Chapter Ninety: Flirtius and Splitz
In the labyrinths…
"Nama, let him go, please!"
"Superior Gran, we need him alive!"
"Nama, he isn't worth it!"
"Nama, you're going to kill him!"
"Good! No one will miss him!" Shalila hissed, as she flung General Norbrook's body across the room. The traitorous CRP general's body crashed into a wall, just as Shalila flung herself upon him. No one dared to get in her way, although some had pleaded for her not to do anything rash.
Now Shalila, in her full fury and anguish, was holding General Norbrook in the air by his collar. "Where did that slut take my husband and grandchildren, you bastard? TELL ME!"
Tears were streaming down General Norbrook's cheeks, as Shalila slapped him hard several times, hard enough to make his nose bleed. Her grandchildren and great-grandchildren watched in horror, as they saw their beloved Nama take her full anger out on Norbrook.
"Nama, please stop!" Gracina cried. "This isn't like you! Torturing him is not going to bring Tayla, Dirkan, or Bajal back!"
"WHERE ARE THEY?" Shalila demanded to know of Norbrook.
Norbrook sobbed, wishing that the Superior Gran of Astoria would just kill him and get it over with, "Se-Seductia t-took them back to the ca-castle!"
"How long have you been spying for Frieza?" Shalila asked him coldly. "HOW LONG?"
Norbrook cried, as honey-colored blood flowed freely from his bulbous nose, "Long time, Superior Gran, since my wife died two years ago."
"Give me three good reasons why I should let you live?" Shalila growled.
"For the first, I'm a living being," Norbrook whimpered, as Shalila's fist closed tighter around his throat.
"I said a good reason!"
Gorna was the only one who dared to get within Shalila's hitting range at this moment. She had to help her grandmother calm down. "Nama," Gorna said as softly as possible, as she tried to take Shalila's arm, the arm that was attached to the hand holding Norbrook's throat. "Nama, please take a rest. I can question him. You are too upset right now to think rationally or be objective. You're not helping Tayla, or Dirkan, or Bajal by attacking Norbrook. He isn't worth your energy, Nama. Save it for the real threats such as Zarbon, that whorici, Seductia, and the other Top Elites."
Shalila was about to snap at Gorna for interrupting her "interrogating" Norbrook, but reason finally won over the Superior Gran's fury. She slowly realized that Gorna was right. She threw Norbrook to the ground, where he hit his left shoulder hard, dislocating it. She walked away, trying to calm herself down before it was too late.
Norbrook was relieved, but his relief didn't last, for Gorna was now holding him captive with her sharp sword at his throbbing throat. Gorna's facial expression was cold, merciless, and deadly. She said icily to Norbrook, "Alright, you fat swine, who else is coming to attack us? Are they as strong as Seductia? What are their powers? Tell me!"
"I-I can't," Norbrook whined. "If I tell you all everything, I'm a dead man. Zarbon will have me flayed alive."
"Zarbon isn't here right now," Gorna told him coldly. "But I am, and I won't hesitate to kill you. If anything happens to my sister or my brother, you will perish, and not even Enma Daiou will hold your death against me. Who is coming? Speak now, or forever hold your peace-that is until you see Enma Daiou."
Norbrook, sobbing, confessed all to Gorna within the next twenty minutes, telling her about Zarbon's plans, and Flirtius, and Splitz. Since Shalila was still too upset to think or plan like she should, Gorna took over as the Clan of Chloe's temporary leader. She began to devise a plan to help her family save Dirkan and her siblings.
Gracina was trying to comfort an anguished Shalila, whose hands were trembling. She and Shalila were sitting down, with Gracina holding her grandmother close, trying to console her as much as possible. Shalila was now ashamed of her earlier behavior and extremely embarrassed. Gracina wished that Dirkan were in his right mind right now and still here. The Dirkan, the real Dirkan, would have known how to console his wife and keep things in order. Gracina herself was trying to keep from falling apart; she was deeply worried about Tayla. Once again, Frieza's minions had her beloved sister in their foul clutches.
Lektron was pounding the walls, cursing Seductia, and agonizing about the loss of Tayla and Bajal and Dirkan, particularly his cousins. Arlon and Lukan, worried about their siblings and Dirkan, were trying to restrain Alora, who wanted to murder Norbrook on the spot. Alora was struggling against the shaky grip of her brother-in-laws.
When Gorna had finished questioning Norbrook, she ordered Norbrook to go sit against the wall, and if he moved before then, he would die. Ridikar took that time that Gorna had stepped away from Norbrook to go punch the CRP general in his face before anyone could stop him. Norbrook cried out, as Ridikar landed a second punch on him.
"That first one was for Tayla! That second one was for my sister, Caline, whom you thought you were going to force to marry you! And this one is for my father!" Ridikar screamed, as he kicked Norbrook hard in his gut. Norbrook screamed, but his screams ended when Ridikar slammed his fist into the side of Norbrook's head, knocking him out.
"And that last one is for everyone on Calmag," Ridikar hissed.
Bendros was trying to comfort Caline, who was weeping over Tayla's fate. The Sastorian future Granden of Sahara was holding the fragile Calmagian princess in his arms, as she cried into his chest. "Caline, things are going to be okay; Tayla's strong, you know that. She'll be okay, I promise you. We will save her," Bendros assured the girl in a soothing tone. He was worried about Tayla himself, as well as being worried about Bajal and Dirkan. He had to remain strong, however, for their sakes, and the sakes of those that were left behind.
"She's my friend," Caline whimpered against his chest. "Li-like a big sister, a sister, a real sister. I'm scared for her, scared they're going to hurt her."
Bendros knelt before Caline and took her tiny hands in his large ones. "Caline, listen to me. If Frieza considers Tayla valuable enough for his Top Elites to pursue, then surely he has ordered them not to harm her. A beaten or otherwise harmed warrior is going to be of no use to him, and someone in his position would have ordered his subordinates not to hurt her. We will save her, Caline, and I myself will do whatever I have to, to protect her, I promise you."
"You won't let anything bad happen to Tayla?"
"No, and no one else here will either."
"I-I love her," Caline whispered. "I wish she was my sister for real."
Bendros smiled. "I'm quite fond of her myself."
"She likes you too, you know," Caline said suddenly. Bendros permitted himself a small grin.
"Do you mean like a friend, or like-a suitor?" Bendros asked her.
"The second one," Caline whispered, with her pale cheeks flushed.
"I know," he told her gently. "But right now, I'm a little too old for her."
"You won't be too old for her forever," Caline insisted. "And then, you'll surely want her. I can tell that you still think of her as a little girl, like me. But we won't be little girls forever, and if you two lived on Calmag, no one would think anything about you courting her right now."
"But we're not," Bendros told her gently. "And Tayla needs someone closer to her own age. Technically, according to the Clan of Chloe's standards, she's not old enough for courting yet."
"She will be soon, even according to Astorian standards. And then you'll surely want to court her then, if you don't have anyone yourself by then."
Bendros was slightly taken aback, but he managed to remain calm. He chuckled nervously, saying, "I think that she still likes your brother." He then began to frown, for he still had not completely forgiven Ridikar for trying to rape Tayla two weeks ago. He agreed with Shalila and Dirkan that Ridikar was still not a good choice for Tayla, despite his attempts to change for the better.
"Maybe," Caline whispered. "I'd love to have her for a sister-in-law, but I don't think that will happen." Her deep blue eyes looked down, as her whispery voice grew even softer.
"Why do you think that?" Bendros asked her gently.
"I-I saw how she looked at you earlier, when you reassured her that nothing will happen to us. I could sense how jealous my brother was of you; pardon me for saying so. I-I think that she likes you both, and th-that she's not so sure that she just wants my brother anymore."
Bendros felt awkward at this moment. "Well, Caline, do you want her with your brother?"
"I just want her to be happy," Caline replied honestly. "No matter whom she chooses."
"Even if she doesn't choose Ridikar?"
