celipa yawned and sat up in bed - the sun was just rising, and it looked to her to be around six-o-clock, so she opened the window.
"Ah..." the girl sighed, breathing in the fresh morning air, hanging her arms out the window. "I think I'll get a start to training.." Celipa muttered to herself, climbing easily through the window.
Her feet hit the dewy grass, but she didn't mind the wetness. The girl was barefoot - and in fact, was just wearing a tank top and shorts, but she had nothing to worry about. This early in the morning, she had the whole secluded backyard and forest to herself.
"Ha!" Celipa leaped high up into the air, above the treetops, then she fell to the ground, but before hitting the grass again, she grabbed a tree branch, flinging herself up into the air again. She did a flip, and landed well-balanced on her platform-like post.
The tree was very large, and the branch Celipa stood on was maybe extended five feet outward, and it was about seven inches across.
Perfect place to do warm-ups, Celipa thought to herself.
She proceeded to stretch, when she heard a noise in the bushes. Instantly, her head shot to where the sound came from.
Probably just a bird, Celipa thought, maybe I can catch it...
Bleep!
The kid's eyes went wide as she heard a bleeping noise come from the bushes - but she knew better than to look obvious, or speak out loud, so she started punching the air, pretending she didn't hear anything, and keeping an eye on the fern that bleeped.
Bleep! Bleep!
POOM!
This time, the girl almost fell off her tree branch - another bleeping noise, then an explosion caught her off guard!
"What the-?!" Celipa jumped from the tree, ready to kill whatever exploded in the fern. "Have somma this!" She crowed, tearing up the bush.
Then... silence.. A few torn leaves floated to the ground at her feet. The plant was no more... but no one was there. There was not another bleep for the rest of Celipa's training session.
________________________________________________________________________
Fifteen minutes later...
"Freeza-sama!" Zarbon entered the tyrants room, kneeling before him, not speaking a word.
"Did you receive the child's battle power?" Freeza asked, a little bored, staring out his hugigantic window. It viewed a perfect scene of the planet Vegeta-sei and it's two moons.
"Er.. Yes.. and no.." Zarbon replied uneasily.
"What do you mean by that?!" Freeza demanded, turning to face Zarbon.
"Well... I sent someone down to the planet to check her powerlevel, and, he was discovered," Zarbon muttered.
"What do you mean by that?!" Freeza repeated, growing more impatient than before.
"I mean that.. the girl heard him," Zarbon said.
"Did she ONLY hear him?!" Freeza asked dangerously.
"Yes sir, no visual," Zarbon answered quickly.
"Then she will be convinced that it was her imagination. No need to worry, she's just a dumb child, what would anyone believe from THAT mouth?" Freeza smirked.
"H-hai.." Zarbon said nervously. There was silence.
"Well? Power?" Freeza let his sentence end into more silence, but this had more of an uneasy touch to it.
"Ah.. her power increased rapidly when she was training, and the elite member got a reading of over a thousand... and then his scouter blew up," Zarbon said hesitantly, ready for Freeza to explode...
"WHAT?! A CHILD WITH THAT KIND OF POWER IS IMPOSSIBLE! ESPECIALLY A FEMALE!!!" Freeza shouted. "It MUST have been a MISTAKE! If there is a male who's stronger than her, then what's HIS BATTLE POWER?!!"
"W-we have it down somewhere.. Lemme think - it's, um..." Zarbon raked his brain for answers... then it hit him. "Um.. he's.. dead.."
"When'd he die?" Freeza asked, exasperated.
"Ahum.. a couple days ago.." Zarbon murmured. "I think it was a battle injury - they couldn't get him to a regen tank quick enough... Some sorta kamikaze aliens he fought.."
"So that must mean.. that.." Freeza let out a long breath. "That this child.. this FEMALE.. is.. THE STRONGEST of the Saiya-jin race. Zarbon. I order you to take some men to the planet. Take the girl - bring her to me."
________________________________________________________________________
"You heard 'bleeping in the bushes? Yeah - right," Totepo sneered, shoving Celipa. She only budged a few inches.
"I did!" Celipa insisted, shoving back. "You don't have to believe me, but I heard bleeping in the bushes, and an explosion!"
