Disclaimer: I do not own the DBZ characters. Yadda…Yadda…Yadda.
Warnings: Little Vegeta, Trunks and Goten.
Archive: Of course!
Thanks go to Stormy, Maria and Stacey for encouragement when it was needed.
A Killer In Me
Part 6
There was a spaceship sitting in the middle of the clearing, next to the pool.
It didn't look anything like one of Freiza's circular ships, or even the Saiyan spherical pods. Instead, it was oddly boxlike, sitting on jointed legs. There were absolutely no aerodynamic features. There were no visible windows or doors. Yet it was unmistakably a spaceship.
"It looks like we have company," Goku said.
"Your powers of observation are truly stunning, Kakarott," Vegeta sneered as he reached up and tapped the controls on his scouter. Strange alien symbols flowed over the tiny screen. As he read the information, Vegeta scowled.
"What is it?" Piccolo asked.
"The ship itself is of unknown origin. Of the 2,567 types of ships programmed into the scouter, it matches none of them. The hull of the ship consists of a unique mixture of carbon and steel, and another alloy that my scouter cannot identify," he reported, adjusting the scouter's controls. "Infrared, radar and ultraviolet readings are unable to penetrate the hull, so we have no idea of whatever is in there. And electromagnetic readings are off the scale," he added offhandedly.
Goku and Goten blinked. But Trunks had practically grown up in Dr. Briefs' lab and understood some of it, as did Piccolo and Gohan.
"Can anyone sense anything?" Piccolo asked, having tried and having no luck whatsoever.
Goku and the others shook their heads. "We didn't even hear it land," Goku said.
"Piccolo did," Gohan grimaced. "It was very sub-sonic. We didn't see it until it was on the ground. Then it sort of rippled into existence."
All talk ceased as a ramp lowered from the bottom of the ship and two beings strolled down and out onto the grass.
They were humanoid, rather chunky but not fat. Both wore casual clothes, not armor and they didn't carry any visible weapons. One had white shoulder length hair; the other had yellow hair that was closely cut to its head. Neither were very tall, but taller than Vegeta had been as an adult. They each wore what looked to be a scouter and one carried a black box-device in one hand. They seemed to be discussing something important.
"The buggers should be around here somewhere," the one with white hair was saying.
"You'd better be right," the other snapped impatiently
"Of course I am!" said the first, sounding insulted. "And what with the rumors and all, this is the only place they could be." They looked up abruptly, seeing the Z fighters were observing them.
"Hullo!" the white haired one greeted the cheerfully. "Nice place. Do you live around here much?" He paused briefly, eyeing the Z fighters. "I was just saying to my friend here that this seemed to be a nice planet, isn't that right?" he turned to the yellow haired one who snorted and rolled his eyes.
Goku returned the greeting with equal cheer. "Thanks, we like it here."
Piccolo spoke up from beside Gohan. "Who are you?" He was wary of any alien life forms. In his experience very few were what they seemed to be.
The white haired one slapped his forehead. "Oh, pardon my manners! I am Kiwi. This is my partner Papaya," he gestured to the yellow haired one. "Who are you?"
"You can call me Piccolo," the Nameckian rumbled.
"I'm Goku!" Goku grinned. "Those are my sons Gohan and Goten," he pointed to them respectively. Gohan nodded politely, Goten waved.
"Trunks!" Trunks flashed a victory sign.
All eyes turned to Vegeta. He glared back, his arms folder over his chest and remaining stubbornly silent.
Goku sighed. "And Vegeta," he finished.
"Pleased to meetcha!" Kiwi laughed.
"So what are you doing here on Earth?" Piccolo asked. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was not quite kosher with these two.
"We are here to find some Saiyans!" Kiwi beamed. Piccolo decided he didn't trust them any further than, well…he didn't trust them.
Goku scratched the back of his head. "Well, I'd say that you found some."
Two sets of eyebrows shot up. "Really?" Kiwi exclaimed. "How smashing!" He looked around eagerly. "Uh…where?"
"Us, you idiot," Vegeta snapped irritably. He had always had a hard time dealing with simpletons. "We are Saiyans," he snapped pointing to Goku, Gohan and himself.
"You are Saiyans? Well, then, I'd say we came to the right spot. Don't you agree Papaya?" Kiwi turned to his companion.
Papaya nodded, his eyes studied Vegeta almost hungrily. Vegeta glared back, his tail snapping from side to side betraying his agitation. Something in the alien's gaze made Piccolo uneasy. Without realizing it, he edged closer to Vegeta.
Kiwi beamed. "Ah, yes, I see. There's the little one's tail." He turned to Goku, and frowned. "Where is yours?"
Goku shook his head sadly. Being around Vegeta made him long for his tail again. "It was removed permanently when I was young," he said.