"Even if she doesn't choose Ridikar," Caline said firmly. "It would be nice if she and Ridikar did get back together, but-"
She was interrupted then, for at that moment, a green alien emerged from the other end of the corridor. He had flowing white hair and a body structure and build exactly like Jeice's, only the skin color was a bright lime green. He also wore a flamboyant bright yellow cape that was decorated entirely with silver and gold beading. He landed about gracefully on the ground, dancing and pirouetting as soon as his feet touched the stone floor. He wore giant flashy neon pink sunglasses and a giant grin. He wore a glittering white satin suit with tiny silver mirrors each the size of a pebble. The mirrors glittered and sparkled as he danced across the floor.
"Hellooooo, ladies!" the stranger sang, as he performed a dance upon feet that were made out of leather covered with sparkling black beads. "I am every woman's fantasy…the man that every lady here has been waiting for…the man with all the moves…the next member of the Ginyu Force…I am Flirtius!"
He then danced across the room in pirouettes similar to those of Captain Ginyu's (Captain Ginyu had been the one to train him [with some help from Jeice] and recommend him for Top Elite), and then he landed gracefully in front of Alora, who glowered at him.
"Hello, gorgeous!" Flirtius sang out. "How 'bout you and me forget this fight and go out on the town?"
"And how about you go back to the rock that you crawled out from under?" Alora retorted.
Flirtius laughed. "I like a feisty female! I really do! I just have one question though: my body's not working properly, so may I use yours?"
Alora sharply punched him in his grinning face, and Flirtius fell backwards, tripping over his own two feet.
"Get lost, bastardi!" she shouted, tossing her hair with an indignant shake of her head.
Flirtius growled, wiping blood from his nose, "That's it! No woman has ever turned me down before!"
"I wouldn't say that necessarily, Flirtius," a gurgled voice declared.
Flirtius turned around and saw his partner, Splitz, and he frowned. He and Splitz were not the best of friends since they were both competing for the same Top Elite position and the same spot on the Ginyu Force. Splitz resembled an Earth circus clown, with frizzy, gnarled curly dark blue hair, a large green nose on a face that was painted white with his eyelids and lips and cheeks painted bright pink. His square eyes were large with red irises. He had an elongated face with a sharply pointed chin, a tiny blue goatee that hovered above a squat neck on a short body. The body was dressed in a shiny metallic checkerboard-pattern green and gold clown suit with shiny red bib overalls and huge, yellow clown shoes that were each two feet long.
Splitz pulled out a long, skinny yellow balloon from his overalls pocket and blew it up quickly. He twisted the balloon into the shape of what Earthlings would call a French poodle, and he pulled out a strange glowing black marker and began to draw a menacing face on the balloon dog, with fangs and angry eyes. He then set the dog onto the ground.
Lektron snorted, "How cute! The little funny man plans to use a blow-up dog to attack us! Aw, what's the little doggy going to do-attack us with its drawn-on teeth?"
Splitz grinned cruelly, and it was then everyone noticed that his teeth were actually fangs. Splitz laughed, as he said to his balloon dog, "Go sic that fool who mocks us!"
And to everyone's horror, the balloon dog suddenly came to life, and it opened it's mouth, with had razor-sharp teeth that could rip a limb off. The inflatable canine charged after Lektron, but before it could sink its teeth into Lektron's arm, Lektron fired a ki blast at it, popping the blow-up dog and disintegrating it.
"Ha!" Lektron boasted. "Listen, clownie, if that's the best that you can do, you might as well go home to Frieza while you still can!"
Splitz snarled, "I'm not done yet! I've just gotten started!" And after that, Splitz pulled out a sack of balloons from the pocket of his overalls, and then he blew them up quickly, one after the other without losing his breath once. Within minutes, the air was filled with colorful balloons, each balloon large enough to engulf a two hundred pound humanoid male.
Arlon laughed. "Frieza must have decided he wanted us to be entertained before we destroy his minions!"
"Send in the clowns!" Lektron joked.
"You two, this is a serious matter!" Gorna scolded them. "We don't have time for-HELP!"
At that moment, a giant blue balloon swallowed Gorna up, and Gorna was now encased in the balloon, like an insect trapped in a drop of amber. She tried to use her sword to pop the balloon, but the balloon was impenetrable that way. The future Superior Gran of Astoria fired a strong ki blast at the wall, but the ki blast disappeared the moment it insides of the balloon. Gorna clawed at the balloon and used a stronger ki blast, but she could not penetrate it.
"Someone help me!" Gorna cried.
But no one could come to her aid, for while Gorna had been fighting to free herself from her rubbery prison, many others were now enclosed within the huge balloons. When a balloon touched a victim, the balloon would automatically suck its prey into it. Lektron and Arlon were trapped in a green balloon together, and Alora was shouting every curse word that she knew of, as she struggled inside a red balloon.
Filcor Sedemeyer and Sergeant Baraki were enveloped together in a gray balloon, and both men were firing their laser guns at the insides of the balloon with no success. Caline, Bendros, and Gracina was sealed in a pink balloon together with Caline clinging to Gracina, and Lukan was concealed in an orange balloon with Riccan, who was furiously kicking and stabbing at the inside wall of the rubbery bubble. Dedron was frantically slashing at the purple balloon that he was held captive in, and Rojal was wearing himself out blasting at the insides of the white balloon that had entrapped him. The unconscious General Norbrook was secured in a gold balloon, and all of the CRP officers were enclosed within balloons as well. All of the balloons floated about with their captives held helplessly inside.
The only ones who had managed to avoid the oncoming balloons were Shalila, Julien, Ridikar, and Cirono, all of whom had wised up and kept their bodies low to the ground with their bellies touching the ground. All of the balloons floated high above them, but none of them ever came low enough to touch the crawling fighters. Flirtius had also managed to avoid the balloons, and he was lying flat on his stomach to avoid being touched by the colorful balls hovering over him.
Splitz was laughing maliciously, as the balloons bounced off of him, not affecting him in the slightest. "Oh, this is so much fun!" he cried out happily. He continued to blow up more balloons without losing any breath, and he sent those balloons out as well. Splitz then raised one hand into the air to aim a ki blast at a passing balloon-the balloon that contained Gracina, Caline, and Bendros in it. The three occupants frantically tried to make the balloon move out of the way of the ki blast, but the balloon refused to budge with outside help.
"Wait!" Flirtius cried. "Don't blast that one! That balloon has two pretty ladies inside! Maybe they'd want to go out with me!"
"Shut up, you fool!" Splitz growled. "All Astories except Princess Tayla are to be destroyed-Lord Frieza's orders." And after that, Splitz opened his hand and three small ki sticks hovered in front of his hand. The ki sticks hardened into poisonous spears, and with a wave of his hand, Splitz aimed the three spears at the balloon containing Gracina, Caline, and Bendros.
The spears would have hit the balloon and killed the occupants inside, for the ki spears were tainted with a poison so deadly that not even someone with Astorian or Saiyan blood could survive it. Each spear was meant for each individual occupant, and the spears could go through the balloon without popping it. And Splitz's attack would have meant the end of Gracina, Caline, and Bendros, if it had not been for one factor.
Cirono's sword.
At the same time that Splitz's spears reached the outer walls of the balloon that the three helpless victims were trapped in, Cirono had hurled his sword at the balloon, and the sword's point penetrated the balloon. The balloon popped on contact, and Gracina, Caline, and Bendros allowed themselves to fall to the ground on Gracina's orders.
Cirono's sword landed into the ground, hilt facing upward, and the three deadly spears hit the ground, and they faded away into nothingness.
Splitz snarled, "Who dared to intervene?"
"I did!" Cirono shouted out boldly. "I'd be more than happy to help destroy any of Frieza's fighters! Cirono quickly ducked down as soon as a balloon passed over him.
"You're dead, boy!" Splitz growled.
"Haha!" Flirtius laughed. "Looks like some Calmagie spoiled your plans!"
"Go to hell, pretty boy!" Splitz roared.
"You'll be there long 'fore I will, you painted freak!" Flirtius joked, as he continued to crawl along the ground to avoid the other balloons.
