Chapter 21

The Ghost

Vegeta had managed to slay the hunters but one, Monock, managed to get back to the City. He growled as he moved toward Jronia in silence, stealing to the rooftops. The Dark Prince had shifted back to his normal form to avoid being seen as he quietly moved through the shadows. With no witness to this, he knew now was his time to strike when he heard the cracking of a whip from down in the street.

Gazing down into the street, he watched as an Owner beat upon a slave and he jumped down off the shingled roof and stole to the shadows. Quickly he moved under the starlit skies to the place only to power up to his newly attained form of Super Saiyan. Gripping the slave that had been beaten upon, he only looked to the Owner.

The man was tall and brutish, clothed well and leaning on the heavy set side. There was no doubt though that the slave he was beating had only scraps, thin and scrawny as he was. Vegeta only looked to the man as the master stepped back. "Who are you? What the hell do you want!"

Vegeta stood there silent, and only then did he let off a blinding flash of light and when the Owner could see again and any other onlookers could once more use their vision, Vegeta and the slave had vanished. The Owner went to a panicked state and looked around trying to find out where they could have gone, but not even footsteps in the dust remained. The man swallowed hard and took a few steps back.

Terrified, he ran to a bar, nearly tripping on the three steps leading to a surrounding porch. The inside of the bar was relatively noted as a middle class man's style, above the below and below the upper, they would say. About fifteen others were in there with the tender as they told their drunken stories and gazed to the man as he all but fell through the push doors. Small square tables with booths lining the edges made the building seem a bit homey. Jakon's footsteps fell heavy on the wood floor as he made his way to the tender asking for a drink.

Nodding, the bartender just filled a glass and handed him the drink taking the money. He gazed at Jakon and raised a brow. With a little bit of a grin, he decided to ask him the question. "What's the matter Jakon, you seem to have seen a ghost, pale as your face is. Are you alright?"

Jakon looked at his glass. "A ghost, yes, maybe that's what it was. It took my slave right out from under my nose. Damn ghost didn't say a word, just walked right up, took hold of my slave, blinded me, and then when I could see again, they were gone. The both were just gone. No footsteps, nothing to even signify that he was there, I looked and could find nothing."

One of the patrons looked up and nearly laughed. "Can you describe this 'ghost' of your's there pal?"

Jakon nodded as he stood. "He was 5' 5, lean and well defined in muscling. He wore a blue sleeveless shirt, and form fitting blue pants that matched. White boots and gloves covered his hands and feet, but his eyes. Those light emerald green eyes, they were haunting, penetrating as if he stared right into your very heart and soul, like he could read your thoughts. His hair stood like candle flame, golden in color, and it looked as though fire surrounded him. A black band was around his throat, but his gaze was purely wild."

The man took a seat and swallowed half of his drink. "I tell you that was evil, pure evil that I seen this night. If he is a ghost, then I wouldn't want to piss it off."

Wiping out the glass in hand the bartender shot another question at him. "A ghost that wore a collar? A ghost slave?"

Jakon trembled, his hand shaking visibly as he set the drink back down. "I don't know what it was, but from here on out, I'm not going to own another slave. He didn't speak, didn't move, didn't have any fear that a slave would have. He was there one moment, having come out of nowhere, and then was gone just the same. I'm done with the slave business, from here out, I'm only dealing in weapon trading."

All through the night the same story was told again and again. A figure of the same height and description was told. Vegeta had been out taking slaves from the free and during this time, had happened to push the boulder from the back of the entrance way and revealed a massive and dangerous maze through the mountain range. He had managed to get them through but in the City, the people began to talk.

The next morning as he pulled cart for Tojar, he happened to hear of the night raid that had struck fear in this City and he couldn't help but give a hidden grin. They had called the night crusader simply by the name, Ghost. The rumor would fast spread and soon slaves would whisper the rumor and the Free and Owners began to keep a watch out for this Golden Ghost. Quietly he pulled out headed for the next destination and when he did, things just seemed a little better with the fear the Free were feeling now.

Jerone had come back to Tojar by the time Vegeta arrived and without so much of a word, Jerone had gripped Vegeta's collar and hauled him to a cell and threw him in. "That damn slave is more trouble than he's worth."

Tojar looked at Vegeta and then raised a brow back at Jerone. "Why is that Jerone?"

Giving a glare to the Saiyan Prince he coldly replied. "Last night that damn slave escaped. I'm sure he's been up to no good."

Tojar though shrugged. "Maybe this 'Ghost' everyone is talking about sprung him from the cell you had him in. It certainly is a possibility don't you think?"

Vegeta nearly laughed but the grin on his face was clearly one of unspoken secrets. Jerone hated that look and threatened Vegeta with the whip nearby and growled at him. "Wipe that smirk off that face of your's or I'll do it for you, damn wretched beast!"

The trainer did laugh this time as he neared Vegeta's stall and looked back at the Owner before him. "This is what he's wanting Jerone. Your getting flustered and angry over his deeds only encourages him to do them more and more often. He's a Saiyan, he doesn't break in the conventional methods. I know, I tried to already, and obviously, it didn't work."

Vegeta and Tojar both broke out to laughter as Jerone started to turn red in his face. He grumbled and then spoke up finally. "Ha, ha, go ahead and laugh you two. I want Vegeta sold to the next bidder. Serves him right for not coming straight back last night, and as for this Ghost, as soon as I get hold of that creature, I'll make sure he's skinned alive and hung out to dry."

Tojar looked at Jerone. "Now don't go tampering with the Ghost. Who knows what will happen if provoked, he could be extremely dangerous and frankly, as hard as Vegeta is to break, I would think the Ghost would be harder to catch and tame. He obviously has a hideout somewhere. Owners are taking caution and the slave market is dropping from it out of fear that not only will their slaves be taken, but that they could possibly wind up dead."

Vegeta listened, hiding a look of sheer amusement as he leaned against the back wall and overheard them talking. "It seemed to me that he was not the type to put up with the garbage you Free deal out the slaves anyway. Then again, I'm only speaking on a slave's point of view."

He loved to spur on a comversation like this but Jerone shook an angry fist at the Dark Prince, threatening him under his breath with enough swear words to make a sailor die of shame. Vegeta only grinned. "As I said Jerone, do your worst."

Jerone was too flustered to do anything at that point as he turned and finally walked out on them and Vegeta simply walked to the back of this prison and then gave another laugh as Tojar joined with him on it. "Who would have ever thought ten years ago that we would be laughing at something like this? You really are one of a kind Vegeta, you truly are one of a kind."

With that, he began to pour in water and slid in a tray of food and worked on down the isle. As Tojar got out of hearing range he grinned. "So, I have become the Ghost. At least the name is decent."

He gave a smug smirk as his coal eyes strayed down the familiar halls that he had known when he had first come. However, there was going to be more than the Warrior Prince had first conceived. Unknown to others what he had become, he intended to keep it that way. Right now though he simply basked in the success of one night's worth of fear.