Here's another chapter…sorry again it took me so long. Enjoy!

Chapter Eight: Saiyan Ape

I watched in slight amusement as Rena proceeded to bind the creature to a chair. He flailed and screeched to the point where I was prepared to blast him and save myself. But the curiosity as to why he was on my ship got the best of me. So I waited it out.

"AHHHHHH! PUT ME DOWN! AHHHH-"

A smirk came to my face when Rena shoved a cloth into his mouth as far as it would go. Then the creature began moaning. Growing, Rena gave him a hard hit to the side of his head that sent his chair tumbling. When his chair came to a halt, he stopped groaning and Rena righted him. Crossing my arms, I decided to see how she'd handle this.

"If you scream one more time I'm going to toss you outside and laugh as you slowly die," she said as his eyes went wide. "Is that clear?"

He nodded his head furiously as Rena smirked. "Now I'm going to remove the gag and you are going to answer all of our questions. You do anything else and I'll see to it that you have the most painful existence of your life."

As the creature's eyes widened in acknowledgement, Rena removed the gag. I half expected the creature to start babbling his apologies but he remained silent. Rena turned to me and nodded to the creature.

"You wanna take it from here?"

I smirked devilishly and rose up. Not wasting any time, I picked the creature up off the ground – chair included – and slammed him into the wall. "Who the hell are you and why are you on my ship?"

"So-sorry, my lord. I was wanting to leave that dreadful planet and your ship was here and-"

"Stop lying," I hissed, smelling the fear radiating off of him. He gulped and began to shake. "Tell me who you are."

"I am Flarechain," he whispered, his voice squeaking. "I have come to warn you. You are being followed."

I growled and tightened my grip making the creature yelp in pain. A small smirk came to my face. "You are trying my patience. I know we're being followed!"

"No, my lord! Lord Frieza has sent out pictures to the planets he rules over and has instructed them to capture you!"

I glanced to Rena and noticed the fear sparkling in her eyes. I still didn't believe it and turned back to Flarechain, eyes narrowed. "You're lying again. The Leofians hate Frieza."

"No, my lord, I don't lie! It's true the Leofians hate Frieza, but recently Frieza conquered them."

I cursed my own ignorance and wanted to hit something. How could I have been so stupid? Merely one week ago Zarbon had been sent to take the Leofians down. He had done it in less than twenty-four hours.

"Alright," I said, trying to regain my composure. "How, then, do you know that Frieza has our names out?"

"I heard the soldiers speaking of it before you were captured," he replied, his voice more steady. "I thought since you saved my life the least I could do was warn you."

Growling, I slammed him down on the ground and stuffed the gag back in his mouth. Turning to Rena, I cursed. "The cockpit – now."

She didn't have any stupid comments, merely followed. Once I was behind the door, she took a seat as I paced. This was a delicate situation and needed to be handed as such, but I wasn't in the mood for that.

"You think he's lying," Rena mused. "So what do we do about it?"

Kill him. "Leave him on the first planet we find and hope he wasn't telling the truth."

Rena stared blankly. "That's your plan? That plan sucks."

I growled. "Don't test me or you'll be on that planet with him!"

"Uh, time bomb here, remember? You leave me there you aren't saving the world."

I turned my back to her and crossed my arms. Damn her. I had almost forgotten why we had left Frieza's ship in the first place. Rena was going to blow up the universe in a month. They had to get to the planet where the pendent was and soon.

"Do you have any better ideas?"

Rena shrugged. "Keep him with us just to make sure. He might be telling the truth and then he'll be pissed if we abandon him. Then he might go to Frieza and tell him where we are."

Why'd this girl have to be so damned smart? Of course, I wasn't ever going to tell her that. I simply growled. "You call that better? We'll do it, though. But if he hands us over to Frieza I'll kill you."

A grin came to her face. "Fine by me."

Now, sadly, we once again leave my story…

Raditz and Nappa stood in the loading dock watching the slaves scurry around and try to ready their ship. Both were dressed in Saiyan armor complete with scowls.

