No Fight's Over Until I've Won--Ch 5
By Elbereth in April
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Vegeta and the others in the camp only felt the ki's approaching as they saw the ship coming down from the sky. About the only thing they had time to do was panic.
Not that they showed it, of course. They closed up battle formations, Vegeta in the middle, and waited for what they knew was coming.

The ship landed and men started pouring out, surrounding them in a circle. The Saiyans immediately took to the air, hovering above the henchmen as if taunting them.

But then the Ginyu Force and Frieza exited the ship and they felt their hearts sink. They may have been able to take out the Ginyus (maybe not) but Frieza was another matter.

The Ginyu Force essayed some classic poses, to everyone's chagrin. Frieza gave them a pained look, then floated his chair over in front of the Saiyans.

"Ah, at last. Here we have the Real prince of the monkeys. It was very naughty of you to try to trick me. But now you'll have to suffer the consequences." He laughed. "Vegeta--you are now my slave!"

The Ginyu Force sprang up at Vegeta, all five aiming for him alone. Meanwhile Frieza was holding off the others with weak ki blasts. That is, weak for him. He was toying with them, using just enough power to have them realize they were helpless before him, even when he was barely trying.

Vegeta was trying to fight the Ginyus, but it was five against one. He grabbed Jeice by his long hair and used him as a battering ram, swatting Guldo to the ground. Then Jeice broke free and Captain Ginyu pinned Vegeta's arms behind his back. He still managed to kick Jeice in the stomach before Capt. Ginyu twisted his arms up so they felt like they were going to break off. Then he pulled his tail, hard. Vegeta yelled and tried to get away, but then Recoome shot a ki beam at him (singeing the Captain, who looked disgusted) and then Jeice was pounding him with his fists, annoyed for being used earlier.

Recoome swooped back in and slammed his elbow into Vegeta's head and he lapsed into unconsciousness.

"We got him Frieza!"

"About time," Frieza replied. Capt. Ginyu slung Vegeta over his shoulder and they followed the henchmen back into the ship.

The Saiyans made one last desperate rush at Frieza, who sent out a ki wave so strong they were all knocked to the ground, trees cracked and fell over, and the air was filled with dirt and rocks and bits of grass.

The ship was flying away in a streak of light and the others were picking themselves up off the ground, coughing and swearing, when Kakkarot darted into the clearing. And then the ship was gone.

"Vegeta!" He screamed it, but of course it did no good. His ki flared up higher than it had ever been. It took all three of them to hold him back.

"We have to go after them! We have to get him back!" He struggled blindly as they held onto his arms and around his waist, refusing to let him go.

"They're too strong!" Nappa yelled at him. "Frieza could kill us all!"

"Then we die for our prince!"

"Brother! Listen!" Radditz begged. "We will go after him. But...not now. We'll get the army and we'll go then. But we can't die now, for no reason. That won't save him. We have to wait until we can do him some good!"

Kakkarot heard, and his mind understood, so his body stopped fighting them. But his heart did not understand. It felt as if someone was clenching his heart in their fist. He felt it throb through his whole body, sounding in his ears with a roar like a hollow drum. His whole body felt hollow. He turned from them, half-sobbing.

It was his fault. Instead of being there, defending his prince, he was with--that Earth girl.

His prince. His best friend. His blood brother.

Somehow he was on his knees then, sobbing in earnest, so hard he was half-gagging.
Radditz moved with him, keeping his arms around him.

"What will Frieza do to him?" Thenore asked Nappa in a sick tone as she watched Radditz try to comfort Kakkarot.

"I don't know." Nappa was shaking.

Thenore briefly closed her eyes, then pushed all feeling aside for the moment. "Right. Nappa, we have to contact King Vegeta right away. We have to get the army and get after them."

"Of course." Nappa, too, became all business, striding towards their ship. Thenore
followed.

Radditz watched them go. "Come on, brother, pull yourself together. We have to prepare ourselves for the rescue mission."

That got Kakkarot's attention as nothing else would have. He finally choked down his tears, steeling himself for the job ahead of them.

They would bring Vegeta back. He swore it.

'And I cannot die. They are right. Not until Vegeta is free. After that, if Vegeta chooses to kill me for my failure to protect him, well. That would be within his rights.'
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Vegeta woke up, feeling bruised and beaten all over, with the taste of blood in his mouth. His hands were chained above him, to the wall. His feet were chained, too. He tried to reach for his ki--and couldn't find it. He panicked. Where was it? What had happened?

He opened his eyes and found himself looking right into Frieza's cruel face. Frieza was smiling, a sadistic, triumphant sort of smile.

