Chapter Sixty-Two: Tayla vs. Vegeta
Gorna, Gracina, and Cletos were having no success in trying to cut off the tails of Alora and Bendros. Alora-Oozaru, not recognizing them as her in-laws and comrades, fired powerful mouth blasts at them, and she nearly crushed Cletos (who had been the one to get the closest to Alora's tail) under her foot.
While the three Mantros Chloe siblings fought with Alora-Oozaru, Bendros-Oozaru escaped, climbing down the cliff to the valley below. None of the three siblings could be spared to chase after Bendros-Oozaru, who would surely destroy most of Magan before he metamorphosed back into his natural form.
Alora-Oozaru seized Cletos in her hand, as he flew past her in the air, and she was preparing to devour him when Gracina finally succeeded in slicing off her tail with her sword. Alora-Oozaru had Cletos' foot in her ape mouth, even as she was shrinking back into her natural form. When the retransformation was completed, a naked Sastorian Alora was kneeling on the torn turf of the cliff with Cletos's boot still in her mouth. She and Cletos were extremely embarrassed.
Gorna and Gracina were extremely relieved.
Cletos promptly removed his left foot out of his sister-in-law's mouth, and Alora spat several times. She then ran a hand through her thick dark hair and asked dazedly, "What in the universe happened to me? Where are my clothes? What is going on here?"
"You changed into an Oozaru," Gorna told her curtly.
"Are you okay, Alora?" Gracina asked concernedly.
Alora moaned, "I think so, but I have a major headache. Gracie, do you have an aspirin?"
Gracina gave her two from her healior's kit, and Alora quickly popped them into her mouth. The aspirins would work in less than ten minutes, so Alora rose to her feet with Cletos' help.
Gorna wanted to tell Alora that things like this was reason enough to have her tail removed permanently, but she knew that it would only start a fight with the Sastorian woman. Alora wanted to hold onto both her Saiyan and Astorian roots.
"Where's Bendros?" Alora asked worriedly, rubbing her forehead.
Cletos gasped, "Bendros escaped. He's still in Oozaru form."
"Shicotti!" Alora hissed, using a word that was an impolite version of "crap". "He doesn't know how to control his Oozaru powers anymore than I do. This is only the second time that he's turned Oozaru; he won't recognize anyone that he knows! I've got to go find him now!"
"We're coming with you," Gracina told her.
"ROARRRRR!" a deep growl was heard in the distance.
"RARRR!" another growl echoed throughout Magan.
The three Astorians flew towards downtown Magan, leaving the cliff.
Vegeta-Oozaru looked down at his Astorian prey and grinned maliciously. "You're mine now, little girl!" he roared happily.
"Back off, Princey, she's mine! I saw her first!" Diamonique hissed, making a grab for Tayla, who dodged her.
Tayla also had to dodge Vegeta-Oozaru's searching hands that were trying to snatch her off of the ground. She was amazed at how much faster he was than he had been five years ago. Tayla scurried away from the stomping Oozaru prince who was trying to grab her. Finally she flew into the sky with her sword. She had to stop Vegeta; she had to cut off his tail with her sword.
But when she ultimately reached his tail with her sword, Vegeta-Oozaru cleverly coiled his tail around her body like a snake until Tayla was rolled up in his tail like a pig-in-a-blanket. The little princess unintentionally dropped her sword. Tayla struggled against his tail vainly, but her arms and wrists were crushed inside of Vegeta-Oozaru's coiled tail. Vegeta-Oozaru then used his tail to lift Tayla up to his eager hand. Tayla bit Vegeta-Oozaru's tail, but it felt like a needle prick to him, and despite her struggles, she could not break the tight grip of his tail. Vegeta-Oozaru used his tail to put Tayla into his right hand, and that right hand held his captive nearly as securely as his tail had.
"Let me go!" Tayla screamed in anger and fear, struggling in his grip, as Vegeta-Oozaru brought Tayla up to his face. Tayla could feel his hot breath flow over her tiny body.
"Let me go, Vegeta!" Tayla cried.
Vegeta-Oozaru laughed. "Looks like I won this one! That reward and position in Top Elite is as good as mine!"
"Let her go, Vegeta!" Diamonique shrieked. "She belongs to me, you giant monkey!" She flew up towards Vegeta, but Vegeta swatted her away with his free hand, as if Diamonique were no more than a fly, sending her crashing into a few trees. Diamonique was furious; she'd get that giant ape prince for that one!
