AN: Where did they go? What was that blue flash of light? Who knows? Me? You'd better hope I do, otherwise, there's no sequel!
Or is there?
Chapter Twelve – Shot Down In FlamesSalem, Massachusetts. 1692.
The day was a clear, but cold, spring's morning. People bustled along, their dark clothes pulled tightly around them, with their hats pulled firmly over their heads for warmth.
Martha Corey hurried around the corner, her eyes low, thinking to herself. The witch hunt was the talk of the town, as more and more names were named and fingers pointed at the accused. Everywhere you turned, people were hurling accusations at one another, and it would only be a matter of time before there were more women rounded up and accused of witchcraft. The two magistrates who resided over the whole affair, John Hawthorn and Jonathon Corwin, were both unsympathetic, and listened to the accusations of the townsfolk rather than the denials and desperate pleas of those women condemned to be hanged.
Looking up with a sigh, Martha ducked under and headed across the empty street.
A sudden blue flash erupted in front of her, and two men dropped to the floor. Martha suppressed a sudden outcry, and fled from the scene back to the safety of her hovel.
Goku opened his eyes and looked up, but the world was spinning around him so quickly, his stomach lurched. Collapsing back to the floor, his eyes closed as he struggled to stay conscious,
"Stop the world…" he murmured to himself before passing out. "I want to get off."
The Saiyan warrior slumped on the floor.
** * ** * **
"It's madness, all of it!" Rebecca Nurse hissed. "All these questions, all these lies! What good is it doing the town?"
"The town will be better off without these witches, you mark my words," Corwin said, taking a long drink of watered-down ale. "Evil is afoot in this town, Miss Nurse, and it's my duty under god to see that it is denounced."
"Yes, your honour," Rebecca said in defeat. The magistrate would have nothing to do with it, and she knew better than to press the issue, lest she was accused of witchcraft herself, or for being league with Lucifer to defend the witches. She returned to her duties in the tavern, serving ale, bread and cheese to the customers. The fire roared in fireplace, and thick warm smoke drifted up out of the chimney.
A blue flash lit up the window, and Sarah pause din her task. She looked around, but nobody else had noticed it. Making an excuse to the tavern owner, Rebecca headed outside and around the side of the building into the side-street. She heard footsteps hurrying away from the other side, but saw nothing.
Moving further into the small, narrow street, flanked either side by building walls and cellar doors, Rebecca's eyes darted from shadow to shadow.
"Probably some sort of… firework… maybe…" she said, more to reassure herself than anybody who was listening. Something in the shadows murmured something in a foreign tongue, and she jumped.
"Is somebody there? Hello?" she asked. Only silence answered her. Boldly, she moved forward, and looked around a rain barrel. Two figures lay on the floor, their hair black and spiked, one man's like a sheet of black fire. She gasped again and fled back into the tavern.
"Rebecca, what is it lass?" one of the townsmen asked, noticing the look of terror on her face as she ran straight into him, upsetting his flagon of ale.
"Outside, there're men, one of them's devilish in appearance! He has muscles the size of boulders on his arms, and both their hair is black as night!"
Muttering rose about the people as they listened to them.
"Devils caught in the sunlight, no doubt!" the Magistrate said smugly. "Obviously they were summoned to the town last night, and did not have time to escape back to which ever pit of hell spawned them."
He fixed his eyes on Rebecca, studying her for a moment with his dark eyes. "Show me where they are." He ordered.
"But… what if…"
"Relax, woman. They are caught in sunlight, they cannot harm us now," Jonathon Corwin said in reassuring tones, though his dark eyes still remained cold.
Rebecca nodded and headed out into the street and turned the corner, and Corwin came not long after. The townsmen followed them both, eager to see what these demons looked like, and they grabbed whatever they could in terms of weapons. Beams of wood were held aloft, and the more giddy of the group cried for the blood of the demons.
"What is all this commotion?" a clergyman demanded, hurrying down the street. "The noise can be heard from the Lord's House."
"We have a devil, father! Two of them!" one of the tavern patrons said excitedly. "They were found beside the tavern, by Rebecca Nurse."