The two aliens frowned at each other. But when they turned back, the frowns were gone. "Ah, that's a shame," Kiwi sympathized.
Piccolo had enough. "What are you?" he asked.
They looked at each other again. "We are Tsufuru-jins," Papaya said.
Vegeta's eyebrows shot up. "No way," he said flatly.
Kiwi grinned. "Way."
The Z fighters turned to the brat prince. "I take it you know these people?" Gohan asked.
"Not personally," Vegeta scowled. "But according to the history of Vegetasei, the Tsufuru-jin also lived on Vegetasei. The Saiyans defeated them and became the rulers of the planet. They were all killed when Vegetasei blew up."
Kiwi smiled. It was a knowing smile, and not at all pleasant. "That's an interesting version of history, little one," he said. "But not entirely accurate."
"What do you mean?" Goku asked, scratching his head.
"The Tsufuru-jin were a race of extremely high intelligence. Their technology was without parallel. They ruled several quadrants of the galaxy for a countless millennium. The Tsufuru-jins inhabiting the planet Vegetasei, as you called it, were a colony of scientists who were sent there to study the indigenous population. They were working on an experimental procedure of genetic manipulation when the Saiyans destroyed them."
Piccolo frowned, eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Were the Saiyans involved in these experiments?"
"Of course! They were the objects of them." Kiwi admitted cheerfully. "The Saiyans were a very primitive race, still living in caves and wearing animal skins. They had no technology, or system of writing. All they did was fight, eat and mate. But they held a vast potential. The Tsufuru-jin rulers sent the gene techs to create them the strongest fighters in the universe."
"Why would a race that was so technologically superior need to create warriors?" Gohan asked.
"A powerful race, such as the Tsufuru-jin, tend to make powerful enemies," Kiwi said mysteriously. "And sometimes technology can't take the place of a living warrior."
"So you needed the Saiyans to fight for you?" Piccolo asked.
Papaya scowled and elbowed his partner. "This is taking too long. Test them and be done." At those words, the Z fighters glanced at each other and immediately took up defensive positions, except Goku, who still stood at ease.
"What are you talking about?" Gohan asked.
"We are going to test the Saiyans for certain genetic coding." Kiwi said seriously, his cheerful demeanor falling away until he looked as grim as his companion.
"And you think that we'll just sit still and let you do this?" Vegeta growled.
Papaya laughed, it was a harsh, ugly sound. "Yes, as a matter of fact, we do."
Kiwi raised the box in his hand and touched a button. Immediately a sound filled the clearing that was so intense it went right through the heads of the Z fighters. Piccolo, with his ultra-sensitive hearing went down first. Gohan tried to go to him, but didn't make a step before he was overcome. The two full-blooded Saiyans took a heartbeat longer, but in the end it was the same result.
When he was sure that they were all unconscious, Kiwi turned off the sound and climbed back into the ship. It was just a scout ship. Their main ship was still in high orbit around the planet, cloaked from probing satellites.
The Tsufuru-jin called Papaya looked around, puzzled. "I thought there were more of them," he said.
"There were," Kiwi called down to his companion from the spaceship.
"So where did they go?" Papaya catching the metallic bands that Kiwi tossed to him.
"Who cares?" the white-haired Tsufuru-jin shrugged re-emerging from the ship. "All we need are the Saiyans. Ok, hurry and get the dampeners on them. They are very powerful and I for one do not want to face a pissed off Saiyan with no defense."
Piccolo groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. His head pounded as he forced himself to concentrate on the sun. It hadn't moved very far, so Piccolo figured that it had only been a few minutes since he'd lost consciousness. He tried to move, but found that his arms were bound to his sides by strange metallic bands. His legs were strapped together as well. He tired to exert his ki to break the bands, but something was interfering with his control.
Through a series of contortions, he was able to sit up. He quickly noticed that the others were in similar positions. The Tsufuru-jins were just finishing putting the bands on Gohan, and Piccolo cursed to himself when he saw how easily they had all been captured. Then he noticed that Trunks and Goten were missing. A small hope flared in his heart, and he quickly schooled his expression to neutrality.
Soon they had all revived. Each of them was staring at their captors, their expressions ranging from outrage to concern. Even Goku lost his normal goofy look. Piccolo was grimly pleased to see that the tall Saiyan was taking the situation seriously.
"Will you hurry up, Kiwi!" Papaya called to his partner who was once again rummaging around in the ship.
"I'm coming. Hold your pants on," was the irritable reply. "This is very delicate equipment and can't be handled like a sack of potatoes, you know." Kiwi backed down the ramp, dragging a huge black box. Papaya helped him carry it to where the captives were and they set it down gently. Kiwi opened the box and began to set up strange machines, mutter to himself.
"What's in there?" Gohan asked, craning his neck to get a better look.
