Chapter 12
Arc Two: The Hunt For The Golden Super Saiya-jiin
************
~Chikyuu, Capsule Corp, Night-time~
He was bored.
Bored.
Bored.
Bored.
Vejiita wandered the darkened hallways
of Capsule Corp, his
mind occupied only by his state of boredom.
The gravity chamber was broken, again, so he couldn't train.
Only this time it wasn't his fault.
Some 'gravitational generator coil'
or weird sounding doo-hicky was faulty,
and wouldn't be repaired for
a day or so. He smirked at the guilty
look on the Onna's face when
she found out it was actually HER
fault this time, and not his.
Speaking of his ornery Onna, Bulma
was the reason he was up
and wandering restlessly around his home.
She had woken him up to
tell him she had to go to one of Capsule
Corp's offices in the Capital,
and wouldn't be back until early in the
morning. Something about a
national takeover or some emergency boring
business deal on the
opposote side of Chikyuu that had to be
done. So, that meant she
wasn't able to occupy his attentions.
And, he hated to admit it, but
he had gotten used to her warm and comforting
presence in his arms
in their bedroom at night. So he was
unable to sleep. He tried, but
his tossing and turning was accomplishing
nothing, except for making
a mess out of the bed.
As he wandered the twisting corridors
that consisted of his
home, he thought of other residents of the
gigantic building. The
Onna's parents were gone, once more, on
some inane vacation. They
had officially handed over the company to
Bulma, so they were
taking full advantage of their 'retirement,'
or something. He really
didn't care where they were. Only
thing he cared about was that
they were out of his hair.
Serori and Seiika were in their quarters,
more than likely
sleeping at this hour. They had been
training intensely this past
week, trying to bring their skills up to
par as fast and as efficiently
as possible. Kakarotto, his brat,
and the hairless thing they called a
friend practically had been living over
here, training with the two
younger Saiya-jiin as much as possible.
They happened to have gone
to their respective homes for the night,
since the gravity chamber
was out of service.
He smiled, truly smiled, at the progress
both Serori and
Seiika had accomplished within the past
few days. Both of them
have increased their power levels by leaps
and bounds; especially
Serori. He'd shown tremendous promise
before they started
training, and Vejiita was not disappointed.
He had picked up on the
new attacks that Kakarotto, the bald creature,
and he had shown
him, almost perfecting them within the same
day. And Serori had
shown them how to do that ki tornado that
he'd demonstrated on
the first day they sparred. Vejiita
didn't find it to be all that
useful, but the bald creature certainly
took to it fast, and made it
one of his own attacks.
Seiika was a different story.
Her training was woefully
underdeveloped; she had been taught the
very base of the core
basics and concepts, but wasn't pushed to
her limits, unlike Serori
sometimes had been. He had mentioned
in passing a few of the
training exercises that his 'Oyaji' had
put him through. They
sounded rather interesting, but he wouldn't
have wanted to go
through such things if he didn't have his
Saiya-jiin instincts and
training to back him up.
Pit of cats, indeed.
He had shown an extreme weakness around
the feline species,
almost completely losing it when he saw
that infernal shadow Bulma's
otousan called a cat, perched on his shoulder.
Seiika had been there
to take his mind off the small creature
and to calm him down. She
told him what Serori was capable of when
he entered the state of
insanity called the 'neko-ken,' and Vejiita
had wanted to see it in
action. But Seiika gave him a dirty
look, and cut off any further
discussion of the subject. It must
not be a pleasant subject to
discuss around Serori. Although, Bulma's
otousan and okaasan heard
Seiika describe some of the details of the
feared 'Neko-ken.'
Needless to say, and Vejiita smirked
to himself, it was the
main motivating factor for their impromptu
'vacation.'
But Seiika, though, was a fast learner,
despite her human
training, or lack of training. Her
faded and sketchy memories of the
short period of training she received back
on Vejiita-sei had helped
her tremendously. It had taken her
awhile to get the hang of using
ki, but Serori was good at explaining things
to her, when she didn't
understand certain concepts, or didn't know
how to apply them to
her own skills. Although, Vejiita
realized that she still had far to
go; still, she was getting better.
She had already surpassed
Kakarotto's brat's skills, and was using
the bald creature as a
sparring partner.
And when she was in her Super Saiya-jiin
state, she was
phenomenal. Vejiita didn't have her
train much transformed;
although she could switch to Super Saiya-jiin
with a thought, now.
It came to her as naturally as powering
up. She didn't need Serori
anymore to goad her into a fit of anger.
He told her the stronger
she was untransformed, the infinitely more
powerful she'd be in her
Golden state. She had agreed readily,
and took to the training that
both he and Kakarotto threw at her with
grace, and determination.
No matter what they made her do, or receive
in the name of
'training,' she did not complain or whine.
She growled readily, but
did not resist the punishment handed to
her.
Her ki abilities had improved by leaps
and bounds as well.
She could now use her ki for more than creating
an aura and flying.