But she wouldn't have the chance, for at that moment another Oozaru entered the forest around Magan. Tayla struggled in Vegeta-Oozaru's fist in vain. That big monkey prince wasn't going to let her breathe right, let alone let her ago.
She looked fearfully at the other Oozaru approaching Vegeta-Oozaru, even after she had recognized the other creature's ki.
"Bendros," Tayla whispered. She then cried out to the other Oozaru, "Bendros! Please help me, please! Vegeta has me captive, and he won't let me go!"
Bendros-Oozaru only roared, and Vegeta-Oozaru laughed at her.
"Forget it, brat, he's not going to help you! If he has any Astorian in him at all, he surely was not properly trained in handling his Oozaru powers. You Astorians seem to want to make any half-breeds forget the Saiyan in them, and now your friend is an Oozaru all right, capable of fighting me, but unable to control his powers in that form. I can still destroy him easily, and even if I couldn't, he still wouldn't help you. He wouldn't recognize you, brat, except as a potential snack. You're safer with me, brat, than you are with him, and I'm not going to let you become anyone's meal, not yet anyway."
Tayla's heart sank in despair, even as she continued to struggle against his grip. Vegeta knew more about Oozarus than she did, and surely he was right. What was she going to do? How would she escape Vegeta? Would she be able to get Bendros to recognize her, or at least be able to cut off his tail?
She continued to struggle in Vegeta-Oozaru's grip, but his grip was tight. In fact his grip was so tight, that it crushed the cuffs on Tayla's wrists, and the metal cut into her flesh. The cuffs were now rendered useless. She knew that it was no use to electrocute him, for he would barely feel it in his Oozaru form. Tayla panted, gasping for air.
"I…cannot...breathe," she rasped just loud enough for Vegeta-Oozaru to hear.
"Nice try, brat," Vegeta-Oozaru told her, "but I'm not falling for it."
She continued to gasp and wheeze, but Vegeta-Oozaru scoffed at her.
"Can't breathe…really," Tayla choked out, and then she fainted.
Tayla's tiny body was limp in Vegeta-Oozaru's hand. He flicked the girl to revive her, but she would not budge.
"Stop tricking me, brat!" he shouted harshly, but Tayla did not respond.
He shook his captive gently, so he would not kill her, but she did not stir. She was like a miniature rag doll, lifeless and wilted, her eyes closed, and her limbs dangling freely.
"Tayla! WAKE UP!"
No response.
"This is a trick, brat, and I'm not falling for it! Wake up now, or I will throw you halfway across this planet!"
Silence.
"I'll do it, Tayla, I swear that I will throw you! WAKE UP NOW!"
Nothing, not even so much as a breath.
Finally Diamonique, who was dodging Bendros-Oozaru's rampage, called from mid-air, a safe distance from Vegeta-Oozaru. Her screams were loud and shrill.
"You killed her, you monkey bastard! How dare you? She is DEAD, you idiot! You crushed her! Lord Frieza will have your monkey head for this, you big ape!
"Shut up, woman!" Vegeta-Oozaru howled, still unable to get a response from Tayla. He opened his fist, and she lay there on the palm of his hand, still unmoving. Her body was cooling slowly, her temperature beginning to drop.
Finally Vegeta-Oozaru nudged the girl gently with his thumb on his other hand. He moved the tip of his thumb around her face, and he felt not a breath of air. He grumbled and finally laid the girl down on a small hill. Her ki did not even register on his scouter.
"She's gone," he grumbled. "How could I have been so stupid?"
"Because you're a monkey," Diamonique sneered. "Way to go, Princeling; Lord Frieza will be pleased, ooh, you are going to get it! Just like a Saiyan-"
Vegeta-Oozaru blasted a mouth laser in her direction, which she easily dodged. "Nice try, Vegeta!" Diamonique crowed.
Vegeta-Oozaru blasted another mouth laser in her direction, but she ducked it again. Then out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the supposedly dead Tayla slowly crawling away, and he smirked. He knew that if he let that brat alone long enough, she would eventually come to. Two could play at that game, and he intended to win.
He turned around swiftly and made a grab for her, but Tayla dodged his hand. She then tried to rise into the air, intending to use Blitzer on him, but Vegeta-Oozaru, who was equally as fast as her, no matter what form he was in, batted her with his hand, hitting her in her face.