They didn't want to be here, didn't want to be doing this. Frieza had asked them to hunt down their prince and, if necessary, kill him. King Vegeta had entrusted them with the prince's welfare and now they might have to actually kill him. Neither wanted to think about that.

"Why would he leave?" Nappa asked, his black eyes darkening. "He didn't even tell us. Wouldn't he have told us?"

Raditz simply shrugged. He didn't have an answer so there was no point in speculation. The same question was bothering him, though. Why had Vegeta not informed them – his bodyguards – of his intentions? There were so many possibilities, yet none of them seemed like their prince.

"And Frieza can't expect us to kill him," Nappa replied, genuinely worried. "He's one of us."

Raditz sighed and prepared for his answer. "We can't think about that, Nappa. If it comes down to it, we have to do it."

"But he's our prince! That monster killed the rest of our race," he hissed, recalling the horrifying news that Frieza destroyed their home planet, "we can't let him take Vegeta."

"We'll deal with it when we get to that point," Raditz said. He just prayed they wouldn't.

"Vegeta, you need to come look at the map."

I was tempted to just blast the brat and end my whole problem. Then I realized she said map. Growling, I walked over to where Rena was seated. She had the shriveled brown paper in front of her. Glancing at it, I frowned. There was nothing unusual about it: planets, checkpoints and our route.

"You interrupted me for this?"

"Look at this writing," she said, pointing to a place in the middle of the map. Sure enough there was an archaic writing scribbled into the paper. "I don't know if it's important but can you read it?"

My frown deepened. Then I noticed Flarechain. The creature hadn't moved for Kami knows how long. Could my luck possibly be that good? I took the map and walked over to the creature. He looked up just as I shoved the map under his crooked nose.

"Can you read that?" I asked, pointing to the writing.

He took one look at it then began shaking his head furiously, muttering against the gag. Once I removed the cloth I winced as he began talking in one long stream. Didn't this guy ever breath?

"Shut up! Tell me what it says."

He grinned. "Beware asteroids."

Without another word, I shoved the gag back in his mouth and turned to Rena. She looked about as confused as I felt.

"That's not good," she said finally. "Where is that compared to where we are now?"

Good question. And I didn't like the answer. Cursing, I hurtled back to the cockpit heart pounding. When I got there I saw huge chunks of rocks flying towards us. With another curse I strapped in and took over.

"What-" Rena stopped when she entered the cockpit. I didn't even need to look at her to know she was terrified.

"Strap in," I growled. Rena didn't argue, throwing herself into the passenger seat as we entered the field.

I jerked the wheel, expertly avoiding the rocks that sped by. I decided it wasn't that bad, but then more came. As I maneuvered around them I knew we didn't have a lot of time before we hit one. My mind racing, I swerved back and forth, up and down. All I could focus on was finding a way out. My eyes darted everywhere to find an opening.

"Vegeta!"

At Rena's voice I snapped back just in time to wrench the wheel up to avoid an asteroid…and clip another one. I heard it scrape the ship as it pitched the tiny vessel into a summersault. I desperately tried to right it, but I didn't even know which way was up. Soon we began slamming off of other asteroids. My head collided with the seat sending vibrations down my spine. I felt the ship falling apart all around us. There was no way we could last like this.

That was when I saw it: a planet. And we were headed straight for it.

Gripping the wheel, I used all of my might (just enough to I didn't break the wheel off) and managed to straighten out the plane as we entered the atmosphere. That was when our engines died. Cursing I looked to Rena.

"Brace yourself."

Rena gripped the seat as I watched the ground come racing towards us. Then, at the last minute, I jerked up on the wheel pulling the ship from the nosedive to just scrape the ground. The jolt rocked the ship to the point where it left the ground again. My hands flew off the wheel as I was thrown back against my chair.

Shaking the stars from my eyes, I looked forward to see a huge cliff looming over us. I dove for the wheel and whipped it sideways. But I wasn't fast enough. We slammed into the cliff at full speed, the ship crumbling under the pressure. The glass shattered around us and I heard a scream.