She had a ki attack of her very own, and
could perform some of the
Z Senshi's easier originals.
All in all, he was very proud of his futago and her mate.
But that still didn't mean he wasn't bored out of his mind.
His wanderings found him in the kitchen,
one of his favorite
rooms of the entire Capsule Corp.
Maybe eating something would
occupy his time until he once again tried
to sleep the seemingly
endless night away.
He entered the darkened kitchen expecting
to finish off that
large hidden leg of roast bird that he saw
Serori sneak away and
stash in the refrigerator.
Only to encounter a lazily waving tail
protruding from a
cupboard.
Vejiita raised an eyebrow in amusement.
Seiika had not yet
acknowledged his presence, so he decided
to wait and see what she
was up to, this late at night. They
had trained very hard today, and
both she and Serori retired early to their
suite--he had felt their
mating activities, but that was nothing
new, or unexpected. He and
Bulma mated as much as they did. He
silently sat down on a stool
and awaited her undivided attention.
She emerged within minutes, with an
armful of meats, bread,
and assorted other items. Sandwich
fixings if he ever saw them.
His mouth began to water and drool slightly
at the thought of a
thick and meaty sandwich. But his
thoughts came to a halt when he
saw something that made his uplifted spirits
sink fast.
Seiika had in her mouth the aforementioned
bird leg, that he
thought still rested within the meat cooler
of a refrigerator,
dangling from her mouth, completely stripped
clean of all its meat.
She caught sight of her twin and raised
an eyebrow at the
pained expression that flashed across his
face. "Nani yo,
Vejiita-chan? What are you doing up?"
She dumped her armful of
foodstuffs on the counter.
Vejiita sighed loudly and indicated
to the bone in her mouth.
"I was going to eat that, Seiika."
She took it out and glanced at it before
she tossed it away.
"How did you know it was there? I
asked Ranma to save it for me
for later." She glanced him accusingly
as she started to put
together the makings of several large sandwiches.
"You didn't want
to eat my snack now, did you, Vejiita?"
Vejiita gave her a mock-surprised look.
"Me? Never! The
thought never crossed my mind." He
reached over to help himself to
one of her sandwiches, but was halted mid-grab
by a stinging slap of
the butter knife to his knuckles.
He pulled his hand back abruptly and
nursed his slightly
throbbing knuckles. "Nani?"
He added speed, and reaction time, to
the list of her improvements. He was
surprised such a weak
instrument could cause him pain.
Akane continued to calmly prepare her
snack. "Ask first."
He raised an eyebrow and crossed his
arms. "The Saiya-jiin
no Ouji does not have to ask for anything."
"Well, the Saiya-jiin no Oujo doesn't
make sandwiches for a
Saiya-jiin no Ouji that doesn't ask politely
first. Or did you forget
all of the manners-training that Biiery-sensei
taught us?" She
smiled slightly and raised an eyebrow when
she heard his stomach
growl.
"I need to hear it from your mouth,
not your stomach,
Vejiita-chan."
The Prince scowled darkly and turned
his attention away from
Akane, focusing on a convenient newspaper,
and buried his nose
within its inked pages.
Akane finished preparing the sandwiches
and sat down on a
stool next to her brother. She picked
up one and started to eat,
exaggerating her chewing noises and adding
comments on the side,
trying to rile the stubborn Prince.
(munch munch) "Boy, are these good!"
"Mmm, hmm! This really hits the spot!"
(smack) "Wow, this bread is so moist!"
(sigh) "How can this meat be so tender and juicy?"
Vejiita visibly ignored her, but his
stomach told a different
story. After a particularly loud rumble,
he calmly folded the paper
and set it aside. He swallowed and
sighed. "Would you please share
your food with me?"
Akane grinned wide at the pained look
on his face. She knew
it took a lot of pride-swallowing for him
just to ask, and she decided
to reward him. "Hai, Vejiita-chan,
I would be happy to share my
food with you." She pulled another
plate out from under hers and
placed half of the stack upon it and set
it in front of Vejiita. "Here
you are, Vejiita."
He nodded his thanks and proceeded
to inhale the food within
thirty seconds, flat.
Akane just smiled and continued to
calmly eat her own
sandwiches at her own pace.
When he was done, he reached for a
napkin and wiped his
face and fingers clean. "Domo arigato,
Seiika-chan. They were
satisfying. I don't know why Serori
teases you about your cooking
abilities."
Akane frowned slightly. "Well,
I didn't really cook anything.
I just slapped some meat and cheese in between
two pieces of
bread. I have made some disasters
in the kitchen at times." She
admitted reluctantly and sighed. "Ranma
has gotten quite ill from
them. I tried really hard, but it
just seemed to always turn out
wrong."
He just shrugged his shoulders.
"You were never meant to
cook. That's what servants are for.
Or you ate raw." A faraway
look crossed the Prince's face. "Remember
that adult male yakuuti
we brought down for our First Rites?"