While Tayla was distracted, Vegeta-Oozaru tried to seize her again, but then Bendros-Oozaru charged at him, knocking Vegeta-Oozaru off of his feet onto the ground. Vegeta-Oozaru's back crashed into the ground, creating a small earthquake. He and Bendros-Oozaru began to wrestle each other and claw at each other, no longer using true martial arts, but simply brute fighting, like the animals that they now were. Bendros-Oozaru punched Vegeta-Oozaru hard in his face, while Vegeta-Oozaru punched Bendros-Oozaru in his ribs with a mighty blow. The two giant monkey-creatures continued to wrestle and thrash along the ground, crashing into hills, crushing trees and rocks and anything else that got in their way.
Vegeta-Oozaru rolled Bendros-Oozaru over onto his back, and he fired a mouth blast at his opponent, but Bendros-Oozaru turned his head away in time, so that the blast collided with the ground below him. Vegeta-Oozaru tried to fire another mouth blast at Bendros-Oozaru, but before he could do so, he felt himself began to…shrink?
"What the hell?" Vegeta-Oozaru cried; his Oozaru body was now dwindling back into his natural form, back into his armor and uniform, which had stretched along with him to his Oozaru form. When the retransforming was complete, he was kneeling on the ground, infuriated.
"Who cut off my tail?" he growled, and then he saw Tayla's long shadow cross over him.
"I should have known, brat!" he hissed, after turning around to face a shaky Tayla, who was now holding her bloody sword. Vegeta then grinned at her evilly, as she wiped off her sword on the grass. "That's alright, Tayla, I'm not that worried; I can still capture you. I suggest that you surrender now before it's too late."
"Never!" Tayla cried, holding her sword, ready to kill, if necessary. She had no choice; she would have to try to kill him, if she could. Too much was at stake now.
"It's going to take more than that sword to stop me!" Vegeta bellowed. He flew at her, intending to seize her wrist, but Tayla landed a kick that was meant for his crotch, but hit his thigh instead. Tayla swung her sword at her Saiyan archenemy, but Vegeta's swift feet crashed into her stomach, forcing her to fall backwards and drop her sword.
She tried to jump to the ground for her sword, but Vegeta caught one of her wrists in his strong hand. Tayla used her free hand to punch Vegeta's chest, just below his windpipe, but he still managed to hold onto her left wrist. He tried several times to grab her other wrist in order to restrain her ki, but Tayla was too fast for him to do so. She landed a few more punches to his chest and ribs, causing some damage, but Vegeta was still able to hold onto her small wrist. She tried to twist her wrist out of Vegeta's grip, but Vegeta's hold was tight, as she tried to pull back and away.
Vegeta's brute strength was much greater than Tayla's, even in his natural form, but her speed matched his. And with this speed, Tayla's small fist collided into Vegeta's abdomen, just above his crotch. Vegeta coughed, and in his pain, he was finally forced to release his captive.
Tayla wasted no time in punching him hard in his face, knocking him into the soft grass. Vegeta leapt to his feet quickly, and he assailed her, pushing her to the ground. He pinned her down beneath him, straddling her waist with his strong legs. Tayla aimed her fist towards Vegeta's face again, but that was a mistake, for Vegeta speedily seized the wrist that was supporting the fist. Tayla had no cuffs on her wrists now, for she had been forced to remove the ineffective cuffs off of her wrists after Vegeta had laid her down on the hill. Tayla tried to electrocute Vegeta, but before she could do so, Vegeta grabbed her other wrist. Tayla struggled against her captor, even as her ki was being reduced.
"Let me go, Vegeta!" Tayla cried in anger and despair.
Vegeta laughed. "You're mine, now, brat."
Tayla threw her head back and spat in his face. Vegeta hissed indignantly, but he was smart enough not to release her wrists to wipe off his face. He'd make her pay for it later, however.
"Nice try, but I am not Balair," he told her smoothly. He pushed her arms and wrists to the ground, successfully pinning her further. Grinning, he put his face near hers and whispered, "Now what will you do, Tayla?"
Tayla answered that question by raising her head and biting his nose hard. She did not know that Saiyans considered nose biting to be a form of affection. However, she had bitten his nose so hard, that she caused it to bleed. Vegeta cried out in pain, and in his agony, he released Tayla's right wrist to touch his sore nose. Tayla used that opportunity to electrocute him, using all of the ki that she could use. A high bolt of voltage coursed throughout Vegeta's body, forcing him to release Tayla altogether. He fell off of her, as the electricity ran throughout his body, making him shake and cry out. When the electric shock had dissipated, a weary Vegeta, who had managed to survive it, struggled to his feet, with his hair singed, and his clothes emitting small coils of smoke.
"You'll pay for that, brat!" he hissed, gasping.