Gracina, Caline, and Bendros had taken their cue from Shalila and the others, and they stayed low to the ground, with Caline sticking close to Gracina. Bendros noticed the balloon containing Rojal floating over them, and he tipped his sword upward towards the hovering balloon. The Sastorian warrior made a quick slash in the bottom of Rojal's balloon, and Rojal's balloon popped. Within seconds, Rojal fell out-and onto poor Bendros! Bendros had to bite his lip to keep from crying out when Rojal's foot accidentally stepped onto his tail.
Meanwhile, Shalila herself was cutting up balloons left and right with her sword, both occupied and unoccupied. Her sword slashes freed many of her family members from the rubbery enclosures, and now her grandchildren and great-grandchildren were slashing and cutting at the balloons as well. Alora herself hurled her sword about like a boomerang, and her sword destroyed many balloons in one swing. Within ten minutes, all of the balloons had been deflated or popped.
Now all of the prisoners had been freed from their balloons, and Splitz was about to blow up some more, but before he could do so, both Julien and Ridikar charged at him, with both boys knocking him off of his feet. Both Calmagian princes kicked and punched at Splitz, who tried his best to block their blows, but was not succeeding. Splitz's powers mainly lay in his ki blasts and magical abilities; his brute strength, however, was barely stronger than a human's. Finally, Splitz had to use his last resort-his own version of the multi-form technique.
"SPLIT!" he shouted out when he had a moment to escape Ridikar and Julien's assaults. To the boys' shock, Splitz began to divide himself into two more versions of himself, each a carbon copy of the original.
"You will regret attacking me!" said the three versions of Splitz in a unified voice. Ridikar and Julien both crouched in defensive positions, as the three copies of Splitz began to charge after them. Ridikar decided to try to paralyze the doppelganger that was attacking him, and to his surprise it worked! The doppelganger of Splitz fell to the ground, stiff as a statue, and afterwards, Ridikar had seized its neck and twisted it, breaking it.
Julien took the cue from Ridikar, and he too, attacked a doppelganger of Splitz by paralyzing him. When that clone of Splitz had fallen, Julien triumphantly stepped on its neck, crushing its windpipe.
But the original Splitz was still alive, and because the original still existed, Splitz could make more copies of himself. He quickly tried to divide himself into threes again, but before he could do so, Cirono had hurled his sword into the air, like a boomerang, between Ridikar and Julien, who both drew back when the flying blade came. The blade aimed straight at Splitz's throat. Cirono's blade neatly sliced off Splitz's head, not even giving Splitz a chance to scream, as hot, orange blood burst forth from his severed neck. Splitz's body fell over, and that was the end of him.
Julien and Ridikar turned around and stared at Cirono, amazed. "Thank you!" Ridikar shouted to him. "We owe you one, and more than that! I'll see personally that you are rewarded generously for your valor!" Julien nodded his head briefly in agreement.
Cirono merely nodded gravely before flashing them a small grin.
But now there was still Flirtius to deal with. And the flirtatious warrior had a few tricks of his own. He opened up his left hand and a chain of silver hearts emitted from the palm of his hand. This chain of hearts flew through the still, stagnant air and wrapped itself around Gracina, like an anaconda. She was forced to drop her sword, as the chain tightened itself around her slender, curvy body. Gracina struggled against the chain, as Flirtius pulled her closer to him using the chain.
"You release my wife, you bastard!" Lektron roared, charging after Flirtius.
"Oh, she's your wife?" Flirtius asked innocently. "You're one lucky man, Astorie, I'll give you that! I'm usually more partial to blondes myself."
"Let me go, monster!" Gracina screamed, as she continued to fight against the chain of hearts. Flirtius laughed, as he drew Gracina closer to him. Finally, they were face to face, and Flirtius leaned over to kiss Gracina on her lips.
"Release her immediately!" Shalila shouted, as she flew behind Lektron in order to face down Flirtius.
"Let her go!" Caline screamed at him.
Gracina was turning her face away from Flirtius's lips, trying to prevent him from kissing her. "Leave me alone!" she hissed at him.
"Aw, c'mon, pretty thing, just one little kiss," Flirtius cooed.
"No!"
Both Lektron and Shalila charged at Flirtius, who used another one of his tricks-eye lasers. He aimed them at their feet. "Dance, Astories!" he shouted. He kept firing his eye lasers at their feet, forcing Shalila and Lektron to concentrate on dodging the well-placed ki blasts.
"You let her go, you beast!" Caline screamed at Flirtius.
Flirtius ignored her, as he fired his eye lasers at the ceiling of the labyrinth right above the heads of Shalila and Lektron. Pieces of ceiling began to crumble down onto them, and both grandmother and grandson had to throw themselves to the sides to avoid the falling rocks.
While Shalila and Lektron were dodging the collapsing ceiling, Flirtius had used his one of his arms to embrace his new prey. Gracina kicked at his shins, but she felt her ki drain.
"Sorry to do that, sweetheart," Flirtius said softly. "But this chain is also a ki-draining device, guaranteed to weaken the strength and willpower of any female that I desire. Don't fear, my dear, you like me, I promise." He then seized her unwilling chin with his large green hand and tried to force her to kiss him.
Meanwhile, Caline was struggling in Bendros's arms. The little Calmagian princess had tried to leave to help Gracina, but Bendros had caught her before she could go too far. Caline writhed and kicked against Bendros; she was too worried about Gracina to see the danger that she was putting herself in.
"Let me go!" Caline cried. "Gracina needs me!"
"You'll only be endangering yourself, Caline," Bendros said, trying to reason with the frantic girl. "You won't be helping her if you throw your own life away for nothing."
"She needs me!" Caline screamed. "I can't just stay here and do nothing. Why are we just standing here?"
Just as Shalila and Lektron were getting closer to reaching Flirtius, Ridikar and Julien hurried over to Caline and Bendros. Caline looked worriedly at her two brothers.
"Stop being a brat, Caline!" Julien hissed. "You're too weak to be of any help; all you'd do is get in the way and make things worse!"
"That's more than enough, Julien!" Ridikar snapped. "Not another word out of you." He turned to Bendros and said, "Give her to me; I can calm her down."
Bendros reluctantly handed Caline over to Ridikar; Bendros still did not entirely trust the Calmagian royal heir yet, especially when he had seen how Ridikar had treated Caline in the past. Caline struggled against Ridikar as well, but Ridikar pulled the fighting girl against him.
"Caline, listen to Bendros; he's right. It's noble of you to want to help, but you're putting yourself in danger isn't going to help Gracina or anyone else," he told her gently. "The Astorians can handle it; they will surely save your Gracina."
Caline beat her small fists against Ridikar's chest for a few moments, but then Ridikar held her to him and rubbed her back, just as he used to do when Caline had been a smaller, much younger child. Finally Caline's body began to relax some, especially when she looked over her brother's shoulder to see Lektron pointing his sword at Flirtius and challenging him to a fight. An arrogant Flirtius accepted Lektron's challenge, and Flirtius released Gracina's body and threw her to the floor. Gracina was still chained, as Shalila tried to unwrap the links from around her body.
Shalila couldn't remove the chain from Gracina's body manually, so she was forced to use the same tactic to free Gracina that she had to use days ago to free Tayla from the ki restraints that Vegeta had used on her. Shalila formed the lavender ki balls again, only two this time, and she shot them at Gracina's chain. Gracina cried out, as the chain began to fade away in a blinding burst of light. Her arms were burned, and her clothing was scorched in several places. Shalila apologized to her, as she helped her up off of the ground.
"Gracina!" Caline cried aloud, writhing against Ridikar. In the background, she could hear and see Flirtius and Lektron punching and kicking each other.
"I'm okay, Caline," Gracina moaned weakly, for she felt greatly weakened and drained. While Lektron was breaking several of Flirtius's ribs, Shalila put her arm around Gracina's back and quickly led her weary granddaughter away from the fighting. Caline hastily burst out of Ridikar's arms and dashed over to Gracina, throwing her arms around Gracina's waist.
