Six

Gohan watched the group of Saiyans nervously from the corner of his eye. They were somewhere close by his home in the mountains, where no innocent bystanders would be. But as of yet, there was no one else nearby either. Gohan had called to Piccolo as they'd flown and he was on his way, but he hadn't been with his father, so Gohan had to settle for raising his ki level to a very noticeable high so that his father would realise something was wrong.

He still hadn't felt anything of Goku or of Vegeta and Krillin.

"Blast it dad, where are you?" he muttered darkly. Gohan frowned as he sensed Piccolo veering off course. "He must have found them. Good. They should be here soon."

Gohan turned back to the tense Saiyans before him.

"So when are we going to meet this great hero of earth?" The only female in the group glanced over at Gohan. "I've heard stories about him in Hell. Is he really as powerful as they say?"

"More powerful than you could believe." Gohan smirked as Raditz shook his head.

"How did he manage to get so much power in just thirteen years?"

Gohan shrugged. "Practice, I suppose, and life threatening situations. You know how well we react to stress and mortal wounds. It makes us stronger."

The four Saiyans looked up at this, surprised at the words. "Wait … you're Saiyan?" The tall, slim one asked.

"Raditz didn't tell you?" Gohan smirked. "He probably doesn't know all of the details anyway."

"Where is he?" Raditz growled, changing the subject.

"He should be on his way," Gohan replied coolly. "Piccolo found him and the others. They'll be here any second."

"How —" Raditz was cut off as there was a sudden blurring motion before them and four people appeared suddenly.

Goku turned around as soon as he got to the clearing with the others and faced his oldest son. He looked at him sternly. "Gohan, you're supposed to be in school, what could be so important that you felt you should risk your education?" Goku didn't expect his son to return the glare with even more intensity, nor did he expect Gohan to punch him in the jaw and send him flying.

The Saiyans looked stunned at this show of power and anger from such a skinny looking kid who wasn't even showing any ki readings on their scouters. "Hey, are these things broken?" Fasha asked curiously, fiddling with hers.

Goku got up and glared at his son. "Gohan, that was uncalled for."

"No dad, it was perfectly called for." Gohan's rage was almost visible and Goku took a step back from him. Even Piccolo and Krillin looked stunned. "How dare you keep something like this from me? It's my mother and my brother that's in danger, not to mention my friends and my fiancée!"

Goku opened his mouth to say something but stopped. "Fiancée?"

Gohan realised what he'd said and blushed. "Uh … well … that's not the point! Why didn't you tell me what was up instead of me finding out from Raditz?"

"Raditz?" Goku whirled around in shock to face his older brother. "What are you doing here?" he hissed.

"Nice greeting." Raditz approached with the four Saiyans behind him.

"Answer me."

"You did say you'd talk when dad got here." Raditz glared at Gohan. Gohan grinned at his uncle. "So spill. What do you know about all this and what did you mean by the Saiyan race taken hostage?" Everyone turned to look at Raditz, who sat down on a tree stump.

"First off Goku, I'm here to talk, not to fight. We won't start at thing." Goku looked a bit taken aback not only by the fact that Raditz told him he didn't want to fight, but also that he'd called him by his earth name.

"Fine." Goku sat down on the ground before him. "So talk." The four Saiyans sat to either side of Raditz while Krillin and Gohan stood just behind Goku, leaning against trees.

"A while ago Nappa came to King Vegeta with a proposal to try and regain a foothold in the living world. His plan was to take over an influential planet and begin Frieza's enterprise again. King Vegeta laughed in his face when he proposed it, as did many. It was ludicrous, why should we do such a thing? We couldn't even get back to the living world, our time was over, and we had accepted that.

"A few days ago he came back with another plan and a lot of support from the Saiyan race. In fact, there were only a few still loyal to King Vegeta: the guards, who were completely devoted to the royal line and one group of fighters, Bardock and his crew. As well as me I suppose. This normally shouldn't have been a problem, even with such support, King Vegeta is the law and many were sensible enough to realise that this plan was just a foolish way of getting attention. But then Nappa told us of two important alliances he'd made. The first was with the scientist Gero." Raditz looked up as his brother stilled and a dark look crossed his face. "I see you know of him."