The last thing I remember was the seat breaking and hurtling through the open window. As I slammed into the ground, everything went black.

My head ached beyond belief. Every part of my body ached for that matter. I tried to move but a searing heat racing up my body. Growling, I forced my eyes open. Once everything became clear, I noticed I was under a piece of the ship. And someone was above me yelling.

"Sire! My lord, are you alright!"

That definitely wasn't Rena. How'd that little thing survive? How'd I survive? Guess someone up there likes me…

"Sire! Sire!"

I didn't have the energy to tell the demon to shut up. Instead, I wriggled my way out from the metal. I felt something warm running down my arm and knew it to be blood. Ignoring it and the immense pain, I finally managed to break through the metal and reach the surface. Instantly, I collapsed on the ground panting.

"Sire! You live, I was so worried!"

Flarechain stood over me and I swatted him away, smirking as he squeaked. Finally, I sat up and looked around. This whole planet was totally green and jungle. The only place not green was where our ship had landed and scrapped away that grass.

Shaking my head, I forced myself to stand up. When I began to topple, I braced myself on what was left of our ship. That was when I noticed another ship. It was sleek and silver and looked like it was the fastest thing out there. Was I dreaming? No, if I were dreaming I'd be standing over Frieza's body right now.

"Where the hell did that come from?"

Flarechain grinned triumphantly. "I knew you'd like it. I traded the annoying whore for it. Now we have a way off!"

I thought a second about that. Then I realized he was talking about Rena. Growling, I grabbed Flarechain and slammed him against the ship. "You did WHAT! You imbecile! Who the hell did you trade her to?"

He began shaking. "I thought…you wouldn't mind. I found some natives and they wanted her so I traded her for the ship."

I tossed her to the ground and put my hands on my head. This was just great. The one person I actually need was gone. "Where'd they go?"

Flarechain pointed up the cliff. With a growl, I grabbed the creature and flew up the cliff. "If she's dead, you're going to wish you were never born."

I couldn't believe the things I did for this kid. I might actually do the universe a favor if I just let the natives kill her. But if I did that, then it meant I would have escaped Frieza for nothing. And that idea didn't appeal to me.

This planet was like none I had ever seen (and I had seen plenty). It was covered in jungle so thick that I couldn't see the bottom. I expected there to be some break in the foliage but there wasn't any. Flarechain said the natives had mentioned brining Rena to a rock of fire. Whatever that meant.

"There it is sire!"

At the annoying voice, I followed Flarechain's finger and found him pointing at a large mountain in the distance. With my eyes, I was able to make out a large cross at the base with something attached to it. My bet was that it was Rena.

Flying closer, I slowly descended into the jungle finally touching down about a mile from the mountain. In the jungle, it was dark and inhabited by things I didn't even want to think about. Then I dropped Flarechain and set off at a jog.

"Sire! Don't leave me!"

I gritted my teeth but kept going. "I won't leave you if you keep up."

Surprisingly he followed without a word. Little mutant. How I'd love to leave him here.

That had to wait, though. Drums soon came through the trees with chanting. I stopped and crouched below a bush. Pulling back the leaves I found the strangest sight. There were hundreds of creatures, no taller than two feet, wearing masks carved out of some metal dancing around the cross. Then, cuffed to the cross (it was made out of the same metal as the masks), was Rena looking like she was being crucified. Did I have to do everything? Now…how to get her out? These things didn't look that strong, but never underestimate the enemy.

Just then I heard Flarechain squeak. I turned to yell but clamped my mouth shut when I saw a dozen of those creatures with guns facing me. I narrowed my eyes and raised my hand to blast them, but before I could oen of those idiots pulled the trigger. Pain went flying up my arm and straight to my brain.

I collapsed in a heap and saw the creatures closing over me. I tried to move but found myself paralyzed. Then I opened my mouth to yell and couldn't do that either. I was completely helpless.

One of the creatures moved over to me, a large stick in his hand. He was not gonna –

With a growl, he slammed it on my head and everything went black.

