DISCLAIMER:  Dragonball Z is the Holy Grail which the great Akira "God" Toriyama holds in his outstretched palm.  For him to relinquish this ultimate sacred thing, one would have to answer three mysterious questions, which are a close secret to Him and only Him.  Dammit I must search for the answers until I am a skeleton in the desert… and even then I prolly won't possess the DBZ Grail. :/

Authory notey bitty thing:  It's been a looooooooooooooong time guyz!!  But I'm still sitting at my keyboard, typing away furiously, working on 1,000,001 things…  a bit o this, a bit o that… it saves time in the long run!!!  Not so in the world beyond my screen, it may look like I've got one hand up my nose and the other up my bum but its not so!!!  Well, 99.999% of the time.  Here it is, the long-awaited 21st chapter of Voices!

Voices in Ones Head by `InSaNe`/Schizophrenic Eggplant

Part 3.  Chapter 21:  Big Screen Entertainment

Four days have passed, without much incident.  Only that Nappa and Daikon are getting fed up with being in close confines to each other, their constant bickering alerting the wrong attention.  Today they've calmed down, because something has been done about getting them separate quarters, so they're out of each others breathing space permanently.  Brothers they may be, but those two just can't hit it off, always battling for dominance.  Word has it that they're going to put Daikon with Frieza's first class warriors, while Nappa continues the job he was appointed, as Vegeta's guardian, until he is at an age where he can fend for himself. 

There are a lot of races of Frieza's recruits who have everything against the Saiyajin, considering it was more than likely that the Saiyajin had cleared their planets before they, also acting as the recruitment squad, sought out natives with the strength and ki-requirement for Frieza's expanding army, taking them from their homes and families to a life they never dreamed of becoming a reality.  Vegeta was strong, but there were fully-grown aliens who were more experienced in battle, and would not hesitate to avenge their race by taking out the prince no less, who hadn't grown to his full potential.  That's where Nappa came in, and when he was around, everyone kept their distance.  The only time he wasn't shadowing Vegeta was when the prince was asleep, or the meditation part of the training, when the students had to be quiet.  To Daikon's disgust, Frieza had allowed Nappa to join the elites, only because the only time he could get time away from Vegeta to train was at night, and only the elite section of the ship was available at such late hours.  Luckily the ship had a 28-hour day cycle, so he could still get enough sleep after four hours of solid working out.

In his first few days, Vegeta had welcomed this new challenge with vigour.  He was the youngest in his training team, and not the strongest, but not the weakest either.  From start to finish of the day, for these few daily cycles, he, along with the rest of his group, were taught intricate kata by an experienced teacher who's purpose it was to train the new entrants.  Vegeta had a head-start, because I had taught him similar ones, although not as intensive and repetitive.  I actually had allowed him a break every now and again.  I watched with delight as he seemed to lose himself in what he was doing, totally immersing himself in each movement.  I sighed.  At least he was enjoying himself.  Like all Saiyajin (except the mutated ones), this is what he was born to do.

Today's lesson was nearing the warm-down/meditation session, which in a way lulled all the students into a calm that encouraged them to sleep, as well as help increase their ki.  No-one in the group had a power level above 1000, and that's what this intensive introductory course was meant to do.  The scouters had detected Vegeta's initial ki at just over 400.  He wasn't hiding it, but powering up to maximum was something he couldn't just call on as yet.  I knew better, having experienced a taste of that the week before.   Besides Frieza and myself, Nappa was the only other one on the ship who knew the truth, and he was for once using his brains to keep his mouth shut.

I watched the stubby short prince complete the final postures, at this time of night after many hours of doing the same thing over and over, his form was still fluid, balance unwavering, and his face calm and expressionless. 

Nappa leant against one of the walls and shifted from one foot to another impatiently, wanting the rest of the weaklings to finish and go to sleep so he could go and train himself.  He sighed with relief when in unison the group slowly brought their right feet to meet their left in a swishing sweeping noise, then they bowed to the teacher with their flattened left palms against a right fist.  It was nearly over.  As they began to sit on their mats cross-legged, to begin their two hours of deep meditation, Nappa stealthy stole away for some time alone, to train or go for drinks in the elite lounge, who knew?  He could hold his own there anyway, just.  I continued to watch Vegeta, as it was my purpose to.

The next day…



Soldiers and trainees of every differing race and height lined the huge meeting hall on the main deck, arrayed in order of rank, all standing stiffly at attention, like barely breathing statues.  Frieza glided down the rows of immaculate armoured figures, laughing at a comment Dodoria had made about pushing one end and watching them topple like shiny dominoes.  Frieza halted mid-cackle to find he had an echo somewhere.  The culprit was easy to identify, a smile wiped off a microsecond too late.

"You!" Frieza yapped, pointing at a smirking cadet while whizzing along in his chair.  "Yes, you!  What do you find so amusing?" 

There was no smile to be seen now, for accuser and the accused.