"Just some equipment," Kiwi shrugged offhandedly. He took something out of the box and approached Goku.
Goku eyed him calmly, even though he was unable to move. The bands might have prevented him from moving, or even utilizing his ki, but they all knew that there was little the Tsufuru-jin could do to him that would harm him.
Kiwi crouched down next to Goku, whose eyes unexpectedly widened in absolute horror. He immediately started screaming and squirming, desperately trying to get away from Kiwi, and what he was holding. He made such a racket that the other captives flinched.
Papaya hurried over. "What in bloody blazes are you doing to him?" he demanded.
Kiwi looked up, embarrassed. "Nothing!" he said. "I was just taking a tissue sample when he freaked out!" He held up a syringe with a needle attached to it.
Piccolo groaned, and Gohan looked embarrassed. Vegeta just looked mystified.
Papaya looked over at Piccolo. Piccolo shrugged. "He's scared of needles."
"What the hell?" the prince asked in annoyance. "Kakarrott, you fool! Knock it off! You are embarrassing the Saiyan race with this cowardly behavior!" he shouted.
"Nah…nah…nah…needle!!!!" was all Goku could say.
"Good lord!" Papaya said, rolling his eyes. "Did you get the sample?" he asked Kiwi who was backing away from the hysterical Saiyan, wide-eyed.
"Uh, yeah." Kiwi went back to his black box while the others shook their heads. He injected the tissue sample into a much smaller box and set it down watching the small screen on the top of the box intently.
"Well?" Papaya asked impatiently.
"Hmmm. Hey! We're in luck here. According to the genetic coding, we seem to have a 2.bErs class three. He's descended from the second set of trials all right. The gene sectors B34 through R65 are a virtual match, as are K23 though T12. I must say this is pretty exciting. I had never thought we would run across a real class three Saiyan. It's a miracle that any are alive." Kiwi went on babbling excitedly.
"So what does that mean?" Papaya wanted to know. It was obvious that Kiwi was the scientist of the mercenary pair.
Piccolo was glad he'd asked, because he wanted to know too. He could tell that Gohan was fascinated as well. Vegeta was watching them intently, his scouter still recording data. Goku was starting to calm down.
Kiwi turned to his partner, his eyes glowing with excitement. "According to the data sent to one of the main colonies, there were two different types of genetic coding developed in the experimentation. The first one, known as the s.Prou sub-t, was the first real success, that resulted in extremely powerful Saiyans. But there were some major drawbacks. They would reach their full potential at a very young age; too young as it turned out, leaving them prone to extreme mental instability. In other words, not only were they insanely powerful, they were flat out insane."
An image of Brolli flashed through Piccolo's mind. Something told him that Brolli had been an s.Prou sub-t.
Kiwi went on. "The second set of coding of the genetic enhancements for the 2.bErs were supposedly enhanced strength and stamina, much like the s.Prou sub-t's. But they reached maximum ki potential at a much later age. And unlike the s.Prou sub-t's, they are much more mentally stable and even have a low-grade telepathic ability. This one could be very useful," he concluded.
"Excellent!" Papaya gloated, rubbing his hands together. "Test the next one."
Kiwi crouched next to Gohan. They both eyed each other warily. The Tsufuru- jin gingerly drew a tissue sample and they both heaved a sigh of relief when it was over.
Checking the sample, Kiwi's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "He's not a pure Saiyan!"
"Really?" his partner came over to study the readings over Kiwi's shoulder. "Then he's no good to us."
"True, but we may be able to learn something from these samples."
Kiwi then turned to Vegeta, who was scowling at him. "You're going to pay for this," the prince promised.
The Tsufuru-jin ignored that. After he got the sample, and a warning growl from Vegeta, he returned to the box. Papaya kicked the grass, impatient to get going with their prize.
Kiwi scowled as the results flashed on the screen. "What the?" he muttered, shaking his head and resetting the test to run again.
Papaya wandered over. "What's the problem?" he asked, his patience nearly gone.
"These results are strange. They do not match either the 2.bErs or the s.Prou sub-t genetic coding. There are some similarities between the cub's and the adult's, but look here," he pointed to a set of readings. "These are completely different here and here." He pointed to other sets of readings. "I don't understand. Unless," he trailed off as he leaned forward and reset the testing yet again. This time he added some more command parameters. As the results flashed on the screen, he drew a deep breath. "By all that is holy, I wouldn't have believed it was possible!"
"What?" Papaya was almost dancing with impatience. Piccolo could feel his insides churning with dread, and by the looks of Goku and Gohan, they too were worried.
"This one is a v.Geta class one!" Kiwi whispered in awe.
"A what?" Gohan asked.