My arms felt like they were being pulled apart when I finally came to. Not to mention my head felt like it had a ship on it. And someone was calling my name. Didn't they see I was having some trouble? I didn't want to talk, anyway.

It grew so loud, though, I finally opened my eyes. I found I was ten feet in the air on one of those crosses. The sun was almost completely gone and now fires were burning.

"Great rescuer you are."

I shot my eyes to my left and saw Rena and growled. "Who said I was trying to rescue you?"

She simply lifted her eyebrows. Time to change the subject. So I decided to test my bonds. I found they were fairly secure. Even with all my power they wouldn't budge.

"What the hell is this?"

"I think it's a sacrifice," Rena replied.

I stared at her. I was talking about the metal but that works too. "And you know that how?"

"They've been chanting a lot and I've caught some of the words," she explained. "They were like 'great monster come take our gifts'."

Yep, that sounded like a sacrifice. Now what?

"Uh, Vegeta? Where's Flarechain?"

I looked around realizing the little mongrel wasn't with me. Then I cursed. "When I get my hands on him…"

Suddenly a power level jumped into my head – a very familiar power level. Another I knew just as well soon joined it. There was no way they were here! It just wasn't possible. They couldn't have found us…

"Vegeta! What's wrong?"

No, this was not good. They were coming right for us! What can I do? If they find us they'll bring us to Frieza and we'll be killed. No! I've come way to far for that to happen now. I was NOT going back to that ship until I was strong enough to beat Frieza!

"I don't like this. What's going on?"

You'll find out in 5…4…3…2…1…

A blast hit the circle of creature connecting with the fire and exploding taking out at least twenty. Then Nappa and Raditz flew into the area. The creatures began firing at them. That would distract them for a few seconds (longer if they actually got hit but I doubt that would happen).

I looked to Rena to see any recognition that one man was her father. None. Who the hell was this kid? She remembered some guy she met for – oh – ten minutes when she was first born and not her father she knew for five years? She had some serious mental issues.

Looking back to the circle, I found Nappa and Raditz opening fire on the creatures. My struggle began anew. I had to get out beforethey got here. They wouldn't kill me because I was there prince but they'd drag me back to Frieza.

"Vegeta!"

Stupid brat. Couldn't she see I was trying to save my life?

"I think the monster is a huge ape."

I stared at her. "And you know that how?"

"I see him," she replied, staring to her right. I turned my head and my eyes went wide. There stood a huge ape about 500 feet tall that rivaled the Saiyan ape. It was striding towards us extremely stealthily for its size. We were in serious trouble.

"Prince Vegeta!"

I forced my eyed back to Nappa and Raditz. The creatures were strewn around them. Should I warn them? "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Frieza sent us for you," Nappa replied.

Ok, that just cost them the warning. They could find out for themselves. Which would be –

A huge roar cut through the air and a petrified Nappa and Raditz turned to find the ape. This was going to be interesting…Like a well oiled machine, Raditz leapt up to distract the ape while Nappa flew up to my level. With a precise blast, he released me from my prison. I frowned at my helplessness and turned to see Raditz slammed into the mountain. It crumbled around him. That's one down.

"Save yourself, Prince Vegeta," Nappa said jumping into the fray. I should have probably helped him considering he was one of my kin. But honestly I didn't want to. I mean, if those two died then no one would be able to come to find us (ok it was harsh but at the moment it was survival).

I turned to Rena and cut her bonds free just in time for her to tackle me to the ground. I was about to yell at her, when Nappa went soaring overhead. He landed in an awkward position and I could tell by his power level he was out.

"What're we gonna do?" Rena asked as we dodged into the trees to a roar that shook me from head to toe.

I growled. What were we going to do? Raditz and Nappa couldn't beat this thing, even if they were inferior to me. Rena could if she used her power but…then it came to me. I compared it to the Saiyan ape. Maybe, just maybe…

"I need you to go," I said, quietly. "You need to get to the ship and stay there."

"I don't understand."

"You don't need to understand," I hissed. "Just go and don't come back. Wait. I'll find you."

"Vegeta-"

"GO!"

