"This is a sad state of affairs..."
Somewhere on the vast planet known as Earth, a trio of demons hid, plotting revenge against the Humans who defeated them. While it was true that they used the Humans to escape servitude from the entity known as Xeon, they were still made the fool while doing so. They weren't about to let such a slight go unpunished.
"The three of us...the most powerful of the demon race, forced into seclusion...by HUMAN'S nonetheless..."
However, that was easier said than done. They were strong, but their feared king, Dabura was far stronger. Still, he managed to meet a very messy demise in the mortal realm. These Humans were unlike anything they had meet before. Even if they trained their hardest and attained power that would make even the great Dabura tremble, who knew how much stronger these Humans were.
To say the least, the head of the three, G'nola, found the situation very frustrating. "With Dabura gone, we should be reigning supreme in our realm! We should be crushing these mortals under our heels and making them our servants! Not cowering in fear like children!"
"Is that really true?" wondered another of the group, Grahm. "With all of our strength, we're still far below Dabura's full power. With training, I'm sure we would equal him eventually. Still, even at the height of his power, someone managed to kill him...a mortal at that."
G'nola looked at him with a sneer on his face, "And what's your point?"
"The point is that it should be no surprise we are in the predicament. If King Dabura was slain here, then what chance would we have?"
G'nola sat down with his back turned to his comrades. His frustration building, he slammed his fist into the ground, causing a sizable hole. "Damn it all..."
"Did I come at a bad time?"
The three demons leapt to their feet at the comment from the newcomer, surprised, as they never detected his approach. They found themselves face to face with a curious looking fellow half their size. G'nola couldn't believe the sheer audacity of these mortal scum. To dare interrupt their discussion? He was going to make sure this diminutive person wouldn't live to regret his mistake.
The eyes of the third among them widened and his mouth fell agape as recognition hit him. "Guys... you aren't going to believe this..." went O'ro. "He's...he's one of THEM!"
"What are you talking about?" inquired G'nola impatiently. "One of whom?"
"Well, look! Look at him!"
Both G'nola and Grahm studied the stranger closely, trying to figure out just what O'ro was talking about. Even with G'nola's building rage, it didn't take long for either to figure out what he was trying to say.
"Unbelievable!" muttered Grahm.
G'nola cracked his knuckles, "I can't believe one of you would appear before us in this way. But I am so glad you did. I needed a stress reliever."
The newcomer responded to the threat with a smirk, but stayed silent otherwise. With a vicious grin, G'nola charged. He propelled his closed fist outward where the interloper's face was supposed to be, but met nothing but air. He had just enough awareness to find the newcomer in mid flip above him, just before he was driven into the ground courtesy of a stomp from said newcomer.
"I did not come here to fight you. Trust me, if that were my intention, you three would've been dead before you even knew I was here."
G'nola struggled to look up at him, "Then what do you want?"
"To offer you a deal..."
Dreamweaver Studios Presents
Dragonball Z
Vicious Circle
Part 3
After what seemed like forever, the space trip was over and the spheroid Capsule Corp. ship touched down. Before the door could even open fully, Vegeta flew out, as much to survey his new surroundings as to get away from Goku. As much as Vegeta was forced to respect his fighting prowess, he could only take Goku in small doses and having to share close quarters with him for so long was maddening.
In contrast, when the door fully opened, Goku leisurely strode down the steps. As Vegeta did before him, he gave his new surroundings a quick look. Even though both knew this was likely another plot to do them in, he couldn't help but be impressed by what these Saiyans had built. The buildings, while none towered in size, were very well constructed. From what he understood about his own race, they were mainly fighters. The thought of Saiyan architects was somewhat baffling to him. Honestly, he couldn't think of how else these buildings could've been erected, though. Since they did claim to conquer this planet from another race, Goku was expecting nothing but devastated ruins, not this almost pristine city.
They had landed in what appeared to be the central park of the city. There weren't any toys or areas for children to play...oddly enough, there weren't any children. What was present, though, were several paved islands in the grass, where Saiyans trained diligently.
"Huh..." Vegeta grunted. "If I didn't know better, I'd say this was some sort of Saiyan utopia. Just like home...only better..." Vegeta had scant few memories of what his home world was like, as Freeza took him away at an early age. But the memories he did have were vivid. The buildings on Planet Vegeta were marvels of design...nothing like what was on this planet. But that was no wonder...the Tsufruu were marvelous designers. However, the place had a dark atmosphere to it, and the streets were littered with garbage.
This place, on the other hand, was spectacular. While the design of the buildings didn't compare, there was hardly any trash anywhere. The skies were bright, and the inhabitants of the city were a bit too civil. True the Saiyans on Vegeta weren't barbarians towards each other, but they were usually on the ruckus side and would cause the odd public disturbance. These people...didn't.
Goku, for his part, couldn't help but take another look around after Vegeta's comment. He had no memory of his home world, with being whisked away as a newborn and the amnesia. Being raised a Human, the revelation that he was actually from another world...a long dead world...it was quite a shock. While he dearly loved his friends and family, with that knowledge, a part of him, deep inside...a part that he kept secret, felt itself suddenly disconnected and longed to find out more about his own people.
