Chapter 6:Warriors and Thieves!
"Who the hell are you!" Vegita shouted, raising his power level and flaring his aura out around himself, illuminating Goku's house, and the face of the adversary ahead of him. Tomatta took a step forward and clenched his fists, snapping them shut with a clap, then stood back into a fighting stance. "You!" Vegita yelled, his energy flaring as rage hit him and sent his power level rocketing, sending him stage two. Energy rippled across his body as he hopped back and glared at Tomatta.
Tomatta grinned, tensing the muscles in his arms and legs into tightened, whiplash cords of muscle as he readied himself for action, preparing for combat.
"Yes, it's me, Vegita! And I'm more than prepared to send your worthless soul to the after world, after what you did!" Snarled the largest of the three assembled Saiyans with a tight-lipped grin. All over the clearing, rocks were rising into the air from Vegita's energy; the closer one's crumbling to dust or even being evaporated. But Tomatta's hair stayed in place, un-like Goku's, not budging with the tremendous energy that radiated from Vegita like a sun. Vegita grinned as his power continued to increase; his strength and speed getting higher and higher, the energy rippling across his body growing louder and louder as the aura grew brighter and more radiant. Tomatta narrowed his eyes so he was not blinded by the glare of the aura, still with that snarling grin as he glared at Vegita, his muscles becoming ever tighter. Goku looked at his cousin and then at Vegita, then backed away a couple of steps before running into the house.
"What's the matter, peasant, why don't you power up? Aren't you a Super Saiyan yet? AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! How pathetic you look against me!" Vegita sneered, trying to taunt Tomatta into launching a foolhardy attack, but the other just stood their, waiting and standing his ground.
"I'm waiting for you to finish, Vegita, before I unleash my power."
"Oh really? And what do you propose to do, baka? Power up and tickle me?" Vegita asked sarcastically. Tomatta merely smiled.
"Something like that, yeah. Now shut up and fight me, traitor!" Said Tomatta. Vegita roared with anger and launched himself cross the gap between them, throwing out his left hand in a punch. It connected with a loud smacking noise, sending Tomatta staggering backwards a little, surprised with Vegita's new power.
"You are unwise to underestimate Prince Vegita! Now don't waste my time by putting up a defence, allow me to destroy you!" Vegita snarled, bringing himself forward for another attack. But this time Tomatta was ready, and he blocked the savage kick that Vegita swung at his chest. The large Saiyan took a step forward and brought a knee up, but Vegita blurred as he ducked around down, sweeping at Tomatta's other leg. Tomatta hopped the attack and brought an elbow down, narrowly missing Vegita's temple as the Prince dodged to the left then countered with a right jab to the gut. Tomatta grunted then brought a clenched fist upwards in an uppercut to Vegita, sending the smaller man sprawling backwards, giving Tomatta the space he needed.
"Is that all you've got, little man?" Tomatta taunted as he wiped a speck of blood from the corner of his mouth. Vegita grinned, pointing his finger at Tomatta.
"No, that was just a small sample of my powers!" he roared.
"Then I tell you what, I'll go all out if you will, old man!" Tomatta replied, causing Vegita to scowl in anger. Vegita stood upright and braced himself, preparing to power up even more.
"It's a deal, you fool!" he called out, then yelled – his power level soared even higher and his hair started to flash between gold and silver, before finally lengthening as he entered the third stage of a Super Saiyan. "There! How's this for you! My power level has increased by over a hundred times! You will surely die! AHAHAHAHAH!" he laughed, but stopped when the sound of Tomatta clapping his hands reached his ears.
"I'm impressed, Vegita, you have risen your power level to something that approaches my own! But you are not my equal yet!" Tomatta added, then he roared, a loud yell piercing the night and sending birds from the trees across the forest. He bent his arms, going into a semi-crouch and squeezed his eyes shut. Vegita was stunned at what he had said, here was Prince Vegita, a third stage ascendant Super Saiyan, and this moron claimed to be more powerful than he was? Vegita looked at the other Saiyan, his idiotic opponent. Rocks were bursting all over the clearing, splitting and sending debris all over the place. The nearby walls of the house started to crack, large lines spreading across the wall from the base. The air around the Saiyan started to shimmer, then burst into a golden aura as the spiked hair on his head flared golden as he went Super Saiyan, then blue energy rippled over his body as he increased to stage two. Still the aura was increasing, and the cracks along the wall were getting larger and wider. Soon, the whole area was shaking, large faults appearing in the floor between Vegita and Tomatta, and even the floor itself was cracking and erupting as the power from the two Saiyans.