Tayla trembled wearily, as she ruefully rubbed the broken shoulder that Balair had damaged earlier that day. She found her sword quickly and put it back in its sheath. Slowly, she levitated into the air, gathering her restored ki for a Double Janus Bolt attack. But before she could execute her next attack against Vegeta, she felt cold winds. The girl looked up into the sky and saw the sunny blue skies suddenly turn gray and cloudy. The temperature began to drop rapidly, and Tayla felt a few snowflakes land upon her bare flesh. She was shocked to find it snowing; she knew it to be snow, even though she had only seen snow once in her lifetime, on the moon of Sapphira, an Astorian moon well known for its blizzards and frigid temperatures. The moon of Sapphira, where the Clan of Sapphira lived, had a climate similar to the state of Alaska of the United States on planet Earth.
Why was it so cold? Tayla knew that this part of Calmag was usually hot and humid, and that snow occurred here maybe every few years, but that was all. What was going on?
Cold winds and snow surrounded her, in a blizzard. The Astorian princess, unused to such cold temperatures, shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. Snow was blowing around and falling onto the landscape, sticking to the ground and fauna.
Vegeta clenched his teeth and roared, "Diamonique! You stupid woman! You picked a fine time to create a blizzard!"
Diamonique smiled wickedly, not feeling cold at all, for her race was able to withstand cold temperatures without freezing or feeling chilly at all. She crossed her arms proudly and watched the whirring blizzard around her, as she levitated in the air, not too far from Tayla. Tayla was shivering, as she formed a ki body shield to warm herself. Once her automatic ki shield was up,
Tayla felt less cold, although she, like almost all of her Clan of Chloe relatives, did not like or feel comfortable in cold weather. (Chloe had a sub-tropical climate where snow had not occurred for almost two hundred years.) Gradually, her own ki helped her warm up, and the snowflakes falling upon her swiftly melted away.
Vegeta, who himself had put up a warming ki shield, smirked at Diamonique. "Nice try, ice maiden, but you won't be able to stop me from taking Tayla away!"
Diamonique laughed at him. "You just wait, monkey prince! I'm not done yet!"
"What the hell are you planning, woman? We don't have time for this nonsense!" Vegeta shouted, annoyed, as the snow melted off of him, as soon as the flakes touched his warm body.
Diamonique shot the snowy, gray sky with a long, thin, dark blue bolt of light, and before Vegeta and Tayla knew it, pieces of ice fell from the sky, ranging from the size of pebbles to the size of Vegeta's head.
"Hailstorm?" Tayla whispered, astonished, as chunks of hail rained down upon her, hitting her with the force of rocks being thrown down at her.
Bendros-Oozaru roared in annoyance, as hail rained down upon him, along with the snow.
Tayla knew that she would have to escape and find shelter until she could come up with a plan to stop Diamonique. Even Vegeta had taken cover in a nearby cave until he too, could stop his ex-lover.
She raced through the hailstorm and blizzard, as fast as she could, trying to dodge the larger pieces of ice falling down upon her. Diamonique chased after her in hot pursuit, as she also ducked the pieces of hail raining down everywhere. The hail and snow was falling harder and faster with each second, and Tayla was finding it harder to fly and to move, even with her warming ki shield. Finally, snow blindness set in, and she was having a hard time seeing where she was going; everything was so wet and gray.
Finally, Tayla saw a mountain cavern through her now blurry vision, and she flew faster towards it, not entirely knowing what she was headed into. Miraculously, she reached the mountain cave within the next few minutes, and she remembered something that Caline had said about the underground labyrinths. She hoped that Caline and Petalia were okay, wherever they were at this moment.
She hurried into the cave from the freezing outside world, as fast as she could. There were many corridors of the cavern, and Tayla had to choose quickly which of them that she would flee into. She chose a large one that seemed to be dimly lighted. Tayla hoped that there were Calmagian refugees hiding in that corridor, and with this small hope, she hurried down that section of the cavern.
But it was not Calmagian refugees that were creating the brief flashes of light that Tayla had been noticing. When she reached the end of her corridor, Tayla gasped in horror when she saw Dirkan in the clutches of a strange, navy-blue gigantic alligator-like creature with two swinging, powerful tails and glowing yellow eyes.
The blue monster was holding Dirkan by his neck, and Dirkan was badly beaten, gasping for air. He noticed Tayla, and he shouted, "Forget about me, kid, get out of here now!"
The blue alligator-monster turned towards Tayla and smiled evilly. "Well, hello, brat, do I have another challenger?"
Tayla was shaken, but she began to gather her ki. She would not abandon her beloved guardian, no matter what.
