Chapter 11
Author Notes: DragonUK, don't get mad….Era Y's just a little…er, rushed. I HATE SCHOOL!!!! I HATE IT I HATE IT I HATE IT!!! Hehe…ehh…well, never mind that. You did NOT just hear that from me, k? It's called eduphobia…eheh, and now I got a bad case of Incomprehensible Learning Disorder Syndrome (ILDS) that makes be break out and shout like that from time to time, and oh yeah, everything I just said was a complete lie. *GRIN* Well, I hope you like this chapter…*evil cackle* Oh my!!! What have I done??? Ahahaa…waaaaaa!!!
Just read it. ^_^
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"Another Foe?"
The scene was born of pure rage, though it's creation was simply blinded hatred. The two, stubborn, arrogantly characteristic figures clashed with a flash of bright energy and the horrible sound of fists meeting flesh. For the first time in a history of victorious battles, the Salamander lost his footing – in an upward sort of way – and literally flew from the spot he had been previously standing. It was just his luck that there happened to be a convenient, crystal outcrop to cushion his landing. Being anything but stone, the boulder remained intact. However, Amarant was a very, very still man.
Something more than shock, though less than panic, raced through Zidane's mind that moment. It was as if he were watching a new enemy rise from the ashes of the Iifa tree. Unlike Kuja, this new foe was directing all of his strength at the obvious threat. The next wave of realization brought the likeliness that Amarant was no longer alive. It was not a very pleasant feeling. In fact, it was something beyond anger….it was utter wrath.
"Well, that was no fun." Vegeta landed on the scarred ground, dusting off his arms as if he had simply returned from some pesky errand. "I would have thought he would last at least two seconds. Oh well, one will suffice."
"Vegeta!" came a very alarmed, and remorseful cry. Gohan was now on his feet, and staring wide-eyed at his father's rival.
"Don't you 'Vegeta' me, boy." Vegeta lifted his lip in an irate sneer. "I came here for one reason, and that was to find Kakkarot. If you're done wasting my time, I believe it is appropriate that we leave."
"What's wrong with you?" Piccolo inquired harshly. He was nearly quivering with both anger and disbelief. Unlike Krillin, who was still trying to get over the last event, he had an easier time coping with this sudden murder. "First it's 'we', and then it is 'I'. Now it is 'we' again, and you expect us to let this whole thing blow over?"
"Why not?" Vegeta shrugged, briskly approaching the Namek. "He was a complete stranger, you fool, and not a very friendly one at that. You should be grateful…perhaps these sewer groupies will give a second thought to following us."
Gohan clenched his fists, while Goten hid behind his left leg, staring at the saiya-jin prince as if he were mad. The first and second son of Goku were rendered speechless. On the other hand, his wife had half a mind to say.
"You nose-stuck, self-centered, air-headed numbskull! What kind of a mess are you trying for here, huh? Killing a man you don't even know, and calling some weirdo strangers from another planet 'sewer groupies' is not the way to make friends! In front of Goten, too! You should be ashamed of yourself, creating a perfectly good excuse for him to run off and become like his father, huh? I want to start schooling him at a young age, you know! I don't need him flying away every time I put him in front of a book!"
Vegeta growled, unable to take it anymore. "Be quiet! Damn hypocrite, I will do what I wish and when I wish to do it! I don't need some mate of Kakkarot's telling me what to do!"
"EXCUSE ME!!" Eiko suddenly shrieked above all other noise. As it was practically impossible to ignore a seven-year-old's high pitched voice when she was on the verge of killing someone herself, everyone gave her their full attention…including Vegeta, however spiteful he was. Eiko gritted her teeth. "YOU just…just hurt our friend! I don't care what Zidane says, I'm gonna make YOU pay for that! TERRA HOM-"
"Eiko!"
Dagger was on the young summoner in an instant. She grabbed Eiko's wrists. Startled, the seven-year-old quenched the glow at her fists and turned her head to stare at the queen. Dagger shook her head, but said nothing, and Eiko immediately understood. Their eyes traveled towards the walking figure of Krillin, who abruptly stopped at the fallen, lifeless Amarant and was examining him carefully. After a moment, Gohan yelled out. "Is he alive?"
"Yeah…" Krillin lowered one eyebrow at the spectacle. "But by the power level he's giving, he's not in very good sha-aaaHHHHH!"