"I wish I could have killed him myself," Krillin muttered. Goku shushed him with a look.

"We do. Continue."

"The second was of even more import. Nappa had managed to side himself with a new member of Hell, a wizard known as Babadi."

Goku swore, causing everyone to stare at him in amazement. "This isn't looking very good."

"You know him too? Then you'll most likely know the third partner who was kept unknown until yesterday. Frieza. Nappa sold us out for some reason that we don't even know. I think it may be to get back at you for killing him or something."

"But I didn't kill him." Raditz looked surprised.

"I'd always assumed that you did. Who did?" Goku looked over at Vegeta standing in the shadows. Raditz followed his gaze curiously and gasped in shock. "Prince Vegeta!"

The other four Saiyans whirled around and stared. They all rose to their feet and bowed in his direction. Vegeta walked towards them, looking unruffled as usual. "What about the hostages, where do they fit in?"

Raditz shrugged. "I don't know. Nothing was said about hostages in the initial plan. I overheard something however that still puzzled me until I realised who the hostages were. Two of Nappa's cronies were talking about how he only wanted the blue haired woman, because she was important to Earth, but then he'd found out something from a report that changed his mind. He'd found out something about how she was important for more than that reason and would help greatly with the revenge, just as one of the children would too."

Vegeta snarled, startling everyone. "Bastard," he spat.

Goku got up and tried to calm him. "Vegeta, look, we don't know who he means."

"Yes, we do Kakarott." Vegeta barely noticed the shocked reaction of the four Saiyans to Goku's name. "There was a pool of his blood and a message from Nappa. This may have started as a vendetta against earth, but now it's moved onto something more personal."

"But even Nappa couldn't be that cruel."

"You forget who knows him better than anyone else here." Vegeta looked slightly pained. "Nappa would go to any lengths for vengeance. Against the one who killed him, he will not relent." Vegeta looked around. "You will all follow my orders when we go to Hell."

"What?" Krillin looked annoyed, as did the Saiyans. "You can't expect me to just stand back and not do anything while my wife is in danger Vegeta!"

"We only follow two people, Bardock and our King." Toura and the others nodded at Fasha's words.

"And I am your prince." Vegeta glared at them. "I will not tolerate insubordination! You will follow my orders in this or I will destroy you utterly. Am I clear?"

Raditz nodded. "You're clear my prince." He glared at the other Saiyans, who looked annoyed, but they nodded too. Vegeta may be their prince, but they didn't know how competent he was.

Vegeta looked over at Piccolo. "Are you going to be joining us Namek?"

"I really should go to keep you and Goku from fighting, but I'll only follow you if he does."

"Same," Krillin agreed.

Gohan looked over at his father then back at Vegeta. "I'm coming, and I'll follow anyone so long as they get my family back."

"That just leaves you Kakarott."

"What do you plan to do once you get there?" Goku asked coldly. He felt this was a very bad idea. He'd never really trusted any Saiyans before. Vegeta had only recently proved he could be trusted as a friend, how could he be sure there were others that could be as well?

"Talk."

Everyone stared at him in shock. "Talk?" Goku asked in amazement.

"Yes, talk. And if that doesn't work, I'll be forced to exterminate them."

"Vegeta …" Goku looked worried.

"Kakarott, this is my fight."

"How is it?"

"He's hurting my son!" Vegeta yelled. "Trunks is in immediate danger. I know Nappa knows about him and he's already injured. If it were your sons, you wouldn't hesitate to save them." Vegeta sneered. "Or perhaps you would, you have before."

"That's unfair!" Goku yelled at him.

"Perhaps, but think of it this way. I can't bring him back and I will not risk him being killed by a sadistic brute who is torturing him because of me. I will not leave him there in the hands of those who seek to harm me." Vegeta glared at Goku and at everyone who was staring at him. "I don't care if you don't follow me, but I will not be your subordinate in this Kakarott."

Goku studied Vegeta's determined countenance. "You were never my subordinate Vegeta." Goku suddenly grinned. "I'm not even quite sure what that means."

Vegeta held his head in his hands as the others groaned. "Kakarott, you'd better just be playing with me."

"You know I am." Goku smiled at him, then turned serious. "But I'm serious, I never considered you beneath me Vegeta. Unlike you with me, but hey, I forgive you."