She nodded, smiling at the memory.
"I remember it well,
especially when the thing scared me half
to death when it bounded
out of the brush and stepped on my tail."
She rubbed the tip in
rememberance. "Although it did taste
very good when we ate it that
night."
Vejiita nodded in agreement.
"That animal was four or five
times our size. The King was impressed
that we brought it down
without any ki attacks."
"Hai, Papa was very proud."
They sat together in silence, remembering
days long extinct.
Vejiita finally broke it, with a question.
"Would you like to go
hunting with me again, Seiika-chan?"
Akane blinked a few times, in surprise.
"Nani? Well, I
haven't done that since...forever, I guess.
Not since Vejiita-sei. I
don't know if I would be of any use."
She shrugged her shoulders
helplessly.
He dismissed her protests with a snort.
"You would do fine.
Hunting is part of your instincts--it doesn't
go away with disuse."
He furrowed his eyebrows and stared into
her eyes. "They may have
been blocked for a time, but they still
exist."
Akane smiled and nodded. "Hai,
that sounds like fun." She
furrowed her own eyebrows and returned his
stare. "But I have a
question, Vejiita. It's been bugging
me for awhile, and you brought
up a point that reminded me of it."
He looked slightly interested.
"Nani? What do you want to
know?"
Her face became serious. "How
did you know mine and
Ranma's memories were blocked? How
long did you know I existed
on Chikyuu?"
Vejiita blinked--he wasn't expecting
those questions to arrive
out of the blue. "Well, the night
that the Namek-seijiin called us up
to his home to tell us of the new enemy,
he also told me about your
surviving Friezer, and your arrival on Chikyuu."
"Honto?" He nodded. "So
you only found out the night
before?"
"Hai. If I had known earlier,
I would have searched you out
immediately, even if you weren't awakened
to your memories of me
and our past."
She turned away from his intense gaze
and lowered her eyes
to the table, fiddling with her sandwich
plate in nervousness. "So it
wasn't because you were ashamed of me?
Because I am weak?"
He looked surprised at her thought.
He reached out and
gently turned her towards him once more,
lifting her chin to look
into her face. He saw her shame clearly
written upon the delicate
features. He shook his head roughly.
"Iie, Seiika-chan. I would
never be ashamed of you. You are not
weak. You are the Saiya-jiin
no Oujo, Crown Princess of Vejiita-sei,
Heir to the Saiya-jiin Empire.
You are my futago, my oneechan," he
smiled slightly, "if only by a
few minutes."
She smiled and brushed her fingers
across his forehead.
"That's another thing, too, ototochan."
She smiled wider at the roll
of his eyes. "How come you are so
much older than me and Ranma,
now? He was, what, almost six months
older than the two of us?
And you now are how old?"
"I'm thirty-one, plus I spent four
years in cryo-stasis on one
mission for Friezer."
Akane looked confused. "Thirty-five
years? Honto?" Vejiita
nodded slightly. Akane shook her head,
amazed at the new
information. "We arrived on Chikyuu
only sixteen years ago. We
were, what, four when we blasted off Vejiita-sei,
and now we're
considered eighteen. How long of a
trip was it from Vejiita-sei to
Chikyuu?"
Vejiita thought for a moment.
"It would have taken just over
a Chikyuu year to reach here at full power
and speed in the pod you
arrived in."
"So why are you so much older?
Unless...you said
cryo-stasis?"
Vejiita nodded. "On the night
we were told about you, the
Namek-seijiin took us back in time to witness
your first night on
Chikyuu." He saw her alarmed look
and shook his head. "Iie, we
weren't seen by anyone. The Namek-seijiin
made us invisible to the
world. Your pod had been damaged--most
likely by Friezer's scout
ship that we thought destroyed it--and the
computer said you were
in cryo-stasis. So you slept for seventeen
years, or so, in stasis."
She nodded, things finally falling
into place. "That makes
sense. The pod must have been really
damaged for it to take so long.
Still, I wonder, why Chikyuu?"
Vejiita shrugged. "Who knows?
I wasn't told where you were
originally sent, in case Friezer tried to
pry the information out of
me. And it didn't matter once we saw
the explosion. The King
declared you and Serori dead." His
face became solemn and drained.
"I really believed you died because I could
feel both your and
Serori's presence, your ki, still in the
back of my mind, and after the
explosion, it wasn't there anymore."
He sighed and looked into his chest,
not wanting to meet her
eyes. His voice was so low, she had
to strain her ears to understand
what he was saying. "It felt like
part of me was ripped directly
from my soul. And it hurt. Oh
Kami, did it hurt..."
Akane smiled softly, her aching heart
mirrored the
barely-concealed emotions on his face.
She stood, and climbed onto
her twin's lap, straddling his waist.
She wrapped her arms around
his neck, and hugged him close, bringing
his head down to rest on her
chest. "It's alright, Vejiita-chan."