"That place is filled with the evil sins of excess and defilement," the clergyman said with a sniff. "It does not surprise me that devils would be found close by."
"Come now father, you yourself have drank there occasionally," the man said with a grin, and dragged the priest with him.
"What the devil do you think you're doing?"
"If these truly are devils, you would be our greatest weapon to fend them off and send their evil soul back to the pit, father," the patron said. "Think of what would be said of you. "Father Connelly, banisher of devils". People would flock to your church from the surrounding towns."
The clergyman hesitated, then nodded. "Alright, it is my duty as a man of the cloth to confront the forces of darkness and banish them to whence they came!"
"Right, god. Now come on!"
The crowd surged forward into the narrow street, dragging the bewildered priest with them, and they came to a stop as they saw two heavily-built mean, one with hair like black fire, the other's arrayed in a mess.
"Demons!" members of the crowd hissed, and began talking amongst themselves. Father Connelly was pushed forward, and he skidded to a halt a couple of meters from Goku's outstretched hand that lay limp on the ground.
"Devils!" Connelly roared. "I beseech thee in the name of the lord, return thyselves to the pit from wence ye came!"
Goku groaned.
Father Connelly jumped in horror, turned and tried to flee back into the crowd, but was spat back out again. Regaining some of his composure, he straightened the fabric of his clothes and cleared his throat.
"Devils!" he roared again, reaching into his tunic and taking a bible out, then brandishing it like a shield. "In the name of the Lord I command you to begone from the Earth!"
"Kakkarot, is that your foot?" Vegeta groaned. Goku replied with a grunt. "Well kindly remove it from my face." The prince shoved the boot away in mild disgust and stood up shakily. "Oh my head, I feel like I've just been hit by a certain Legendary Super Saiyan…"
Goku grunted and rolled over onto his side, and started to snore. Vegeta looked up, and saw the townsfolk staring at him, with wide fear-filled eyes. Father Connelly's mouth dropped open, and the bible shook erratically in is grip.
"What are you looking at, Earthling?" Vegeta drawled. His thoughts were slow and disorderly, and his body ached all over. It was taking all of his willpower just to stay upright.
"D-d-d-d…" Connelly stammered.
"Well, don't just stand there, spit it out!" Vegeta snapped. "You're getting on my nerves."
"D-Devil!" the priest finally managed. "R-r-return from w-w-where y-you c-c-came from!"
Vegeta looked around at his surroundings, and snorted. "Like I'd want to stay in this mudhole." A loud snort came from behind him, and Vegeta turned and looked down at Goku. He had curled up into the foetal and was happily asleep. With a growl, Vegeta kicked him in the shin.
"I'll take the car to the garage this afternoon, I promise Chi-Chi," Goku mumbled in his sleep. Vegeta looked at him in disgust, then turned away, noticing that the people hadn't dispersed.
"Are you still there?" he rasped, taking a step forward. They crowd scurried back, all except Father Connelly who was too terrified to move.
"D-D-D…"
"Yes, yes," Vegeta said, waving his hand irritable. "'Devils, go away.' we've established that already."
"G-G-G-G…" Connelly stammered.
Vegeta stepped forward with a growl, and lost his footing. He hit the ground with a crash and yelped as his forehead bounced off the ground. Pushing himself up to his knees shakily, his thoughts reeled at the sudden sensation of pain that had just shot through his head.
Blood splattered in the mud where it flowed from a gash on his forehead, and Vegeta growled, more at his own confusion than at the pain.
Goku sat bolt up right suddenly and looked around,
"Did it work?"
"Did what work, Kakkarot?"
"Y'know. The watches."
"No."
"You mean, they're not keeping time? Aww man, Bulma's going to be really upset when she hears that. Uh… speaking of which, where is she?"
"Never mind where she is, I'd rather know where the hell we are!"
"Why, where are we?"
"…" Vegeta said.
Goku picked himself up and dusted himself down, wiping as much dirt as he could from his gi. Looking around with a frown, noticing the crowd clustered around them.
"Hi!" He said, grinning cheerfully. Pitchforks and torches bobbed uncertainly, and several half-hearted jeers came from the back.