"Well, Master Frieza…" The cadet tried thinking up a viable excuse to save his skin.  "I find your laughter contagious."

Frieza's face re-lit up with a gentle, yet subtly malevolent smile.

"Contagious hmm?  Perhaps you need an antidote, everyone else seems to be immune." He turned to Zarbon and Dodoria.  "What would you recommend for a cure gentlemen?  I'm a 'doctor' of many talents."

Dodoria gurgled, "A slow treatment, long-term suffering before the infection is… heh heh… terminated."

Zarbon held his chin with finger and thumb, his sharp golden eyes misted with thought for a few seconds.  "Something quick and painful, like joint manipulation, but with a more permanent result so the symptoms don't re-occur."

"M-master Frieza… please!" The cadet, no older than nineteen, begged.  "I… I w-won't do it again, I promise!" 

"You're right about that, you won't be doing it again, EVER!"  The cadet's face became almost paler than Frieza's, at the tone of voice that he was using.

The powerful tyrant pondered the contrasting options from his men, and made his own decision.  "Very good.  Before I administer the prescribed dosage, I do think this is a case for…"  His two henchmen grinned in knowing, as Frieza produced a tiny slim remote control.  "The Big Screen."

Those who had already experienced the Big Screen, hurriedly disguised their terror, and ignored the sweat trickling down their backs.

With a push of a button on the remote, a gigantic screen lowered itself from the ceiling, at a height so everyone in the hall could do nothing to avoid it.

Frieza switched a camera on and fiddled with a directional control, and zoomed in on the doomed cadet.  He ordered those in the cadets row to shift a few metres in either direction, also the next four rows down, creating an open space in which to work.

"Give the order, Zarbon." Frieza crowed as he prepared the punishment.  The green smooth-skinned alien projected his deep clarion voice so none could be deaf to his words.

"Eyes to the screen, no blinking!  Any who turn away will suffer the same fate in quick succession!  Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes, Commander Zarbon!" Came the rolling snapping reply from the thousands.

"You have their undivided attention, my Lord."  Zarbon purred.

Frieza grinned evilly. "Let us begin."

The screen showed everything.  The raw terror in the eyes of the young cadet, then a second later clouded over in death as Frieza dealt his killing blast, then those same eyes boiled in their sockets as his body burned for all to see, and for those unfortunate enough to be standing close by, to smell.  Skin crackled, fat bubbled, viscera exploded in reeking belches of gas, teeth became stained red as the blood boiled, then evaporated.  Even bone was liquefied, and in less than a minute, the corpse melted and congealed into a sticky black mess on the floor in a smoking pile.  Before it had a chance to cool Frieza super-heated his blast, ashing it on contact, swirling the grey and white powder about the room.  No-one dared cough, no matter how much it irritated their airways.

For a further hour and a half, the hall was silent, the only noises were the quiet dialogue between the section leaders relaying tallies of the present and those absent and accounted for in the rejuvenation tanks.  The mood was sombre as the ranks of trainees fell out.  I went to follow Vegeta as he left with the others in a sea of future warriors, and found that I couldn't.

Frieza was still in the hall, giving huge amounts of paperwork to Zarbon and Dodoria to distribute among the section leaders, specifically outlining each mission.  After half an hour, they were dismissed, leaving the hall empty.  I chose my time to leave also, once I could move again.

I had no idea where the trainees had gone to. 

:: Try locking onto Vegeta's ki sig. ::

~ I'm trying…  What?!? ~

I couldn't detect any sign of his ki.  That had me baffled, to say the least.  He could be anywhere, and it would take a long, long time to search the entirety of the ship.  I was blind.

*** ****

After six hours were up, wandering aimlessly around the huge ship, I felt a glimmer of a familiar signature returning.  It worried me a little, it seemed less guarded, not as vivid and alert as it usually was.  I followed its direction, heading to the eating gallery for the evening meal.  By the time I reached there, Vegeta was sitting down with his pile of Frieza-issue food, forking it into his mouth like a machine.  After he methodically cleared his plates, he stood up and headed towards his room, staring straight ahead, as if in a trance.   I noticed others with the same glazed expressions, and became suspicious.  Something was not right there, something was definitely off.  It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

"Veg!"  I called out.  He did not break his step.  He must be using this time as an opportunity to train himself to ignore my presence, something he's had to do a lot because he's around others more.  Usually he gives me prior warning before doing so.

 I appeared a  couple of metres away from him, in his path.

"Veg?  Veg, what's going on?"  One foot followed the other, the pace unchanging, like a metronome, until he stopped in front of me.  He did not look up to my face, just paused, rapidly shook his head from one side to the next as if to clear it, stared straight ahead, then continued walking THROUGH me.  I was used to that already, but not from him, never from him. 

I was a little distraught.  I stood there as he marched a path along the corridor to his room, without looking back even once.  Very eerie.

Snapping myself out of it, I made my own way to his room.  Maybe he'll feel like talking later.

