Chapter 4

The four inhabitants of the small island gaped. If, five minutes ago, somebody had asked them what they least expected, this would probably have been it. Finally, Arekusanda managed to get his voice back.
"Erm... how did you find us here?"
"Oh, quite easily," said Taisa. "Kind of like this." He grinned, and his eye twinkled.
For the second time that week, Vegeta-Sei's world went black, and he felt the passage of time. Not so much, though, as before. The world blinked back into existence, feeling both hours and an instant later. The Kanai ship now hovered a few hundred feet up, and Taisa was flanked by two more Kanai.
"Allow me to make the introductions on our side." He gestured to the Kanai on his left, who was smaller than himself, and not as well built.
"This is Matsutsu. He's one of the nobility, and just with us to observe, more or less." His other arm lifted. "And this is Rutsuko. He is one of the strongest of our race, although not very bright, as is the curse of our strongest." Several birds chose this moment to fly overhead. Rutsuko pointed.
"Look Taisa! Pigeons! And finches, too!" Taisa sighed. He made a gesture, and the flock imploded. A small brown feather floated down to settle on the ground next to Taisa's foot. Rutsuko giggled, and, picking it up, stuck it in his hair. Taisa sighed again, and turned back to the stunned group of Saiyans.
"Well now, as I was just about to say..." at this he glanced at Rutsuko, but he appeared to be happily dancing. Not wanting any more interruptions, Taisa left him to it. "We are looking to hire some mercenaries. You see, we are on a quest, of sorts." Arekusanda frowned.
"Oboe and I are not from this time, and, as such, must refuse to participate in current events. These two, however, came to be here naturally, and are free to do as they wish. If you want to negotiate, it is with them." Arekusanda and Oboe turned, and went into the cabin.
"Wonderful," muttered Taisa. "Saiyans. Very well, monkeys, how about it?" Titania saw Vegeta-Sei's hand go under his cloak, and felt his power rising. Quickly, she put her hand on his shoulder and drew him aside.
"I'll kill him!" hissed Vegeta-Sei. "I'll kill them all for insulting my people!"
"No!... they could be useful - if beings of that power need our help on their "quest", it must be for something very valuable, right? Besides, wouldn't you like to know how he does that little time trick of his?" Vegeta-Sei slowly relaxed.
"Well... I suppose that you could perhaps be correct."
"Good. When we get back, let me do the talking, ok? Let's not reveal our true power, or who you really are. That way, they won't be expecting it when we take whatever it is from them."
"Very well, woman." They returned to the Kanai. Titania approached Taisa.
"We're ready to listen."
"Excellent. Our quest is to recover the Dragon Balls on Planet Namek. Normally, a quest such as this would be simple to us, but when we passed by the planet, we sensed many high power levels, and we feel that the three of us will not be enough to handle all of the fighters there. And, although I find you to be rather unkempt, not to mention the sheer smell of your race..."
At this Vegeta-Sei screamed. He probably would have attacked, had Oboe, who had come out to recover the hammock, not tactfully stomped on his tail, which was free and twitching in agitation.
"What's with him?" asked Taisa.
"Well..." Titania gave Vegeta-Sei a brief glance out of the corner of her eye. "He's not exactly the brightest bulb in the room, if you take my meaning." Oboe lifted her foot and stomped again, but her foot came down on solid ground. She was momentarily confused, but then felt Vegeta-Sei's supple tail wrapping around her leg. With a sudden jerk, she fell to the ground. Vegeta-Sei turned his back to Taisa and helped her up.
"Don't do that again," he hissed as he pulled her roughly to her feet. She nodded and returned to the cabin with the hammock.
"So, what's in this for us?" Titania was asking.
"The reason that we desire the Dragonballs is that they have the power to grant anyone who collects all seven three wishes - any three wishes. If you choose to assist us, I will let you have one of those wishes between you, to do with as you like." Of course, he had no such intention, but they didn't need to know that - when their usefulness had ended, he would simply kill them.
Vegeta-Sei spoke up. "Very well. We will consider helping you attain these Dragonballs." Of course, he had no such intention, but they didn't need to know that - when their usefulness had ended, he would simply kill them.
They were interrupted by the sound of a large object screaming down into the planet's atmosphere. Looking up, they saw a round object, cordonned in flame. It crashed into the island, embedding itself on impact, and sending up a cloud of dust, soil, and rocks. When the air cleared, the object was revealed as a spacepod - a spacepod bearing a mysterious triangular figure.