"Do any of you clowns know where we are?" Vegeta growled, a hand clamped to his forehead, blood seeping out between the fingers.
"The colonies, demon," a figure cried.
"The where?" Goku asked.
"The Americas, this here is the town of Salem," a female voice answered.
"Oh." Goku said. "I'd always heard America was a bit… different…"
Vegeta sniffed, and frowned. Something was wrong. Something was horribly wrong.
"Uh… Kakkarot…"
"Yes, Vegeta?"
"I don't think we're in the right time here…"
"I know, you said that the watches weren't keeping time…"
"Not like that, you clown!" Vegeta snarled. "I mean… I think this is the past."
"Really?"
Vegeta nodded, wiping blood out of his eyes.
"And I think it's doing something to our powers… I feel weaker than I ever have done before."
"That would be the holy light of the sun, foul demon of darkness!" the preacher cried, holding the Bible triumphantly before him.
Vegeta spat on the floor. "Be quiet, you!"
"That's no way to talk to these people, they're our hosts," Goku said calmly.
"If you haven't already noticed, Kakkarot, these hosts are about to tear us limb from limb!" Vegeta answered testily.
"Aww c'mon, I'm sure they're just over-zealous. Right guys?"
The townsfolk looked at Goku with blank expressions.
"Uh… right… guys?" Goku tried again. Several of the eyes narrowed, and the uncertain bobbing of pitchforks starting bobbing very certainly towards him.
"You know, you people should really learn more about hospitality," Goku said, offended.
"Silence, foul creature!" The preacher cried.
"Who are you calling foul? I had a bath last night!" Goku said defensively.
"Be gone, demon of the dark abyss! Taint our lands no longer!"
"Uh, Vegeta… I think they're serious."
"You think?!" Vegeta roared, standing up. He briefly felt his strength rise, but it faded again just as quickly.
"Run away?" Goku suggested.
"Never! A Saiyan prince does not run!" Vegeta said.
Goku mused for a moment. "Well… what about a tactical pullback so we can watch our foe from a vantage point more beneficial to our situation?" he tried.
Vegeta's mouth opened and closed and his lips shaped silent words as he let the words roll about his mind. "That could work…" he said, eventually. Then, both coming to the same conclusion, the two Saiyans turned and fled down the alley.
"They're getting away!" one of the mob cried.
"After them!" another screeched.
With a roar, the mob surged forward into the alley, the poor priest being thrust along ahead of them, surfing the angry crowd or lynchers with a cry of terror. Ahead of him, the two Demons scrambled ahead, muscled arms and legs pounding, skirting around crates and rain barrels, but they were weakened in this daylight, the mob was catching up on them.
"This is all your fault, Kakarrot!" Vegeta panted. The gash on his forehead had stopped bleeding now, though dried blood stuck to his face.
"Mine?! How was it mine?!" Goku panted back.
"Shut up and keep running, fool!" Vegeta snapped. He had no desire to find out how weak he had become.
The two charged forwards sluggishly and dived around a corner, Vegeta's foot slipping out from under him in the mud, hitting the ground hard with a grunt.
"Vegeta!" Goku cried, skidding to a halt and doubling back to grab the fallen Prince, who lay on the ground.
"Stupid woman and her stupid inventions and these stupid insects with their stupid pitchforks and stupid torches…" Vegeta snarled. "Get your hands off my Kakarrot!"
Goku ignored the Prince, and hauled him to his feet. He was exhausted from the effort, and his breathes came in short, ragged bursts.
"I… can't… go on," he wheezed, clutching at an ache in his chest.
"We have to…" Vegeta said with a grimace.
"You aren't going anywhere, Spawn of the Pit!" the priest cried.
"Yeah, you're surrounded!" a member of the mob brayed. Goku and Vegeta turned and stodd back to back. At either end of the alley, the crowd was waiting for them.
"This is it, Kakkarot. Urgh, to think it'll end like this!" Vegeta said in disgust.
"Something will pull through, just you wait!" Goku said with fierce determination. "It always does!"
"For you maybe. I usually end up dead!" Vegeta replied.
"Come to think of it… me too…"
"We can do this the easy way, or the hard way!" the mob shouted.