"Hello. Prince," he mocked him. He said the word as if he was inconsequential and disgusting, something stuck to the bottom of his shoe, perhaps. "Welcome to your new home. As my servant."

The whole fight came flooding back to him then, and he felt sick with despair.

"By now you'll have noticed that your powers are temporarily blocked by drugs. Not that you are a match for me, anyway. But this will give you a chance to...feel the helplessness of your situation." Frieza's smile grew even wider, and he backhanded the prince in the face.

Vegeta's head rebounded off the wall, and his vision blurred for a moment. He tried not to show pain, or fear. He tried, but Frieza's eyes were half-closed, as if he were savoring the moment, and Vegeta knew he had failed at hiding all he was feeling.

Frieza smiled happily. "Sometimes," he said, "life just gives you what you want," and proceeded to beat Vegeta bloody.
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About an hour later, shortly before the Saiyans were packed and ready to leave, Chi-Chi showed up at their campsite.

Kakkarot swallowed hard when he noticed her walking in. He had dreadfully wanted to see her again before they left, but hadn't been able to bring himself to go to her.

Kakkarot felt the eyes of his brother on him as Chi-Chi came and stood before him. "Well? Are you going to explain?" she asked very quietly.

Kakkarot would have felt better if she'd screamed it at him. "We're aliens."

"OK. You can fly. You have tails. You can shoot balls of light from your hands. I can accept that."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Thenore come and take Radditz by the arm and lead him away. They were left in privacy, standing under the sparring tree.

Kakkarot looked up at the weathered banner still fluttering there. "We fight to win," he mumbled.

Chi-Chi followed his gaze. "No fight's over til I've won. I like that."

Kakkarot felt the fear and pain he'd pushed partially aside in his concentration on packing all come back in full force. "Vegeta is our prince. He's just been kidnapped by a ruthless tyrant who wants to rule the universe."

"That's...not good." Chi-Chi saw that words were not adequate. She reached to hug him.

"No!" he cried, flinching and pulling away. "If I hadn't been with you, I'd have been here with him. Maybe I could have saved him!"

Chi-Chi tried not to feel hurt. "Maybe they'd have killed you."

"Maybe. Or maybe they'd have taken me, too. It doesn't matter. I should have been with him!"

She could feel his power start to swirl around him. He seemed to be doing it unconsciously. Little rocks trembled at his feet. His tail was whipping around agitatedly.

"Then go rescue him." It was a command. She was frowning, hands on hips. Stop whining and get to it, she seemed to be saying.

He looked at her. Slowly, a semblance of calm settled back over him. "We're going to."

"And will you bring him back here? Or will I never see you again?"

He ran his hand over his eyes. "I don't know. We're Saiyans, Chi-Chi. We're a proud warrior race. And I'm pledged to the King. I don't know if he'll--allow me to--taint the line with--the blood of an alien."

Well, Chi-Chi thought. That was blunt enough.

"I see," she said. It was all she could say.

There was a long, aching silence. "Then I'll let you get back to preparing to go," she said at last. "And wish you good luck."

He nodded mutely.

"What planet are you from?"

"Vegeta-sei. We're Saiyans."

Then before he could move she stepped up and hugged him tightly. "I will always love you," she whispered in his ear.

He let out a small moan, eyes bright with unshed liquid tears. "I was never supposed to fall in love with you, Chi. But I did. I will always love you."

And then she let go and walked out of the camp.

For a brief moment he closed his eyes and felt the raw pain like a toothache in his heart. Then he shoved it aside and got back to packing.
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When Vegeta was fully aware again, he was being pulled out of a rejuvenation tank by an ugly reptilian-looking man. "Feeling better, monkey?"

Vegeta looked himself over. He appeared to be healed of his injuries.

"Don't try any tricks now, monkey," the man said. "Just come with me."

Vegeta followed him, scowling. Being called monkey was going to get old very fast.

The being led him to a small, white room that contained a bed, a chair, a bathroom, and nothing else. "This is your cell. Enjoy it, monkey." He waved at Vegeta to enter.

Vegeta's hand snaked out and grabbed the unsuspecting reptile by the front of his shirt. "You call me monkey again and I'll kill you."

The reptile sputtered a bit, as Vegeta held up his other hand, a glowing ball of ki on his palm. Vegeta lifted him into the air. "Understand?"

He nodded. Vegeta smirked and dropped him. "I'm telling Frieza!"

Sighing, Vegeta entered the room and the man closed and locked the door behind him. Vegeta didn't feel as if he'd won when he heard the lock click.

The next morning he got up early and trained. He was nearly done when his door opened. A pretty man with green braided hair and a pink man with a nasty grin stood there.

"Frieza wants you. Your servitude starts today," the pink one said.