Gorna, Gracina, and Cletos were having no success in trying to cut off the tails of Alora and Bendros. Alora-Oozaru, not recognizing them as her in-laws and comrades, fired powerful mouth blasts at them, and she nearly crushed Cletos (who had been the one to get the closest to Alora's tail) under her foot.
While the three Mantros Chloe siblings fought with Alora-Oozaru, Bendros-Oozaru escaped, climbing down the cliff to the valley below. None of the three siblings could be spared to chase after Bendros-Oozaru, who would surely destroy most of Magan before he metamorphosed back into his natural form.
Alora-Oozaru seized Cletos in her hand, as he flew past her in the air, and she was preparing to devour him when Gracina finally succeeded in slicing off her tail with her sword. Alora-Oozaru had Cletos' foot in her ape mouth, even as she was shrinking back into her natural form. When the retransformation was completed, a naked Sastorian Alora was kneeling on the torn turf of the cliff with Cletos's boot still in her mouth. She and Cletos were extremely embarrassed.
Gorna and Gracina were extremely relieved.
Cletos promptly removed his left foot out of his sister-in-law's mouth, and Alora spat several times. She then ran a hand through her thick dark hair and asked dazedly, "What in the universe happened to me? Where are my clothes? What is going on here?"
"You changed into an Oozaru," Gorna told her curtly.
"Are you okay, Alora?" Gracina asked concernedly.
Alora moaned, "I think so, but I have a major headache. Gracie, do you have an aspirin?"
Gracina gave her two from her healior's kit, and Alora quickly popped them into her mouth. The aspirins would work in less than ten minutes, so Alora rose to her feet with Cletos' help.
Gorna wanted to tell Alora that things like this was reason enough to have her tail removed permanently, but she knew that it would only start a fight with the Sastorian woman. Alora wanted to hold onto both her Saiyan and Astorian roots.
"Where's Bendros?" Alora asked worriedly, rubbing her forehead.
Cletos gasped, "Bendros escaped. He's still in Oozaru form."
"Shicotti!" Alora hissed, using a word that was an impolite version of "crap". "He doesn't know how to control his Oozaru powers anymore than I do. This is only the second time that he's turned Oozaru; he won't recognize anyone that he knows! I've got to go find him now!"
"We're coming with you," Gracina told her.
"ROARRRRR!" a deep growl was heard in the distance.
"RARRR!" another growl echoed throughout Magan.
The three Astorians flew towards downtown Magan, leaving the cliff.
Vegeta-Oozaru looked down at his Astorian prey and grinned maliciously. "You're mine now, little girl!" he roared happily.
"Back off, Princey, she's mine! I saw her first!" Diamonique hissed, making a grab for Tayla, who dodged her.
Tayla also had to dodge Vegeta-Oozaru's searching hands that were trying to snatch her off of the ground. She was amazed at how much faster he was than he had been five years ago. Tayla scurried away from the stomping Oozaru prince who was trying to grab her. Finally she flew into the sky with her sword. She had to stop Vegeta; she had to cut off his tail with her sword.
But when she ultimately reached his tail with her sword, Vegeta-Oozaru cleverly coiled his tail around her body like a snake until Tayla was rolled up in his tail like a pig-in-a-blanket. The little princess unintentionally dropped her sword. Tayla struggled against his tail vainly, but her arms and wrists were crushed inside of Vegeta-Oozaru's coiled tail. Vegeta-Oozaru then used his tail to lift Tayla up to his eager hand. Tayla bit Vegeta-Oozaru's tail, but it felt like a needle prick to him, and despite her struggles, she could not break the tight grip of his tail. Vegeta-Oozaru used his tail to put Tayla into his right hand, and that right hand held his captive nearly as securely as his tail had.
"Let me go!" Tayla screamed in anger and fear, struggling in his grip, as Vegeta-Oozaru brought Tayla up to his face. Tayla could feel his hot breath flow over her tiny body.
"Let me go, Vegeta!" Tayla cried.
Vegeta-Oozaru laughed. "Looks like I won this one! That reward and position in Top Elite is as good as mine!"
"Let her go, Vegeta!" Diamonique shrieked. "She belongs to me, you giant monkey!" She flew up towards Vegeta, but Vegeta swatted her away with his free hand, as if Diamonique were no more than a fly, sending her crashing into a few trees. Diamonique was furious; she'd get that giant ape prince for that one!
But she wouldn't have the chance, for at that moment another Oozaru entered the forest around Magan. Tayla struggled in Vegeta-Oozaru's fist in vain. That big monkey prince wasn't going to let her breathe right, let alone let her ago.
