The woman was true to her word. She stayed away, not even looking in Piccolo's direction as the rounds passed. The Mighty Mask had ended up flying away, leaving Goku as the winner. Gohan beat out Number Eighteen, and Piccolo had just tossed Krillin out of the arena. It was now Gaszha's turn against the Saiyan Prince.
Piccolo watched Vegeta as he passed by in state of bored annoyance. He could relate to the perturbed Saiyan on many levels.
"Vegeta."
He glared up at Piccolo in acknowledgement.
"Do me a favor and make this fight quick."
Vegeta smiled maliciously. "I planned on it."
Gaszha walked nervously out on the arena. It was embarrassing, Piccolo thought, how unprofessional she looked. For all her apparent anxiousness and light-hearted manner, she could have been just some teeny-bopper out of Gohan's high school.
When Vegeta entered, he didn't even pause to brace himself for battle. Instead, he just continued walking, saying to her as he approached, "I'll make this quick and painless. Well, not completely painless," he said as he iron-gripped her biceps and lifted her off the ground. Piccolo smiled as her surprised expression shifted to frantic.
"Hey!" She protested, kicking futilely as Vegeta walked her across the arena to toss her out like last night's trash.
"Your dignity might be slightly bruised," Vegeta jeered.
Piccolo smiled. Sometimes he really appreciated the Prince's goading manner.
"You c-c-can't just-throw me out like this. You humiliating…JERK!"
Vegeta threw his head back and laughed as he approached the edge of the arena. But suddenly her panicked, discouraged face transformed. A malevolent smile curled her lips, and her eyes narrowed in wicked irreverence.
Piccolo saw it, but his voice caught in his throat. Before the change in her demeanor could register in her competitor, Gaszha bent her knees and threw herself down on her back, taking the Prince with her. It all happened so fast that before the audience could even gasp at the change of events, the woman had flipped her feet over her head and kicked Vegeta out of the ring with such force that the earth exploded up around his body, leaving him in a grave nearly six feet down.
She stood at the edge of the arena with her arms folded menacingly across her chest, her childish demeanor from earlier completely gone. She looked down at Vegeta with a glorious expression of beguilement on her face. Vegeta gawked at her in shock, until she finally shook her head and walked off the stage.
Piccolo watched the whole display nervously. She'd outwitted the Saiyan Prince, and was stronger than they'd all thought. And now he had to fight her.
Unsurprisingly, Vegeta wasn't about to let her get away without an earful. He popped up out of his hole, and, ignoring the loud reaction of the spectators, flew up beside her. "You cheated!" He screamed.
"You underestimated me, and I used it to my advantage," she said, walking on as though he were nothing more than a pestering fan.
"This is ridiculous! I want a rematch!" His face was turning red.
She rolled her eyes. "I won. You lost. Get over it."
Foolish woman, Piccolo thought. You're goading the wrong person on. It wasn't going to take much more to push Vegeta over the edge. The Saiyan was two seconds away from going ape. But Piccolo couldn't help being fascinated by her audacity.
Vegeta's rantings continued on. "I CAN'T be out of the tournament. This is unfair!"
Gaszha sighed and faced him indignantly with her hands on her hips. "Look. I had plans for the prize money, but I swear I'll sport you a few bills if you'll stop your incessant whining."
"WHINING?" Vegeta flush went from red to purple.
"Dad," Gohan said nervously as he watched them. "We'd better get over there, or Vegeta's gonna kill that girl." Goku nodded and they both trotted over.
"NOBODY talks to me like that! You'll regret that! I'm a Prince of Warriors-"
Her perturbed face sprung into mocking laughter. "Well if THAT ain't buying into your own bullshit, then…" she said, shaking her head. "Come now. How much of my prize money do I have to give you to-"
"I came to fight Kakkarot!" Vegeta screamed. Piccolo winced as his voice had gone up two octaves and reached an inhuman pitch that grated on the Namek's hearing. "Do you understand? I've been training for the past seven years to fight him, and he's only here for one day-"
Sometimes Vegeta's biggest problem is not knowing when to shut up, Piccolo thought. He braced himself as Gaszha capitalized on the Saiyan's weakness.
"You sound pretty obsessed with this Kakkarot. Funny," she shrugged. "I hadn't pegged you for gay."
"GAY?" That did it. Vegeta lunged at her, but Goku and Gohan were right there to hold him back, kicking and screaming.
"Vegeta, we can fight after the tournament. It's no big deal," Goku counseled like a parent reassuring a boy who had been promised a lollipop, and received instead brussle sprouts. "They're only words. Don't let it get to you. Besides, you can't kill her. It's against the rules." After several very tense seconds, Vegeta calmed and shook off the two men. He pointed at Gaszha.