Goku erupted from the door of the house with Chi-Chi slung over one shoulder and a large sack, bulging with its contents, slung over the other. Goten sped out after his father, holding several more large sacks bulging with objects rescued from the crumbling house. Goku placed his cargo on the floor on the other side of the clearing from the two charging Super Saiyans. Chi-Chi grabbed Goku's arm as he moved back towards their home.
"Goku! Wait! Don't go back in there, it'll come down in top of you!" she cried, Goku turned and smiled reassuringly at his wife, then gently prised her hand form his arm.
"It's okay, Chi-Chi – I'll be in and out before you know it," he replied, pitching his voice to make his words calming and soothing. Chi-Chi watched as Goku blurred away back into the house, and waited. Goku was in the house for less than a minute, sweeping through, grabbing objects and thrusting them quickly into the bag, trying to get as many of their possessions as he could before the house came down, burying their home. He finally returned, carrying five large sacks, packed so tightly that the sharper edges were starting to poke through the fabric of the sack. He crossed over to Chi-Chi and looked over as the two other Saiyans were still powering up, Tomatta's aura so bright it was blinding to look at. Goten watched with awe as his cousin's aura flashed, then blasted out like a shockwave, spreading more cracks through their home, causing one of the curved walls to collapse inwards. Blue lightning was now coursing over Tomatta's body, he had gone Stage Two, and still he kept powering up. Goku found himself tensing his muscles as well, trying to be kept from being blown away from the sheer energy of the man. Goten yelled as he powered up himself, his normal form to weak to withstand the forces that were pushing him backwards across the clearing. Chi-Chi clung onto her boys for dear life; holding onto Goten's hastily pulled on clothes and had an arm looped through Goku's legs.
With another blast of raw energy, Tomatta's power level increased yet again and another blastwave knocked the rest of the house over, walls crashing down to the floor and the ceiling crumbling down. It all seemed to happen in slow motion, each brick, each beam collapsing slowly, sending up a cloud of dust that was immediately snatched by the aura's of Vegita and Tomatta and then blown away into the night. One final surge of power sped across the clearing and through the forest, and then with a sudden flash, Tomatta's hair lengthened down his back and turned a bright silver colour, his muscles bulged and his grin became bigger.
"HAHAHAHAHA! Vegita, you fool, you have no idea what you have just come up against!" Tomatta shouted, his Stage Three hair flying out in his energy flow. Vegita crouched a little lower; his own silver hair being blown backwards and up by his own power.
"Really, then why don't we just test each other then!" Vegita snarled as he leapt forward. Tomatta tensed then ducked around and kicked out, hitting nothing but empty air. Vegita appeared behind Tomatta, hovering slightly in the air in mid-jump and lashed downward with both hands clasped into a single fist. Tomatta turned and leapt sideways in another blur and Vegita crashed down, fists biting deep into the ground and sending up shards of earth and rock. He looked around and blurred away as Tomatta's foot whistled through the air and embedded itself into the ground where Vegita's hand had been moments before, burying itself up to the shin. He wrenched his foot out the floor with ease, bringing up a large shod of turf with it, then blocked a right elbow-strike Vegita had aimed for the jaw. Tomatta countered with a singe punch to the chest, but hit Vegita's left forearm, then lashed out with his right knee. The knee bounced of Vegita's own knee, the Prince snarling and pushing Tomatta away harshly, then threw a large blast of golden energy at the other Saiyan's chest. Tomatta blurred out of the way and the bolt blasted through a line of trees before exploding, charring a clump of pines into charcoal.
"Shit!" Vegita shouted before charging after Tomatta, who jumped backwards, evading the blows from Vegita. Punch after punch, kick after kick, as blocked or evaded, and every counter from the tall Saiyan, Vegita easily did the same. They were at stalemate; neither man could hit the other with their attacks that blurred through the night.
Across the clearing, Goku and Goten watched the fight with fascination, wondering who would win. But Goku suspected he already knew the answer.