"Easy, Caline," Shalila cautioned her. "She's lost some of her strength."
Caline then hugged Gracina much more gently, and Gracina used what strength that she had left to embrace the little girl back. "I love you," Caline whispered to her fervently, as she pulled out one of her healing roses and tended to her. She then burrowed her face just above Gracina's stomach.
"I love you too, little one," Gracina told her softly, stroking the child's cornsilk hair. The motherly Princess of Chloe felt some of her strength return after Caline had applied the oil from the roses. Gracina held Caline close to her, as she turned her golden head to watch Lektron fight Flirtius.
The fight between Lektron and Flirtius was evenly matched, but Lektron had one advantage over the minion, and that was his knowledge with a sword. Flirtius's powers had mainly lain in his brute strength and his ki chains, but when it came to other special ki attacks, he possessed none beyond the basic ki blasting. Lektron deflected all of Flirtius's attacks with his sword and Mirror Shield attacks, and when Flirtius fired a particularly powerful ki attack, Lektron deflected that ki blast right at his opponent's face. This knocked Flirtius out of commission, and he fell backwards onto the ground, badly wounded. Flirtius's handsome face was scorched, and most of his armor had been melted away; he was barely alive. Lektron was quick to put the tip of his sword blade at Flirtius's throat; he decided that he was going to interrogate the bastard before he shipped him off to Enma Daiou.
"Now, you little green swine, where did that woman, Seductia, take Tayla and the others? You tell me now, or I'll blast you away on the spot for what you tried to do to my wife!"
Flirtius could barely move, and he was wise enough to know that he was defeated. Ginyu was right; he should have definitely avoided married women. He moaned loudly, "I-I don't know exactly; all I know is that Commander Zarbon ordered her to take Princess Tayla to Commander Diamonique until he could meet the girl himself."
"Where exactly is she being held?" Lektron growled. "And are Dirkan and Bajal still alive?"
"Dirk-Dirkan? And Bajal? Oh, you mean the tall green guy and the other Astorie? They're still under Seductia's spell. Last ti-time, I've heard, they were helping Seductia guard Princess Tayla. I-I'm not sure where exactly in the castle she is, sir. Pl-please sp-spare me! I was only following orders!"
"And trying to make advances on my wife is following orders?" Lektron roared.
Flirtius grinned sheepishly. "She's a hot babe, your wife. I liked her. Can't blame a guy for trying."
Lektron rewarded him with a swift kick to his ribs; Flirtius groaned.
Shalila had joined Lektron by then, and Flirtius pleaded to Lektron again, "Pl-please don't kill me!"
"I don't think I should," Lektron told him. "You better make your appeals to my grandmother. If she says to let you live, I'll spare you. If not, you're history."
Shalila's face was hard and cold, as she looked down at Flirtius with a scowl on her aristocratic face. "If anything happens to my grandchildren or my husband, or if Tayla winds up in Frieza's clutches, you will perish. Give us a good reason as to why we should spare you."
"We could use him for a hostage," Lieutenant Balboun, who had just joined them, told her.
"Neither Frieza nor Zarbon will care if he dies," Shalila explained quietly. "All lives are dispensable to them; he is not valuable enough to them to be useful as a hostage. However, he might be useful to Intergalacticpol, if he can be restrained. That is, if he's allowed to live."
"Please spare me!" Flirtius begged. "I am too handsome and charming to die!"
"Just let me finish him off," Lektron said to his grandmother.
Shalila growled under her breath. She didn't really want to spare this minion of Frieza's, but he was too weak and pathetic now in her eyes to kill.
Tears were beginning to form at the corners of Flirtius's eyes, as he whispered, "I-I can help lead you to them. Re-really, I-I can. I could-"
"Quiet!" Shalila snapped. "You will remain silent. I need to think. Lektron, keep that sword on him." And she closed her gray eyes for a few moments to think and meditate. Finally, a small grim smile formed onto her face.
She beckoned everyone over to her, and then the Superior Gran spoke solemnly, "I have a new plan. And this fool that Lektron defeated is going to be part of it."
"Nama, he won't help us!" Gorna declared. "He'll betray us before this war is over."
"What good is he going to be to us?" Cletos wanted to know.
"He's going to lead us directly to Zarbon," Shalila told them. "If he values his life." She looked down upon Flirtius and said sternly, "If you agree to help us, I will see that any penalties or punishments that you may receive for your crimes will be minimal. At the very least, I will see that your life is spared."
"You'll keep me from Frieza's wrath?" Flirtius asked worriedly.
"Yes, I will do everything that I can," Shalila promised him. She then walked up to Gorna and embraced her tightly, kissing her astonished granddaughter on her cheek. "Gorna, if I do not survive this war…I want you to know that I believe that you will make a fine leader, a mighty Superior Gran. I am proud of you and your conduct these past weeks. I love you, my dear, and I know now that you will rule wisely and well."
"Nama, I don't understand," Gorna stammered.
"You will soon enough," Shalila told her, still holding her in her arms. "Listen, Gorna, there is only one thing that I must ask of you; this shouldn't be a hard thing for you to do now." She took a deep breath and asked softly, "If Dirkan and Tayla live on…will you look after them and see that they are well cared for, especially Tayla?"
"N-Nama…" Gorna said shakily.
"Please promise me…Seven Moons Oath."
"Seven Moons," Gorna whispered, holding up seven trembling fingers. She added, "You need not worry about either Tayla or Dirkan, Nama. I-I will see that Dirkan is cared for, and that Tayla will be raised with love and respect."
Shalila smiled then, relieved. She brushed back a lock of Gorna's hair from her sweat-plastered forehead. "Thanken, Gorna. There's something else that I want you to know: your grandfather would be pleased with how far you have come, my granddaughter. He told me before he had left for that fatal final voyage that someday you would find your way and become the worthy leader that he has always known that you were meant to be, and he was right." She then kissed Gorna's forehead again, and she then left to see the other grandchildren and great-grandchildren, telling each one of them that she was proud of them, and that she loved them, even Dedron, who gave her a cold, curt nod, but nothing more. Shalila accepted this, understanding the uneasiness between them.
Caline was the last one that Shalila came to, and the proud ruler bent down and beckoned the child to come to her, and the Calmagian princess did. Shalila hugged the little girl and kissed her fervently on her soft, white cheek, stroking her hair. A surprised Caline hugged her back slowly. She did not know Superior Gran Shalila Chloe well, but she could see why Tayla loved her so much.
"I am especially proud of you, my dear," Shalila told Caline. "Without you, we would not have made it this far, nor we would be alive right now, if it had not been for your courage. If you had not come to warn Tayla and us about the invasion from Frieza's forces, we might have been destroyed before we had a chance to defend ourselves. I know that you have had a hard life; Tayla has told Dirkan and I much about you in the past couple of weeks. You have come a long way, little one, since we first met you. You are much stronger and braver than you give yourself credit for, and I sincerely believe that you will someday be completely happy. I wish there was more that I could do for you in return, but I do not know how much longer I have left to live. I can promise you this much: you won't be abandoned, even if your family does not allow you to come home with us. I know that my family will see that you are cared for somehow, some way. Do not worry anymore about your future, child. You are no longer alone, and you never will be again." And with that Shalila kissed Caline's forehead and arose.
"Th-thank you, Superior Gran," Caline whispered.
"Please, for the rest of this time until your fate is decided, you can call me Great-Nama," Shalila told her with a gentle smile. "You have more than proven yourself to be a Princess of Chloe, in spirit, if not in name."
"Th-thank, you, Superior-I mean, Great-Nama."
Shalila patted the girl's head and left her to see Flirtius. She said to Flirtius in a voice loud enough for the others to hear:
"You are going to take me directly to Zarbon and tell him that Frieza will receive someone far more valuable to him than even Tayla."
"What? And who?" Flirtius wanted to know. "Who can be more valuable to him at this point than Princess Tayla?"
"Myself. I am surrendering myself to Zarbon on the condition that Tayla and the others are freed, and that my people are left in peace."
