The Fifth Sayajin
Chapter 2: Episode #33 Rewritten: Face-off on Namek, alternate version
A Dragon Ball Z fanfiction by S. Starblade Dedicated to underdogs everywhere.
Disclaimer: Most of these characters belong to Toriyama-sama, not to me. Besides, if you sued me, you wouldn't even get enough to pay the lawyers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buruma fell to her knees, trembling.
"I... I can't believe it!"
Kuillin leaned back slightly, arms crossed behind his head. "It's gotta be Vejita. I just know it. Don't you agree, Gohan?"
Gohan tilted his head, quirking one eyebrow as he tried to figure out the second power he'd sensed. "Ah...."
******
"Just three more to go." Stated Freiza, happily. "Good job, my little frog- faced worker. Hm hm hm hm..."
The squat alien waddled up and handed the dragonball to Dodoria, who chuckled as he tucked it under his free arm.
Zarbon stared past Dodoria, silently.
"Keep a close eye on these, Dodoria." Commanded Freiza. "It seems that Vejita is after them."
Zarbon's scouter beeped, and he turned his head slightly.
"Hmm? Wouldja lookit those two power readings I'm getting. It seems that Kui's right on Vejita's tail."
Silence reigned for a moment.
"Those two small power sources we noticed earlier," Continued Zarbon, "appear to have vanished, but don't worry. We'll find them, wherever they are. I sent some men to the area around where we noticed them before their powers blipped off the radar screen."
"I'm not concerned about them, Zarbon. It's Vejita that I want off my back."
"Kui'll take care of him in no time." Reassured the green prince. "His power level's much higher than Vejita's. I don't think you'll have to worry about seeing that monkey-tailed abomination again."
******
A purple-skinned alien with a cleft down the middle of his bald, bulbous head stood atop a rise. He looked down on the crater with Vejita's spacepod in it.
"Vegita.... Oh, Vegita!" He frowned, finger on his Scouter button. "Come out and play..."
Something registered, and he looked up, smiling.
"I see youu.... Now, it's time for us... To have a little fun! Hehahahahahaha!"
Soon, he was sailing off through the air in chi-powered flight.
Vejita, however, was right there, hovering in midair.
He smirked. "I'm right here, and waiting, Kui. I must say, I admire your courage. You don't stand a chance with me!"
"Take a peek at your scouter, Vegita! My power level is way higher than yours. Someone should have taught you not to play with the big boys!"
Checking the scouter readout, Vegita just smirked more, and began to chuckle.
*Right into my hands, Kui. Right into my hands.*
******
Buruma sighed, not yet bothering to stand back up.
"I still just can't believe this." She brightened up. "Hey, guys, I know! It's a sign for me to get back to Earth!"
"Huh?" the diminutive warriors eloquently riposted, turning to face her.
"Well, see you later!" Buruma was already up and running for the ship. "Enjoy your stay on Namek!"
"Hey, Buruma," Interrupted Kuillin. "Just give us a sec."
The teal-haired genius stopped short. "Huh?"
"Well, hey, Gohan. So, uh, whadda ya say we, uh, go back also, huh?"
Gohan stared blankly at his father's best friend.
Kuillin, nonplussed, tried again. "Well, hey! There's so many people showing up, whadda they need us for? Huh?"
Gohan continued to stare blankly.
"Um, well w-well, y'see, Buruma, well, uh, I'm ready for action..." *Got it!* "...but I just don't want Gohan getting scared!"
Gohan still didn't get it. "But, Kuillin, if we leave, then Vejita'll get the dragonballs!"
"....."
Kuillin looked thoughtful. "Oh, yeah, uhhh...." *C'mon, Kuillin, think!* "...maybe... we'll hand 'em over now, and we'll get 'em back next time! Hahahahahahaha...." The little bald monk was sweating now.
"Kuillin, you know there's no way we can risk it. We don't have a choice."
Faced with that, Kuillin was stumped. "rrrrh...."
Suddenly, Gohan looked up. "Hey, Kuillin! Behind you!"
Buruma also stared at the area behind him, then went and hid, unsuccessfully, behind a leg of the spaceship.
