DBZ Story #4: "Berter Beginnings: A Ginyu Force Outlook"

Part 22


"I missed you. What was it like there, in the outer space..?"

"Frightening. You were correct in saying so, that time ago. How fares my Marzipan?

"Well, as does my Jaccwelyn. …Were you not going to ask how I fared, as well?"

"Of course I was…"

"For future reference, you should always ask the condition of your mate before that of your steed."

"Ah, my apologies."

"Well received. Come. I'm sure your daughter would love to meet you."



"Hey, wake uuuuuupppp!!!"

Berter shot up, fist drawn back instinctively, and bared his fangs at the would-be aggressor. Several seconds passed by
before he realized it was a startled Jeice. Relaxing, the Tokage slumped and placed a hand on his scaled head.

"What was that, just now?" The Kaijin inquired. He then shook his head. The answer, he was sure, could wait until later. "Man, you better thank your gods that you're alive. You're lucky he let you off with just a gut punch. I thought I warned you about getting Ginyu angry…"

"…W…hat..?"

"Hmm… You're still a little groggy from the tank. Not surprised. It was your first time in there, even if it was only for a little over a
half-hour."

"Wassa… tan…k..?"

"It's what we use to heal ourselves if we get hurt pretty badly. Ginyu feared you might have had some internal bleeding or something so he put you in the tank right away. Piggybacked ya right to it, he did. Still, I think just putting you to bed would've done just as well, but hey…"

"…Hungry……"

"Figured you would be. You didn't eat too much at the mess hall earlier, so I brought you some soup. Eat up."

"…….Tastes bad…"

Jeice shrugged. "Well, hey, you basically eat whatever moves, right? So I guess that wouldn't say much for your pallet."

"Do, not…" He slurped down the contents of the bowl to support his retort. Jeice chuckled.

"Yeah, I thought that might get you. How you feelin'?"

"Better." The Tokage looked about. He found his person armorless and in a strange bed. "…Where am I..?"

"In your quarters. You don't remember? 'Coom lugged you over here after your tank time was over."

"'Coom?"

"Recoom. Y'know, the behemoth." Jeice shifted from his position on the stool to the foot of Berter's bed. "…I'm really glad he didn't kill you. You just came on board, —y'know? —and you seem like a pretty cool guy. But that temper…" The Kaijin tsked. "Gotta watch that from now on, B, else you're gonna find yourself being in the tank a lot more."

The Tokage sighed. He didn't regret his actions a bit, but the humanoid was right. He'd have to watch what he let leave his mouth from now on. "Anyway," Jeice continued. "Ginyu said he wants to talk with you. Make a right from this room, and he'll be at the end of this hall. He's gotyour battle jacket, too. When you're up and able, you can get with him whenever."

"Alright."

"…He's going to punish you when you go in there…"

"Was it not enough to render me unconscious?"

"Well, you got him really mad… It's in your best interest not to fight back. Just let him get it over with, y'understand?"

He glared at the Kaijin. "…I'm not going to let him get me again, Jeice."

"Are you even listening to me? Gah, you're just like Zarbon, always acting the stubborn fool for the sake of dignity!"

Though the smaller man was visibly upset, Berter maintained a non-chalant air. "Don't overreact so. The situation will fare well."

"Well, fine, then! Go on and make things worse for yourself! If you want to lead the tank life, you go right ahead!"


"You wanna fight me, boy?!" SOK!! A right to the jaw. "What's wrong? Where's that fire of yours now?"

Why hadn't he just listened to Jeice? He just had to go and attempt to fight back… One would have thought he'd have learned from being in the rejuvenation tank not to mess with the Captain, but that one would have been wrong. Perhaps that was what Ginyu meant by the ignorance of youth.

The Minotaurus tore into the young man mercilessly, ramming him with countless blows to the head and gut, and throwing in a few ki-blasts for a bit of variety. He wasn't out to kill him, though; he was just showing him who was in charge of who, even if the lesson required him to pull his punches. Even with pulled punches, he still managed to make a mess of Berter. His right wrist, he knew, was shattered, and his left eye had been beaten black. He probably wouldn't see out of it correctly after the ordeal. The man's mouth was completely bloodied, and even the small nostrils, normally kept closed, were open and had blood flowing from them. The Tokage was on the floor of the high bound court, (which is where Ginyu always took his men for these types of punishments) doubled over and spewing the contents of his stomach all over, gasping for air when it was done. This isn't to say that Ginyu was done, not at all. He walked up to that ailing Tokage and gave him a swift kick across the face, causing him to skid along the floor and violently collide with the joining wall.