She gently stroked his hair,
feeling him shake slightly as the pent-up
emotions finally released
themselves into her pajamas. "I'm
here, now. And I won't go away
again. I promise." She felt
him nod slightly, and he wrapped his
arms around her waist tightly, entwining
his tail around her own as a
child would with a parent.
She buried her face within his forest of
hair and released her own withheld anguish.
They sat there for
several minutes, in the still of the night,
not saying anything; not
needing to--the other's presence was enough
for now.
Soon, Akane remerged from Vejiita's
hair, and Vejiita sat up
slightly. She ran her fingers through
his hair and brushed her lips
across the nobby ridge in between his eyebrows.
She rubbed noses
with him and smiled. "So, do you want
to go now?"
Vejiita blinked at her question and
sat up even farther.
"Nani? Go now? Where?"
Akane removed herself from his embrace
to stand up and
place the dirty plates in the sink to be
cleaned later. "Hunting, of
course. It sounds like fun!"
She waggled a finger at him in
reproach. "Or have you forgotten,
already?"
He shook his head. "Iie. You just ate. Are you still hungry?"
Akane rubbed her stomach, thinking.
"Well, I'm not starving,
but some raw meat actually sounds really
good right now. Let me go
get changed, and I'll meet you outside."
"What about Serori?"
Akane shrugged. "What about him?
He's zonked out to the
world." She winked at him suggestively.
"Besides, I wore him out
earlier. This is our fun." He
nodded and watched as she flew to the
rooms she shared with her sleeping, and
supposedly satisfied, mate.
Vejiita felt a rare excitement buliding
up in his stomach and
veins. He hadn't been hunting in quite
a while, and forever with his
sister. They used to hunt the game
on Vejiita-sei all the time, and
were very skilled. Everyone knew how
good of a hunting pair they
made, and at such a young age, too.
That's why they had their First
Rites at age three. Why should they
have to wait until they were
older to come into their titles, when they
could claim them at such a
young age? It was just another sign
for the prophets and the
Saiya-jiin of Vejiita-sei that he and Seiika
were the Prophecized
Ones. He left the confines of Capsule
Corp with a rare look of
anticipation written across his finely chiseled
features.
He met up with Akane, who was just
closing the balcony doors
to her suite. She had on her black
and purple training suit and her
tail curled tightly around her waist.
"Ready, Seiika?"
She nodded and launched off the balcony
and into the sky.
"You bet. I'm really looking forward
to this!" She smiled wide. "I
think I'm starting to crave raw meat.
My mouth is watering at the
thought!"
Vejiita smirked and pointed in a random
direction. "Let's
start off that way. There is usually
some big game in that neck of
the woods, and it is far away from civilization."
Akane nodded, and smiled to herself
that Vejiita had taken
the time and consideration to think of the
Humans on the planet.
She watched as her beloved brother launched
off the ground and
into the air. She followed directly
behind.
********
~Chikyuu, A Clearing in a Forest, Night~
Wild animals scattered helplessly as
four large spherical
objects landed in a clearing soundlessly.
The circular pods were a
metallic silver, with several flashing lights
surrounding the outer
hulls. The lights stopped blinking
altogether as the pods began to
power down with a hiss. The pods opened
their hatches one-by-one,
and the five occupants filed out, one-by-one,
so that twenty
creatures stood in four rows of five.
At first glance they looked
quite similiar to giant bees. The
Drones were black with thin white
stripes that ran horizontally around their
bodies. A silver disc was
attached to the set of the Drone's thin
forearms, while another two
sets of tapered legs supported the elongated
body and walked upon
the ground. The pincers that constitiuted
as hands were at rest.
The large, round, multi-faceted eyes took
in the surroundings as the
four antennae bobbed up and down, and rotated
from side-to-side as
they made quiet clicking and humming noises
within their ranks,
communicating their orders to each other.
The Hachi Drones
unfurled their four thin, membrane-like
wings and left the clearing
in pairs, leaving one pair behind, to guard
the ships. They took to
the air to preform their assigned duties.
To search out Humanoid life and assimiliate it into its own.
For these Scout Drones were just the
Beginning of the
attack on Chikyuu.
********
~Chikyuu, Clearing on the Opposite Side of the Forest, Night~
A puff of smoke was the only sound
that was made when the
capsule returned to its original form.
Only the local animals that
chose to see what the commotion was about,
saw the two figures
leave the sight at a rather brisk pace.
They ran side by side, taking
in the scenery and sights as they traveled.
The taller of the two spoke. "Are you sure you got it right?"
The shorter of the two nodded impatiently.
"Hai, Hai. Stop
worrying. We'll get there in time."
"But what if we miscalculated?"
The features of the tall male
screwed up in anxiety. "What if we're
too early, or too late?"
"Then we are too early or too late.
But we aren't. Or won't
be. I thought you had faith in me.
'Kaasan did." The shorter of the
two's eyes flashed with barely-concealed
pain, but his expression did
not change.
The tall one swallowed nervously.