Kuillin turned to look, and extended his chi sense as well.
"What... what is it?" Asked Buruma, afraid to know.
"I'm not sure, but I can tell it's weaker than Vejita is!"
Gohan just gulped.
Two strange-looking aliens walked around the corner of a hill on the next island over.
The blue one with horns and lots of orange hair noticed the Chikyou first. "Hey, look over there!"
The purple one, whose head resembled nothing more than a human skull with a strange crest on top, turned also. "I think the Nameks look quite tasty!"
The blue one laughed. "These don't look like Nameks to me. But who cares? Zarbon says to take care of anyone we find here. Nyuhahahahahaha..."
Buruma trembled. "look at the size of them!"
Kuillin was surprised. "They're wearing the uniforms that the Saiyans wear, but they're not Saiyans!"
Gohan just stared. "They're BIG!"
Kuillin took a fighting stance. "I don't know what they want with us..."
Buruma began grasping at straws, rather typically for her. "Well... maybe they're from the Namek welcoming committee, or something..."
The two aliens finished their flight to the island.
"Gohan," directed Kuillin, "Lower your power level to throw off their readings..."
"All right..."
The purple alien snickered. "Would you look at these helpless runts? They look completely out of place. Definitely don't look like warriors."
"Whadda ya say we warm up with some firing practice on that porcupine-ship of theirs?"
"Sound's good to me."
The three Chikyuujin gaped at the hole in the front canopy of their spaceship.
"Those jerks! Gohan..."
The hirstute alien just laughed.
"Hey, kiddies!" Taunted the purple one, waving his cooling blaster. "I think your mothers are calling!"
"Let's get ready..." fumed Kuillin. "To do some serious powerin' up!"
Taking their stances, Gohan and Kuillin began to focus as the aliens laughed derisively.
Immediately, the Scouters went off. The two aliens were suddenly frightened out of five years' growth.
"What??"
"It can't be!! Look at that power reading!!!"
The short fighters continued to power up.
"Aaaaagh!"
"You set?" Asked Kuillin.
"Yeah!" came the reply.
With a slight blurring of their forms, the two suddenly seemed to disappear entirely.
Gohan appeared in front of the purple alien and landed a power-roundhouse in midair, sending his opponent spinning.
Kuillin faded in, flipping over the blue alien's head, and landed a heavy kick on the alien's face when he turned around. With pinpoint accuracy, the two soldiers were sent flying into each other, both knocked unconscious, and landed in the water.
Landing, Gohan and Kuillin watched the splashes. Chuckling, they extended thumbs-ups to each other.
"Nice shot!" complimented Kuillin.
Buruma couldn't believe it, and pulled a "big giant head".
"WHAT ABOUT THE REST?!?!?!"
And collapsed to her knees, tearing up.
"Uh... huh?" Came Kuillin's response.
Buruma looked up at the ship. The front view panel was totally shattered, and one of the ship's spikes had fallen off, to rest on the ground between her and the ship.
"Now, we're never gonna get home...."
******
Freiza looked at the statue.
Which, annoyingly, refused to return the favor.
What was more annoying to the pint-sized Evil Lord (they required you to put that on your business card nowadays...), was that the statue was of a Saiyajin.
It was on Namek.
It didn't make sense. That annoyed him.
There was only one thing to do to things that annoyed him.
"Dodoria, be a good minion and destroy that statue, would you?"
The pink, bulbous Dorevian nodded. "With pleasure, Master Freiza."
The last Namek from that village, who lay dying near where Freiza had been earlier, managed to lift his head slightly.
Not the statue...wait... A look of realization came over his face. Freiza... chill... too much for coincidence...
Concentrating as best he could, he sent the last of his chi into the statue, via the ground between them, so as not to be stopped by Freiza or his men.
The scouters just registered it as the last gasp of the Namek's lifeforce, which made sense, as he died from the effort.
Dodoria hauled back to punch the statue when something wierd happened.
The chi, reaching the statue, had given Sarada some energy. Which she put to use gathering the dissipated chi from the area, left over not only from the fights between the Nameks and Freiza, but from the Nameks during their everyday life. Every scrap of wasted, discarded, or leftover energy was drawn in, slowly at first, but with increasing speed. Nameks had been living in this village for quite a while.