Turning to Gohan, Kiwi explained, his voice tight with excitement. "Right before the colony was destroyed, rumor has it they were working on a radically upgraded genetic code. There was never any indication that the genetic coding was successful before the destruction. They must have completed it just as the colony fell."
"So what is the difference between a v.Geta class one and a 2.bErs, or whatever?" Gohan asked, fascinated, ignoring Vegeta's indignant glare.
"We were able to salvage some of the data, but there are still huge gaps in what we know about the v.Geta type class one. We don't know how the gene techs managed to engineer much of what is supposed to make up a v.Geta, but they tagged the code in a very unmistakable way. That's the only reason we could even figure out what the cub is. According to the prospectus, the v.Geta class one was designed with a higher intelligence and telepathic abilities, reaching the point to where the individual could be mentally bonded to any number of Saiyans at once. The goal was to create a single Saiyan that had the ability to communicate with any and all Saiyans. This individual was to direct and coordinate battles across vast distances."
Piccolo glanced at Vegeta who was glaring defiantly at the Tsufuru-jins. He wondered if the prince had felt his people being decimated when Freiza destroyed Vegetasei. He hoped that was not the case, but suspected that it might very well be. His heart briefly went out to the arrogant little prince.
"What else?" Goku asked. He too was fascinated by the lesson. Vegeta had not been inclined to talk about their home planet except in short, bitter explanations.
"Of the three types of genetic codes, the v.Geta class one was supposedly the slowest to reach their full potential, well into their prime, but they were designed to be the most powerful by far." Kiwi said. "You see, it was discovered that the earlier full potential was reached, the weaker that potential was, and an increased danger of mental instability."
Piccolo and Goku exchanged glances. This news might have helped alleviate some of Vegeta's frustration as an adult. Vegeta had always felt that he was the most powerful Saiyan, and now it seemed that his claims were validated. It hadn't been his fault that he wasn't able to become stronger than Goku over the years; his body was designed to grow more powerful, more gradually. Piccolo wondered if they should tell the prince this when Bulma restored him to his actual age.
Gohan interrupted Piccolo's musing with another question. "But what good is waiting so long for full potential? Wouldn't they become too old too soon after they reached their full power to use it to any real effect?"
Kiwi laughed in delight. "No! That's the beauty of it," he exclaimed. "The geneticists were trying to interrupt the cell degradation! And from the looks of some of these readings, it looks like they succeeded!"
Now all the listeners were confused. "Would you speak plainly? We aren't all techno-geeks," Papaya snapped irritably.
Rubbing his chin, Kiwi thought a moment. "Ok, it's like this. Each cell in your body can replace itself only so many times. After that certain set number of times, the cells start to die. Thus old age set in. But, the gene techs were able to turn off the counter. After prime was reached, the cells would continue to replicate indefinitely."
Piccolo stared in astonishment. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"
The Tsufuru-jin nodded, grinning insanely. "Yup, the cub will grow up, but not grow old."
Silence fell on the clearing. They all just stared to Vegeta, who had closed his eyes. "I can't believe it," Gohan murmured.
"And if he were to continue his life without being killed, his power would continue to grow indefinitely as well. There is literally no limit to how strong this cub will grow up to be!" Kiwi said ecstatically.
Vegeta sat still, listening to them talk about him like he was some piece of livestock and bitterly resented it.
"Is there anything else about him we should know?" Piccolo asked somewhat hesitantly. So far what they had learned was frightening. There was Vegeta, who had the dubious honor of being the most destructive being on earth, and now they found out not only was he immortal, but also had the potential to become much, much stronger than Goku.
"Oh yes, lots of things, but I'm afraid that time is short. We must be going now." Kiwi said, packing up his equipment back into the box. "Grab the cub. We'll need to run a lot more tests if we are going to figure out what the gene techs did to him. You know, I'll bet we'll get quite wealthy off that information. Hell, we might even put him up for auction. Can you imagine how much some governments will pay for him? We'll be richer than god!"
Papaya picked up the struggling Vegeta. "C'mon cub. You're our ticket to glory. Stop that now," he said as Vegeta tried to bite him.
"Let go of me this instant!" Vegeta hollered, panic at the edge of his voice.
"NO!" Goku shouted, struggling against the metallic bands. He pulled so hard that the bands began to ripple and contort.
"Leave him alone!" Gohan added, struggling like his father.
"Kiwi, will you shut them up?" Papaya said as he struggled to get the squirming Vegeta on board and safely secured.
The white-haired Tsufuru-jin touched that button on his black box and once more that horrible sound filled the clearing, rendering the Z fighters unconscious.
Just as Goku was falling back into the black pit of unconsciousness, he saw the look in Vegeta's eyes and felt real fear well up in him. The prince looked furious and terrified at the same time. But there was more: there was an awful knowing in them.