Maylon and Turrun stood side-by-side on the path of a busy city street, watching as people bustled busily along, their mind centred on their own business and not aware of the intruders amongst them. Maylon looked at the morsels of food he held in either hand, long and soft, a slither of meat stretched along its length covered in red and yellow sauce. It smelt… different, but his mouth watered anyway. He brought one up to his mouth and hesitated before taking a bite, which took away half of it. He chewed thoughtfully, and smiled before devouring the rest of it. Turrun looked at him curiously.
"Well? What are those… Hot Dogs… like?" she asked, mouthing the unfamiliar phrase carefully. Maylon thought for a moment before answering.
"They're good… unusual, but tasty." He frowned, and devoured the second one in a single bite then swallowed. "But they don't taste anything like dog."
"Really?" Turrun asked, not really interested, then took a bite of her own, tearing away the sausage and pulling a face. "I don't like that yellow stuff." She took another bite. "Red stuff is okay though." Maylon smiled and scanned the street, looking for more food, but not seeing anything.
"What was that stuff the vendor asked for, do you reckon?" he asked.
"Mercy? Well, you see, that's NOT throwing him through a wall when he begs you not to." Turrun answered patronisingly.
"No, no. I mean… um… Dlars?" he asked, uncertain as to what they were or what the man had asked. Turrun thought.
"Sounded more like Dolers to me," she replied with a shrug. "Must be a local currency, that's all."
"Ah, I thought so," Maylon said with a nod. "Anyway, where are we going to go now? I'm still hungry, and it's dark. We can't just stay out here all night.
Turrun just shrugged. "Pity it's a full moon, then we could have decimated this worthless planet," she looked about, "and it's pitiful populace," she sneered before absentmindedly licking tomato sauce from her middle finger. Maylon grinned at the thought of going Oozaru and levelling this city and any others around it before the morning.
"Yes, but before that happens let's just find some food, okay?" Maylon said gruffly, his stomach complaining. Turrun nodded and looked about, then grabbed a near by man, holding him in the air.
"Tell me, where can I get some food!" Turrun ordered, narrowing her eyes into a cold stare. The man struggled to break free of the grip on his throat and he gasped for air. "Speak up, I can hardly here you!" Turrun shouted as passers by looked at the scene, some even stopping to watch the spectacle. The man gasped, then pointed at a trembling hand at a building across the road. She dropped him to the floor and walked to the building he had pointed out, not bothering to watch for traffic, but simple grabbing the cars as they headed towards her and holding them there. Maylon simply leaped over the road, all four lanes of traffic, and landed easily on the other side and waited for the Lady Turrun, who arrived momentarily, leaving a line of traffic in her wake.
"What kept you?" Maylon asked, smiling smile. Turrun shot a quick smile then continued on her way to the building that the man had pointed out, stopping in front of the large window covered with a security seal. She looked at it, tapped the metal barrier, felt the metal shudder to her touch, then smiled.
"Is this all that these puny people have to offer?" said Turrun, reaching out with her right hand, fingers up and palm out, about to blast a hole through the seal. Maylon was quick to leap towards her and pushed her hand upwards, sending a flare of blue energy into the air where it exploded.
"You fool! Do you want to destroy the food we want!" He hissed at her. Turrun brought her self up to her full stature, placing her hand son her hips and turning her head away.
"Hmmph! I am the Lady Turrun, of the House of Turrun! I do what I please!" She said, then turned back to Maylon. "You, sir, are just a serf, ready to obey my every whim!" Maylon rolled his eyes and stood up.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever, lady." Maylon answered before turning his attention to the steel security barrier. It looked along its surface, looking for any notches he could get his fingers under so that he might rip it off its runners. "You may have forgotten," he started, talking to Turrun over his shoulder, "but Planet Vegita is gone. No more Great Saiyan Houses. No more House Turrun." He found a place where he could get a finger through. "No more home." Then he wrenched the metal from the building, setting off a large shrill of alarms.
Vegita jumped into the air, and then pushed himself down towards Tomatta, who was ready and waiting. Vegita lashed out a punch, and then a kick, but Tomatta simply grabbed the Prince's leg and spun him around and down, piling him into the ground roughly. Tomatta jumped back and watched Vegita fly up out of the hole Tomatta had just made.