"Your imagination is driving me insane!" Toma sighed. "One of these days, you should learn what a large farting bird sounds like."
"Very funny," Celipa said dully as Toma and Bardock sniggered.
The five friends were walking through a desert of rocks and dirt - not an ounce of water for miles. They had been wandering around the rocky land, looking for something to do. Every now and then, a huge boulder would come into view, and they'd run around it, climbing it's top and leaping as far out as they could before hitting the ground.
"I think we should forget about the 'bleeping thing', and just do stuff. I want to fight - who's up for that?" Bardock asked anyone.
BAM!
One second, Bardock was turned towards everyone, ready for a battle, the next - he was in the dust.
"Whoo! Yeah! You show Bardock!" Panboukin cheered.
DOMP!
Celipa was shoved into a rock.
"That's what you get-" Totepo started, but Celipa was up too quickly, kicking Totepo's feet out from under him.
FOOM FOOM FOOM FOOM FOOM!!!
Nobody had expected it... None of them had time to figure out what was going on... They only had time to feel an electric sort-of shock as they fell unconscious...
________________________________________________________________________
One hour later...
"Freeza-sama! We've got the child..." Zarbon bowed and dared not stare into Freeza's eyes.
"Perfect," he grinned evilly. "Send her in."
"Well," Zarbon retorted, "she's in a regen tank... we had no choice.. the only way to knock them out quickly was with a large ki blast."
"Them?" Freeza asked.
"The girl and her playmates, sir," Zarbon replied.
"Feh! Fine! Bring me the girl!" Freeza ordered more sternly.
"She's reviving.." Zarbon repeated.
"Take her out! She should be fine by now!" Freeza yelled.
"Yes master!" Zarbon zipped out of the room.
"Oh, it's so hard to find obedient people these days..." Freeza muttered, rubbing his eyes after Zarbon had left.
"Spacepod alert - docking procedure count-"
The annoying computerized voice of an intercom rang through the halls, and around the walls of the metal room.
"Who is it now?!" Freeza growled, staring out his window. Suddenly, his jaw dropped. "Vegeta! What is HE doing back?! He's supposed to be dead! It's impossible! I sent him on the hardest mission!" He took a deep breath. "Ooh...Argh.."
The door opened, and Zarbon walked through it with the child slung over one shoulder. "I've brought the girl," he said. "She's still unconscious, but she'll wake up in a moment - should I drop her here?"
"Fine," Freeza answered as Zarbon dropped the kid on the hard floor. "Zarbon - Vegeta's returned!"
"Should I kill him?" Zarbon asked.
"That won't be necessary... Do you realize that we have the two strongest Saiya-jins' on this spaceship? We'll lock them in a room - they'll follow their instincts and fight each other until their stronger than our elites!" Freeza ordered.
"Yes, master," Zarbon said. Then as a second thought... "Freeza-sama - do you really want those children to become stronger? Won't they rebel?"
"Not if we teach them not to. We give them a home, we give them food, we give them armor... They'll learn to follow orders, and they'll learn to forget their race. Power is worth more to them than anything, trust me. I've known these Saiya-jins and their king for a while now."
"Yes, master," Zarbon said. "Permission to leave?"
"Retrieve Vegeta, I shall deal with the girl," Freeza growled, waving Zarbon away.
________________________________________________________________________
"Ow... damn.." Bardock dazedly opened his eyes, cursing. He was staring at dirt, and when he turned over, he was looking at the sky. "Totepo? Toma?"
Bardock felt confused. What had happened? What time was it? And why did he hurt so much? With effort, he sat up, looking around. Beside him, lay Totepo, Panboukin and Toma... who was he leaving out? The boy tied to think, but he was braindead at the moment...
"Kuso - gah.. what just happened?" Toma grumbled, stirring as he regained consciousness.
"Toma!" Bardock muttered, "Why are we here?"
"I dunno - that you Bardock? I feel like I've been burned," Toma growled, opening his eyes, staring fuzzily at Bardock. "There's only one of you, right?" Toma squinted and rubbed his eyes.
"This is weird..." Bardock commented as Toma sat up, looking to see that his tail was still there. It had unwrapped from around his waist, but it was in good shape. He flipped it around for a bit, seeing how it still worked. Bardock laughed.