'He's been through this before' Goku thought, and then thought no more.
TBC
Warnings: Little Vegeta, Trunks and Goten.
Archive: Of course!
Thanks go to Stormy, Maria and Stacey for encouragement when it was needed.
A Killer In Me
Part 6
There was a spaceship sitting in the middle of the clearing, next to the pool.
It didn't look anything like one of Freiza's circular ships, or even the Saiyan spherical pods. Instead, it was oddly boxlike, sitting on jointed legs. There were absolutely no aerodynamic features. There were no visible windows or doors. Yet it was unmistakably a spaceship.
"It looks like we have company," Goku said.
"Your powers of observation are truly stunning, Kakarott," Vegeta sneered as he reached up and tapped the controls on his scouter. Strange alien symbols flowed over the tiny screen. As he read the information, Vegeta scowled.
"What is it?" Piccolo asked.
"The ship itself is of unknown origin. Of the 2,567 types of ships programmed into the scouter, it matches none of them. The hull of the ship consists of a unique mixture of carbon and steel, and another alloy that my scouter cannot identify," he reported, adjusting the scouter's controls. "Infrared, radar and ultraviolet readings are unable to penetrate the hull, so we have no idea of whatever is in there. And electromagnetic readings are off the scale," he added offhandedly.
Goku and Goten blinked. But Trunks had practically grown up in Dr. Briefs' lab and understood some of it, as did Piccolo and Gohan.
"Can anyone sense anything?" Piccolo asked, having tried and having no luck whatsoever.
Goku and the others shook their heads. "We didn't even hear it land," Goku said.
"Piccolo did," Gohan grimaced. "It was very sub-sonic. We didn't see it until it was on the ground. Then it sort of rippled into existence."
All talk ceased as a ramp lowered from the bottom of the ship and two beings strolled down and out onto the grass.
They were humanoid, rather chunky but not fat. Both wore casual clothes, not armor and they didn't carry any visible weapons. One had white shoulder length hair; the other had yellow hair that was closely cut to its head. Neither were very tall, but taller than Vegeta had been as an adult. They each wore what looked to be a scouter and one carried a black box-device in one hand. They seemed to be discussing something important.
"The buggers should be around here somewhere," the one with white hair was saying.
"You'd better be right," the other snapped impatiently
"Of course I am!" said the first, sounding insulted. "And what with the rumors and all, this is the only place they could be." They looked up abruptly, seeing the Z fighters were observing them.
"Hullo!" the white haired one greeted the cheerfully. "Nice place. Do you live around here much?" He paused briefly, eyeing the Z fighters. "I was just saying to my friend here that this seemed to be a nice planet, isn't that right?" he turned to the yellow haired one who snorted and rolled his eyes.
Goku returned the greeting with equal cheer. "Thanks, we like it here."
Piccolo spoke up from beside Gohan. "Who are you?" He was wary of any alien life forms. In his experience very few were what they seemed to be.
The white haired one slapped his forehead. "Oh, pardon my manners! I am Kiwi. This is my partner Papaya," he gestured to the yellow haired one. "Who are you?"
"You can call me Piccolo," the Nameckian rumbled.
"I'm Goku!" Goku grinned. "Those are my sons Gohan and Goten," he pointed to them respectively. Gohan nodded politely, Goten waved.
"Trunks!" Trunks flashed a victory sign.
All eyes turned to Vegeta. He glared back, his arms folder over his chest and remaining stubbornly silent.
Goku sighed. "And Vegeta," he finished.
"Pleased to meetcha!" Kiwi laughed.
"So what are you doing here on Earth?" Piccolo asked. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was not quite kosher with these two.
"We are here to find some Saiyans!" Kiwi beamed. Piccolo decided he didn't trust them any further than, well…he didn't trust them.
Goku scratched the back of his head. "Well, I'd say that you found some."
Two sets of eyebrows shot up. "Really?" Kiwi exclaimed. "How smashing!" He looked around eagerly. "Uh…where?"
"Us, you idiot," Vegeta snapped irritably. He had always had a hard time dealing with simpletons. "We are Saiyans," he snapped pointing to Goku, Gohan and himself.
"You are Saiyans? Well, then, I'd say we came to the right spot. Don't you agree Papaya?" Kiwi turned to his companion.
Papaya nodded, his eyes studied Vegeta almost hungrily. Vegeta glared back, his tail snapping from side to side betraying his agitation. Something in the alien's gaze made Piccolo uneasy. Without realizing it, he edged closer to Vegeta.
Kiwi beamed. "Ah, yes, I see. There's the little one's tail." He turned to Goku, and frowned. "Where is yours?"
Goku shook his head sadly. Being around Vegeta made him long for his tail again. "It was removed permanently when I was young," he said.