She looked fearfully at the other Oozaru approaching Vegeta-Oozaru, even after she had recognized the other creature's ki.
"Bendros," Tayla whispered. She then cried out to the other Oozaru, "Bendros! Please help me, please! Vegeta has me captive, and he won't let me go!"
Bendros-Oozaru only roared, and Vegeta-Oozaru laughed at her.
"Forget it, brat, he's not going to help you! If he has any Astorian in him at all, he surely was not properly trained in handling his Oozaru powers. You Astorians seem to want to make any half-breeds forget the Saiyan in them, and now your friend is an Oozaru all right, capable of fighting me, but unable to control his powers in that form. I can still destroy him easily, and even if I couldn't, he still wouldn't help you. He wouldn't recognize you, brat, except as a potential snack. You're safer with me, brat, than you are with him, and I'm not going to let you become anyone's meal, not yet anyway."
Tayla's heart sank in despair, even as she continued to struggle against his grip. Vegeta knew more about Oozarus than she did, and surely he was right. What was she going to do? How would she escape Vegeta? Would she be able to get Bendros to recognize her, or at least be able to cut off his tail?
She continued to struggle in Vegeta-Oozaru's grip, but his grip was tight. In fact his grip was so tight, that it crushed the cuffs on Tayla's wrists, and the metal cut into her flesh. The cuffs were now rendered useless. She knew that it was no use to electrocute him, for he would barely feel it in his Oozaru form. Tayla panted, gasping for air.
"I…cannot...breathe," she rasped just loud enough for Vegeta-Oozaru to hear.
"Nice try, brat," Vegeta-Oozaru told her, "but I'm not falling for it."
She continued to gasp and wheeze, but Vegeta-Oozaru scoffed at her.
"Can't breathe…really," Tayla choked out, and then she fainted.
Tayla's tiny body was limp in Vegeta-Oozaru's hand. He flicked the girl to revive her, but she would not budge.
"Stop tricking me, brat!" he shouted harshly, but Tayla did not respond.
He shook his captive gently, so he would not kill her, but she did not stir. She was like a miniature rag doll, lifeless and wilted, her eyes closed, and her limbs dangling freely.
"Tayla! WAKE UP!"
No response.
"This is a trick, brat, and I'm not falling for it! Wake up now, or I will throw you halfway across this planet!"
Silence.
"I'll do it, Tayla, I swear that I will throw you! WAKE UP NOW!"
Nothing, not even so much as a breath.
Finally Diamonique, who was dodging Bendros-Oozaru's rampage, called from mid-air, a safe distance from Vegeta-Oozaru. Her screams were loud and shrill.
"You killed her, you monkey bastard! How dare you? She is DEAD, you idiot! You crushed her! Lord Frieza will have your monkey head for this, you big ape!
"Shut up, woman!" Vegeta-Oozaru howled, still unable to get a response from Tayla. He opened his fist, and she lay there on the palm of his hand, still unmoving. Her body was cooling slowly, her temperature beginning to drop.
Finally Vegeta-Oozaru nudged the girl gently with his thumb on his other hand. He moved the tip of his thumb around her face, and he felt not a breath of air. He grumbled and finally laid the girl down on a small hill. Her ki did not even register on his scouter.
"She's gone," he grumbled. "How could I have been so stupid?"
"Because you're a monkey," Diamonique sneered. "Way to go, Princeling; Lord Frieza will be pleased, ooh, you are going to get it! Just like a Saiyan-"
Vegeta-Oozaru blasted a mouth laser in her direction, which she easily dodged. "Nice try, Vegeta!" Diamonique crowed.
Vegeta-Oozaru blasted another mouth laser in her direction, but she ducked it again. Then out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the supposedly dead Tayla slowly crawling away, and he smirked. He knew that if he let that brat alone long enough, she would eventually come to. Two could play at that game, and he intended to win.
He turned around swiftly and made a grab for her, but Tayla dodged his hand. She then tried to rise into the air, intending to use Blitzer on him, but Vegeta-Oozaru, who was equally as fast as her, no matter what form he was in, batted her with his hand, hitting her in her face.