"WHAT???" everyone asked.
In the labyrinths…
"Nama, let him go, please!"
"Superior Gran, we need him alive!"
"Nama, he isn't worth it!"
"Nama, you're going to kill him!"
"Good! No one will miss him!" Shalila hissed, as she flung General Norbrook's body across the room. The traitorous CRP general's body crashed into a wall, just as Shalila flung herself upon him. No one dared to get in her way, although some had pleaded for her not to do anything rash.
Now Shalila, in her full fury and anguish, was holding General Norbrook in the air by his collar. "Where did that slut take my husband and grandchildren, you bastard? TELL ME!"
Tears were streaming down General Norbrook's cheeks, as Shalila slapped him hard several times, hard enough to make his nose bleed. Her grandchildren and great-grandchildren watched in horror, as they saw their beloved Nama take her full anger out on Norbrook.
"Nama, please stop!" Gracina cried. "This isn't like you! Torturing him is not going to bring Tayla, Dirkan, or Bajal back!"
"WHERE ARE THEY?" Shalila demanded to know of Norbrook.
Norbrook sobbed, wishing that the Superior Gran of Astoria would just kill him and get it over with, "Se-Seductia t-took them back to the ca-castle!"
"How long have you been spying for Frieza?" Shalila asked him coldly. "HOW LONG?"
Norbrook cried, as honey-colored blood flowed freely from his bulbous nose, "Long time, Superior Gran, since my wife died two years ago."
"Give me three good reasons why I should let you live?" Shalila growled.
"For the first, I'm a living being," Norbrook whimpered, as Shalila's fist closed tighter around his throat.
"I said a good reason!"
Gorna was the only one who dared to get within Shalila's hitting range at this moment. She had to help her grandmother calm down. "Nama," Gorna said as softly as possible, as she tried to take Shalila's arm, the arm that was attached to the hand holding Norbrook's throat. "Nama, please take a rest. I can question him. You are too upset right now to think rationally or be objective. You're not helping Tayla, or Dirkan, or Bajal by attacking Norbrook. He isn't worth your energy, Nama. Save it for the real threats such as Zarbon, that whorici, Seductia, and the other Top Elites."
Shalila was about to snap at Gorna for interrupting her "interrogating" Norbrook, but reason finally won over the Superior Gran's fury. She slowly realized that Gorna was right. She threw Norbrook to the ground, where he hit his left shoulder hard, dislocating it. She walked away, trying to calm herself down before it was too late.
Norbrook was relieved, but his relief didn't last, for Gorna was now holding him captive with her sharp sword at his throbbing throat. Gorna's facial expression was cold, merciless, and deadly. She said icily to Norbrook, "Alright, you fat swine, who else is coming to attack us? Are they as strong as Seductia? What are their powers? Tell me!"
"I-I can't," Norbrook whined. "If I tell you all everything, I'm a dead man. Zarbon will have me flayed alive."
"Zarbon isn't here right now," Gorna told him coldly. "But I am, and I won't hesitate to kill you. If anything happens to my sister or my brother, you will perish, and not even Enma Daiou will hold your death against me. Who is coming? Speak now, or forever hold your peace-that is until you see Enma Daiou."
Norbrook, sobbing, confessed all to Gorna within the next twenty minutes, telling her about Zarbon's plans, and Flirtius, and Splitz. Since Shalila was still too upset to think or plan like she should, Gorna took over as the Clan of Chloe's temporary leader. She began to devise a plan to help her family save Dirkan and her siblings.
Gracina was trying to comfort an anguished Shalila, whose hands were trembling. She and Shalila were sitting down, with Gracina holding her grandmother close, trying to console her as much as possible. Shalila was now ashamed of her earlier behavior and extremely embarrassed. Gracina wished that Dirkan were in his right mind right now and still here. The Dirkan, the real Dirkan, would have known how to console his wife and keep things in order. Gracina herself was trying to keep from falling apart; she was deeply worried about Tayla. Once again, Frieza's minions had her beloved sister in their foul clutches.
Lektron was pounding the walls, cursing Seductia, and agonizing about the loss of Tayla and Bajal and Dirkan, particularly his cousins. Arlon and Lukan, worried about their siblings and Dirkan, were trying to restrain Alora, who wanted to murder Norbrook on the spot. Alora was struggling against the shaky grip of her brother-in-laws.
When Gorna had finished questioning Norbrook, she ordered Norbrook to go sit against the wall, and if he moved before then, he would die. Ridikar took that time that Gorna had stepped away from Norbrook to go punch the CRP general in his face before anyone could stop him. Norbrook cried out, as Ridikar landed a second punch on him.
"That first one was for Tayla! That second one was for my sister, Caline, whom you thought you were going to force to marry you! And this one is for my father!" Ridikar screamed, as he kicked Norbrook hard in his gut. Norbrook screamed, but his screams ended when Ridikar slammed his fist into the side of Norbrook's head, knocking him out.
"And that last one is for everyone on Calmag," Ridikar hissed.
Bendros was trying to comfort Caline, who was weeping over Tayla's fate. The Sastorian future Granden of Sahara was holding the fragile Calmagian princess in his arms, as she cried into his chest. "Caline, things are going to be okay; Tayla's strong, you know that. She'll be okay, I promise you. We will save her," Bendros assured the girl in a soothing tone. He was worried about Tayla himself, as well as being worried about Bajal and Dirkan. He had to remain strong, however, for their sakes, and the sakes of those that were left behind.
"She's my friend," Caline whimpered against his chest. "Li-like a big sister, a sister, a real sister. I'm scared for her, scared they're going to hurt her."
Bendros knelt before Caline and took her tiny hands in his large ones. "Caline, listen to me. If Frieza considers Tayla valuable enough for his Top Elites to pursue, then surely he has ordered them not to harm her. A beaten or otherwise harmed warrior is going to be of no use to him, and someone in his position would have ordered his subordinates not to hurt her. We will save her, Caline, and I myself will do whatever I have to, to protect her, I promise you."
"You won't let anything bad happen to Tayla?"
"No, and no one else here will either."
"I-I love her," Caline whispered. "I wish she was my sister for real."
Bendros smiled. "I'm quite fond of her myself."
"She likes you too, you know," Caline said suddenly. Bendros permitted himself a small grin.
"Do you mean like a friend, or like-a suitor?" Bendros asked her.
"The second one," Caline whispered, with her pale cheeks flushed.
"I know," he told her gently. "But right now, I'm a little too old for her."
"You won't be too old for her forever," Caline insisted. "And then, you'll surely want her. I can tell that you still think of her as a little girl, like me. But we won't be little girls forever, and if you two lived on Calmag, no one would think anything about you courting her right now."
"But we're not," Bendros told her gently. "And Tayla needs someone closer to her own age. Technically, according to the Clan of Chloe's standards, she's not old enough for courting yet."
"She will be soon, even according to Astorian standards. And then you'll surely want to court her then, if you don't have anyone yourself by then."
Bendros was slightly taken aback, but he managed to remain calm. He chuckled nervously, saying, "I think that she still likes your brother." He then began to frown, for he still had not completely forgiven Ridikar for trying to rape Tayla two weeks ago. He agreed with Shalila and Dirkan that Ridikar was still not a good choice for Tayla, despite his attempts to change for the better.
"Maybe," Caline whispered. "I'd love to have her for a sister-in-law, but I don't think that will happen." Her deep blue eyes looked down, as her whispery voice grew even softer.
"Why do you think that?" Bendros asked her gently.
"I-I saw how she looked at you earlier, when you reassured her that nothing will happen to us. I could sense how jealous my brother was of you; pardon me for saying so. I-I think that she likes you both, and th-that she's not so sure that she just wants my brother anymore."
Bendros felt awkward at this moment. "Well, Caline, do you want her with your brother?"
"I just want her to be happy," Caline replied honestly. "No matter whom she chooses."
"Even if she doesn't choose Ridikar?"