"He's just playing with him…" Goku commentated to himself, watching the raging battle with a serious expression on his face and his arms folded solidly over his chest.
"Who, dad?" Goten asked, his hand gripped around his mother's arm in case the two powered up again and blew her away. Goku looked down at his son, the expression on his face remaining.
"Tomatta, he's just toying with Vegita, trying to make him more and more angry, hoping to get a greater fight out of him," said Goku, turning his attention back to the fight. "He could easily surpass Vegita by a great deal and tear him apart. There is still a lot of energy in that man that he hasn't harnessed. A lot of energy."
"More than Brolli?" asked Goten, hope in his voice. Goku paused before answering, then shook his head.
"I doubt it, I doubt any one thing in this universe is stronger than that beast." Goku's face was still serious, watching the technique that Tomatta used when he fought. He made use of his speed more than his strength, used his elbows and knees rather than feet and fists. He was a powerful man, and so far preferred to be close to his opponents, using hand-to-hand attacks. Vegita had used many of his energy attacks against Tomatta, but the large Saiyan had easily avoided them, or deflected them away from him and into the air, that same grin on his face. Vegita on the other hand used a large array of skills and techniques. He went in close, throwing a large battery of kicks, punches, sweeps, knees, elbows and even his forehead in a quick flurry of blows, then swept out before pummelling his adversary with a large blast of energy, followed by a multitude of smaller ones. But Goku could sense Vegita's irritation increasing as Tomatta withstood all the attacks that had been launched against him. So far, the only blows that had connected were several of Vegita's smaller bolts of energy and just now where Tomatta had run Vegita into the ground.
Vegita spun, pulling his hands into a ball and flashed towards Tomatta, hands clasped ahead of him. Tomatta grinned, then saw the energy bubble building up around Vegita's fists. He ducked, then swung upwards in a vicious kick. Vegita rolled to his left in mid-air, then swivelled and arched his back, turning over so he was facing Tomatta again. He dropped back down to the ground and launched another flurry of punches at Tomatta, aiming both high and low, his arms a blur as he lashed out. Tomatta blocked all of the punched but one, the final punch, which caught him under the rib cage, a perfectly timed and aimed blow that penetrated into his solar plexus. Tomatta doubled over, slightly winded, then felt Vegita's fists slam down onto his back, sending him straight into the ground. He heard Vegita laughing over him, then quickly blurred, rolling away to his left and flipping to his feet. Vegita brought his foot down several moments too late and was shocked to feel Tomatta's heel strike him across the jaw. Vegita wheeled around on his own axis and fell heavily to the floor, then pulled himself up into a crouch, snarling through gritted teeth.
"You shall pay for that, you bastard!" Vegita shouted, then flung himself forward. Anger fuelled his rage, his rage in-turn fuelling his power as he blurred towards Tomatta, laughing in the light of the auras. Vegita spun around in the air, bringing his foot out for a heavy kick to the face, but Tomatta disappeared. With dread, Vegita tried to bring himself around and down, to get a foot onto the ground so he could block the elbow that was lashing down from above. But it was too late; the elbow caught Vegita in the side of the head and sent him pin wheeling across the ground, leaving him lying on his back, arms and legs sprawled around him. Vegita quickly shook his head clear of the daze and leapt back up to his feat and again launched himself to attack Tomatta.
"Vegita! Just admit it, you are no match for me!" the other taunted. Goku stepped forward a pace; despite his feelings he couldn't just stand there and allow Vegita to be pummelled into the ground.
"Vegita! He's right! You can't win this! He's too powerful!" Goku shouted. Vegita heard the comment but ignored it, his attention on calling up a surge of his power. A large ball of energy swept around each of his hands and hurled them both at Tomatta's gloating form. Tomatta blurred to the left, avoiding both the large bolts of energy then ducked down and swung a kick in Vegita's direction, but Vegita had a different plan. He touched down before reaching Tomatta and jumped, placing a kick into his opponent's face. Tomatta reared back and yelled in pain and never saw that the two blasts of energy that Vegita had fired off turn over in mid air, crossing each other, and head back towards him. Vegita looked up, grinned evilly and leapt back, watching with evil glee as each bolt exploded into Tomatta, before turning back to Goku with a smug, satisfied look on his face.