"Hai, I do. I just wish we
were absolutely positive. I'd rather
be too early, than too late."
"Hai. I understand. So
do I. But the calculations were
checked, double-checked, and then checked
three more times for
good measure." He smirked at his companion
as they ran along.
"Don't worry. You'll die before you're
old enough to live, if you
continue down that path."
The tall one's smirk mirrored the shorter
one. "Honto?
Where have I heard that before?"
"Ojisan said it everyday to you for the past five years."
"Honto? So I really don't think I need to hear it again."
"Then stop worrying."
The two forms continued through the
woods, an almost deadly
intent driving them to arrive at their destination
at the correct
time.
**********
Akane slowly flew close to the ground,
keeping a sharp eye
open for any signs of catchable game.
She knew Vejiita was a few
yards away, down another path, doing the
same thing she was. Out
of the corner of her eye she saw him land
and crouch behind a clump
of bushes, gaze intent on a clearing farther
away.
She turned around and noiselessly crept
up next to him,
trying to spot the reason he stopped.
The waning moon gave them
enough light to see clearly by, thanks to
their naturally enhanced
eyesight. Vejiita acknowledged her
with a slight nod, and pointing to
a clump of trees several yards ahead of
him, he muttered so only
she could hear. "Buck. Big."
Akane squinted in the direction he
pointed and saw
nothing--until it shifted. Her eyes
widened at the twelve-point buck
that was just barely visible in the grove
of trees. If she still had
her human eyesight, he would have passed
her gaze unnoticed. She
silently thanked Kami that Vejiita's senses
were more alert than
hers.
Vejiita pointed to the right and Akane
nodded, moving herself
into a new position behind the buck, downwind,
effectively
surrounding it. He waited until
she was settled and the buck was
still once more. It had moved a few
steps to the left and seemed a
tad skitterish, but it returned to its resting
position within the
protective clump of trees.
He signaled to Akane, and they both
slowly moved forward,
making their circle smaller and smaller,
until they were almost right
upon the creature. He could smell
the deer's musk, and the smell
inflamed his nostrils, making his blood
run hot with the thrill of the
hunt. He glanced over to his sister
and saw the exact same emotions
running over her face. He grinned
wickedly and nodded, giving Akane
the signal to pounce.
But before they could actually attack,
the buck suddenly shot
out of protective cover and ran deeper into
the woods, startling
Akane, for the buck decided to use her as
a pathway in its
pre-emptive flight.
Vejiita spat out a curse and bolted
after the buck, Akane
right behind him, still a tad shocked from
their intended quarry's
mad dash. They quickly caught up to
the deer and Vejiita jumped,
tackling its hind legs with his arms and
upper body. The deer cried
out, falling to the ground. Akane
grabbed it around its neck, and
with a swift twist, broke the animal's neck
and ended the Hunt.
Both Saiya-jiin panted, more from the
excitement and rush
of the hunt, than from tiredness.
Akane grinned and held the animal's
head in her lap. "Yatta!
That was a rush! Sugoi! I thought
we lost him when he bolted."
Vejiita nodded, crouching over the
animal. He ran a hand over
the hide, exmining it for any signs of disease.
"So did I. I wonder
what set it off, running. It wasn't
us." He reached behind him and
pulled out a very large and very sharp knife
from sub-space, and
opened the stomach to disembowel their catch.
"Make a hole so we
can bury the entrails."
Akane nodded and, using her ki, created
a small crater in
which to dump the unwanted parts of the
deer so it would be easier
to carry home. "I didn't think it
was us that spooked him. Although,
I was the one spooked when he ran over me.
It was First Rites all
over again."
Vejiita smirked as he carried the unwanted
parts of the deer
over to the hole, and using his own ki,
recovered it. "Your guard was
down. You were too confident in the
kill." He gave her an appraising
look. "Although I thought I'd have
to be the one to make the
finishing blow. I didn't know if you'd
be up to it."
Akane looked offended at his remark.
"I'm glad you have so
much confidence in me, Vejiita-chan.
You shouldn't stroke my ego so
much." She blew a raspberry at his
rolled-eyes reaction. Her mood
abruptly changed; she looked around, staring
into the darkness, a
frown gracing her features.
Vejiita looked up at her scowl and
scowled himself. "What's
wrong?"
She held up her hand to silence him.
"Do you feel that?" Her
eyes darted around her, her head swiveling
in all directions, trying
to pinpoint her reaction.
Vejiita mimicked her, trying to find
what she felt. What now
he felt. He stopped swiveling, narrowed
his eyes and pointed in a
direction. "Over there. It's
coming from over there."
Akane came up to her brother's side.
"What is it? It feels
very ominous."
He shook his head. "I don't know."
He grabbed the deer and
placed it high into a tree and marked the
trunk with a very small ki
blast. "But I'm going to find out."
"Do you think it's what scared the deer?" Akane suggested.
Vejiita shrugged his shoulders and
launched himself into the
air. "Maybe. Let's go find out."