*************

A week later:

Whatever mood Vegeta was in a week ago, he might as well have not had been in it at all.  After a sleep, he was right as anything, and rearing to go right from lights-on, excited at the prospect of fighting something called a Saibaman at the end of the month.  After clipping on his armour, he took off for roll call, leaving me to catch up.  I didn't want to hurry there anyway, it was long and tedious enough.  Before I left I scoured the room with my eyes, taking in the tidy sparseness of the room, void of decoration.  The only difference was that this room was a little separated from the other trainees quarters, but from what I had seen it was identical to them.  It does seem Frieza wants Vegeta separate from the rest, whether for his safety or so he can keep him closely monitored.

By the time I bothered to turn up to the massive hall, I saw that there were two neat little ash piles on the floor already.  The act of peering around the door had foolishly cost me my movement once again.  Frozen at an awkward angle, I watched almost the same scene from last week; the rigid conformity of the lines of each section, Zarbon and Dodoria flanking Frieza as he meandered down the gleaming rows on his 'booster-chair'.    The aura I could feel from him made my stomach clench.  He was in a bad mood today, even for him.  Nappa was there, but it looked like he was keeping a low profile, which, for his height, wasn't an easy task.  Daikon was away, so that ruled out the prospect of yet another brotherly brawl to give Frieza an excuse to do away with them, for there was no doubt in my mind that Frieza would prefer a Saiyajin death at his hands to vent his wrath successfully.

I was hoping that he would disappear around a corner, but there were no corners in the huge room that could house a ship of its own.  My back was hurting like crazy and I had an itchy nose.  A tall soldier blocked him completely from my view, and I used this opportunity to scratch my nose and adjust my posture slightly.  The downside was that my hand still remained up by my nose once he re-emerged.

That was the only opportunity for the whole three hours, that I had to move.  I cursed myself for my stupidity, this was one thing I couldn't stuff up, because I wanted to know what made Vegeta and everyone else so strange.  Another weird thing was, that while Vegeta had seemingly recovered from his period of vacancy, some others were still in that state a few days afterwards, and even ones that had been somewhat pleasant during training sessions, showed a complete turnaround in behaviour.  This needed to be checked out urgently, and I was in no control, Frieza was dealt the better hand this time.

I gritted my teeth as the trainees were dismissed.  Vegeta even shot me a sideways glance on the way out, not daring to do or say anything else.  Twenty minutes later, everyone else had left save for the section leaders of the topmost ranks, who were left to talk amongst themselves while Frieza brought a shady looking character away from them, almost towards the door where I was standing.  I couldn't hear them clearly, not whole sentences but only snatches of words.  What worried me was who they were mentioning.

They were talking about Vegeta, and I don't think it was in a good way.

The alien with shifty yellow eyes in permanent slits whispered to Frieza in a voice that hissed.  I managed to pick up the end of the hushed conversation.

"Sssssection Sssix, ssseat forty-three, massster Friezssa…"  I heard the chilling snakelike tone.  Frieza smiled.

"Good, see that the settings are adjusted, try double the intensity.  I may get you to triple it if results are not satisfactory.  You have your orders Slisseth, that will be all."

Slisseth flicked his forked his tongue out at Frieza in a habitual, non-offensive way and bowed before making his way in a smooth gait, gliding half-through me as he passed the doorway.  I could feel his scales caressing my insides like cold fingers.  Every muscle cell ached to follow the creature, who, although bipedal, walked with a slithering effect.  I could do nothing, but watch as he left my fixed line of sight.  At least one good thing came of this:  those coordinates would narrow things down, and would come in handy once I found the exact location of this dodgy deed.

Another small inkling of progress had been made too.  From the moment Frieza had left (in the opposite direction, thankfully), I still could feel Vegeta's ki, and covered as much ground as I could before the bright little beacon vanished.  Finally, I was making some progress, slowly, but more than what I had to go on than last week. 

Silently I muttered a curse to the dark forces that be, for producing a three-way fork in the corridor just as Vegeta's ki faded.  It could be any of these. 

:: Close your eyes and turn around really fast a few times and take the one you end up facing once you open your eyes again. ::

Why not?  It wouldn't do any harm.  I closed my eyes and twirled on the spot a few times, then opened my eyes.

"That way!"  I purposefully strode in my chosen direction.  The path was curved around, then went straight for a little while, then bent again, ending up at another intersection, one that looked just like the one before.   OK, it was the one before.  All the tunnels linked up, and they showed me nothing.  But I swore that that was where I last sensed Vegeta.

However, I stay there, in case something happens.  I didn't want to investigate another part of the ship if this in fact was the place I needed to be.

I had made my decision.  I would wait.

Next Chapter:  Maybe this undercover brainwashing scheme will be uncovered… Vegeta fights a Saibaman… and possibly more… yes, there is going to be a big huge time-jump I've decided!!!!  *watches readers go 'yeah, right!*  Hey!!! I mean it this time!!!!