"Well, Kakkarot… It seems that you were wrong, once again! HAHA-HAHA-HA!" Vegita laughed.
"No, Vegita, I'm right. If you think that those two small blasts are enough to destroy Tomatta, then you are more foolish than arrogant," replied Goku.
"He's right, Vegita," rumbled a familiar voice. Vegita spun around shocked, in time to feel a fist smash him in the face and sending him sprawling across the floor once again. "I'm just too powerful."
Maylon looked about the shop in sheer delight, but that irritating wailing was still making his skull vibrate. As soon a she discovered where it was coming from he was going to stomp it into dust! Ignoring the alarm, reached out and grasped a packet of biscuits [US: Cookies] and looked at them, sniffing the round morsels that spilled out with caution. Satisfied that they were edible, he bit into one, then another and another, before long he had emptied the contents of several different packets, the only remains being a handful of scrunched-up wrappers on the floor surrounded by a mound of crumbs and broken pieces of biscuit.
Turrun, on the other hand, was scrutinising the clothing section of the store, pulling out random items of clothing and holding them against herself, sizing them out before tossing them down onto the floor. She bit into a block of cheese and gulped down the mouthfuls, swallowing them down with great swigs of milk from cartons. She wiped pieces of her meal away the sleeve of a T-shirt and then continued along through the store, inspecting the food and clothing.
Maylon carried on down the aisles, eventually coming to section filled with small tins. He carried on until he was halfway down the aisle and then picked up a tin at random, looking at it sceptically. He held the tin at head height, then with a single chop of his hand, sliced the top clean off, sending it whirring across the aisle and cutting through several packets of something. He ignored the spilt produce and dipped a finger inside the decapitated can, then withdrew it covered in a red liquid. He tasted it thoughtfully, and thinking that it tasted similar to the red stuff on the hotdogs he had eaten earlier. Peering inside the tin he saw several things floating in the red sauce, stained red with the sauce. They were small hoops about half a centimetre across. He shrugged and poured the food into his mouth, being careful not to spill a drop of sauce or let slip a single spaghetti hoop. When the tin was empty of its content bar the last dregs of sauce clinging to the tin walls, he smacked his lips and nodded. He liked this stuff.
Turrun rounded the corner a little later and found him devouring another can of something, and saw a multitude of different packets and cans discarded on the floor. She also noticed that he had not spilt any food onto himself or the floor, the only mess caused by his method of taking the tops off the cans, which she discovered as he picked another can off the shelf and sliced it open with a single swing of his hand. Seeing the Lady Turrun, he offered her the can, but she denied it graciously and looked about the shelves, picking up a tin and expecting the wrapping. It was a happy scene of several kernels of yellow morsels of food with a happy-looking green man towering over them. She studied it a moment before simply dropping the can on the floor, making a dull thudded ringing noise as it landed and rolled away. Meanwhile, Maylon had already finished the new can and was smacking his lips happily.
"This food is kinda nice, it's… different." Said Maylon, rubbing his belly and dropping the empty can. It bounced off his foot and rolled away unnoticed under the shelves. Turrun looked at him with a quizzical expression and nodded her head down another aisle.
"Come on, let's go, that noise is starting to make my head ring," She ordered. Maylon nodded and started to move away, but stopped and grabbed a handful of cans, storing them in one of his sash pockets. "You like those, huh?" The lady asked, and Maylon nodded happily.
"Yeah, it might be foreign, but it's nice foreign," the man said. Turrun considered this, then shook her head.
"But when all's said and done," Turrun said, "you can't beat good old fashioned home cooking."
Tomatta had Vegita by the throat and jumped high, then spun the Saiyan Prince around so he was under the larger Saiyan, placed his feet on Vegita's chest and pushed. Vegita's cry of pain came out as a gasp, then suddenly became piecing as Tomatta released his grip, sending Vegita hurtling to the ground below. Tomatta hovered in the air for a moment then flashed downward in a blur, directly towards where Vegita lay, and planted a knee squarely in the small of his back. Vegita's back arched as he yelled, pain swelling through his entire body. Tomatta leapt to his feet and swung his foot around in a fast curve, catching Vegita in the back of the head and sent his face back down into the ground, throwing up clods of earth. Vegita lay on the ground, still and silent, only his back moving as he breathed. Tomatta stood over him, watching for a moment, then knelt beside the stricken Vegita and raised a hand into the air, straightening his fingers and leaving the hand poised to swing around and chop into Vegita's neck.