Akane nodded and jumped after her
brother.
***
After a few miles of flying, Akane
and Vejiita touched down
in a bare patch of woods. They stood
there silently, trying to feel
the presence they felt a while ago, and
now no longer could detect.
"Is it gone? Is that why I can't
feel it any more?" Akane
scowled at the surounding area, her questions
going unanswered by
the lush vegetation.
Vejiita matched her scowl with one
of his own. "I don't
understand. It came from this direction."
She sighed, disgusted by their wild-goose
chase. "Let's go
back to where we left the deer. Maybe
we'll pick it up again."
Vejiita nodded, and they launched once again
into the air. When
they arrived back at the original site,
there was no trace of the
strange feeling they felt before.
Vejiita retrieved their kill and
headed for home.
But they did not get far when their
senses were assualted by
that feeling again. It was very strong;
almost seemed like they were
on top of it. Both Saiya-jiin landed
immediately and spread out,
trying to find the source of the distress
to their senses.
Akane was the one to break through
into the overgrown
clearing. She cried out, bringing
Vejiita to her side immediately. He
swore out loud and slowly advanced to examine
the four space pods.
There were no creatures in sight, forest
or otherwise, and the air
surrounding the spheres was very still.
"Do you recognize the ships, Vejiita?
That's what they are,
spaceships?" Akane called out, emerging
farther out into the
clearing.
He nodded. "Hai, I believe they
are, but I do not recognize
them. They are not Friezer's pods,
nor Saiya-jiin. I have seen
similar ones, but this is a basic design.
There are lots of races that
have the capability for space travel, and
have designed their ships in
this manner."
Akane walked up to the nearest pod
and ran her hand along
the surface of the silver metal. "What
do you think arrived in
them?"
He shook his head and backed away from
the pods. "I don't
know. Another question we should be
asking is where are the
creatures that arrived in them?"
Akane widened her eyes at the errant
thought and quickly
backed away from the pod. She turned
around slowly, searching the
undergrowth for any signs of the new visitors.
Even though she
didn't know what she was looking for.
She inched her way over to
her twin. "Do you see anything, or
anyone?"
Vejiita shook his head. "Iie.
I don't think they are here
anymore." He pointed to the ground.
"There may be quite a few of
them, or they paced around for some time."
The ground was literally
covered in four-toed prints. He bent
down and studied the tracks.
"They're still fresh." He stood up
and scanned the surrounding area.
"They should be still close." Akane
grunted in acknowledgment and
darted her eyes around the area as well,
looking for the unknown
invaders.
In her sweep of the area, Akane did
not notice that she was
backing up into one of the silver pods,
until she literally ran into it.
A loud beeping immediately started to sound.
Akane jumped back drastically, eyes
wildly darting. Her aura
flared bright instinctively. "What's
going on?" Vejiita moved in
front of his sister, his aura matching hers
in intensity.
On one of the pods, a hatch opened.
The two remaining
Drones slowly emerged and scanned the area,
looking for the
Humanoid creature that one of the four pod's
outside sensors'
detected. Their sweep detected and
discovered two: Vejiita and
Akane. They walked down the plank
and stopping to touch some
buttons on one the side of the pod, retracted
the bridge and
started a small red light to pulse.
Vejiita called out roughly to them.
"Who are you? What are
you? What is your business on this
planet?" The two Drones said
nothing, but turned toward the Saiya-jiin
and began to advance. Vejiita
started to become angry. "Bakayaro!
Tell me what you want here! Or
I'll destroy you!" They continued
to say nothing, and moved closer.
Vejiita swore and shot a relatively
small ki blast at the closer
of the two drones. Drone One raised
its arm and Vejiita's shot went
into the silver disc attached to the arm.
It immediately flashed
white, and the Drone aimed the disc at Vejiita,
releasing the ki right
back to its owner.
He dodged it effortlessly and Akane
gasped aloud. "It
absorbed your ki! That disc absorbed
your ki and shot it right back
to you!" She looked closer at the
Drones. "Vejiita, look! It's black
and white-striped!"
Vejiita grunted as he ducked another
of his returned ki
shots. "I can see that, Seiika.
This must be the new enemy that
appeared in the Onna's dream." He
tried shooting several blasts
rapidly, but they were all immediately caught
and sent back to their
owner, and his partner. "They seem
to be the same intensity as
what you shoot at them--they're not adding
their own ki."
Akane and Vejiita jumped around, trying
to avoid the
returned ki, and trying to get an effective
shot in. Vejiita growled
when one struck him in the leg. "If
I knew I was going to fight, then
I'd have worn armour."
Akane ducked a returned shot and sent
one of her own. It
actually hit the target, and caused some
slight damage. "We have to
team up. They can be damaged.
But they're so fast." She dodged
another shot and tried to get in another
hit.
Vejiita grunted, powering up.
"Honto? You attack, draw its
fire. I'll try to get its blind side."