"Nice tail, Toma... It's got a life of it's own?" Bardock asked, sniggering some more.
"Well, I have to know if it's working, because nothing else seems to be!" Toma remarked, wrapping the tail back around his waist.
"Friggin'- what the-?!" Bardock shouted. "The top half o' my armor is gone!" He stared down at little shreds of his green tank hanging off of him - barely a hem at the bottom. His pants were going to fall down, because he had no top part of the jumpsuit to hold it up, so he ripped the remains of shirt off of him, and tied it around his waist like a belt.
"Put some clothes on, Bardock," Toma remarked after the whole show.
"Wasn't my fault! I swear!" Bardock shot. "Do you have ANY idea of what coulda happened?"
"Lemme guess..." Totepo moaned, keeping his eyes closed, but talking still. "We were ambushed."
"You're up," Bardock said, helping Totepo sit up. "Panboukin's turn. What d'ya mean we were ambushed? Nobody lives here, travels here, and nobody knew WE were here!"
"They musta," Toma grumbled, picking at what was left of his armor. Mainly, only the jumpsuit was left - but at least it was still in one piece.
"Somebody made some huge ki blast!" Totepo growled. "Boy are you guys bloody!" He started to laugh.
"Wul, so are you!" Toma shot back.
Totepo looked down at himself and shrieked. "AAAARRGH!!!!! MY TAIL!!!!"
Such a loud outburst made both Toma and Bardock jump, and Panboukin wake up.
"My tail's gone! It was here just a minute ago! What time is it?! How long have I been tail-less?!!!" Totepo was frantic. "How will I ever turn super Saiya-jin?!!"
"What happened? Ouch..." Panboukin moaned, sitting up and staring at everyone. "Whoa - I think we were hit you guys!"
"We figured that! But by who? Who would? Who has the power?" Bardock asked.
"MY TAIL!!" Totepo grumbled.
"It'll grow back, now will you shut up so we can figure this out?!!" Toma yelled.
"Where's Celipa?" Bardock asked.
"Right there-" Panboukin pointed to dirt. "Well... I thought she was there..."
"Where's Celipa?!" Toma shouted.
"I don't know!" Bardock shouted back. Panboukin looked around frantically.
"We have to search for her... she coulda been blown away by the blast..." Toma suggested, dread in his voice.
"Toma..." Bardock looked at his friend, giving him a funny expression filled with regret.
"Is she - dead?" Totepo asked slowly, forgetting his tail. Everyone was silent.
"Celipa.." Toma muttered. "Goodbye, girl - we'll never forget ya."
There was more silence as everyone thought about Celipa for a moment... How could she just die? It just wasn't Celipa-like...
"We'll never forget ya!" Bardock shouted to the sky, staring up at the clouds. "We'll never forget ya!" Totepo crowed, standing up and yelling to the heavens.
"Never!" Panboukin yelled as well.
________________________________________________________________________
Five minutes later...
Vegeta exited his spacepod with not even a scratch on his skin. There were no signs that he had just fought the toughest race in the galaxy.
"Vegeta."
The boy looked to the door, and there stood Zarbon. "Come with me," he said sweetly. Vegeta saw right through him.
"So Zarbon, being Freeza's messenger pidgeon again?" Vegeta asked as sweetly as Zarbon.
"Freeza-sama," Zarbon shot. "Show some respect, kid, if you know what's good for you."
Vegeta just grunted a reply, walking on past Zarbon.
________________________________________________________________________
Elsewhere, still inside the spaceship...
"Ugh.." Celipa awoke, staring around, her vision fuzzy. She seemed to be laying on a hard, metal floor. "Wh-where am I?!" The girl asked, puzzled.
"Ohayo - beautiful day, isn't it?" Freeza asked. Celipa shot her head up, instantly standing.
"Where am I? Who are you?" Celipa demanded. Where have I seen this person before? She thought.
"I am Freeza - and you are?" Freeza trailed off.
"Why am I here?!" Celipa asked harshly. Freeza gritted his teeth, but kept his act going.
"You are a lucky one... ever heard of the desert Saiya-jins? Ruthless bunch they are. You're lucky my men came by right when you were attacked.. sorry to say... you were the only survivor," Freeza sighed, and looked concerned. "You poor girl..."
