Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ.
The Perfect Flaw
Chapter VIII
In the distant night, a vibrant light plummeted down toward Earth, its strength belying its beauty as it impacted forcibly onto the planet's surface. Another soon followed, darting swiftly and majestically across the sky.
As the first pod's door hissed open, Vegeta climbed out with a bitter face, seething the fact at having been crammed in the small space for hours. That thing they dared call a chair had nearly consumed him, and he now felt as vile kinks and sores skittered unwelcomely down his neck and back. Irritably he stretched to relieve the pain; he could withstand the bloodiest battles, he could acquiesce to the most painful of blows if needed be, but the Prince of all Saiyans could not rid of a mere back sore.
He grumbled and waited for the cloud of dust to disappear before taking flight into the cool, Earth atmosphere. He soared in an effort to distance himself from the crater so he could get a better view of his surroundings. All the while he savored the new peculiar change in temperature. On Planet Vegeta, it was generally humid and a day with a temperature of 110̊ was considered perfect. Here Vegeta found much to his pleasure that the breeze was cool and crisp, tickling his skin and ruffling his upswept hair.
He halted suddenly, a good thirty feet above the ground. Green. Vast amounts of yellowish-green stretched across the flat surface, and the outlandish, leave less trees were plentiful as they swayed feebly with the wind. It was then that Vegeta noticed the natural, almost clean smell that washed over him, and he inclined his head to inhale its goodness. It seemed to be ebbing off the trees that stood beyond him, their branches wafting the sweet, fragrant scent in his direction.
The Saiyan had been unaware of his eyes drifting shut against the cool breeze, they snapped open in alarm as he broke from his momentary daze.
Time to get down to business.
The serenity in his features now hardened into one of diligence as Vegeta brought a gloved finger to his scouter. As rapid numbers fluttered across the screen, he was taken aback as his father's statement reverberated within his mind. "Do you know how hard it will be to track down that one slave, with her low ki! You'd never find her." He'd been right, as much as Vegeta hated to admit it, even mentally. Overall, this planet was ridiculously weak; most of the power levels were but mere 3's and 4's, perhaps an occasional 6.
How was he supposed to find the girl if there was no distinguishable rank between any of the humans?
Just then, a number flew across the screen and halted, as if flaunting its greatness. Vegeta couldn't suppress the gasp the surfaced as he observed the ki that's range differed so greatly from the others: 5,000.
He found it beyond peculiar, that that power was so much more significant than the ones before. Could it be another alien perhaps? One that had come from a faraway planet, just as he had? After a moment, the Prince's lips curled into an inevitable smirk. This trip just kept getting better and better.
A few more of the larger numbers flaunted before his eyes, only causing his sneer to broaden. They still weren't as great as the one which had amazingly surprised him, but they were still massive in comparison to the weaklings'. Perhaps if he had spare time at the end of his mission, he could have some fun with the Earthlings. At this thought, his deprived muscles began to tingle with the need for a good and violent fight.
That is, unless they were the ones who were guarding his precious Dragon Balls. Or worse, if they were there for the same reason as he: to steal them.
A small distant hiss reached his keen ears and Vegeta spun around to look down into the second crater which Kitser had produced. He watched as Kitser stumbled out from the pod, now lying prone in the hard, brown earth. Imbecile.
He then turned back to his scouter as yet another reading appeared on the screen, beeping wildly, signaling a life form that was but yards away. Slowly his gaze fell upon a bush that lay a few yards before him, and almost amused he touched down onto the surface, making his way toward the small rustling sound.He waited a moment in patience as the shuffling continued, and wondered with a sneer if the human truly thought himself safe behind the flimsy bush. But after a few minutes, that rare patience quickly thinned into nothing as the creature continued to hide like a coward. Vegeta outstretched a steady hand, releasing a thin, red beam into the blackness.
Success. A sudden yelp erupted as the stranger leaped out in frenzy, having just narrowly missed the blast. His eyes were wide with fright as he slowly turned to face his attacker.
Vegeta scowled at the human's appearance: he looked rundown, and down right ancient. His clothes were nothing but rags that hung loosely from his meatless skeleton, and his stench was putrid. It easily drowned out the sweet smell of earth and plant that had first welcomed the Saiyan. A slave among his own kind? Power level: 3. How pathetic.