The two aliens frowned at each other. But when they turned back, the frowns were gone. "Ah, that's a shame," Kiwi sympathized.
Piccolo had enough. "What are you?" he asked.
They looked at each other again. "We are Tsufuru-jins," Papaya said.
Vegeta's eyebrows shot up. "No way," he said flatly.
Kiwi grinned. "Way."
The Z fighters turned to the brat prince. "I take it you know these people?" Gohan asked.
"Not personally," Vegeta scowled. "But according to the history of Vegetasei, the Tsufuru-jin also lived on Vegetasei. The Saiyans defeated them and became the rulers of the planet. They were all killed when Vegetasei blew up."
Kiwi smiled. It was a knowing smile, and not at all pleasant. "That's an interesting version of history, little one," he said. "But not entirely accurate."
"What do you mean?" Goku asked, scratching his head.
"The Tsufuru-jin were a race of extremely high intelligence. Their technology was without parallel. They ruled several quadrants of the galaxy for a countless millennium. The Tsufuru-jins inhabiting the planet Vegetasei, as you called it, were a colony of scientists who were sent there to study the indigenous population. They were working on an experimental procedure of genetic manipulation when the Saiyans destroyed them."
Piccolo frowned, eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Were the Saiyans involved in these experiments?"
"Of course! They were the objects of them." Kiwi admitted cheerfully. "The Saiyans were a very primitive race, still living in caves and wearing animal skins. They had no technology, or system of writing. All they did was fight, eat and mate. But they held a vast potential. The Tsufuru-jin rulers sent the gene techs to create them the strongest fighters in the universe."
"Why would a race that was so technologically superior need to create warriors?" Gohan asked.
"A powerful race, such as the Tsufuru-jin, tend to make powerful enemies," Kiwi said mysteriously. "And sometimes technology can't take the place of a living warrior."
"So you needed the Saiyans to fight for you?" Piccolo asked.
Papaya scowled and elbowed his partner. "This is taking too long. Test them and be done." At those words, the Z fighters glanced at each other and immediately took up defensive positions, except Goku, who still stood at ease.
"What are you talking about?" Gohan asked.
"We are going to test the Saiyans for certain genetic coding." Kiwi said seriously, his cheerful demeanor falling away until he looked as grim as his companion.
"And you think that we'll just sit still and let you do this?" Vegeta growled.
Papaya laughed, it was a harsh, ugly sound. "Yes, as a matter of fact, we do."
Kiwi raised the box in his hand and touched a button. Immediately a sound filled the clearing that was so intense it went right through the heads of the Z fighters. Piccolo, with his ultra-sensitive hearing went down first. Gohan tried to go to him, but didn't make a step before he was overcome. The two full-blooded Saiyans took a heartbeat longer, but in the end it was the same result.
When he was sure that they were all unconscious, Kiwi turned off the sound and climbed back into the ship. It was just a scout ship. Their main ship was still in high orbit around the planet, cloaked from probing satellites.
The Tsufuru-jin called Papaya looked around, puzzled. "I thought there were more of them," he said.
"There were," Kiwi called down to his companion from the spaceship.
"So where did they go?" Papaya catching the metallic bands that Kiwi tossed to him.
"Who cares?" the white-haired Tsufuru-jin shrugged re-emerging from the ship. "All we need are the Saiyans. Ok, hurry and get the dampeners on them. They are very powerful and I for one do not want to face a pissed off Saiyan with no defense."
Piccolo groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. His head pounded as he forced himself to concentrate on the sun. It hadn't moved very far, so Piccolo figured that it had only been a few minutes since he'd lost consciousness. He tried to move, but found that his arms were bound to his sides by strange metallic bands. His legs were strapped together as well. He tired to exert his ki to break the bands, but something was interfering with his control.
Through a series of contortions, he was able to sit up. He quickly noticed that the others were in similar positions. The Tsufuru-jins were just finishing putting the bands on Gohan, and Piccolo cursed to himself when he saw how easily they had all been captured. Then he noticed that Trunks and Goten were missing. A small hope flared in his heart, and he quickly schooled his expression to neutrality.
Soon they had all revived. Each of them was staring at their captors, their expressions ranging from outrage to concern. Even Goku lost his normal goofy look. Piccolo was grimly pleased to see that the tall Saiyan was taking the situation seriously.
"Will you hurry up, Kiwi!" Papaya called to his partner who was once again rummaging around in the ship.
"I'm coming. Hold your pants on," was the irritable reply. "This is very delicate equipment and can't be handled like a sack of potatoes, you know." Kiwi backed down the ramp, dragging a huge black box. Papaya helped him carry it to where the captives were and they set it down gently. Kiwi opened the box and began to set up strange machines, mutter to himself.
"What's in there?" Gohan asked, craning his neck to get a better look.