Without any response, she gave me a soft smile and run off through the woods. Taking a deep breath I stepped into the open. The ape spotted me and growled, sizing me up. This was going to be fun (if it worked that is). Well, here goes nothing.

With a yell, I made a ball of energy and launched it into the sky. The ape looked confused and scared as it jumped around watching the sight. The ball landed directly above us, hovering in the sky. As it began to grow I smirked. I felt the energy seep through my bones as my tail uncoiled from my waist.

I smirked at the ape, hands outstretched. "This'll be fun."

Then, with a yell, the transformation began. I felt the moon seep into my skin giving me raw energy. It poured through my very veins, pumping until I was sure my body couldn't take anymore. Then I began to grow. My limbs stretched as my tail thrashed behind me and fur began to cover my body. In a huge flash of energy I felt the transformation complete. When the light faded I stared at the ape eye to eye. The raw energy flowed through my veins and I smirked at the familiar feeling. The ape stared at me, clearly confused. That only lasted for about ten seconds before the beast regained its composure and roared charging me. I held out my hands and gripped it about the waist using its momentum to toss it over my head. Up in a crouch, I watched as the creature skidded to a halt.

The ape let out another roar as it shook its head and rose. It wasn't so tough now. The ape charged me again. This time I charged as well. At the last moment, I ducked and rammed my head into its gut. It let out an ear-shattering yelp as it latched its claws into my back. I grunted as the claws broke skin. With a roar I flung myself around trying to loose it from my back. The thing just clung on tighter. Finally I launched myself forwards landing on top of the beast. It hissed and released my back allowing my to scramble away.

Time to finish this. As I prepared to charge the ape, I spotted something sorting through the rocks on the cliff. I growled when I spotted Rena pulling Raditz out of the rubble. That stupid girl didn't listen to anything!

I had no time to dwell on it, though, as I was slammed into by the ape. All the wind left my body as I was plowed into what was remaining of the cliff. The ape had its claws around my neck and started shaking. Forcing myself not to loose consciousness I grabbed one of its hands and twisted as hard as I could until I heard bone snap. It let out a roar and stumbled back. Then I leapt onto the beast and latched onto its throat. With one vicious turn, I snapped the neck back and it lay on the ground motionless. I smirked proudly as I stood over the body. It would teach him to mess with the Prince of Saiyans.

"Ve-Vegeta?"

Whipping around, I found Rena on the ground staring up at me helplessly. Nappa and Raditz were beside her still out cold. I could kill all of them right now and just leave. Then I could find my own way to defeat Frieza. I didn't need any of them. Hell, if I killed the girl it might actually stop this time bomb in her and save the universe.

No! What was I thinking? I had to get that pendent and then I could beat Frieza. But why wait? I was strong enough now. I just had to get these idiots out of my way and then I could go take on Frieza.

"Vegeta, what's going on?" Rena yelled.

I smirked and let out a growl. I reached out to grab Rena but she neatly moved away and flew up to my eye level. She didn't look happy, but who would be in her situation? I had to kill her, she'd understand. It was for her own good.

"Vegeta! Snap out of it!"

I lunged at her but she moved and I slammed into the cliff. That was it: she was a goner. With a roar I charged her. This time I caught her and slammed her into the ground making a hole about five feet deep. She struggled to move but I had her tight in my grasp.

"Let…me go…" she gasped as her eyes glazed over.

I simple laughed and prepared to crush her. However, I felt a large power rising in her. Confused, I watched as an energy ball formed around her pushing my hand away. I growled and tried to push back but it kept growing pushing me back. With a blast, it fired and slammed me into the cliff. I felt a familiar pain in my tail and groaned. Someone had cut it off! The power began seeping out of me as I began shrinking. No! I couldn't loose this power! Not now. But I couldn't stop it. I kept shrinking and shrinking until I was on the ground panting in my tattered clothes. With a curse I rolled over to find Rena trudging towards me. She looked really tired…

Before she got to me, she collapsed in a heap. "What…the hell…happened?"