Akane nodded, powered up, and
threw a volley of ki blasts that would have
made any sensei proud, in
different circumstances. This accomplished
the task and distracted
both Drones; they naturally absorbed them
and returned fire upon
Akane.
Vejiita crept around to the opposite
side and when they were
busy obsorbing Akane's attacks, he let loose
one of his own.
"Big Bang Attack!" The
strong ki blast was directed at the
backs of both Drones.
The two-pronged attack worked.
Vejiita's blast managed to
catch them unguarded, and to his slight
satisfaction, melted off
their wings and left giant scorch marks
on their backs.
Both Drones let out ear-piercing shrieks,
the first sound
heard from them, and both turned toward
Vejiita, moving as fast as
they could go. Drone One's antennae
started to glow green, and with
another shriek, launched a green beam at
the hovering Saiya-jiin.
The wide beam washed over the surprised
Vejiita, effectively
immobilizing him, and sending him crashing
to the ground.
"Shimatta! I can't move!"
Vejiita stuggled in vain to break
free of the paralyzing beam, only sucessfully
moving a few inches.
The unoccupied Drone Two quickly moved
over to the frozen
Vejiita, and removed one of the silver ki-capturing
discs from its
forearms. It placed it upon Vejiita's
chest, and pressing the darker
grey button in the center, released metallic
arms that latched it
onto his chest. Vejiita screamed in
agony, his aura flaring bright.
Akane screamed right back at him.
"Vejiita!" She
immediately flared into Super Saiya-jiin
and launched a huge
barrage of gigantic ki blasts. Both
Drones turned in her direction
and effortlessly captured her ki and directed
it back to her. Lucky
for the Saiya-jiin present, by distracting
the Drones, this succeeded
in releasing Vejiita from the paralysis
beam.
Akane vainly tried to avoid her own
ki that was being directed
back at her, while attempting to still hit
the Drones with others.
She was only partially successful.
She did manage to avoid her first
round of ki, but was directly hit by the
second. Akane screamed in
pain, and fell to the ground.
Vejiita sat up when he felt he was
able to move. He had just
stood up and shaken off the last effects
of the paralysis beam when
he saw Akane get hit with her own ki attacks
and fall screaming to
the ground. "Seiika!!!" Vejiita
screamed and his aura burst bright.
He blindly shot off a round of ki at the
two Drones, and felt them
return it to him, but he paid it no mind.
He directed his ki at the
two Drones, hoping to distract them long
enough to get a lucky shot
in as made his way over to his downed sister.
He avoided all of the
return ki and when he they had no more to
throw, he knelt next to
Akane, checking her vital signs. She
was out, unconscious, but still
alive. Barely. She'd never been
hit really hard by such a large
amount of ki, and the shots that she sent,
and therefore took, were
bigger than she ever thrown or shown before.
Vejiita turned toward the two Drones;
they were silent as
they advanced. One of them was glowing
green. He knew what was
coming next. His anger and anguish
at not protecting his sister
clouded his mind, making rational thought
imposssible. He felt
something snap inside him--as if the last
twig restraining the large
pile of driftwood snapped. "Kusotare!
You will pay for hurting
Seiika-chan!" He powered up, and up;
higher than he ever gone
before. And the dam broke.
And then he felt it.
What he always strived for, and what he never attained.
Super.
Super Saiya-jiin.
Super Sayia-jiin was his.
Finally.
When he felt the trememdous tsunami
of power that
overflowed his senses and catapulted through
his veins finally
reached his brain, he knew his hair had
turned a white-blonde, and
his eyes were a pupil-less aquamarine.
He also knew that the power
that bulked him up was what he was trying
to attain for so long;
what Kakarotto and Seiika attained before
him, and what he finally
had achieved.
He also saw that the two Drones were
right in front of him.
The green-glowing Drone One was just about
to launch that damned
paralysis beam upon both him and Seiika
when, from out of nowhere,
a blur took Drone One out of his sight.
And other blur removed the
remaining Drone.
Vejiita blinked rapidly. 'What
was that, and where in the Hell
did the bugs go?'
He looked around and saw a male with
red, blue, and black
hair and a long braid attacking Drone One
with a sword. Pieces of
Drone covered in a dark blue blood-substance
flew everywhere. He
had effectively carved up the Drone with
a very sharp-looking
katana.
He spotted Drone Two being sliced into
pieces, as well, by a
purple-haired male with a fairly large sword.
The tri-colored male
pulled a cloth from behind his back, wrapped
his sword, and placed it
behind his back, where it disappeared.
The purple haired male wiped
his own blade clean of the blue goo and
tossed it into the air, where
it landed in its sheath on his back.
Both males turned to Vejiita and
Akane, who was still on the ground.
She made a small noise and his
attention was brought back to his sister.
"Seiika! Daijoubu ka?"
He knelt down next to her and placed
his hand on her forehead. She blinked
a few times as she looked
into the corona of light that was her Super
Saiya-jiin twin.