"No! It can't be!" Arekusanda stood in horror outside of the cabin, staring in disbelief at the spacepod. Oboe clung to his arm with a terrified look on her face. The pod's door slowly opened. A huge figure uncurled itself, and stepped out.
"AREKUSANDA! GET OUT HERE! NO-ONE ESCAPES FROM ME!" Recoome looked angry. Very angry.
"Umm..." Taisa looked at Recoome, then at the Saiyans, then at Recoome again. "Perhaps we should be leaving..." He glanced at Matsutsu, who nodded his agreement, and Rutsuko, who sang tunelessly. "Well we're all agreed then we'll be back later bye!" Matsutsu ran onto the ship, followed by Taisa, and Rutsuko, who Taisa was towing by his ear. A few seconds later it shot off into the sky and disappeared.
"Arekusanda!" Recoome had seen them, and approached rapidly. "So, you thought you could escape from me?"
"But you let us go!" protested Arekusanda.
"No I didn't!" Recoome began to look flustered. He looked around quickly for a subject change. "Say, who are these two?"
Arekusanda started forward. "You have no right to harm them. They are not a part of this conflict." At this, Vegeta-Sei put his arm forward to stop Arekusanda's advance.
"You helped us when we first arrived here. Now is our chance to repay you." Arekusanda started to protest, then, seeing the look in Vegeta-Sei's eyes, nodded. Recoome decided he'd had enough.
"Well, it doesn't matter who they are - they're here with you, so I'll kill them anyway!" He flexed his muscles, and struck a ridiculous pose. "Are you ready to face the vengeance of Recoome?"
Oboe shrieked and dropped into a fighting stance. Titania grabbed her staff and twirled it around her body, putting it in fighting position, and turning Super Saiyan. Vegeta-Sei threw his cloak aside. He clenched his fists, and his power aura flared as his hair turned gold. Arekusanda put his hands on the hilts of his katanas. A red aura appeared around him, and his hair turned a much brighter shade of red.
"Let's do it," said Arekusanda, as he drew his swords, and charged. At the last second, Recoome ducked, then punched upward toward Arekusanda's belly, but he shot up and came down with a backflip onto his feet. He once again flew at Recoome, but this time he slashed straight down with both katanas. Recoome brought his arms up in an x shape, and the swords landed harmlessly. Arekusanda stepped back and grinned.
"Well, now that we've taken each other's measure, shall we step it up a notch?"
"Fine with me," said Recoome. A power aura appeared around him. Arekusanda did the same. They both charged, and met in the middle, a deadly dance of flesh and steel. Blasts of rock came up across the landscape as the two fought. Recoome was stronger than any of them, but he was also huge and bulky, and had a harder time landing a blow.
They reappeared suddenly, and Arekusanda took a vicious swing. Recoome deflected the blow, and the sword went skittering away. Arekusanda switched his left katana over, and continued double-handed. He began a heated shower of blows, forcing Recoome back. He stopped as Recoome was backed into a stand of rocks, and thrust his sword forward. Rocoome sidestepped, and the sword was firmly embedded in the rock. Recoome grinned as Arekusanda tried to pull it out, and punched him squarely in the face. Arekusanda staggered back, clutching at his jaw, which was bleeding heavily. He spat, leaving a red stain on the ground. WHAM! He exhaled more blood, from internal injuries this time, as Recoome had kneed him in the gut.
"Recoome... BOOM!" Recoome brought his clasped hands down on Arekusanda's back, slamming him into the ground. His aura faded away as his hair turned back to its usual dark red.
"No! NO!" Oboe flew forward, screeching, but Recoome simply batted her into the rocks. She, too, collapsed. Vegeta-Sei watched, helpless, as Recoome destroyed all of his friends... first, it had been Redemption, vapourized before his eyes, and now, Arekusanda and Oboe. But what could he do? There was no way he could stand against a power like that. No! He wouldn't let this happen!
"I won't let you win!" He threw his head back and screamed. His irises disappeared entirely, and raw power charged through his frame. His muscles bulged, and, with a final cream of rage, a burst of power spread throughout the area. When the air cleared, Vegeta-Sei stepped out of the dust. His muscles had more than doubled in size, and he glowed from head to toe with a brilliant yellow light. He pointed to Recoome.
"You're mine!!!"