I didn't want to answer. I just wanted to lay here until I got enough power to kill Frieza. After about five minutes I realized that wasn't going to happen so I forced myself up. Once the area stopped spinning I found Rena unconscious and Nappa and Raditz not to far away. I knew I should take the brat and make a run for the ship while I still could. Instead, I ambled over to Nappa and Raditz. I looked around and found the crosses that Rena and I were on. After dragging the unconscious duo to the crosses and strapping them in, I slapped them until they finally woke up. It actually made me feel better.

"Vegeta?" Raditz muttered groggily. "What's…going on?"

"That's what I want to know," I hissed. "Why'd Frieza send you to get us?"

"He…wants you back," Nappa answered.

"Why?"

"He didn't say," Raditz responded. "My lord, why didn't you tell us you were leaving?"

"I don't have to clear everything I do with you," I snapped. I wanted something to hit, wanted something to kill. "I'm going to send you back to Frieza with a message. Tell him to leave me alone or I'll kill him."

"I'm not leaving you," Raditz answered, eyes narrowed.

I gave a small chuckle and crossed my arms. "I think you're strapped down and I'm not therefore you have to listen to what I say."

"We could use them, Vegeta," Rena muttered coming up behind me. She looked terribly pale. "We'll need all the help we can get."

I snorted. "Them? Help us? Not gonna happen, brat."

"Then we'll make them," Rena answered, glaring at me. "We're going to need help getting this pendent. They're loyal to you so they won't betray us."

Somehow Vegeta doubted that. But the stupid brat wouldn't change her mind. What the hell? So they brought along the two idiots. It would keep them from squealing to Frieza and would actually give them two extra pairs of hands. And if they disobeyed me, I'd just kill them. So, with a growl, I broke their bonds.

"You're coming with us," I explained, "and if I hear one word out of either of you you're both dead."

Rena smiled at me and I frowned. I'd really become soft.

When we arrived back at the plane, I found Flarechain waiting. The demon jumped up and down when he spotted as. Once I got close enough I grabbed the creature by the throat and squeezed until his face turned purple.

"What happened to you?"

"My lord-" it squeaked.

I simply tossed him down and climbed onto the ship. Once we were all loaded in, I made sure Flarechain was outside and closed the door. Stupid little imp could stay here and rot for all I cared. Actually, it brought a smile to my face. I didn't even care if he did run and tell Frieza where we were. He coudl tell the whole universe if he wanted as long as it kept him away from me.

"I'll fly, my lord," Raditz offered. I didn't object and gave him our coordinates as he headed to the cockpit. In a matter of minutes, the plane was whipping into space. Soon, Raditz returned and took a seat beside Nappa.

"Where are we going, my lord?"

I opened my mouth to tell them to leave me alone when I got a glare from Rena. I frowned knowing she wanted me to tell them everything. How on earth did I let this girl give me orders?

"This girl is going to destroy the universe unless I get her this pendent that holds back her powers," I growled watching the horrified looks arise on Raditz and Nappa's faces.

"What? How is that possible?" Nappa breathed.

"If I knew that I wouldn't be here now would I?" I snapped. Why couldn't these idiots just keep their ideas to themselves?

"Who is she?" Raditz asked.

Interesting question. How to answer? Oh, she's just the daughter that you lost to Frieza and that your mate died for. Surprise! Yeah right.

"I'm in this room, you know," Rena added with a glare. "You don't have to talk like I'm not here."

"She was tortured by Frieza," I answered curtly. "Her name's Rena."

I watched for any sign of recognition on Raditz's face and there was none. Could it be possible that Frieza erased all of Raditz's memories of his daughter? Nah couldn't be.

"So where are we going?" Nappa asked.

"To the realm of the gods."

Raditz let out a whistle. "That's in the after world! How do you plan on getting there?"

I rolled my eyes. "Idiot. There is a planet where the gods dwell on in our universe. We go there, get the pendent and then go."

"And what of Frieza?"

"What about him?" I spat.

Nappa stiffened. "He's…he's going to come after us."

An eerie smirk came to my face as I crossed my arms. "I dare him to."