As warmth flowed back into her body, she began to try to move, causing the thin layer of stone to crack , and begin flaking off. Dodoria began to back off as his scouter started to show a chi signature. It began at fifty. A moment later, it was sixty. Then eighty. Then one-hundred- twenty. Then two hundred. Then three hundred fifty.
Within three seconds, it had hit a thousand.
Another three, and it was at three thousand, and the statue was glowing, as the parts flaking off showed color underneath.
Zarbon, facing another direction, blinked as his scouter blew from Vejita's powering up.
"Um, Freiza, sir.."
Freiza was busy staring at the statue, however. "Don't bother me, Zarbon."
The signature peaked at seven thousand, and the last of the stone exploded off the statue, drawing everyone's attention, which is to say, Zarbon's attention. Everyone else had been staring at the statue anyways.
Inhaling, Sarada flexed, stretching her joints a moment, then tightened down the focus on her ki. Her battle aura disappeared. She glared at Freiza. "You killed them all. You will pay for this. Mark my words."
Freiza chuckled. "And what are YOU going to do about it, monkey?"
Sarada smirked. "Glad you asked. I'm going to do..."
Everyone else took up combat positions, except Freiza.
"..THIS!" Shouted Sarada.
And ran like nothing ever seen before. Rather than flying across the water away from the island, she ran across it, moving so fast that she didn't sink, and left water plowed up behind her, like a hydrofoil.
Dodoria moved to follow her.
"Wait." Commanded Freiza. "Power level seven thousand... She won't matter. If she becomes some sort of a nuisance, we'll deal with her later. There's no way she'll get strong enough to be a problem before we leave. And when we leave... let's just say that anything left of this planet will have come with us, yes?"
Looking skeptical, but not overtly so, Dodoria went back to take up his position behind Freiza.
Freiza turned to Zarbon. "What was that earlier, Zarbon?"
Zarbon looked flatly at Freiza. "Vejita. He's managed to increase his power... Kui doesn't stand a chance. Check your scouters, by this time, he's probably already dead."
Dodoria turned and activated his scouter. And did a double-take. "He's right. Vejita's still there, but no sign of Kui. But, that doesn't make sense! Vejita's power level is down at four thousand!"
Zarbon shook his head. "It read Vejita's power level at twenty-two thousand before it went out."
******
Gohan and Kuillin blinked, as a sudden spray of water flew up over them, and doused them. Fortunately for Buruma, it didn't reach too far inland, but still...
The two pint-sized heroes became curious.
Buruma looked up at the two, who were staring in the direction the power had gone.
"What are you two... Oh, no you don't!" She yelled. "You're not leaving until I've fixed the ship!"
Kuillin reached over and nabbed the Dragon Ball Radar, which was poking out of Buruma's pocket.
"Look, Buruma, we really can't help you with this. You just work on the ship, and Gohan and I will go check out whatever that was. Then we'll go find the Dragon Balls. Just remember, don't panic. Oh, and if any of Freiza's men come, hide. See ya!"
And he was off through the air.
"Hey, wait up!" Shouted Gohan, pulling a fish out of his sash, and giving chase.
"Guyyys!!" Shouted Buruma. "What on CHIKYUU are you doing! GET BACK HERE!!!!"
Of course, they weren't on Chikyuu, so Buruma got no answers.
******
Sarada was running as fast as she could. She needed to get to Guru.
During the time she'd been bound as a statue, Sarada had eventually learned, by watching the local Nameks, the secret to astral projection. Several times, she had used it to talk to Guru face-to-face, more or less.
But it was much slower than she was now. She just hoped she could remember where Guru was staying.
She noticed the two power signatures following her, but since they weren't Freiza or his men, she let them.
Guru would need all the help he could get, and if they could keep up with her, they would be useful allies.
Keeping up her maximum speed was tiring, but it would get her to Guru before she tired out. She noted, with some surprise, that when she looked back, the two following her were slowly closing on her by hopping from island to island.
They also didn't look inclined to ask questions while still moving.