"If we do this the easy way, can we expect to get let off for good behaviour?" Goku asked, hopefully.
"No."
Vegeta spat into themud. "Fuck it, let's do this the hard way!"
The crowd surged forward, and the Saiyans braced themselves.
** * ** * **
"Where did they go?!" Bulma shouted. Turlus stood behind her, blinking at the space where they had stood then opened his mouth to speak.
"Don't you dare say anything, buster!" Bulma said. Turlus' mouth closed immediately.
"I'm not getting any data from the computer," Tomatta said, looking through read-out after read-out.
"I can't sense them, either," Applor said, "What ever has happened, it's taken them somewhere were I can't sense their power." Goten and Trunks exchanged nervous glances.
"Well… this is just great!" Bulma fumed. "Now I'm never going to be able to test these watches out properly."
"But, what about the others?" Turlus said.
"They can take care of themselves!"
** * ** * **
Goku and Vegeta lay slumped in a stone cell, the Prince glowering at the wall, and Goku scratching the back of his head.
"What's going to happen to us, Vegeta?" Goku asked.
"Well, I'd say we're going to be hanged, or something." Vegeta rasped. His jaw ached from where somebody had struck him with a plank of wood.
"Is that good?" Goku asked.
"If we were full strength, yes. But since we're not, I doubt it."
"I don't want to die!" Goku wailed, then hesitated before adding: "Again."
"I would have thought you were used to it by now."
"I am, but still. Dying sucks."
"At least your deaths have been fairly easy. So far, I've been shot through the heart, and slowly vaporised. Twice."
"They were for good reasons though."
"That's not the point! The point is I do not wish to dangle at the end of a length of rope not being able to breath!"
"What if we held our breath and pretended to be dead?" Goku suggested.
"That is the most useless thing I've ever heard from you, Kakkarot." Vegeta answered. "But I'm all out of ideas, so it couldn't hurt to give it a try."
"Yes, it might just have worked," a voice said, "if it weren't for the fact that you are to be burnt at the stake."
Goku's stomach rumbled loudly.
"Kakkarot, can't you keep that bottomless pit of yours under control?!" Vegeta growled.
"I'm sorry, but I'm hungry, and somebody mention food…
"He said 'stake' not 'steak', baka!"
"… I don't get it…"
Vegeta sighed.
"Just hurry up and get it over and done with, worm," the Prince said testily. "I don't have time to sit here listening to the inane ramblings of you insects, or the constant babblings of this fool."
"With talk such as that, I could see to it that you are sprayed with holy water and left here for days."
"Days?!" Goku cried in alarm. "We'll starve! Please no, anything but that!"
"Silence Kakkarot!" Vegeta snapped, not taking his attention from the man standing in front of the iron bars that held them prisoner in the cell. Slowly he stood up, and stalked over to the cage. "If you dare to hold me here for days, when my strength returns, I'll make sure that I show you the brutality of the Saiyan Prince!"
"Yes, I'm sure that would impress the peasants, but not I. I am above them, both in station and in intellect. You do not frighten me, Demon. Just you sit there and wait, your time will come soon enough." The figure said and turned around, stalking off. Vegeta snarled and cupped his fingers. A spark of energy flared into his hand, and with a roar, he flung out his arm. The bolt sped through the bars, but the energy dwindled to nothing. The man turned around, and a slight ember of the energy, nothing more than a slight sparkle, fizzled against his overcoat.
"I-impossible!" Vegeta gasped.
"You see? You cannot harm us during the day," the man said with a smirk, then strode off.
"Kakkarot?"
"Yes, Vegeta?"
"I think we're screwed."
"Oh, I'm sure the others will realise what's happened, and they'll come rescue us. Remember that time Napa was about to kill Gohan, and I showed up and…"
Vegeta's eyebrow began to twitch. "Kakkarot?"
"Yes, Vegeta?"
"Shut up."
"Sorry, Vegeta."
And so our heroic duo wait it out… will they be burnt alive at the stake? Will they somehow manage a daring escape? What happened to the others who took part in Bulma's experiment? Find out, in Death Saiyan!