While Tayla was distracted, Vegeta-Oozaru tried to seize her again, but then Bendros-Oozaru charged at him, knocking Vegeta-Oozaru off of his feet onto the ground. Vegeta-Oozaru's back crashed into the ground, creating a small earthquake. He and Bendros-Oozaru began to wrestle each other and claw at each other, no longer using true martial arts, but simply brute fighting, like the animals that they now were. Bendros-Oozaru punched Vegeta-Oozaru hard in his face, while Vegeta-Oozaru punched Bendros-Oozaru in his ribs with a mighty blow. The two giant monkey-creatures continued to wrestle and thrash along the ground, crashing into hills, crushing trees and rocks and anything else that got in their way.
Vegeta-Oozaru rolled Bendros-Oozaru over onto his back, and he fired a mouth blast at his opponent, but Bendros-Oozaru turned his head away in time, so that the blast collided with the ground below him. Vegeta-Oozaru tried to fire another mouth blast at Bendros-Oozaru, but before he could do so, he felt himself began to…shrink?
"What the hell?" Vegeta-Oozaru cried; his Oozaru body was now dwindling back into his natural form, back into his armor and uniform, which had stretched along with him to his Oozaru form. When the retransforming was complete, he was kneeling on the ground, infuriated.
"Who cut off my tail?" he growled, and then he saw Tayla's long shadow cross over him.
"I should have known, brat!" he hissed, after turning around to face a shaky Tayla, who was now holding her bloody sword. Vegeta then grinned at her evilly, as she wiped off her sword on the grass. "That's alright, Tayla, I'm not that worried; I can still capture you. I suggest that you surrender now before it's too late."
"Never!" Tayla cried, holding her sword, ready to kill, if necessary. She had no choice; she would have to try to kill him, if she could. Too much was at stake now.
"It's going to take more than that sword to stop me!" Vegeta bellowed. He flew at her, intending to seize her wrist, but Tayla landed a kick that was meant for his crotch, but hit his thigh instead. Tayla swung her sword at her Saiyan archenemy, but Vegeta's swift feet crashed into her stomach, forcing her to fall backwards and drop her sword.
She tried to jump to the ground for her sword, but Vegeta caught one of her wrists in his strong hand. Tayla used her free hand to punch Vegeta's chest, just below his windpipe, but he still managed to hold onto her left wrist. He tried several times to grab her other wrist in order to restrain her ki, but Tayla was too fast for him to do so. She landed a few more punches to his chest and ribs, causing some damage, but Vegeta was still able to hold onto her small wrist. She tried to twist her wrist out of Vegeta's grip, but Vegeta's hold was tight, as she tried to pull back and away.
Vegeta's brute strength was much greater than Tayla's, even in his natural form, but her speed matched his. And with this speed, Tayla's small fist collided into Vegeta's abdomen, just above his crotch. Vegeta coughed, and in his pain, he was finally forced to release his captive.
Tayla wasted no time in punching him hard in his face, knocking him into the soft grass. Vegeta leapt to his feet quickly, and he assailed her, pushing her to the ground. He pinned her down beneath him, straddling her waist with his strong legs. Tayla aimed her fist towards Vegeta's face again, but that was a mistake, for Vegeta speedily seized the wrist that was supporting the fist. Tayla had no cuffs on her wrists now, for she had been forced to remove the ineffective cuffs off of her wrists after Vegeta had laid her down on the hill. Tayla tried to electrocute Vegeta, but before she could do so, Vegeta grabbed her other wrist. Tayla struggled against her captor, even as her ki was being reduced.
"Let me go, Vegeta!" Tayla cried in anger and despair.
Vegeta laughed. "You're mine, now, brat."
Tayla threw her head back and spat in his face. Vegeta hissed indignantly, but he was smart enough not to release her wrists to wipe off his face. He'd make her pay for it later, however.
"Nice try, but I am not Balair," he told her smoothly. He pushed her arms and wrists to the ground, successfully pinning her further. Grinning, he put his face near hers and whispered, "Now what will you do, Tayla?"
Tayla answered that question by raising her head and biting his nose hard. She did not know that Saiyans considered nose biting to be a form of affection. However, she had bitten his nose so hard, that she caused it to bleed. Vegeta cried out in pain, and in his agony, he released Tayla's right wrist to touch his sore nose. Tayla used that opportunity to electrocute him, using all of the ki that she could use. A high bolt of voltage coursed throughout Vegeta's body, forcing him to release Tayla altogether. He fell off of her, as the electricity ran throughout his body, making him shake and cry out. When the electric shock had dissipated, a weary Vegeta, who had managed to survive it, struggled to his feet, with his hair singed, and his clothes emitting small coils of smoke.
"You'll pay for that, brat!" he hissed, gasping.