"Even if she doesn't choose Ridikar," Caline said firmly. "It would be nice if she and Ridikar did get back together, but-"
She was interrupted then, for at that moment, a green alien emerged from the other end of the corridor. He had flowing white hair and a body structure and build exactly like Jeice's, only the skin color was a bright lime green. He also wore a flamboyant bright yellow cape that was decorated entirely with silver and gold beading. He landed about gracefully on the ground, dancing and pirouetting as soon as his feet touched the stone floor. He wore giant flashy neon pink sunglasses and a giant grin. He wore a glittering white satin suit with tiny silver mirrors each the size of a pebble. The mirrors glittered and sparkled as he danced across the floor.
"Hellooooo, ladies!" the stranger sang, as he performed a dance upon feet that were made out of leather covered with sparkling black beads. "I am every woman's fantasy…the man that every lady here has been waiting for…the man with all the moves…the next member of the Ginyu Force…I am Flirtius!"
He then danced across the room in pirouettes similar to those of Captain Ginyu's (Captain Ginyu had been the one to train him [with some help from Jeice] and recommend him for Top Elite), and then he landed gracefully in front of Alora, who glowered at him.
"Hello, gorgeous!" Flirtius sang out. "How 'bout you and me forget this fight and go out on the town?"
"And how about you go back to the rock that you crawled out from under?" Alora retorted.
Flirtius laughed. "I like a feisty female! I really do! I just have one question though: my body's not working properly, so may I use yours?"
Alora sharply punched him in his grinning face, and Flirtius fell backwards, tripping over his own two feet.
"Get lost, bastardi!" she shouted, tossing her hair with an indignant shake of her head.
Flirtius growled, wiping blood from his nose, "That's it! No woman has ever turned me down before!"
"I wouldn't say that necessarily, Flirtius," a gurgled voice declared.
Flirtius turned around and saw his partner, Splitz, and he frowned. He and Splitz were not the best of friends since they were both competing for the same Top Elite position and the same spot on the Ginyu Force. Splitz resembled an Earth circus clown, with frizzy, gnarled curly dark blue hair, a large green nose on a face that was painted white with his eyelids and lips and cheeks painted bright pink. His square eyes were large with red irises. He had an elongated face with a sharply pointed chin, a tiny blue goatee that hovered above a squat neck on a short body. The body was dressed in a shiny metallic checkerboard-pattern green and gold clown suit with shiny red bib overalls and huge, yellow clown shoes that were each two feet long.
Splitz pulled out a long, skinny yellow balloon from his overalls pocket and blew it up quickly. He twisted the balloon into the shape of what Earthlings would call a French poodle, and he pulled out a strange glowing black marker and began to draw a menacing face on the balloon dog, with fangs and angry eyes. He then set the dog onto the ground.
Lektron snorted, "How cute! The little funny man plans to use a blow-up dog to attack us! Aw, what's the little doggy going to do-attack us with its drawn-on teeth?"
Splitz grinned cruelly, and it was then everyone noticed that his teeth were actually fangs. Splitz laughed, as he said to his balloon dog, "Go sic that fool who mocks us!"
And to everyone's horror, the balloon dog suddenly came to life, and it opened it's mouth, with had razor-sharp teeth that could rip a limb off. The inflatable canine charged after Lektron, but before it could sink its teeth into Lektron's arm, Lektron fired a ki blast at it, popping the blow-up dog and disintegrating it.
"Ha!" Lektron boasted. "Listen, clownie, if that's the best that you can do, you might as well go home to Frieza while you still can!"
Splitz snarled, "I'm not done yet! I've just gotten started!" And after that, Splitz pulled out a sack of balloons from the pocket of his overalls, and then he blew them up quickly, one after the other without losing his breath once. Within minutes, the air was filled with colorful balloons, each balloon large enough to engulf a two hundred pound humanoid male.
Arlon laughed. "Frieza must have decided he wanted us to be entertained before we destroy his minions!"
"Send in the clowns!" Lektron joked.
"You two, this is a serious matter!" Gorna scolded them. "We don't have time for-HELP!"
At that moment, a giant blue balloon swallowed Gorna up, and Gorna was now encased in the balloon, like an insect trapped in a drop of amber. She tried to use her sword to pop the balloon, but the balloon was impenetrable that way. The future Superior Gran of Astoria fired a strong ki blast at the wall, but the ki blast disappeared the moment it insides of the balloon. Gorna clawed at the balloon and used a stronger ki blast, but she could not penetrate it.
"Someone help me!" Gorna cried.
But no one could come to her aid, for while Gorna had been fighting to free herself from her rubbery prison, many others were now enclosed within the huge balloons. When a balloon touched a victim, the balloon would automatically suck its prey into it. Lektron and Arlon were trapped in a green balloon together, and Alora was shouting every curse word that she knew of, as she struggled inside a red balloon.
Filcor Sedemeyer and Sergeant Baraki were enveloped together in a gray balloon, and both men were firing their laser guns at the insides of the balloon with no success. Caline, Bendros, and Gracina was sealed in a pink balloon together with Caline clinging to Gracina, and Lukan was concealed in an orange balloon with Riccan, who was furiously kicking and stabbing at the inside wall of the rubbery bubble. Dedron was frantically slashing at the purple balloon that he was held captive in, and Rojal was wearing himself out blasting at the insides of the white balloon that had entrapped him. The unconscious General Norbrook was secured in a gold balloon, and all of the CRP officers were enclosed within balloons as well. All of the balloons floated about with their captives held helplessly inside.
The only ones who had managed to avoid the oncoming balloons were Shalila, Julien, Ridikar, and Cirono, all of whom had wised up and kept their bodies low to the ground with their bellies touching the ground. All of the balloons floated high above them, but none of them ever came low enough to touch the crawling fighters. Flirtius had also managed to avoid the balloons, and he was lying flat on his stomach to avoid being touched by the colorful balls hovering over him.
Splitz was laughing maliciously, as the balloons bounced off of him, not affecting him in the slightest. "Oh, this is so much fun!" he cried out happily. He continued to blow up more balloons without losing any breath, and he sent those balloons out as well. Splitz then raised one hand into the air to aim a ki blast at a passing balloon-the balloon that contained Gracina, Caline, and Bendros in it. The three occupants frantically tried to make the balloon move out of the way of the ki blast, but the balloon refused to budge with outside help.
"Wait!" Flirtius cried. "Don't blast that one! That balloon has two pretty ladies inside! Maybe they'd want to go out with me!"
"Shut up, you fool!" Splitz growled. "All Astories except Princess Tayla are to be destroyed-Lord Frieza's orders." And after that, Splitz opened his hand and three small ki sticks hovered in front of his hand. The ki sticks hardened into poisonous spears, and with a wave of his hand, Splitz aimed the three spears at the balloon containing Gracina, Caline, and Bendros.
The spears would have hit the balloon and killed the occupants inside, for the ki spears were tainted with a poison so deadly that not even someone with Astorian or Saiyan blood could survive it. Each spear was meant for each individual occupant, and the spears could go through the balloon without popping it. And Splitz's attack would have meant the end of Gracina, Caline, and Bendros, if it had not been for one factor.
Cirono's sword.
At the same time that Splitz's spears reached the outer walls of the balloon that the three helpless victims were trapped in, Cirono had hurled his sword at the balloon, and the sword's point penetrated the balloon. The balloon popped on contact, and Gracina, Caline, and Bendros allowed themselves to fall to the ground on Gracina's orders.
Cirono's sword landed into the ground, hilt facing upward, and the three deadly spears hit the ground, and they faded away into nothingness.
Splitz snarled, "Who dared to intervene?"
"I did!" Cirono shouted out boldly. "I'd be more than happy to help destroy any of Frieza's fighters! Cirono quickly ducked down as soon as a balloon passed over him.
"You're dead, boy!" Splitz growled.
"Haha!" Flirtius laughed. "Looks like some Calmagie spoiled your plans!"
"Go to hell, pretty boy!" Splitz roared.
"You'll be there long 'fore I will, you painted freak!" Flirtius joked, as he continued to crawl along the ground to avoid the other balloons.