"No other survivors?.." Celipa muttered. Freeza nodded solemnly.
Bardock, Toma... Totepo.. Panboukin.. All dead? Celipa thought to herself.
"No! You're lying!" Celipa shouted.
Freeza was overtaken with surprise, then quickly hid it. How had she figured it out so quickly?!
"My friends cannot be dead! No way! You must have checked them wrong!" Celipa insisted. Freeza let out a sigh of relief.
"No - we checked them well... no ki left in any of them - yours was faint as it was," Freeza answered. "Can I take you to a training room? We have some of those - it will make you more comfortable."
"I don't..." Celipa thought on it. Freeza sounded like a nice guy... he just wanted to help - and fighting would get her anger out.. "Okay.. Hai. I'll go."
"Oh, please - follow Zarbon - he's a nice gentleman," Freeza smiled happily, embarrassment flowing through every part of his body. Get this kid outta here quick...
* * * * * * * * * *
BAM!
The heavy metal door to the training chamber was slammed shut, as the girl was consumed by darkness.
I will avenge your deaths... Celipa thought, thinking of her lost friends. And when I'm strong enough, I'm going back to the homeworld. I'll find those desert warriors. And I'll kill them slowly.
"Hey, you! You might wanna turn on the lights - because sooner or later, you're going to have to fight me," an arrogant male voice was heard from somewhere to the right of her. "I can't believe I'm even wasting my good time on weak third class Saiya-jin females. Feh."
"Who are you?!" Celioa demanded.
CLICK!
The lights were switched on, and there stood next to her, a spiky haired young boy - none other than the Saiya-jin prince himself.
"Prince Vegeta?!" Celipa cried out in surprise. She had recognized him from his fame on the planet Vegeta-sei - besides, she recognized the royal seal that was on his chest.
"Heh - you look surprised. That's okay - you're going to be knocked out in a minute anyways, then I won't have to see that dumb expression," Vegeta grunted.
"Do you know how much anger I contain inside of me right now?!" Celipa shouted. "I could explode at any moment! And to tell you the truth, I doubt YOU will get outta here conscious, let alone unscathed, my prince." She sneered.
"Fine - come at me with all ya' got, girly," Vegeta muttered, smirking and taking a battle stance.
BOOM!
Vegeta was flung against a soundproof wall - causing it to form a dent, not even considering that this stuff was said to be unbreakable.
"RAAGH!!" Celipa yelled, letting all of her anger out on this rotten brat.
Punch! Punch! Punch! Vegeta was decked in three places - stomach, face, and nicely below the belt.
"Don't tell me I can't fight, you ugly, sick excuse for a Saiya-jin prince!!" Celipa crowed, kicking Vegeta some more.
BAM!
Vegeta sent a heavy blow to the girl's face, which set her off balance for only a second.. One precious second that was plenty of time for Vegeta to fling Celipa to the ground, and wrench her up by her neck.
The kid flailed around wildy, kicking at Vegeta - punching at him - but the prince held her far enough out that her blows were nothing but air to him. She chocked and gagged, scratching furiously at Vegeta's tight gripping hand.
"Heheheh.. now..." Vegeta let go of Celipa as she stumbled, but still didn't fall. He decided that this wasn't enough, and before she could counter, he had his flat palm an inch away from her stomach. "Bow to your prince, or I'll kill you."
"What'll you do? Fan me to death?" Celipa sneered, staring down at Vegeta's hand.
"Haven't you ever heard of a ki blast?" Vegeta sighed, energy glowing around his hand.
"Yeah - you ever heard of someone else using one?" Celipa balled both of her fists, purple energy glowing around them. "We'll see who's ki blasts are faster, hai?"
Vegeta's hand was less than a centimeter away from Celipa's chest now. "Oh come on. You know you're going to lose. By the time you bring your hands from your sides, I'll have already fired, baka."
Celipa knew it was true... she didn't know what to do, but she wasn't bowing anytime soon. She had to think of something quick..
"Now! Bow to your prince like a nice little scum-bag!" Vegeta sniggered.
He had her... he had her.. wait!