Tayla trembled wearily, as she ruefully rubbed the broken shoulder that Balair had damaged earlier that day. She found her sword quickly and put it back in its sheath. Slowly, she levitated into the air, gathering her restored ki for a Double Janus Bolt attack. But before she could execute her next attack against Vegeta, she felt cold winds. The girl looked up into the sky and saw the sunny blue skies suddenly turn gray and cloudy. The temperature began to drop rapidly, and Tayla felt a few snowflakes land upon her bare flesh. She was shocked to find it snowing; she knew it to be snow, even though she had only seen snow once in her lifetime, on the moon of Sapphira, an Astorian moon well known for its blizzards and frigid temperatures. The moon of Sapphira, where the Clan of Sapphira lived, had a climate similar to the state of Alaska of the United States on planet Earth.
Why was it so cold? Tayla knew that this part of Calmag was usually hot and humid, and that snow occurred here maybe every few years, but that was all. What was going on?
Cold winds and snow surrounded her, in a blizzard. The Astorian princess, unused to such cold temperatures, shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. Snow was blowing around and falling onto the landscape, sticking to the ground and fauna.
Vegeta clenched his teeth and roared, "Diamonique! You stupid woman! You picked a fine time to create a blizzard!"
Diamonique smiled wickedly, not feeling cold at all, for her race was able to withstand cold temperatures without freezing or feeling chilly at all. She crossed her arms proudly and watched the whirring blizzard around her, as she levitated in the air, not too far from Tayla. Tayla was shivering, as she formed a ki body shield to warm herself. Once her automatic ki shield was up,
Tayla felt less cold, although she, like almost all of her Clan of Chloe relatives, did not like or feel comfortable in cold weather. (Chloe had a sub-tropical climate where snow had not occurred for almost two hundred years.) Gradually, her own ki helped her warm up, and the snowflakes falling upon her swiftly melted away.
Vegeta, who himself had put up a warming ki shield, smirked at Diamonique. "Nice try, ice maiden, but you won't be able to stop me from taking Tayla away!"
Diamonique laughed at him. "You just wait, monkey prince! I'm not done yet!"
"What the hell are you planning, woman? We don't have time for this nonsense!" Vegeta shouted, annoyed, as the snow melted off of him, as soon as the flakes touched his warm body.
Diamonique shot the snowy, gray sky with a long, thin, dark blue bolt of light, and before Vegeta and Tayla knew it, pieces of ice fell from the sky, ranging from the size of pebbles to the size of Vegeta's head.
"Hailstorm?" Tayla whispered, astonished, as chunks of hail rained down upon her, hitting her with the force of rocks being thrown down at her.
Bendros-Oozaru roared in annoyance, as hail rained down upon him, along with the snow.
Tayla knew that she would have to escape and find shelter until she could come up with a plan to stop Diamonique. Even Vegeta had taken cover in a nearby cave until he too, could stop his ex-lover.
She raced through the hailstorm and blizzard, as fast as she could, trying to dodge the larger pieces of ice falling down upon her. Diamonique chased after her in hot pursuit, as she also ducked the pieces of hail raining down everywhere. The hail and snow was falling harder and faster with each second, and Tayla was finding it harder to fly and to move, even with her warming ki shield. Finally, snow blindness set in, and she was having a hard time seeing where she was going; everything was so wet and gray.
Finally, Tayla saw a mountain cavern through her now blurry vision, and she flew faster towards it, not entirely knowing what she was headed into. Miraculously, she reached the mountain cave within the next few minutes, and she remembered something that Caline had said about the underground labyrinths. She hoped that Caline and Petalia were okay, wherever they were at this moment.
She hurried into the cave from the freezing outside world, as fast as she could. There were many corridors of the cavern, and Tayla had to choose quickly which of them that she would flee into. She chose a large one that seemed to be dimly lighted. Tayla hoped that there were Calmagian refugees hiding in that corridor, and with this small hope, she hurried down that section of the cavern.
But it was not Calmagian refugees that were creating the brief flashes of light that Tayla had been noticing. When she reached the end of her corridor, Tayla gasped in horror when she saw Dirkan in the clutches of a strange, navy-blue gigantic alligator-like creature with two swinging, powerful tails and glowing yellow eyes.
The blue monster was holding Dirkan by his neck, and Dirkan was badly beaten, gasping for air. He noticed Tayla, and he shouted, "Forget about me, kid, get out of here now!"
The blue alligator-monster turned towards Tayla and smiled evilly. "Well, hello, brat, do I have another challenger?"
Tayla was shaken, but she began to gather her ki. She would not abandon her beloved guardian, no matter what.