Smugly Vegeta stalked forward, watching in amusement as the human's knees gave away beneath him, causing him to fall backwards on to the grass; he was paralyzed in fear. "P-please, d-don't hurt m-me," he rasped, shielding his eyes as some sort of weak protection.
Begging for his life: even more pathetic. "Can you tell me where I am?" the Saiyan asked calmly, taking another intimidating step forward.
The man began to shiver violently as he caught sight of tail that unwound carefully from the Prince's waist. He opened his mouth to acquiesce to the question, but found something vaguely resembling a squeak came instead.
Vegeta sighed, his eyes skimming over the creature's trembling form once more. Perhaps he should rephrase the question. "Where is the nearest city to here?" the words poured slowly from him, syllable by syllable, with hope that he'd receive an answer this time.
"U-uh— N-new York C-city," the man gulped. " . . .Sir."
Like that helped. He still didn't have a damned clue where the hell he was. How the hell did they expect him to find one human out of billions of the annoying little insects? He didn't even know the fugitive's name for Gods' sake! He made a mental note that when he became King, he would make sure that in his Empire, stupidity was illegal.
Vegeta's attention was drawn back to the petrified man who had now burst into tears of self pity. The Prince scorned down upon human, feeling as though he would gag at the human's fear. What lied before him was no where close to being a living, comprehending individual. In Vegeta's warrior eyes, what lied before him was lower than trash itself: no pride, no bravery, not even respect in himself; and yet here he was, having the nerve to plead fervently for his life, fooling himself into believing he was actually worthy enough to go on living with his shame. So weak,so pitiful, so worthless.
The man noticed Vegeta staring down at him, his gaze blank and burning; the alien hadn't blinked for an entire minute, and unease wormed its way into his stomach. He wondered briefly if perhaps it was an android. "S-sir?"
Vegeta was silent as he extended an open palm.
The man stuttered as the being's hand grew inhumanly radiant, and in an instant, his body was flung into the distance, a lifeless heap.
As the thin wisp of smoke rose like a stem from the hole in the man's chest, the Saiyan's nose crinkled at the stench of burnt flesh that seemingly reached him from even yards away.
Behind him came Kitser's "awwww" of mocked sympathy. "Wow, that sure doesn't look like much fun," he commented sadly while
Vegeta started forward through the darkness, deliberately ignoring the toad's remark.
He knew his first priority was to seek out the girl, but where to start? How to find her? He planned to get it over with quickly so he could spend his remaining time searching for the Dragon Balls.
Kitser scurried forward to be along side his liege, staring up at him with secret admiration and absent longing. "What are we going to do first, M'Lord?"
We. He nearly cringed by the way Kitser addressed themselves as if they were some sort of team. Once again, his fingers itched with the desire to strangle the little toad, but instead he answered in a quiet mumble. "I have to find the fugitive. But I have no idea how to locate her."
The second sentence had been said mainly to himself, but nevertheless, Kitser straightened nobly and prepared to make his Prince proud. "M'Lord," he began, clearing his throat discreetly, "if I may make a suggestion."
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Goku lay restlessly in bed while his eyes stare thoughtfully at the ceiling. He'd awoken not to long ago after having a peaceful dream of eating pie, and had then inevitably found his mind wandering to his future son.
He couldn't believe it. In but seven months, he was going to be a dad.
It sounded so strange. A dad. In a way, though he wasn't fond of admitting it openly, he was almost . . . scared. It wasn't so much that there was going to be another member in the family, someone else he'd have to train with, someone else to compete with him at the dinner table. It was the baby itself.
What if he didn't like him? What if he wasn't a good father? What if he failed in protecting—
Goku's tail bristled, his eyes large as a wave of sudden power rippled through him.
What was that?
It was gigantic, whatever it was, like a beacon on the brink of his mind. It called out to him, reached out to him, and for a mere instant, Goku felt as it nearly consumed him, making his own mind boggling power seem insignificant in comparison.
The air suddenly seemed thicker, harder to breathe as an ominous presence now loomed menacingly over the Earthling's head, tainting the sweet, clean oxygen. Even as the monstrous surge of power diminished, becoming nothing more than tranquil waves that lapped against the shores of his mind, the miasma did not dissipate.
And with that, Goku bid farewell to his carefree thoughts.
A/N: kinda short, I know. And I also know this is probably torture for some of you that don't have patience. But he's getting ever so closer! Muahahahah! PLEASE REVIEW!