"Heheh.." Celipa smiled mischieviously. In a moment, the girl had her tail wrapped around Vegeta's extended hand, then she launched herself into the air, flipping over Vegeta's head and landing behind him - twisting his arm around as her tail still held the arm. It was unexpected. It was un-Saiya-jin like. It was embarrassing. But she had hurt the opponent.
"ARGH! Foul scum!" Vegeta howled, ki flaring and blasting everything.
"Stop! You're going to blow this place up!" Celipa yelled at Vegeta as his blasts repelled off the walls and filled the room. Instantly, it was as hot as an oven. Celipa could do nothing but resort to ki blasts as well - for hopes she could knock the little kid out.
With blue and pink blasts everywhere, it was madness. Neither of them could see each other, and with their great senses, they dodged all of the others attacks.
FOOM! FOOM! FOOM, FOOM, FOOM, FOOM!!
It wouldn't have been surprising if the walls started to melt.
FOOOM!!!
Celipa stopped firing - her energy was completely drained, and she could fight no more - one hit was more than a enough to knock her unconscious.
The only sound was Vegeta's heavy panting - sweat on his brow, he lowered his hands. "Heh... Heheh.." Vegeta snickered between heavy breaths. It was the most training he had had in a long time.
FWIP!!
With a last ounce of strength, Celipa kicked Vegeta's feet out from under him, sending a weak ki blast in his direction. It hit him square in the face.
"Ha!" Celipa announced in triumph as everything went black...
* * * * * * * * * *
A soldier stepped into the training room - Vegeta and Celipa had been fighting in there for more than an hour - but his scouter hadn't gone off for thirty minutes.
"Hmph - little kids.." the soldier muttered, viewing both young warriors on the floor. They were bloody and broken - both almost an equal match for each other. The lone man picked up Vegeta and slung him over his shoulder - next went Celipa on the other. "Freeza would want you two getting to regen tanks, I think," he commented to as well as no one.
* * * * * * * * * *
Four years later...
"Bow to your prince," Vegeta sneered, his palm an inch away from Celipa's chest.
The girl gave a mocking and extremely exaggerated bow, swinging her foot behind and above her head, flipping and bringing it down square on top of Vegeta's point hair, smashing it to his forehead and sending him into a dazed expression. He quickly got over it, kicking Celipa 'round the back.
"Phew - for a moment there, I thought you were gonna spear me with that pointy hair of yours!" Celipa said.
"Hell - you comment my hair again and I'm sending this whole spaceship to it's doom!" Vegeta burst, raging at the fourteen year old girl.
"YA!"
"YA!"
Vegeta and Celipa charged each other, and were about to go head to head - when the door opened and distracted them both. Celipa's foot was almost touching Vegeta's side, as his fist came in close contact with her face. They paused and sighed as a soldier entered the room.
"What do you want?!" Vegeta demanded.
"Yeah! I was ABOUT to kick the Supreme Ruler's butt!" Celipa smirked evilly as Vegeta shot a deadly glance.
"Gomen - but I must inform you that we're serving-"
"Goodbye!"
"Move it!"
Vegeta and Celipa shoved past the man - he didn't have to finish his sentence. They both knew that it was time for breakfast. Four years on the same spaceship can do that to you.
The soldier sighed. "Will I NEVER get respect from those two? I clean them off the floors every day, and what do I get? Move it?" He sighed again, closing the door behind him.
________________________________________________________________________
In the Eating Hall...
"You know - you eat like a girl," Vegeta commented through gulping chunks of food sliding down his throat.
"At least - that's all I do like one - Princess," Celipa shot over through her own ravenous shovelling.
A lone guard stared up from his first plate, looking at Vegeta and Celipa prove to each other that THEY could eat more. Those kids.. eating like there's no tommorow.. He thought, rolling his eyes at the massive stacks of bowls and plates.
They have been competing against EVERYTHING for years! Another man thought, peering at the two over his newspaper.
"I got one more bite than you," Celipa taunted, taking one last chopstick-full of rice.
"You're wrong there, girly," Vegeta said, taking one long swig of his water.
"Don't think so - you gotta stop sometime..." Celipa made a small humored smile, and took on more bite of rice.
"Heh - men can eat more than women, and that's final," Vegeta snorted, taking a bite of rice as well.
"Heh - let's see you do this-" Celipa poured a half a plate of vegetables down her throat.