Gracina, Caline, and Bendros had taken their cue from Shalila and the others, and they stayed low to the ground, with Caline sticking close to Gracina. Bendros noticed the balloon containing Rojal floating over them, and he tipped his sword upward towards the hovering balloon. The Sastorian warrior made a quick slash in the bottom of Rojal's balloon, and Rojal's balloon popped. Within seconds, Rojal fell out-and onto poor Bendros! Bendros had to bite his lip to keep from crying out when Rojal's foot accidentally stepped onto his tail.
Meanwhile, Shalila herself was cutting up balloons left and right with her sword, both occupied and unoccupied. Her sword slashes freed many of her family members from the rubbery enclosures, and now her grandchildren and great-grandchildren were slashing and cutting at the balloons as well. Alora herself hurled her sword about like a boomerang, and her sword destroyed many balloons in one swing. Within ten minutes, all of the balloons had been deflated or popped.
Now all of the prisoners had been freed from their balloons, and Splitz was about to blow up some more, but before he could do so, both Julien and Ridikar charged at him, with both boys knocking him off of his feet. Both Calmagian princes kicked and punched at Splitz, who tried his best to block their blows, but was not succeeding. Splitz's powers mainly lay in his ki blasts and magical abilities; his brute strength, however, was barely stronger than a human's. Finally, Splitz had to use his last resort-his own version of the multi-form technique.
"SPLIT!" he shouted out when he had a moment to escape Ridikar and Julien's assaults. To the boys' shock, Splitz began to divide himself into two more versions of himself, each a carbon copy of the original.
"You will regret attacking me!" said the three versions of Splitz in a unified voice. Ridikar and Julien both crouched in defensive positions, as the three copies of Splitz began to charge after them. Ridikar decided to try to paralyze the doppelganger that was attacking him, and to his surprise it worked! The doppelganger of Splitz fell to the ground, stiff as a statue, and afterwards, Ridikar had seized its neck and twisted it, breaking it.
Julien took the cue from Ridikar, and he too, attacked a doppelganger of Splitz by paralyzing him. When that clone of Splitz had fallen, Julien triumphantly stepped on its neck, crushing its windpipe.
But the original Splitz was still alive, and because the original still existed, Splitz could make more copies of himself. He quickly tried to divide himself into threes again, but before he could do so, Cirono had hurled his sword into the air, like a boomerang, between Ridikar and Julien, who both drew back when the flying blade came. The blade aimed straight at Splitz's throat. Cirono's blade neatly sliced off Splitz's head, not even giving Splitz a chance to scream, as hot, orange blood burst forth from his severed neck. Splitz's body fell over, and that was the end of him.
Julien and Ridikar turned around and stared at Cirono, amazed. "Thank you!" Ridikar shouted to him. "We owe you one, and more than that! I'll see personally that you are rewarded generously for your valor!" Julien nodded his head briefly in agreement.
Cirono merely nodded gravely before flashing them a small grin.
But now there was still Flirtius to deal with. And the flirtatious warrior had a few tricks of his own. He opened up his left hand and a chain of silver hearts emitted from the palm of his hand. This chain of hearts flew through the still, stagnant air and wrapped itself around Gracina, like an anaconda. She was forced to drop her sword, as the chain tightened itself around her slender, curvy body. Gracina struggled against the chain, as Flirtius pulled her closer to him using the chain.
"You release my wife, you bastard!" Lektron roared, charging after Flirtius.
"Oh, she's your wife?" Flirtius asked innocently. "You're one lucky man, Astorie, I'll give you that! I'm usually more partial to blondes myself."
"Let me go, monster!" Gracina screamed, as she continued to fight against the chain of hearts. Flirtius laughed, as he drew Gracina closer to him. Finally, they were face to face, and Flirtius leaned over to kiss Gracina on her lips.
"Release her immediately!" Shalila shouted, as she flew behind Lektron in order to face down Flirtius.
"Let her go!" Caline screamed at him.
Gracina was turning her face away from Flirtius's lips, trying to prevent him from kissing her. "Leave me alone!" she hissed at him.
"Aw, c'mon, pretty thing, just one little kiss," Flirtius cooed.
"No!"
Both Lektron and Shalila charged at Flirtius, who used another one of his tricks-eye lasers. He aimed them at their feet. "Dance, Astories!" he shouted. He kept firing his eye lasers at their feet, forcing Shalila and Lektron to concentrate on dodging the well-placed ki blasts.
"You let her go, you beast!" Caline screamed at Flirtius.
Flirtius ignored her, as he fired his eye lasers at the ceiling of the labyrinth right above the heads of Shalila and Lektron. Pieces of ceiling began to crumble down onto them, and both grandmother and grandson had to throw themselves to the sides to avoid the falling rocks.
While Shalila and Lektron were dodging the collapsing ceiling, Flirtius had used his one of his arms to embrace his new prey. Gracina kicked at his shins, but she felt her ki drain.
"Sorry to do that, sweetheart," Flirtius said softly. "But this chain is also a ki-draining device, guaranteed to weaken the strength and willpower of any female that I desire. Don't fear, my dear, you like me, I promise." He then seized her unwilling chin with his large green hand and tried to force her to kiss him.
Meanwhile, Caline was struggling in Bendros's arms. The little Calmagian princess had tried to leave to help Gracina, but Bendros had caught her before she could go too far. Caline writhed and kicked against Bendros; she was too worried about Gracina to see the danger that she was putting herself in.
"Let me go!" Caline cried. "Gracina needs me!"
"You'll only be endangering yourself, Caline," Bendros said, trying to reason with the frantic girl. "You won't be helping her if you throw your own life away for nothing."
"She needs me!" Caline screamed. "I can't just stay here and do nothing. Why are we just standing here?"
Just as Shalila and Lektron were getting closer to reaching Flirtius, Ridikar and Julien hurried over to Caline and Bendros. Caline looked worriedly at her two brothers.
"Stop being a brat, Caline!" Julien hissed. "You're too weak to be of any help; all you'd do is get in the way and make things worse!"
"That's more than enough, Julien!" Ridikar snapped. "Not another word out of you." He turned to Bendros and said, "Give her to me; I can calm her down."
Bendros reluctantly handed Caline over to Ridikar; Bendros still did not entirely trust the Calmagian royal heir yet, especially when he had seen how Ridikar had treated Caline in the past. Caline struggled against Ridikar as well, but Ridikar pulled the fighting girl against him.
"Caline, listen to Bendros; he's right. It's noble of you to want to help, but you're putting yourself in danger isn't going to help Gracina or anyone else," he told her gently. "The Astorians can handle it; they will surely save your Gracina."
Caline beat her small fists against Ridikar's chest for a few moments, but then Ridikar held her to him and rubbed her back, just as he used to do when Caline had been a smaller, much younger child. Finally Caline's body began to relax some, especially when she looked over her brother's shoulder to see Lektron pointing his sword at Flirtius and challenging him to a fight. An arrogant Flirtius accepted Lektron's challenge, and Flirtius released Gracina's body and threw her to the floor. Gracina was still chained, as Shalila tried to unwrap the links from around her body.
Shalila couldn't remove the chain from Gracina's body manually, so she was forced to use the same tactic to free Gracina that she had to use days ago to free Tayla from the ki restraints that Vegeta had used on her. Shalila formed the lavender ki balls again, only two this time, and she shot them at Gracina's chain. Gracina cried out, as the chain began to fade away in a blinding burst of light. Her arms were burned, and her clothing was scorched in several places. Shalila apologized to her, as she helped her up off of the ground.
"Gracina!" Caline cried aloud, writhing against Ridikar. In the background, she could hear and see Flirtius and Lektron punching and kicking each other.
"I'm okay, Caline," Gracina moaned weakly, for she felt greatly weakened and drained. While Lektron was breaking several of Flirtius's ribs, Shalila put her arm around Gracina's back and quickly led her weary granddaughter away from the fighting. Caline hastily burst out of Ridikar's arms and dashed over to Gracina, throwing her arms around Gracina's waist.