The bullman captain rested his foot on the writhing being's abdomen as if he had made a glorious kill. "What is the name of the force that you're on?" He asked.

"The Ginyu Special Force," Berter replied, spitting out blood as he spoke.

"Who is the leader of the Ginyu Special Force?"

"You are…"

"No!!" Ginyu swung his leg around and brought it into the young man's stomach for a powerful heel drop. Its receiver writhed and groaned. "Now, who is the leader of the Ginyu Special Force?!"

"..Ginyu is..!" Perhaps an answer in the third person was what he was after?

"Correct!!" Ginyu delivered another heel drop to him. The Tokage cried out sharply. "And why is it called the Ginyu Special Force?"

He coughed. "…Because Ginyu is its leader!"

"And who is not the leader?! Who is under my foot right now?!"

"Uhn… Berter of Kyôrusan..!!"

"Yes!! And you—" Heel drop. "had best—" Heel drop. "remember it!!" Elbow drop to the gut to finish up. He stood over that pained figure, blood flowing from his lips, and shook his head. "You really need to straighten up, Berter. I can't afford another Zarbon on the team. I'll have Recoom help you to a tank." And then he left, just like that.

Berter closed his eyes and waited for the pain to subside. He had never known such misery. Not even Jerin had ever beaten him that badly. He wanted to at least sit up, but couldn't find the energy to do even that. The best he could do was roll over on his side so as not to choke on his own blood.

About two weeks (Freeza Planet Standard Time) had passed since the events of that day. Killing wasn't such a thing anymore for Berter, who decided to think of it as part of his daily routine. No more outbursts had erupted, Ginyu noted, and found that his newest addition was loosening up a bit. He had even agreed to go out for a few drinks with the rest of them. But once again, the time for work soon showed itself…

"Ugh… Poison: that's what it was."

"Well, it is in large amounts, but for a guy your size and weight, you only drank enough to get pretty wasted."

"Pain like this shouldn't exist. Groan…"

"It's called a hangover. You should watch how much you drink next time."

"…No next time. Never again… Urp…"

Berter hunched himself over the tub basin once again and wretched. Jeice simply sat beside and rubbed the younger's back until he
finished. The Kaijin recalled a time where he had been with Zarbon like this and chuckled to himself. "Feelin' better?"

"Some, yes. I think I'm done…" The Tokage picked himself up real slow and rose to his feet. He was a pitiful sight, his brow sweating bullets and his lizard face drooping like that of an Earth hound's.

"Jeez, you look a mess, and smell it too." Jeice held his nose half-jokingly. "I guess the tub's out. You'd best get yourself to the sink and wash. Suit up, too. We're about to go into space on assignment."

The pod platforms were running smoothly, a good sign. Upward they rose to the launching dock, each carrying its own Force member
to higher limits. Ginyu puffed out his chest and breathed sharply through his nose: a thing he always did before heading out into space. A proud man, he was, going head first into weightlessness to defeat aggressives, pacifists, militarists, and innocents, all in the name of Freeza. Even at his age, going into space still excited him. "Men, we're off! Onward, to Beelzebub!"

"Beelzebub? The hell's that? Some kind of food?" The behemoth asked, a sloppy mess from the night before.

"Yes, Recoom, it's a food, and we're going into deep space to get it…" Ginyu sighed. The behemoth could be so dumb sometimes it
was downright shameful. "Planet Beelzebub," the Captain clarified. "Apparently the elites couldn't cut it, so it looks like we'll have our
pockets lined when all is said and done." He chuckled.

"Must be pretty strong, then…" Guldo took a break for a yawn. "…If those guys couldn't handle 'em. What's there on Beelze-whatzit?"

"Zebubs. They're giant, flying insectoids, and they strike in large numbers. That's all the information we've got."

"Sounds serious," Jeice commented, raking a hand through his hair. "Hope we make it back before dinner."