Krillin's words quickly became an exclamation in total surprise as the large, very firm grip of the very alive Amarant closed around his wrist. The bandit stood up, taking Krillin with him, and with a distasteful glare at the man he dwarfed, dropped him in the loose rubble. He was bleeding, and hunched slightlty, but he was an extremely angry, hence living Salamander.
"Geez….he never fails to surprise me." Zidane shuddered, the last thing he could do to cover his relief…and concern. He wasn't worried about Amarant himself, but in scarier terms, his present mood.
Vegeta said nothing, but lifted himself a few feet into the air, again, appearing to expect some form of attack. None came.
"This just wasn't supposed to happen…" Amarant's voice flooded the plateau. And, to everyone's mounting surprise, he turned and began to walk away. His very muscles twinged with pain, but he ignored them. It wasn't as if he was showing off…he simply wasn't caring. Freya, startlingly, called out to him.
"Where are you going?"
Without turning around, the bandit mumbled something loud enough for all to hear. "….to find a way back to where I'm supposed to be."
A sullen silence created a hole in time, stretching seconds into minutes, and minutes into an endless eternity. No one spoke, no one moved, and no one glanced at each other. Eventually, the injured, albeit arrogant Salamander vanished from both sight and readings alike. Not even Mog was able to detect his whereabouts by the time Gohan came to his senses. He shook himself from his daze, and looked at the first person that came to mind: Zidane.
"Well, you seem to be the leader of group…what's up with him?"
Zidane didn't reply right away. Still in a slight stupor, the genome returned the half saiya-jin's wary gaze. "I really don't know. He hasn't acted this way before…well, I mean, he's always like this…but I expected him to attack Vegeta or something…but he just walked away….weird…I wonder why…"
"Because he's a coward," Vegeta spat. "Isn't it obvious? I though you would have picked that up by now, you little punk. I'm ready to leave, with or without the rest of you."
Shockingly, it was none but Quina who stopped Vegeta from flying away.
"You no understand Terra. Where you go without guide?"
The saiya-jin prince froze in mid-flight, hovering above the heads like a hesitant fly at a fly trap. He slowly turned to scowl at the Qu. "Are you telling me there's something I should know about this planet?"
Quina already looked as if s/he wished that s/he'd said nothing in the first place. "Is not important. No yummie-yummies on Terra, only Qu know what edible and what gourmand. Terra filled with evil things and monsters Quina can no cook." S/he quivered slightly, as if every s/he'd said had been a terrible omen.
"I don't care about what there is to eat!" the saiya-jin shouted, at the same moment his stomach complained its loudest. "You're the biggest fool of them all! A creature with no wit!"
"I warned you…" Zidane murmured. "The bottom line is that all of you need our help, and we'll require your assistance when it comes to the monsters your friend….conveniently let in. We'll show you what we can do…if that's all right with Spike there." He gestured half-heartedly towards Vegeta.
Before the prince could open his mouth to protest, Piccolo appeared out of nowhere, standing just behind the genome's shoulder. "If we trust you, you can show us where the others are?"
Zidane turned around and blinked in surprise. Slowly, he scratched the back of his neck, and looked quietly at the ground. "Uh…not really. I can't say exactly where they'll be, but I have a feeling that they'll be somewhere close by. This…Kakkarot you keep mentioning and our own lost comrade should be together."
"All the more reason to go with each other," Freya pointed out. She sheathed the spear she had armed herself with when the commotion had gotten rough.
"Well Vegeta, it's decided," said Gohan, looking up at the saiya-jin with a smug grin. "We'll be going together. You can go on your own, of course, and risk being eaten alive by something that hasn't been seen long enough to be name. Or, you can come with us."
"Either way, I'm leaving now…." Zidane sighed, crossing his arms. "I don't care what Vegeta did to the guardian, but he didn't get rid of the smell…."
Everyone except Vegeta and Piccolo muttered their agreement.
"Ugh…I must be late…"
The feminine voice cut the short silence into even shorter pieces…her voice crackled slightly, and she leaned against a nearby rock. Everyone stared. None spoke.
She lifted her head higher. "Don't give me that look…I've had a rough enough day as it is, thank you."
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End Notes: Well, my writer's block has been blown into oblivion, thank you to DragonUK!!! Hehe…I decided to write this chapter by myself because it had a fair bit of action in it…and well, I had to get it done by Thursday…I have a lot of review to do at school!! Heh…I'm the action writer, eh? Who'da thunk it?