"Easy, Caline," Shalila cautioned her. "She's lost some of her strength."
Caline then hugged Gracina much more gently, and Gracina used what strength that she had left to embrace the little girl back. "I love you," Caline whispered to her fervently, as she pulled out one of her healing roses and tended to her. She then burrowed her face just above Gracina's stomach.
"I love you too, little one," Gracina told her softly, stroking the child's cornsilk hair. The motherly Princess of Chloe felt some of her strength return after Caline had applied the oil from the roses. Gracina held Caline close to her, as she turned her golden head to watch Lektron fight Flirtius.
The fight between Lektron and Flirtius was evenly matched, but Lektron had one advantage over the minion, and that was his knowledge with a sword. Flirtius's powers had mainly lain in his brute strength and his ki chains, but when it came to other special ki attacks, he possessed none beyond the basic ki blasting. Lektron deflected all of Flirtius's attacks with his sword and Mirror Shield attacks, and when Flirtius fired a particularly powerful ki attack, Lektron deflected that ki blast right at his opponent's face. This knocked Flirtius out of commission, and he fell backwards onto the ground, badly wounded. Flirtius's handsome face was scorched, and most of his armor had been melted away; he was barely alive. Lektron was quick to put the tip of his sword blade at Flirtius's throat; he decided that he was going to interrogate the bastard before he shipped him off to Enma Daiou.
"Now, you little green swine, where did that woman, Seductia, take Tayla and the others? You tell me now, or I'll blast you away on the spot for what you tried to do to my wife!"
Flirtius could barely move, and he was wise enough to know that he was defeated. Ginyu was right; he should have definitely avoided married women. He moaned loudly, "I-I don't know exactly; all I know is that Commander Zarbon ordered her to take Princess Tayla to Commander Diamonique until he could meet the girl himself."
"Where exactly is she being held?" Lektron growled. "And are Dirkan and Bajal still alive?"
"Dirk-Dirkan? And Bajal? Oh, you mean the tall green guy and the other Astorie? They're still under Seductia's spell. Last ti-time, I've heard, they were helping Seductia guard Princess Tayla. I-I'm not sure where exactly in the castle she is, sir. Pl-please sp-spare me! I was only following orders!"
"And trying to make advances on my wife is following orders?" Lektron roared.
Flirtius grinned sheepishly. "She's a hot babe, your wife. I liked her. Can't blame a guy for trying."
Lektron rewarded him with a swift kick to his ribs; Flirtius groaned.
Shalila had joined Lektron by then, and Flirtius pleaded to Lektron again, "Pl-please don't kill me!"
"I don't think I should," Lektron told him. "You better make your appeals to my grandmother. If she says to let you live, I'll spare you. If not, you're history."
Shalila's face was hard and cold, as she looked down at Flirtius with a scowl on her aristocratic face. "If anything happens to my grandchildren or my husband, or if Tayla winds up in Frieza's clutches, you will perish. Give us a good reason as to why we should spare you."
"We could use him for a hostage," Lieutenant Balboun, who had just joined them, told her.
"Neither Frieza nor Zarbon will care if he dies," Shalila explained quietly. "All lives are dispensable to them; he is not valuable enough to them to be useful as a hostage. However, he might be useful to Intergalacticpol, if he can be restrained. That is, if he's allowed to live."
"Please spare me!" Flirtius begged. "I am too handsome and charming to die!"
"Just let me finish him off," Lektron said to his grandmother.
Shalila growled under her breath. She didn't really want to spare this minion of Frieza's, but he was too weak and pathetic now in her eyes to kill.
Tears were beginning to form at the corners of Flirtius's eyes, as he whispered, "I-I can help lead you to them. Re-really, I-I can. I could-"
"Quiet!" Shalila snapped. "You will remain silent. I need to think. Lektron, keep that sword on him." And she closed her gray eyes for a few moments to think and meditate. Finally, a small grim smile formed onto her face.
She beckoned everyone over to her, and then the Superior Gran spoke solemnly, "I have a new plan. And this fool that Lektron defeated is going to be part of it."
"Nama, he won't help us!" Gorna declared. "He'll betray us before this war is over."
"What good is he going to be to us?" Cletos wanted to know.
"He's going to lead us directly to Zarbon," Shalila told them. "If he values his life." She looked down upon Flirtius and said sternly, "If you agree to help us, I will see that any penalties or punishments that you may receive for your crimes will be minimal. At the very least, I will see that your life is spared."
"You'll keep me from Frieza's wrath?" Flirtius asked worriedly.
"Yes, I will do everything that I can," Shalila promised him. She then walked up to Gorna and embraced her tightly, kissing her astonished granddaughter on her cheek. "Gorna, if I do not survive this war…I want you to know that I believe that you will make a fine leader, a mighty Superior Gran. I am proud of you and your conduct these past weeks. I love you, my dear, and I know now that you will rule wisely and well."
"Nama, I don't understand," Gorna stammered.
"You will soon enough," Shalila told her, still holding her in her arms. "Listen, Gorna, there is only one thing that I must ask of you; this shouldn't be a hard thing for you to do now." She took a deep breath and asked softly, "If Dirkan and Tayla live on…will you look after them and see that they are well cared for, especially Tayla?"
"N-Nama…" Gorna said shakily.
"Please promise me…Seven Moons Oath."
"Seven Moons," Gorna whispered, holding up seven trembling fingers. She added, "You need not worry about either Tayla or Dirkan, Nama. I-I will see that Dirkan is cared for, and that Tayla will be raised with love and respect."
Shalila smiled then, relieved. She brushed back a lock of Gorna's hair from her sweat-plastered forehead. "Thanken, Gorna. There's something else that I want you to know: your grandfather would be pleased with how far you have come, my granddaughter. He told me before he had left for that fatal final voyage that someday you would find your way and become the worthy leader that he has always known that you were meant to be, and he was right." She then kissed Gorna's forehead again, and she then left to see the other grandchildren and great-grandchildren, telling each one of them that she was proud of them, and that she loved them, even Dedron, who gave her a cold, curt nod, but nothing more. Shalila accepted this, understanding the uneasiness between them.
Caline was the last one that Shalila came to, and the proud ruler bent down and beckoned the child to come to her, and the Calmagian princess did. Shalila hugged the little girl and kissed her fervently on her soft, white cheek, stroking her hair. A surprised Caline hugged her back slowly. She did not know Superior Gran Shalila Chloe well, but she could see why Tayla loved her so much.
"I am especially proud of you, my dear," Shalila told Caline. "Without you, we would not have made it this far, nor we would be alive right now, if it had not been for your courage. If you had not come to warn Tayla and us about the invasion from Frieza's forces, we might have been destroyed before we had a chance to defend ourselves. I know that you have had a hard life; Tayla has told Dirkan and I much about you in the past couple of weeks. You have come a long way, little one, since we first met you. You are much stronger and braver than you give yourself credit for, and I sincerely believe that you will someday be completely happy. I wish there was more that I could do for you in return, but I do not know how much longer I have left to live. I can promise you this much: you won't be abandoned, even if your family does not allow you to come home with us. I know that my family will see that you are cared for somehow, some way. Do not worry anymore about your future, child. You are no longer alone, and you never will be again." And with that Shalila kissed Caline's forehead and arose.
"Th-thank you, Superior Gran," Caline whispered.
"Please, for the rest of this time until your fate is decided, you can call me Great-Nama," Shalila told her with a gentle smile. "You have more than proven yourself to be a Princess of Chloe, in spirit, if not in name."
"Th-thank, you, Superior-I mean, Great-Nama."
Shalila patted the girl's head and left her to see Flirtius. She said to Flirtius in a voice loud enough for the others to hear:
"You are going to take me directly to Zarbon and tell him that Frieza will receive someone far more valuable to him than even Tayla."
"What? And who?" Flirtius wanted to know. "Who can be more valuable to him at this point than Princess Tayla?"
"Myself. I am surrendering myself to Zarbon on the condition that Tayla and the others are freed, and that my people are left in peace."
"WHAT???" everyone asked.