Of course, every encounter with a Saiyan; Paragas, Brolli, Radditz, Nappa, Turles, all had to end with their deaths, or it would've meant the deaths of those Goku cared about and/or Goku himself. And Vegeta wasn't someone a person could bond and share stories with. So Goku's curiosity about his heritage was never satisfied. He sincerely hoped that he and Vegeta were wrong about these people. It would've been nice to get to know them.
"There you are!" The leader of the squad they met on Earth, Chisha, descended form the sky, landing softly in front of them. "So, what do you think of our new home?"
"It looks great!" offered Goku.
"I'm glad you think so, Kakarotto," she said, smiling. She looked at Vegeta for his opinion. He grunted but said nothing.
"That means he's pretty impressed with it too," Goku said. Vegeta glared at him but remained silent.
She laughed. "Well, that's good to hear. I'm sure you're hungry after that long trip. Let's get you something to eat."
"HEY! I'm all for that!" Goku almost jumped out of his skin at the mention of food. "Oh, but first, we gotta get the boys out of the ship."
Vegeta's eyes widened. "WHAT?!"
"Hey Goten! Trunks! You can come out now!"
Trunks' voice could be heard inside the ship, "Crap! Busted!" With their heads hung low, knowing they were in for a good yelling at, the two young stowaways slowly exited the ship.
As for the yelling part...Vegeta made sure not to disappoint them. "What are you two doing here? You were supposed to stay back on Earth!"
"Aw, c'mon, dad!" pleaded Trunks. "You're always talking about how I'm s'pose to be proud of being Saiyan and stuff...What better way to learn what I'm s'posed to be proud of than to see some up close? Besides, we wanna see if there are some strong fighters up here!"
Vegeta's face darkened. He was going to say more, but Goku cut him off, "Hey, cut the kids some slack, Vegeta. There's really no harm in them being here. They can handle themselves."
Vegeta walked up to Goku and countered with a stern whisper, "Can you be sure there's no harm? You DO remember why we're here, don't you?"
"Yeah, yeah, I remember," went Goku. "Even if it is a trap, though, have you sensed anyone that would really pose a threat to us?"
"In case recent history has been lost upon you, power levels can be suppressed."
"It'll be fine."
Chisha knelt down to examine the two warrior toddlers. "Heh...I can tell just looking at you that you are quite powerful yourselves. You two really take after your dads. Now, let me guess..." She looked between the two boys and pointed at Trunks, "Let me guess...you're Kakarotto's son, right?"
Trunks facefaulted. "Wha-?? What are you talking about???"
"Heh...just kidding."
"Hey, she got you good, Trunks!" Goten said, laughing. Trunks grumbled in response.
Chisha mussed Goten's hair playfully, "You certainly are the spitting image of your father. You'd better be careful, or some girl is going to snatch you up and make you her boyfriend."
"Really?"
Trunks looked at him like he was crazy, "You mean you would WANT a girlfriend???"
"Sure! It'd be cool! She could cook great food for me all the time like mom does for dad!"
Goku's stomach started rumbling loudly at Goten's use of the magic words. "Speaking of food..."
Chisha laughed again. "Of course. Follow me."
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Cursing continuously under his breath, Yamucha continued following the Saiyan woman that escaped his care. Somehow, he knew he was going to regret his actions regarding her. While a growing, seething hatred for everything Saiyan had taken root in his heart and was growing by the moment, he was still guided by will to do the right thing. He couldn't let someone die if he was able to help.
Well...that may have been part of it. However, there was something a little more selfish about Yamucha's motives. As much as he wanted to let the woman go off and die from her injuries, he figured to do so would be the way a Saiyan would do things. He wanted to prove himself above Saiyans in that regard.
Sensing her aura, Yamucha stopped. "Huh...there she is..." She was directly below him, laying on the ground in a fetal position, clutching her ribs. Her face was contorted in agony and her breathing was very shallow. She would die soon, if he didn't do anything.
Landing a couple of meters away, he walked up to her cautiously. Sensing his approach, the Saiyan woman's eyes flew open. She leapt up to her feet and stared Yamucha down.
Living in the wilderness as long as he had, Yamucha could recognize the look she had in her eyes. She was a wounded animal...one that felt backed into a corner. She was poised to strike at any moment. Yamucha sighed to himself; all of this because he was trying to do a stupid good deed.
The woman powered into Super Saiyan mode and launched her strike. Through the thrown punches and kicks, Yamucha could see the pained desperation in the woman's eyes. He supposed he could empathize. Here she was, mortally wounded on an alien world, not knowing who her friends were. He supposed if he were in a similar situation, he would react the same way.
As he danced around her attacks, he couldn't help but feel sorry for her. He doubted she would've stood a chance against him even if she were at full health. It sort of felt like he was picking on her. Being weak and having someone stronger pick on you was something else Yamucha could empathize with. He needed to incapacitate her without further injuring her already severely damaged body. He opted for the simplest method: moving faster than she could follow, he went behind her and gave her a chop to the side of her neck, causing her to collapse in a heap.
"Trust me, you'll be thanking me for this," Yamucha said to her unconscious form. Carefully he scooped her into his arms and gave a second thought to what he said. "Pfft...as if Saiyans know the first thing about gratitude..."
Surrounding himself with is incredible aura, he launched himself skyward in the direction of Korin's Tower.
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How about that. It deletes asterisks automatically so I can't use my normal separators. Thanks for yet another unnecessary change FFN.