"Dinner of 14 days from now, maybe," Ginyu chuckled again. "It takes seven to get there and seven to get back, so you won't be having a decent meal for a little while, I'm afraid." Just then, Ginyu noticed Berter sitting with his head between his knees. "Hey, newbie, how you holding up?"

The Tokage groaned. Ginyu just shrugged. "You gotta learn. If you want to hang with us, you gotta hold your beer. But I suppose you did have an awful lot of it, didn't you..? In any case, you've got 7 days to sober up before we get there. Just think, you're first real fight in space! You should be excited! And hey, you'll need this."

He tossed to Berter a strange device. Well, not so strange. The Captain was wearing one, as well as Jeice and Recoom. "It's a scouter. You mount it to you face. It detects and measures one's battle points. I taught you about that, right? Of course I did." The platforms jerked to a stop. "Okay, men. Load into your pods and brace for blastoff. See y'all in seven days."

They touched down on Beelzebub later than expected, off by about 14 hours. To Freeza, time meant money, and the more time you took, the more money he lost. Therefore, the more time you took, the more money you lost. It didn't mean much to the Ginyus, though. As long as they had enough for beer and snacks, they were set. As the dust and debris cleared and the earth below settled, the mechanical sounds of five spacecraft opening filled the area. The Captain stood proudly and stuck out his chest. He took on a expression that seem to broadcast the want for a challenge, as if a new frontier was open to him, and only he could conquer it. The Minotaurus took in a deep breath… and promptly choked.

"…Aw, jeez! It stinks!!"

It was a terribly overpowering stench that ambushed their nasal cavities. The entire area reeked of rotting flesh, a fact made perfectly clear by the mammals, which pinched their nostrils and complained of the odor. But Berter and Guldo, having the luxury of being descended from water-dwelling creatures, kept theirs shut and went about it like nothing was wrong.

"Ugh… What would Freeza want with such a stinky planet..?!" Whined Ginyu, though with his nose pinched the way it was, he sounded more like: 'Ugh…Wud would Freeza wand wid such a sdnky planed..?!' Come to think of it, what would he want with such a planet? A planet with a barren, cracked landscape, hot, dry weather, and air rank as hell. Only insectoids would value such a place. Freeza struck up a deal with some, maybe? Ginyu shook his head. It wasn't his place to think about such things.

"Do you hear that?"

The other Ginyus turned to Berter, who was squinting out to the mountain-lined horizon. "Hear what, Berter..?"

"Buzzing……"

That buzzing sound came into earshot for the others soon enough, but what was that coming into view? Some sort of dark cloud… An
approaching storm? No, it was much too low for that, and it wouldn't explain the buzzing, besides. Just then, it clicked.

"Holy hell..?! That's a swarm of insects!"

"No, insectoids! It's the Zebubs!"

The massive swarm of fly-like creatures cloaked the orange sky as it headed in the Force's direction. Weaving, bulging, moving as one and cutting the aerospace. "Should we attack, Cap'n?" Inquired the behemoth.

"'Swhat we're paid for. Men, power up and let loose!" The Ginyu Force ripped it all out against the approaching Zebubs, letting their offensive energies fly. The blasts hit dead-on, blowing out the center of the insectoid bevy and leaving a blanket of smoke. The five men stood still and quiet, awaiting any sign that the Zebubs might still exist.

Nothing. No buzzing, no pick-up on the scouters, no anything. Ginyu wiped his sweaty brow. "Well, I guess that's it for now. Good work, men. I think this calls for a quick victory pose, don't you?"

"Together we are… "

Their chant was cut short, however, as erupting from the ground came maggots— giant, slimy, disgusting maggots, each about the length of an average adult human's arm—which jumped the Force without warning. Their slimy bodies wrapped around each member, burning their skin with their ooze—digestive juices, rather—and constricting their bodies. Ginyu struggled to free himself from those larval creatures. If he could just get his face free… The Minotaurus jerked his head from side to side, hoping he could have enough luck to gore one of them with his horns. …There! The injured maggot slithered away with great haste. With his face free, the captain could issue commands. He hoped his idea would work.