Muttering under her breath, Sarada pushed harder, accelerating slightly.
******
A Dragon Ball Z fanfiction by S. Starblade Dedicated to underdogs everywhere.
Disclaimer: Most of these characters belong to Toriyama-sama, not to me. Besides, if you sued me, you wouldn't even get enough to pay the lawyers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buruma fell to her knees, trembling.
"I... I can't believe it!"
Kuillin leaned back slightly, arms crossed behind his head. "It's gotta be Vejita. I just know it. Don't you agree, Gohan?"
Gohan tilted his head, quirking one eyebrow as he tried to figure out the second power he'd sensed. "Ah...."
******
"Just three more to go." Stated Freiza, happily. "Good job, my little frog- faced worker. Hm hm hm hm..."
The squat alien waddled up and handed the dragonball to Dodoria, who chuckled as he tucked it under his free arm.
Zarbon stared past Dodoria, silently.
"Keep a close eye on these, Dodoria." Commanded Freiza. "It seems that Vejita is after them."
Zarbon's scouter beeped, and he turned his head slightly.
"Hmm? Wouldja lookit those two power readings I'm getting. It seems that Kui's right on Vejita's tail."
Silence reigned for a moment.
"Those two small power sources we noticed earlier," Continued Zarbon, "appear to have vanished, but don't worry. We'll find them, wherever they are. I sent some men to the area around where we noticed them before their powers blipped off the radar screen."
"I'm not concerned about them, Zarbon. It's Vejita that I want off my back."
"Kui'll take care of him in no time." Reassured the green prince. "His power level's much higher than Vejita's. I don't think you'll have to worry about seeing that monkey-tailed abomination again."
******
A purple-skinned alien with a cleft down the middle of his bald, bulbous head stood atop a rise. He looked down on the crater with Vejita's spacepod in it.
"Vegita.... Oh, Vegita!" He frowned, finger on his Scouter button. "Come out and play..."
Something registered, and he looked up, smiling.
"I see youu.... Now, it's time for us... To have a little fun! Hehahahahahaha!"
Soon, he was sailing off through the air in chi-powered flight.
Vejita, however, was right there, hovering in midair.
He smirked. "I'm right here, and waiting, Kui. I must say, I admire your courage. You don't stand a chance with me!"
"Take a peek at your scouter, Vegita! My power level is way higher than yours. Someone should have taught you not to play with the big boys!"
Checking the scouter readout, Vegita just smirked more, and began to chuckle.
*Right into my hands, Kui. Right into my hands.*
******
Buruma sighed, not yet bothering to stand back up.
"I still just can't believe this." She brightened up. "Hey, guys, I know! It's a sign for me to get back to Earth!"
"Huh?" the diminutive warriors eloquently riposted, turning to face her.
"Well, see you later!" Buruma was already up and running for the ship. "Enjoy your stay on Namek!"
"Hey, Buruma," Interrupted Kuillin. "Just give us a sec."
The teal-haired genius stopped short. "Huh?"
"Well, hey, Gohan. So, uh, whadda ya say we, uh, go back also, huh?"
Gohan stared blankly at his father's best friend.
Kuillin, nonplussed, tried again. "Well, hey! There's so many people showing up, whadda they need us for? Huh?"
Gohan continued to stare blankly.
"Um, well w-well, y'see, Buruma, well, uh, I'm ready for action..." *Got it!* "...but I just don't want Gohan getting scared!"
Gohan still didn't get it. "But, Kuillin, if we leave, then Vejita'll get the dragonballs!"
"....."
Kuillin looked thoughtful. "Oh, yeah, uhhh...." *C'mon, Kuillin, think!* "...maybe... we'll hand 'em over now, and we'll get 'em back next time! Hahahahahahaha...." The little bald monk was sweating now.
"Kuillin, you know there's no way we can risk it. We don't have a choice."
Faced with that, Kuillin was stumped. "rrrrh...."
Suddenly, Gohan looked up. "Hey, Kuillin! Behind you!"
Buruma also stared at the area behind him, then went and hid, unsuccessfully, behind a leg of the spaceship.
Kuillin turned to look, and extended his chi sense as well.