"Just some equipment," Kiwi shrugged offhandedly. He took something out of the box and approached Goku.
Goku eyed him calmly, even though he was unable to move. The bands might have prevented him from moving, or even utilizing his ki, but they all knew that there was little the Tsufuru-jin could do to him that would harm him.
Kiwi crouched down next to Goku, whose eyes unexpectedly widened in absolute horror. He immediately started screaming and squirming, desperately trying to get away from Kiwi, and what he was holding. He made such a racket that the other captives flinched.
Papaya hurried over. "What in bloody blazes are you doing to him?" he demanded.
Kiwi looked up, embarrassed. "Nothing!" he said. "I was just taking a tissue sample when he freaked out!" He held up a syringe with a needle attached to it.
Piccolo groaned, and Gohan looked embarrassed. Vegeta just looked mystified.
Papaya looked over at Piccolo. Piccolo shrugged. "He's scared of needles."
"What the hell?" the prince asked in annoyance. "Kakarrott, you fool! Knock it off! You are embarrassing the Saiyan race with this cowardly behavior!" he shouted.
"Nah…nah…nah…needle!!!!" was all Goku could say.
"Good lord!" Papaya said, rolling his eyes. "Did you get the sample?" he asked Kiwi who was backing away from the hysterical Saiyan, wide-eyed.
"Uh, yeah." Kiwi went back to his black box while the others shook their heads. He injected the tissue sample into a much smaller box and set it down watching the small screen on the top of the box intently.
"Well?" Papaya asked impatiently.
"Hmmm. Hey! We're in luck here. According to the genetic coding, we seem to have a 2.bErs class three. He's descended from the second set of trials all right. The gene sectors B34 through R65 are a virtual match, as are K23 though T12. I must say this is pretty exciting. I had never thought we would run across a real class three Saiyan. It's a miracle that any are alive." Kiwi went on babbling excitedly.
"So what does that mean?" Papaya wanted to know. It was obvious that Kiwi was the scientist of the mercenary pair.
Piccolo was glad he'd asked, because he wanted to know too. He could tell that Gohan was fascinated as well. Vegeta was watching them intently, his scouter still recording data. Goku was starting to calm down.
Kiwi turned to his partner, his eyes glowing with excitement. "According to the data sent to one of the main colonies, there were two different types of genetic coding developed in the experimentation. The first one, known as the s.Prou sub-t, was the first real success, that resulted in extremely powerful Saiyans. But there were some major drawbacks. They would reach their full potential at a very young age; too young as it turned out, leaving them prone to extreme mental instability. In other words, not only were they insanely powerful, they were flat out insane."
An image of Brolli flashed through Piccolo's mind. Something told him that Brolli had been an s.Prou sub-t.
Kiwi went on. "The second set of coding of the genetic enhancements for the 2.bErs were supposedly enhanced strength and stamina, much like the s.Prou sub-t's. But they reached maximum ki potential at a much later age. And unlike the s.Prou sub-t's, they are much more mentally stable and even have a low-grade telepathic ability. This one could be very useful," he concluded.
"Excellent!" Papaya gloated, rubbing his hands together. "Test the next one."
Kiwi crouched next to Gohan. They both eyed each other warily. The Tsufuru- jin gingerly drew a tissue sample and they both heaved a sigh of relief when it was over.
Checking the sample, Kiwi's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "He's not a pure Saiyan!"
"Really?" his partner came over to study the readings over Kiwi's shoulder. "Then he's no good to us."
"True, but we may be able to learn something from these samples."
Kiwi then turned to Vegeta, who was scowling at him. "You're going to pay for this," the prince promised.
The Tsufuru-jin ignored that. After he got the sample, and a warning growl from Vegeta, he returned to the box. Papaya kicked the grass, impatient to get going with their prize.
Kiwi scowled as the results flashed on the screen. "What the?" he muttered, shaking his head and resetting the test to run again.
Papaya wandered over. "What's the problem?" he asked, his patience nearly gone.
"These results are strange. They do not match either the 2.bErs or the s.Prou sub-t genetic coding. There are some similarities between the cub's and the adult's, but look here," he pointed to a set of readings. "These are completely different here and here." He pointed to other sets of readings. "I don't understand. Unless," he trailed off as he leaned forward and reset the testing yet again. This time he added some more command parameters. As the results flashed on the screen, he drew a deep breath. "By all that is holy, I wouldn't have believed it was possible!"
"What?" Papaya was almost dancing with impatience. Piccolo could feel his insides churning with dread, and by the looks of Goku and Gohan, they too were worried.
"This one is a v.Geta class one!" Kiwi whispered in awe.
"A what?" Gohan asked.