She groaned once more. "Vejiita-chan?
Is...that you?" She
closed her eyes again and sighed softly.
"Seiika? Don't go out on me!
Seiika-chan! Don't leave me
again!" Vejiita's voice rose in pitch
with every sentence. His aura
pulsed brightly, and with a flash, blinked
out.
Akane cracked open her eyes when she
felt Vejiita slump onto
her chest. They went wide when she
saw the state he was in.
"Vejiita? Vejiita-chan? Daijoubu
ka?" She sat up, immediately
regretting the sudden movement. She
winced hard and slammed her
eyes shut. Then she felt soft hands
push her back to the ground,
and the weight of Vejiita being removed
from her chest.
A soothing baritone talked her through
the pain. "It's alright
now. Just lie back down, and the pain
will slowly go away."
"Demo..." she struggled to sit up. "Vejiita..."
"He's alright. He'd just passed
out from the disc and the
switch to Super Saiya-jiin."
Akane fluttered her aquamarine eyes
open and was met with
warm dark-brown ones and a small smile.
"Who are you?"
He smiled wider and helped her sit
up slowly. "For now, let's
say I'm a friend."
She looked around for Vejiita and found
him a short distance
away, still in Super Saiya-jiin mode, lying
on his back with another
male hovering over him. "And him?"
She indicated to the
purple-haired male by Vejiita.
He looked over to the direction she
indicated and nodded.
"Hai, he's a friend, too. My best
friend, actually. He's trying to
remove the Hachi disc from his chest."
Akane rubbed her head, trying to relieve
the pain she felt
there. "Hachi? Bee? Is
that what those things are?" She looked
around frantically. "Where are they?
What happened to them? Did
Vejiita get them?"
The tri-colored male held her still,
talking in calming tones
once more. "Ssh, it's alright.
We took care of the Drones. Those
two are gone for now." He looked over
to the other male and called
out. "How's it going over there?"
The purple-haired male looked up and
nodded. "I'm just
waiting for the last arm to retract.
They all got fried when he went
Super Saiya-jiin."
"Is he still out yet?"
The purple-haired male nodded again.
"Hai, but he should be
coming out of it soon. Alright, I
got the disc off. Catch!" He
tossed the disc into the air and the tri-colored
Saiya-jiin hit it with
a thin ki-beam, distinigrating it upon contact.
The tri-colored male spoke again to
his friend. "Did it hit
Stage Two?"
'Purple' shook his head. "Iie,
they never activated it. I
wonder why?"
Akane smirked slightly. "Well,
I flared into Super Saiya-jiin
and attacked when they first attached it
and he screamed. I don't
think they got a chance." 'Tri' smiled slightly
and nodded.
He looked concerned a second later.
"Are you feeling better?
Can you stand up?" Akane shrugged
her shoulders and moved to
stand. She did it, but leaned on 'Tri'
for support. "Boy, what I
wouldn't do for a Senzu bean right now."
She chuckled weakly. 'Tri'
shrugged his shoulders and smiled at her
in comfort.
Akane made her way over to Vejiita,
with Tri's help. She
knelt down next to him and studied his new
features, not noticing
the two strange males had backed away.
He looked pretty much the
same, except for the blonde hair and the
bulkier body. She looked
at herself, comparing his change to her
own. 'I do bulk up some
when I'm Super Saiya-jiin. I
didn't realise that.' She touched his
cheek, rubbing off a smudge of dirt there.
"You're all dirty,
Vejiita-chan. Bulma-chan's gonna throw
a fit."
Vejiita groaned under her hand and
cracked an aquamarine
eye open. "Serori's going to have
a heart attack when he sees you.
Talk about a mess."
Akane smiled and helped him sit up.
"Are you sure you're all
right?" She patted his chest where
the disc was attached for good
measure.
Vejiita brushed her hand away.
"I'm fine, Seiika." He looked
around. "Where are the Bee creatures?"
She glanced around and nodded behind
him. "Those two males
destroyed them, I guess. Or at least
that's what they said. I was
still knocked out. They also removed
the disc from your chest."
Akane looked relieved at his recovery rate,
and powered down to
normal.
Vejiita whirled around, blinking a
few times at the headache
that rose out of nowhere. He felt
his twin power down, and stood up
straight. He remembered something
important.
He was a Super Saiya-jiin.
He reached the Legend.
He was the Legend.
Akane noticed his change in attitude
and smirked. "So you
finally remembered you reached Super Saiya-jiin?"
Akane snorted.
"Took you long enough."
Vejiita whipped his head back around
to his sister and saw
that she had a genuine smile on her face.
She bowed slightly.
"Omedetou."
He bowed back. "Domo arigato."
Akane brought him in for a
small hug, and kissed him on the cheek.
"Welcome to the true Elite,
Vejiita-ouji."
He gave his sister a nod and turned
to face the two males. He stared
at them for a moment before scowling darkly.
"You're Saiya-jiin."
***********