Sins of the Fathers Part Three
His current situation didn't leave much room for profound thought, but he was at least grateful that he and Kitara hadn't been annihilated as soon as they had landed. However the Namek and the other Saiya-jin had only waited until he was healed before attacking him. Airborne and dodging a barrage of ki blasts, Reizoku back-flipped; a blast singeing his newly healed tail. The howl of pain was clearly audible even through the multitude of attacks.
Keeping a close eye on her partner's progress, Kitara hovered about 50ft above the domed roof of Capsule Corps, Goten and Trunks beside her.
'Can't either of you talk to them? Rei's not going to hurt anybody.'
Goten shrugged blandly. He knew better than to interrupt his father, Gohan, Piccolo and Vegeta once they got going. Admittedly it had been Piccolo who had initiated the fight, but he was hardly going to point that out to three irate Saiya-jin and a pissed off Namek. 'You might know that and so do we, but try telling that to Dad and Vegeta.'
Only a member of the royal family of Vegeta-sei could have produced the glare she shot at him. Trunks looked up in the air and shook his head. Fast as he was, the changeling wouldn't last much longer against this strength of an attack. 'Dad's pretty single-minded once it comes to the changelings. If he even sees one, it's pretty much 'clank clank, you're dead'.'
'Oooohhhh, remind me to throttle you later…little brother.' The Saiya-jin female propelled herself into the battle area, trying to reach Reizoku before her father's Final Flash Attack could. Weaving through the assorted blasts, she thanked the gods that she had grown stronger from so many severe injuries. The extra speed made her course easier, but only marginally less lethal. Reaching her target, she turned round to face the assault, spreading her arms wide and generating a ki shield around herself and Reizoku. The attacks lessened, then halted as Goku, Gohan, Vegeta and Piccolo realised what she was doing.
'Since you're taking a small break from trying to obliterate us, would you please just listen to me?!' Floating down to stand on the dome roof of the Corps building, Reizoku took advantage of the interval in the battle to allow his ki to drop to its normal level. Staring up at the Z Seishi, his shoulders slumped and his face took on an almost pleading expression, one not lost on the warriors.
'I'm not here to kill anyone; I don't want to kill anyone.'
'Why should we believe you. Any dealings we've had with your race resulted with us nearly being destroyed!' Vegeta demonstrated his typical lack of listening to reason and threw a small blast at him. Countering, the changeling flung the ball of energy to one side, letting it explode harmlessly on the ground.
'If I'd wanted to kill you, wouldn't I have done so the moment I was healed?'
Kitara floated down beside him, glaring at her father and the others. 'More to the point, would I have let him live if I knew he was going to be a threat?' She didn't move whatsoever from her position beside him.
'Uh, dad? She does have a point. If it did want to kill us, it would've already started.' It took a lot of willpower not to balk at Vegeta's expression, but Trunks held his ground. He hadn't sensed any malevolence emanating from the changeling and Kitara appeared to trust it…
'Stay out of this, brat.'
'Vegeta…' Trying to calm the prince, Goku restrained him, placing a hand on his shoulder and receiving a filthy look for his efforts. He persevered.' He's right and you know it. Besides, it hasn't retaliated in the slightest; maybe it can be trusted.'
Snarling in frustration, the Saiya-jin prince backed down, though his ki level remained high. He glared at the white figure and spat bitterly on the ground. 'You got lucky…changeling. You won't die until I know what the hell you're doing here.'
Reizoku returned the glare in kind. 'Call me something other than 'changeling' and I might tell you.'
Vegeta's expression turned murderous. 'And what pathetic changeling name do you call yourself by?'
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Trying to avoid Vegeta's fists as he struggled against their hold, the Son males, Trunks and Piccolo all shared an exasperated look. Kitara and Reizoku weren't faring any better. The Saiya-jin female was trying to help Kuririn, Yamucha and Tenshinhan create a living blockade around her father, while Reizoku was airborne once again, dodging ki blasts.
'In the history of bad introductions, that rated somewhere around the top three!' Kitara ducked to avoid a blast and glared up at the changeling. 'Why the hell did you go and say that?'
Reizoku deflected a mid-air blast and returned the glare. 'Because I thought he didn't know about me! With a family like mine, you try to remain innocuous.'
'Pardon me?! Look at the shit I've gone through, and that's just because I'm a Saiya-jin princess! Saying you're the prince of the changelings generally pisses people off!'
'I'm just saying it would've been nice not to be associated with Papa for once, 'kay?' A blast impacted heavily on his shoulder and he screamed in pain as he fell out of the sky. Breaking free of the full nelson Piccolo was holding him in, Vegeta tore down to the ground, his rage causing him to power up to SSJ 1. Grabbing hold of the regent by his neck, Vegeta's grip tightened and his voice rose to a harsh bellow.
'I may not have had the pleasure of killing Frieza, but insuring the destruction of his offspring is a challenge I will gladly accept!' Reizoku's tail hung nearly a foot from the ground as he struggled against Vegeta's grip, and fighting to stay conscious against a rapidly diminishing supply of air. Despite the fact that the changelings could survive in the vacuum of space, even they couldn't last long with a block on their circulatory system. Abruptly, the ground came up to meet him as he landed unceremoniously in a heap. Looking up and massaging his bruised shoulder and neck, he saw Kitara standing in front of him in full fighting stance. Vegeta was staring dazedly at her, his rage returning fast as a gigantic welt appeared on his cheek. Evidently Kitara had kicked him, the shock making the Saiya-jin loosen his grip enough for him to break free.
Kitara met her father's glare head on as his rage grew. Breaking out of her stance, she crouched in front of Reizoku, using her body as a shield against any attacks. 'If you kill Rei, you'll kill me first.'
'Move.' Vegeta's order was as cold as his expression.
'No.'
'Get out of the way now! That thing needs to be destroyed!'
'Tough crap. You kill him, you'll come through me first.'
'My own daughter…protecting a changeling…' He looked completely disgusted as he raised a hand to strike her.
'Ok, Ok, time out you guys.' Goku formed his hands into a T shape. Stepping in between the two Saiya-jin, he scratched his head and frowned slightly at the body sprawled on the ground. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was almost disappointed not being able to sense any malice emanating from the changeling, but for the most part, he was shocked by the discovery. Frieza had been a father…That meant he had once had a mate as well. If she or Reizoku turned out to be anything like the destroyer of the Saiya-jin… 'Call me nuts, but I never thought Frieza was the paternal type. I'm not calling you a liar…' He quickly capitulated as Reizoku shot a reproachful look at him. '…But how come none of us except Vegeta knew about you, your Highness?'
The changeling blanched at the title he detested so much. 'Just Reizoku is fine. I don't enjoy being referred to as a prince.'
'You didn't seem to mind referring to your title when you introduced yourself.' Kuririn folded his arms and frowned down at him.
'I only did that to piss him off.' Reizoku jerked his head at the seething Vegeta.
'You little…' His ki flared dramatically.
'Dad…' Trunks chorused the word along with Kitara.
Piccolo nodded slightly at the changeling. 'Go on.' Reizoku sighed heavily, then began.
TBC