Turning to Gohan, Kiwi explained, his voice tight with excitement. "Right before the colony was destroyed, rumor has it they were working on a radically upgraded genetic code. There was never any indication that the genetic coding was successful before the destruction. They must have completed it just as the colony fell."
"So what is the difference between a v.Geta class one and a 2.bErs, or whatever?" Gohan asked, fascinated, ignoring Vegeta's indignant glare.
"We were able to salvage some of the data, but there are still huge gaps in what we know about the v.Geta type class one. We don't know how the gene techs managed to engineer much of what is supposed to make up a v.Geta, but they tagged the code in a very unmistakable way. That's the only reason we could even figure out what the cub is. According to the prospectus, the v.Geta class one was designed with a higher intelligence and telepathic abilities, reaching the point to where the individual could be mentally bonded to any number of Saiyans at once. The goal was to create a single Saiyan that had the ability to communicate with any and all Saiyans. This individual was to direct and coordinate battles across vast distances."
Piccolo glanced at Vegeta who was glaring defiantly at the Tsufuru-jins. He wondered if the prince had felt his people being decimated when Freiza destroyed Vegetasei. He hoped that was not the case, but suspected that it might very well be. His heart briefly went out to the arrogant little prince.
"What else?" Goku asked. He too was fascinated by the lesson. Vegeta had not been inclined to talk about their home planet except in short, bitter explanations.
"Of the three types of genetic codes, the v.Geta class one was supposedly the slowest to reach their full potential, well into their prime, but they were designed to be the most powerful by far." Kiwi said. "You see, it was discovered that the earlier full potential was reached, the weaker that potential was, and an increased danger of mental instability."
Piccolo and Goku exchanged glances. This news might have helped alleviate some of Vegeta's frustration as an adult. Vegeta had always felt that he was the most powerful Saiyan, and now it seemed that his claims were validated. It hadn't been his fault that he wasn't able to become stronger than Goku over the years; his body was designed to grow more powerful, more gradually. Piccolo wondered if they should tell the prince this when Bulma restored him to his actual age.
Gohan interrupted Piccolo's musing with another question. "But what good is waiting so long for full potential? Wouldn't they become too old too soon after they reached their full power to use it to any real effect?"
Kiwi laughed in delight. "No! That's the beauty of it," he exclaimed. "The geneticists were trying to interrupt the cell degradation! And from the looks of some of these readings, it looks like they succeeded!"
Now all the listeners were confused. "Would you speak plainly? We aren't all techno-geeks," Papaya snapped irritably.
Rubbing his chin, Kiwi thought a moment. "Ok, it's like this. Each cell in your body can replace itself only so many times. After that certain set number of times, the cells start to die. Thus old age set in. But, the gene techs were able to turn off the counter. After prime was reached, the cells would continue to replicate indefinitely."
Piccolo stared in astonishment. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"
The Tsufuru-jin nodded, grinning insanely. "Yup, the cub will grow up, but not grow old."
Silence fell on the clearing. They all just stared to Vegeta, who had closed his eyes. "I can't believe it," Gohan murmured.
"And if he were to continue his life without being killed, his power would continue to grow indefinitely as well. There is literally no limit to how strong this cub will grow up to be!" Kiwi said ecstatically.
Vegeta sat still, listening to them talk about him like he was some piece of livestock and bitterly resented it.
"Is there anything else about him we should know?" Piccolo asked somewhat hesitantly. So far what they had learned was frightening. There was Vegeta, who had the dubious honor of being the most destructive being on earth, and now they found out not only was he immortal, but also had the potential to become much, much stronger than Goku.
"Oh yes, lots of things, but I'm afraid that time is short. We must be going now." Kiwi said, packing up his equipment back into the box. "Grab the cub. We'll need to run a lot more tests if we are going to figure out what the gene techs did to him. You know, I'll bet we'll get quite wealthy off that information. Hell, we might even put him up for auction. Can you imagine how much some governments will pay for him? We'll be richer than god!"
Papaya picked up the struggling Vegeta. "C'mon cub. You're our ticket to glory. Stop that now," he said as Vegeta tried to bite him.
"Let go of me this instant!" Vegeta hollered, panic at the edge of his voice.
"NO!" Goku shouted, struggling against the metallic bands. He pulled so hard that the bands began to ripple and contort.
"Leave him alone!" Gohan added, struggling like his father.
"Kiwi, will you shut them up?" Papaya said as he struggled to get the squirming Vegeta on board and safely secured.
The white-haired Tsufuru-jin touched that button on his black box and once more that horrible sound filled the clearing, rendering the Z fighters unconscious.
Just as Goku was falling back into the black pit of unconsciousness, he saw the look in Vegeta's eyes and felt real fear well up in him. The prince looked furious and terrified at the same time. But there was more: there was an awful knowing in them.
'He's been through this before' Goku thought, and then thought no more.
TBC