"Very well, but first, I'll fight YOU after the tournament, woman."
"Whatever," she said. "But you seem awfully fond of getting your ass kicked."
Piccolo choked. Gohan and Goku tensed, and Krillin looked as though his chin had dropped to his knees. But fortunately Vegeta was saved from another lapse of control when the announcer announced Gohan and Goku next. Vegeta clenched his fists and spun his back on her to watch as the two Saiyans entered excitedly out onto the ring-who had only left after making sure the situation was neutralized, of course.
"Boy, this will be something else," Krillin said, who was standing next to Piccolo. "Even though they agreed not to turn Super Saiyan, the fighting should be pretty intense. Father vs. Son."
"Hmm." Piccolo was VERY intrigued as to how this fight would go. Seven years ago, Gohan had been the strongest being on the planet, but perhaps his father had surpassed him in the afterlife.
He focused as the fighting commenced, trying to ignore the woman standing several yards away. Even though she was no longer gawking at him, he was still painfully aware of her presence. So, he thought. She's strong, but she can't possibly be a match for any of us when we're powered up. The fight would be awkward, but brief.
The match between the two Saiyans was an impressive display of strength and strategy, and when it was over, Goku remained standing. Piccolo had glanced over at Gaszha once or twice. Her eyes had been studiously fixed on the two, as if soaking in their techniques.
As well she should be, he considered. If she beats me then Goku is her next opponent. Then Piccolo frowned at his own train of thought. There's no way she's going to beat me.
"Piccolo vs. Gaszha!"
"Don't let her fool you, big guy," Krillin said.
"Don't worry. I won't."
Piccolo followed her out onto the arena and when they stood facing each other, she locked stares with him.
"You've given me more incentive to win, Piccolo. You realize that, don't you?"
He recalled her bet-that he'd be hers for one day should he lose. "I'm not as easily fooled as Vegeta. Your incentive will get you nowhere." With that he flung off his weighted cape and turban.
Her face lit up, and she whistled. "What's this? Are you trying to distract me with a strip tease?" She crouched into a defensive stanch, rolling back and forth on her heels. "What an interesting technique…"
"Enough!" He barked. Was it possible that everything he did or said only encouraged her more? It seemed like it. He shook off the awkwardness. This has to stop.
He lunged at her, and to his surprise she parried his blows, seemingly without effort. He flipped back. She was good. How could another being live on this planet with such strength, with none of them being the wiser?
"Who are you?" He called out, suspecting by now that her attraction for him was a façade. There had to be a hidden agenda.
"Uh…Gaszha?" Her eyes crinkled in jest.
"What do you really want here? And why are you after me?" He growled as they circled each other.
She stood upright and sighed. "Truly, I'm after the money. You're just a…" she pursed her lips and smiled, "…a bonus! As soon as I beat you, that is. All because I'm stronger than you thought, doesn't mean everything I've said is a lie, Piccolo." She hunched down and clenched her fists. It took only a second, but she had powered up, considerably. Piccolo did the same.
They fell into another series of blow for blow. The fight took them into the air, and Piccolo felt his moves become frantic in the face of her remarkable strength. He flung back and stared at her. His earlier repulsion had been replaced by reluctant respect.
"All right," he said. "I've entertained you long enough." With that he powered up to his maximum, and was pleased to see her eyes widen as she paced herself backwards, away from him. And for once, she was speechless.
This time his hits connected. She somehow, however, managed to pull out of every throw before landing out of the ring. He could feel her energy draining. It wasn't much, but it was enough. She swung at him and missed. On the rebound he grabbed her calve and spun her, hurling her to the ground. Before she could pull out of it, he caught up to her descending body and clamped his limbs around her, pinning her arms to her sides. Let's see how well you pull out of my throw when it's three feet above the ground, he thought triumphantly.
And this time, her panic wasn't fake. She looked down at the rapidly approaching ground below them.
"Shit!" Her face reddened as she tried to break free from his grip. It wasn't easy to maintain the hold, but Piccolo wasn't about to lose and spend an entire day with this woman. He felt a smile widen his face as he watched her struggle. Her expression went from frantic to desperate, and then she looked right at him and froze. Whatever idea crossed her mind was only manifest by the glint in her eye, giving him no preparation for what happened next.
Face to face as they were, Gaszha suddenly, aggressively, locked her lips onto his. The sudden warmth, and wetness shocked him beyond recovery. His grip slackened, and she in turn wrapped her arms around his torso, and before he could retaliate, Gaszha flung him to the ground like a slingshotpulling out of the descent at the last possible moment.