"Now, you pay your price, destroyer of your people!" Tomatta said through gritted teeth. He sliced down wards, but a hand caught his wrist at the crucial moment, mere inches from Vegita's neck.
"You've got it wrong, cousin," Goku said, his passive face full of intense feeling. "Vegita was the one who saved us all. He's the one who destroyed Frieza on the Planet Namek before the bastard could have a chance to destroy it. He avenged all Saiyans for the destruction of their world and the murder of their friends and families. Without Vegita, this planet and all that stand on it would be destroyed. He mortally wounded Frieza on Namek, but he survived and fled. When he returned for revenge, he returned here, to Earth, with his father King Cold. Here, Vegita finished them both off, destroying them completely and eternally. All this happened when I was away, travelling through space on my way home from Namek where Frieza had killed me and after I had been wished back by my friends. When I finally reached home, Vegita greeted my, gloating, and he told me that he had avenged us… for the murder of both our fathers and the destruction of our home. And that was the only time I saw a tear in his eye."
Tomatta looked at his cousin, then slowly lowered his hand and stood up, looking down at Vegita on the ground. He looked one again at Goku, and sighed.
"I have misjudged you, Prince Vegita," he said, then kneeling back down and dropping his power level, "and I kneel before you as your loyal servant."
Suddenly, Vegita stirred on the ground, and he blurred around and had Tomatta gripped by the throat. He pushed his bruised face close against the grander Saiyan and spoke through gritted teeth.
"You bastard! After what you have done to me I should kill you!" Vegita hissed, but then he released his grip on the Saiyan and stood up, standing over Tomatta and glaring away over his shoulder with triumphant arrogance. "But, since you have pledge your service and loyalty to me I will forgive you, " Vegita shot a hard glare at Tomatta, "this time! But only because you are the relative of that fool Kakkarot and that must mean you share the same idiocy gene!" Tomatta picked himself off the ground and brushed himself down as Vegita turned and took a couple of steps away from Goku and Tomatta. "Plus we need all the help we can get against that blasted Brolli!" Vegita added solemnly. Goku took a step forward and smiled.
"Vegita, does that mean you'll stand with us against Brolli?" Goku said.
"Of course I will!" Vegita said, turning to stare at Goku. "He's already threatened to kill me today, so I'm not going to help him, am I! Besides, he humiliated me the last time we fought, I think it's time we showed him the true power of the Super Saiyan!"
On the Lookout pavilion, Dende stood looking down on Earth, watching the events at Goku's home with interest. Piccolo came up and stood beside him, stiffly upright and solidly crossing his arms under his cowl.
"Did I miss anything?" Piccolo asked gruffly. Dende smiled.
"Yes, something amazing has just happened." Piccolo turned and looked at the guardian, his jaw open.
"Vegita didn't beat Tomatta, did he!" Piccolo gasped. Dende chuckled.
"No, no. Nothing like that, Mister Piccolo. Something more productive," he responded.
"Then what, then?" Piccolo asked, nearly demanding.
"Vegita has just joined us against Brolli, now with Goku, Gohan, Gotenks, Vegita and Tomatta, we should be fairly able to defeat that brute!" Dende said, an air of triumph appearing across his features. Piccolo returned his attention to the Earth.
"You don't actually think we could stop him, once and for all, do you?" the Namek warrior asked. There was a pause in the conversation as Dende stood there, just looking down upon the cloud-covered Earth thoughtfully. Then he finally broke the silence.
"Only time can tell."
With our intrepid heroes banded together now, do they honestly have a chance at stopping the Saiyan juggernaut, Brolli? Or are they merely giving him a slightly greater challenge now as Vegita and his new power joins the fray? And what of Applor and Fru? Will they join in against Brolli, as weak as they are compared to our usual crew, or will there be a surprise in store? Finally, which side will Maylon, lady Turrun and the other Lost Saiyans on the Earth choose? Find out next time, on… TOTAL WAR!