"Men, power up!!" He yelled as loud as his constrained airway would allow, then powered up, himself. It worked! The larvae engulfing him were little more than dust now, burned in his blazing aura, and the one who were a bit luckier were stunned, blown away by its force. It seemed to be working for the others, as well. One by one, as they powered, the aggressors were either burned to nothing or blown away. When all was said and done, the Ginyu Force appeared the victors…

The Minotaurus captain mopped his brow once again. Well, now I see why the elites had such trouble on this planet… "Hey,
everyone all right?"

"We're all okay, Cap'n," spoke Recoom collectively while nursing a burn on his arm. Ginyu nodded in approval.

"Good. Just goes to show it takes more than an insect planet to defeat us..! Let's go finish the rest of these bugs off and get the hell of this rock! Let's fly!"

They scant had their toes off the ground when more maggots assaulted with twice the force. Ginyu was plucked from the air like fruit from a tree and slammed harshly to the ground. The Minotaurus, disoriented but still with it enough to put up a fight, powered up a second time. Ashes again this time, but more larvae appeared with thrice the force. It didn't matter how many times he powered up; the more he destroyed, the many more that arose to take the place of the defeated...

Even the great Ginyu Force tires if given enough time. Eventually, their energies ran low, and the men began to give up the struggle, one by one. Berter didn't feel the acid burns on his arms and face, really. His skin was quite thick and nowhere near as sensitive as the others. The young man didn't have it in him to fight the encounter anymore, and decided to just resign to his fate. How very Tokage of me… He thought. Perhaps this was his gods' way of punishing him for killing all those innocent people, or going along with in the first place… There was no use making sense of it now. He turned his thoughts through space to Hachuurui, wondering why he never went to tell his nurturers about his going into the outer space when he had the chance. It would have beaten just sending them a letter, that much was certain. He was sorry he couldn't carry on his father's proud bloodline or provide his mother with grandchildren like she had wanted, and recalled his grandfather mentioning that people who were about to die meaningless deaths were always sorry…

He wondered if he would be allowed on the Light Level when he died. It would be nice to see his grandfather again.

That behemoth, Recoom, didn't care about his death. He had many close calls in his life, just part of living on an unforgiving planet
like Kyokutair. As a child, he had gotten lost during a storm and nearly froze to death; as an adolescent, he fell through a thin patch
of ice and near drowned; as a young man, he picked a fight with the wrong guy and was nearly beaten to death… After all the nears,
he, as a mature man, would be suffocated and digested by giant worms. He laughed bitterly at the humor in it, and enjoyed his
assuredly last minute or two of breathing left for him.

It felt good, his life slipping away like that, even if it was for the fourth time.

Death wasn't something Jeice ever considered. Young people often think they'll live forever, but not him. He knew that nothing lasts forever- the destruction of his home planet, Akai, taught him that. He knew that Freeza did it. It was what he always did when something no longer proved useful, even to a homeworld. Jeice didn't care, though. There was nothing waiting for him on that dead rock, Akai. His parents died long ago, and everyone he ever trusted there was killed in some tragic way or the next. No more bad memories with Akai gone, no more constraints on his mind, and soon, no more constraints on his body. The maggots would loosen up once he was dead.

He didn't believe in any sort of higher being, but despite that, he prayed. What did he have to lose?

Ginyu was agéd for his race. It was down to a matter of whether he was slain in battle or simply died of old age. When he first entered Freeza's ranks, his children were still in infancy, and he had a full head of hair. Years later, when he returned to Rabenda for a visit, he was surprised to see that his toddlers were adolescents, and his wife surpised to see his many bald spots. Years later still, on his second visit to Rabenda, his adolescents were now young adults, and he had a thinning ring of hair on the back of his head. Now, on his most recent visit, his children had children! And what did he have? Spider veins along his fore…

He had worked so hard to achieve the ranks he now held, but he couldn't enjoy it. Initially, he had joined up so he could pay off his gambling debts, but with each return to Rabenda, the money for payoff, which he had worked for years to save, would be blown gambling or drinking or whatever, and it was back to work for another X years until he had enough saved again.

He meant to apologize to everyone he had wronged over the past 40 years—his wife and children, Zarbon, and Jeice—before he died. The Azureman and Kaijin, they were good boys, really, just young, pretty, and easy to overpower… Too late for all that now, it seemed. Like Jeice, the leader of the legendary squad didn't consider death. Such is the pride of the Ginyu Special Force…

Guldo? …………


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