The impact was hard. Piccolo felt the dirt being displaced all around him, and when he'd finally come to a stop he could only look up from the bottom of the crater he'd created at the woman floating over it.
Gaszha was panting heavily, and when their stares connected she smiled and threw a fist in the air.
"And the winner is Gaszha!" the announcer bellowed.
Piccolo heard the crowd roar, but it served only as background static to the noise in his head. What just…? Did she? Lost? I lost? He wondered if he could burrow a hole and disappear from the event all together, popping up somewhere miles from here. In the distance he could hear Vegeta ranting about how she had cheated again, and would someone please throw her out of the competition.
Piccolo couldn't focus. I can't believe she did that! Was he angry? Frustrated? He sure as hell should have been, that was certain. Oddly, though his body ached from the impact, the only sensation he was cognizant of was the memory of her lips… He rubbed his forearm roughly across his mouth.
"Hey Piccolo!" Gohan descended into the pit, and extended his hand. "Wow. I didn't see that coming! She really plays dirty."
"She…does." He batted Gohan's hand away and stood to his feet.
"You look pretty stunned. Do you feel all right?"
"I feel…strange." And it was true. He felt odd…befuddled. "Is…is she still up there?"
"She's resting for the match with my father."
"Hmm." Piccolo took a deep breath and ascended with Gohan to the sideline where the others were waiting. He held a hand up to halt their comments. "I don't want to talk about it."
Reluctantly, they bit back their questions. All Piccolo wanted was to focus on the fight with Goku and get his mind off his own match, and her mouth. After several minutes Goku entered the arena with Gaszha behind him. As they faced each other, Piccolo tuned his ears to their conversation.
"You're a decent fighter, Gaszha, but you're out of tricks," Goku said.
"I may have one left," she said, curling her hands into claws as they began to circle each other. "The question is, will I need to use it?"
They both powered up. Piccolo noticed that her level had reached what it had when she had fought him, but it wasn't all he noticed. He found his eyes dropping to where her pants hugged her hips, and the way her muscles moved underneath the material. Her top clung to her body from the battle sweat in an earthy, alluring sort of way…
He grunted and clenched his eyes closed. What's happening to me…?
"You all right Piccolo?" Krillin asked.
He fought to focus his thoughts. "I think she…did something to me."
"She kissed you, Namek," Vegeta growled. "And that's all it took to disarm you. If you're thinking you lost to some great magical trick, think again."
Piccolo reached out and grabbed a fistful of Vegeta's shirt. "Don't downplay my assumptions!"
Vegeta snarled.
"Quiet you two," Number Eighteen said. "They started."
"What?" Piccolo dropped Vegeta immediately and they both turned their attention to the flurry of fists and feet in the arena. He found himself more and more impressed with the way she moved and countered Goku's attacks. And on top of that the fight provided a great excuse for him to just stand and observe her…
Piccolo gave himself a mental thwack. Why am I reacting to her like this all of a sudden? It was confusing, weird…unprecedented, and he battled with it the entire time he watched them fight.
Goku ascended into the air and she followed. They began to swap energy blasts, and the clash of their fighting stung Piccolo's eyes.
"Man," Gohan said. "They're really going at it."
"It won't last much longer," Vegeta said. "Her strength is draining."
Vegeta was right. Goku had just knocked her down into the arena. The crunch of the stage echoed through the stands.
"Ouch," Krillin said. "I bet that hurt."
Piccolo stepped forward, wondering why he was all of a sudden concerned for her well-being. She slowly and unsteadily rose to her feet. Goku landed a few yards in front of her.
"If you forfeited now, I'd understand," he said.
She wiped the blood from her mouth, and snickered. "Sorry. Quitting isn't in my nature."
"Fine. Have it your way." Goku sprung at her with his arm cocked back.. But before he reached her, she was engulfed in a sphere of radiating light that sent him sprawling backwards. The high-pitched whistle of concentrated energy filled the stadium.
"What's happening to her?" Gohan asked as he squinted through the brightness. Piccolo wondered the same thing, though he wasn't about to voice it.
"I…" Vegeta shielded his eyes. "I don't know, but that's a lot of power out there." Goku looked as confused as Piccolo felt, then Gohan managed to see something the rest of them hadn't.
"Dad, look out!"
Piccolo watched Goku tense as a streak of light shot forth from the radiating ball. Whatever it was, it hit him, hard. Goku's body sailed off the stage and was imbedded into the stadium wall.
Silence filled the stadium. The light faded, and Gaszha stood on the edge of the arena…only she had changed.