"What... what is it?" Asked Buruma, afraid to know.
"I'm not sure, but I can tell it's weaker than Vejita is!"
Gohan just gulped.
Two strange-looking aliens walked around the corner of a hill on the next island over.
The blue one with horns and lots of orange hair noticed the Chikyou first. "Hey, look over there!"
The purple one, whose head resembled nothing more than a human skull with a strange crest on top, turned also. "I think the Nameks look quite tasty!"
The blue one laughed. "These don't look like Nameks to me. But who cares? Zarbon says to take care of anyone we find here. Nyuhahahahahaha..."
Buruma trembled. "look at the size of them!"
Kuillin was surprised. "They're wearing the uniforms that the Saiyans wear, but they're not Saiyans!"
Gohan just stared. "They're BIG!"
Kuillin took a fighting stance. "I don't know what they want with us..."
Buruma began grasping at straws, rather typically for her. "Well... maybe they're from the Namek welcoming committee, or something..."
The two aliens finished their flight to the island.
"Gohan," directed Kuillin, "Lower your power level to throw off their readings..."
"All right..."
The purple alien snickered. "Would you look at these helpless runts? They look completely out of place. Definitely don't look like warriors."
"Whadda ya say we warm up with some firing practice on that porcupine-ship of theirs?"
"Sound's good to me."
The three Chikyuujin gaped at the hole in the front canopy of their spaceship.
"Those jerks! Gohan..."
The hirstute alien just laughed.
"Hey, kiddies!" Taunted the purple one, waving his cooling blaster. "I think your mothers are calling!"
"Let's get ready..." fumed Kuillin. "To do some serious powerin' up!"
Taking their stances, Gohan and Kuillin began to focus as the aliens laughed derisively.
Immediately, the Scouters went off. The two aliens were suddenly frightened out of five years' growth.
"What??"
"It can't be!! Look at that power reading!!!"
The short fighters continued to power up.
"Aaaaagh!"
"You set?" Asked Kuillin.
"Yeah!" came the reply.
With a slight blurring of their forms, the two suddenly seemed to disappear entirely.
Gohan appeared in front of the purple alien and landed a power-roundhouse in midair, sending his opponent spinning.
Kuillin faded in, flipping over the blue alien's head, and landed a heavy kick on the alien's face when he turned around. With pinpoint accuracy, the two soldiers were sent flying into each other, both knocked unconscious, and landed in the water.
Landing, Gohan and Kuillin watched the splashes. Chuckling, they extended thumbs-ups to each other.
"Nice shot!" complimented Kuillin.
Buruma couldn't believe it, and pulled a "big giant head".
"WHAT ABOUT THE REST?!?!?!"
And collapsed to her knees, tearing up.
"Uh... huh?" Came Kuillin's response.
Buruma looked up at the ship. The front view panel was totally shattered, and one of the ship's spikes had fallen off, to rest on the ground between her and the ship.
"Now, we're never gonna get home...."
******
Freiza looked at the statue.
Which, annoyingly, refused to return the favor.
What was more annoying to the pint-sized Evil Lord (they required you to put that on your business card nowadays...), was that the statue was of a Saiyajin.
It was on Namek.
It didn't make sense. That annoyed him.
There was only one thing to do to things that annoyed him.
"Dodoria, be a good minion and destroy that statue, would you?"
The pink, bulbous Dorevian nodded. "With pleasure, Master Freiza."
The last Namek from that village, who lay dying near where Freiza had been earlier, managed to lift his head slightly.
Not the statue...wait... A look of realization came over his face. Freiza... chill... too much for coincidence...
Concentrating as best he could, he sent the last of his chi into the statue, via the ground between them, so as not to be stopped by Freiza or his men.
The scouters just registered it as the last gasp of the Namek's lifeforce, which made sense, as he died from the effort.
Dodoria hauled back to punch the statue when something wierd happened.
The chi, reaching the statue, had given Sarada some energy. Which she put to use gathering the dissipated chi from the area, left over not only from the fights between the Nameks and Freiza, but from the Nameks during their everyday life. Every scrap of wasted, discarded, or leftover energy was drawn in, slowly at first, but with increasing speed. Nameks had been living in this village for quite a while.