"That's nice to hear. So will you agree?"

Goku nodded. "Who knows the Saiyan race better than its prince after all?"

"Its king?" Raditz suggested. Goku stuck out his tongue at him. "So we're all settled then?" Piccolo and Krillin nodded, though they looked a bit apprehensive at following the erratic prince, but didn't complain. They did agree after all. "Then what's the plan?"

"We walk in and get them back."

"That's the plan?" Goku rolled his eyes at Vegeta. "I could have come up with something better than that."

"We're dealing with Saiyans. They hold a lot of respect for those who are strong and proud."

"I never would have guessed."

"Hey, if all you're going to do is continually undermine my authority with those meaningless comments then perhaps you shouldn't come."

Goku looked a bit surprised. "Wow, you sound like Chi-Chi."

Vegeta looked insulted. "Do not compare me to your wife Kakarott! One more comment from you and I'll knock you out and leave you here."

"Well it's not like you've never done that before," Goku muttered under his breath. Then he noticed Vegeta's glare and shrank under it slightly. "Sorry, I'll be quiet."

"As I was saying, we walk in and ask for a negotiation. This is a hostage situation, and even Saiyans have procedure for dealing with these things." Vegeta went quiet for a minute. "They aren't always followed, but they're there." Goku looked at him in pity, as did Gohan, but Vegeta glared at them and they didn't say a word. "If we are refused, then we use force."

"That's just great. Twelve people against an entire warrior race." Toura threw his hands up in the air. "And lets not forget Frieza, Gero, Babadi and whatever minions they have."

"Cell too. He'll be there if they're planning to take over earth," Gohan added helpfully.

"Thanks you for that reassuring piece of information Gohan," Raditz added.

"Look, Frieza won't be a problem, neither will Cell. What we have to worry about is how to make sure everyone stays safe. I don't want to risk any of the hostages." Vegeta paced as he thought of a plan. He frowned as he thought of something. "How did they even manage to over power them anyway?" Goku and Gohan looked at him, wondering the same thing. "Trunks and Goten should have easily been able to take anyone on, even without transforming. The android could too."

"Hey!" Krillin glared at Vegeta. "Show some respect for my wife."

Vegeta shrugged then turned to Raditz. "Well, how did they manage it?"

"The prisoners wear cuffs designed by Gero. They're not connected in any way, but they suppress ki drastically so that they wouldn't be able to attack and overpower their guards."

"Damn. How do you get them off?"

"I don't know. None of us do." Vegeta turned away from Raditz, caught in his own thoughts.

"This makes things more complicated. If worse comes to worse Bulma can always find a way to get them off when we get back. Where are the prisoners situated?"

"Near the royal quarters and the throne room."

"Would you be able to get to it?"

"Yeah, easily. Bardock and His Majesty are the only ones allowed near the quarters now. Nappa's been stopped from seeing them. We were able to prevent him from further hurting the boy."

"Boy?"

"Yeah. One of them, the pale haired one, came in injured and Nappa suggested torturing him, but your father forbade it. He was furious and about ready to vaporize Nappa where he stood." Raditz suddenly looked uneasy. "Is he …"

"Yes, that's Trunks." Vegeta looked thoughtful. "Still, having only two people with access to the rooms is a good thing. We'll have to contact my father and Bardock when we get there. I'd prefer this to be done as easily as possible." He looked over at Raditz. "I do have one question though, why did you come here to ask for help?"

"Well, Bardock made the choice with your father's approval. The blue-haired woman first suggested it though. I can see why she's an important hostage."

"In more ways than one." Vegeta couldn't help the slight turning up of his lips as he thought of his wife's brilliant suggestion.

"That's Bulma for you." Goku grinned. "So, should we get going?"

Vegeta nodded. "How did you get here?" he asked Raditz.

"Through one of Nappa's portals, we slipped through unnoticed."

"So you don't have a way back?" Raditz shook his head. "Then you come with us." He grabbed onto Goku's shoulder. "Try and find a ki similar to mine, but weaker."

"Your father?" Vegeta nodded. "Right." Vegeta gestured for everyone to grab hold, the five Saiyans looking a bit dubious. "Got him." Goku grinned and in an instant, there was no one left in the clearing.