"It…it can't be!" Vegeta stuttered.
Piccolo was speechless as he stared at the golden-haired, green-eyed woman emanating electricity like a lightning bolt.
"She's a," Gohan began. "She's…"
"A Saiyan," Krillin finished. "Gaszha is a Saiyan!"
Chapter 4
"You want me to show you WHAT?" Gaszha asked incredulously as she faced the powerful group of fighters who were staring at her as if she were a living legend.
"Your tail scar," Goku said as he turned his back to her and pulled down the waistline of his pants. "This."
Gaszha looked and noticed a circular scar that dimpled the warrior's skin at the base if his spine. She felt herself blush.
"Don't you have one?" Krillin asked.
She self-consciously felt the scar above her tailbone. "Of course I have one. Doesn't everybody? What I don't get is why you want to see it." This was getting weirder and weirder, she thought. Most of the demon folk had tails. Humans just cut theirs off.
"Don't you know what you are?" Vegeta asked angrily.
"Uh…human? Is this a joke?"
"Tell us your story, Gaszha," Piccolo said, "and we'll tell you ours." She looked at him. For all that he tried to avoid her earlier, it looked like she had his undivided attention now, and he seemed just as awestruck as the rest of them. About time you stopped fighting me, Piccolo.
"The demons of Yosolk found me in a metal contraption 20 years ago after an earthquake. They believed I'd been buried in the ice for some time. One of their females felt sorry for me, and took me in." She sat down. "The end."
"Where were you when Cell was around?" Gohan asked, his brow quirked in curiosity.
"Who?" she asked.
"Demons don't surface very often," Piccolo explained in his heavy, masculine voice. "They live underground or in parallel dimensions. It's entirely possible that they were unaware of the whole encounterespecially in the Yosolk mountains where Cell hadn't yet reached." His eyes rested on her discreetly. "That would explain why none of us knew about her, and how she never knew about the earth's predators."
"You're talking about me as if I were some experiment gone awry," she said defensively.
"That's because you are!" Vegeta yelled. "First of all, humans DON'T have tails, secondly, their DNA isn't altered when they power up, changing the color of their hair and eyes." He went over to a chair and sat down. "Let me tell you the story of a proud, warrior race…"
And she listened. The more she heard, the more she believed that this man was telling the truth. He spoke of Saiyans, of an evil Frieza, of he and Goku's first encounter, and numerous adventures since then. When he was done she blew her breath out in a long whistle and sat back with her hands clasped behind her head. For some reason her eyes had moistened. She quickly blinked back the water.
"So…" she cleared her throat. "You believe I was sent here to destroy the earth with Goku, but my capsule preserved my body when it plummeted from the sky into the snow-packed Mountains. And somehow I've 'transcended' into a Super Saiyan-a power level only heard about in myth back on our home planet. But this planet has a way of bringing it out in our people because you're all Super Saiyans as well…"
To demonstrate, Goku, Gohan and Vegeta all transformed in a brief, but impressive display of power, and before her stood three golden-haired, green-eyed warriors.
"Unbelievable." Gaszha backed away from the white-hot energy that was emanating from them. "You may have beat me after all, had you known what I was capable of."
"Of course we would have," snapped Vegeta, who seemed to have forgotten all about his wounded pride in the face of Gaszha's newfound identity. "And now you make us three. Three survivors of our noble planet."
She said nothing in the following silence. If it was all a lie, then why did it feel so right? She'd always wondered how it was that she fit in so well with the demons when all the humans she'd come across wouldn't have lasted a day in the Yosolk Caverns. She'd been an anomaly...until now.
Considering it was true, then her entire identity that she'd spent her life developing had been undermined in minutes. It was overwhelming. Her emotions shifted rapidly; confusion, disbelief, amazement, loneliness…
"I…I need to leave." She stood and walked briskly to the door.
"Wait!" Krillin frantically scribbled something on a piece of paper and handed it to her. "Uh, you might want this. It's our contact information." She looked at him, and he explained. "You know, addresses, phone numbers," he looked at Piccolo. "Coordinates."
"Well, are we going to see you again?" Gohan asked anxiously. "I mean, we could have Bulma and Vegeta check out your space capsule. For all I know you could be my aunt, or something."
His aunt? Would they accept her as family so easily? Would she be betraying the species that raised her if she deserted them now…? "I don't know. This is insane. I don't even know who I am anymore…" Her throat constricted. She turned and looked each in the eye, lingering on Piccolo after the rest. Pity he was tied into all this. "Goodbye."
With that she left and ascended into the air, leaving behind her the powerful warriors and this strange day on which she met them.