As warmth flowed back into her body, she began to try to move, causing the thin layer of stone to crack , and begin flaking off. Dodoria began to back off as his scouter started to show a chi signature. It began at fifty. A moment later, it was sixty. Then eighty. Then one-hundred- twenty. Then two hundred. Then three hundred fifty.
Within three seconds, it had hit a thousand.
Another three, and it was at three thousand, and the statue was glowing, as the parts flaking off showed color underneath.
Zarbon, facing another direction, blinked as his scouter blew from Vejita's powering up.
"Um, Freiza, sir.."
Freiza was busy staring at the statue, however. "Don't bother me, Zarbon."
The signature peaked at seven thousand, and the last of the stone exploded off the statue, drawing everyone's attention, which is to say, Zarbon's attention. Everyone else had been staring at the statue anyways.
Inhaling, Sarada flexed, stretching her joints a moment, then tightened down the focus on her ki. Her battle aura disappeared. She glared at Freiza. "You killed them all. You will pay for this. Mark my words."
Freiza chuckled. "And what are YOU going to do about it, monkey?"
Sarada smirked. "Glad you asked. I'm going to do..."
Everyone else took up combat positions, except Freiza.
"..THIS!" Shouted Sarada.
And ran like nothing ever seen before. Rather than flying across the water away from the island, she ran across it, moving so fast that she didn't sink, and left water plowed up behind her, like a hydrofoil.
Dodoria moved to follow her.
"Wait." Commanded Freiza. "Power level seven thousand... She won't matter. If she becomes some sort of a nuisance, we'll deal with her later. There's no way she'll get strong enough to be a problem before we leave. And when we leave... let's just say that anything left of this planet will have come with us, yes?"
Looking skeptical, but not overtly so, Dodoria went back to take up his position behind Freiza.
Freiza turned to Zarbon. "What was that earlier, Zarbon?"
Zarbon looked flatly at Freiza. "Vejita. He's managed to increase his power... Kui doesn't stand a chance. Check your scouters, by this time, he's probably already dead."
Dodoria turned and activated his scouter. And did a double-take. "He's right. Vejita's still there, but no sign of Kui. But, that doesn't make sense! Vejita's power level is down at four thousand!"
Zarbon shook his head. "It read Vejita's power level at twenty-two thousand before it went out."
******
Gohan and Kuillin blinked, as a sudden spray of water flew up over them, and doused them. Fortunately for Buruma, it didn't reach too far inland, but still...
The two pint-sized heroes became curious.
Buruma looked up at the two, who were staring in the direction the power had gone.
"What are you two... Oh, no you don't!" She yelled. "You're not leaving until I've fixed the ship!"
Kuillin reached over and nabbed the Dragon Ball Radar, which was poking out of Buruma's pocket.
"Look, Buruma, we really can't help you with this. You just work on the ship, and Gohan and I will go check out whatever that was. Then we'll go find the Dragon Balls. Just remember, don't panic. Oh, and if any of Freiza's men come, hide. See ya!"
And he was off through the air.
"Hey, wait up!" Shouted Gohan, pulling a fish out of his sash, and giving chase.
"Guyyys!!" Shouted Buruma. "What on CHIKYUU are you doing! GET BACK HERE!!!!"
Of course, they weren't on Chikyuu, so Buruma got no answers.
******
Sarada was running as fast as she could. She needed to get to Guru.
During the time she'd been bound as a statue, Sarada had eventually learned, by watching the local Nameks, the secret to astral projection. Several times, she had used it to talk to Guru face-to-face, more or less.
But it was much slower than she was now. She just hoped she could remember where Guru was staying.
She noticed the two power signatures following her, but since they weren't Freiza or his men, she let them.
Guru would need all the help he could get, and if they could keep up with her, they would be useful allies.
Keeping up her maximum speed was tiring, but it would get her to Guru before she tired out. She noted, with some surprise, that when she looked back, the two following her were slowly closing on her by hopping from island to island.
They also didn't look inclined to ask questions while still moving.
Muttering under her breath, Sarada pushed harder, accelerating slightly.
******