Author's Note 11/10/20: I'm so sorry for the delay. Life has been crazy. I hope all of my readers are doing great and that this chapter brings you joy. You deserve it! I also have to apologize for he last two chapters because I tried using asterisks instead of an ellipsis for scene breaks. Well it turns out FFN doesn't seem to acknowledge asterisks and they didn't appear in the last two chapters. While that doesn't change anything in terms of content, I've fixed it so the transitions aren't so jarring. But without further ado, I give you my longest chapter yet. Thank you for your patience and thank you all so much for reading. Keep being awesome!
A bright blue star lights the path of the Saiyan squad heading to Earth in their individual pods. A boil the size of a small sun blisters on its surface. It swells as intense heat fills the plasma sack. The ballooning abscess expands until the membrane containing the solar radiation finally stretches too thin.
The sore pops. Electromagnetic waves erupt forth in a brilliant iridescent display. They hungrily fill the open void, surging to overtake the tiny spacecraft.
A piercing siren splits Vegeta's head from ear to ear. His eyes shoot awake from the suspended animation slumber. A computerized voice repeats a single phrase.
"Warning, dangerous solar radiation detected. Redirecting to the nearest habitable planet. Warning, dangerous solar radiation detected…"
He presses the button on the side of his scouter. He shouts to hear himself above the cautionary voice.
"Nappa! Raditz!"
Only static greets him. The lights in his pod dim and brighten at irregular intervals.
"Dammit! The storm is interfering with our electronics."
He leans forward nearly touching his nose to the red glass of his ship. He sees one pod slightly ahead of him far off to the right. He cannot tell whose it is. The other is nowhere to be seen.
The blackness he stares into gets lighter with every passing second. He begins to sweat under his armor as the temperature increases with the crescendoing visuals. His fingers grip the armrests as sparks jump from the computer components around him.
A turbulent shake drives his head into the ceiling. A face mask connected to a hose drops from an overhead compartment. He struggles to catch the dangling oxygen device as they both jostle violently. His fingers finally stretch the rubber band loops over his ears.
A rush of fresh air provides a moment of relief before another thrashing turbulence hits. His pod is thrown onto its side as it fights to right itself. When he straightens out, he sees a planet covered in a brownish yellow atmosphere.
The light intensifies, and the heat rises. He hurtles like a meteor trying to outrun the devastating solar squall. All he sees it white. The spacecraft quakes one last time. His head knocks against a wall. Blackness.
###
Vegeta awakens in a fit of coughs. Swirling smoke surrounds him. His finger instinctively presses a button to open his ship. As soon as the door unlatches, the fumes billow out as new air comes in. He pushes it open faster than its automatic speed and squeezes through the crevice.
He lifts straight into the air for a better view. Swamplands surround the crater his transport created on impact. The force and temperature of the crash landing solidified what would otherwise be a soggy, water filled hole. He spots two more craters approximately the designated distance away for landing safety regulations.
A quick check of his scouter still returns static. He flies over to the pod on his left to search for survivors.
"Come on Nappa. We've survived worse than this," he says, landing by the first spherical vessel.
An unconscious Raditz occupies the ship. Vegeta raps on the glass with his knuckles until the low class warrior stirs. Without waiting for his companion's eyes to open, he rushes over to the other landing site.
"Let's go Nappa, come on," he says.
The pod is open and empty. He presses the button on his scouter again. Glitched characters appear on his screen.
"Dammit! This thing won't even read power levels. Where are you Nappa?"
He flies up in a slow spin trying to spot any signs of his comrade.
"Hahaha. Hoowee!"
Vegeta turns his head to the brownish red sky. Cosmic lights flash behind the clouds like lightning. Nappa drops in from overhead, a huge smile on his face.
"Were you looking for me?" he says.
His smile becomes a toothy grin.
"Hardly," says Vegeta. "I was just checking for anything of value. Since we'll have to wait out the solar radiation before we can leave, I was hoping to find something interesting. What happened to you anyway?"
"Ah you do care," says Nappa.
He wraps an arm around the Prince's neck and pinches his cheek.
Vegeta shouts muffled obscenities into the massive forearm across his mouth. Nappa talks over his protests, refusing to let go.
"So my pod is spinning out of control after hitting the atmosphere, right? All of a sudden a malfunction opens the door, and I get thrown clean out of it. The ship shot off one way, and I went the other. Luckily I didn't lose consciousness from all those Gs. Took me a while to find you guys because my scouter is on the fritz."
"Well don't you two make a cute couple," says Raditz, swooping in. His bushy waist length hair curls pass his body when he stops before swinging back into place.
"Oh hey, even the low class made it," says Nappa. "I guess there was nothing to worry about."
Vegeta elbows the huge man in the gut and finally gets free. Raditz chuckles at Nappa's pained expression. The Prince cups a hand over his chin and sets his jaw.
"So," says Raditz, "You guys want to try and find some natives to fight?"
Nappa's face immediately shifts from hurt to pleased.
"Hey, yeah, let's do that Vegeta," he says.
"Fine whatever," says Vegeta. "As long as it keeps you two from bothering me."
Raditz and Nappa share a quick smirk. Auras explode around both of them as they launch off for their search.
"Ten points to whoever finds the first life forms," says Raditz, overtaking his partner.
"Oh no you don't," says Nappa.
He pumps out more power. His aura gets even bigger as he catches up to Raditz.
Vegeta allows a wry smile to form on his lips before following. As he gains on them, they drift downward to the ruins of an enormous building. The ceiling of the rectangular structure lies open to the sky. The walls seem to be made of synthetic metal still in pristine condition but overgrown with plants and vines.
He checks his scouter again as he drops to the ground behind his teammates. It returns gibberish. He watches Nappa and Raditz fan out slowly through the crumbled remains of the inside. The empty space within the four perimeter walls shows signs of once being a maze of rooms and floors. But only air separates them now.
Zizzoop!
Vegeta and Nappa whip their heads to Raditz. Smoke rises from the palm of his extended arm. They trace the invisible path the appendage points to and find the mostly destroyed husk of a giant insect. The exoskeleton is at least twice the size of Nappa.
The big Saiyan jumps over to investigate. He kicks a brittle leg which breaks off with a crack. It hits the floor and disintegrates into dust. Nappa starts laughing with Vegeta joining in. Their chortling chorus harmonizes at their fellow Sayian's expense.
"I hate bugs alright!" Raditz says.
They laugh even louder. Their voices bounce back and forth across him as it passes from wall to wall. A hissing rattle drones out the merriment. The three look around for a source, but the noise deafens them from every side. The volume rises as dozens more join every second. They press their ears flat to their swiveling heads.
The four walls churn with motion. They squint their eyes for a better look. The writhing mass consists of insectoid monsters from floor to ceiling, stacked on top of one another in several layers. They crawl across themselves in a swarming hive as the colony comes alive. Their bloated abdomens shutter in rhythm with the tune of the noise. Droves of them scamper down the walls while more fall from atop their roiling brethren.
They stampede over the uneven terrain. Their long, angled legs easily adjust to the varying heights while their bodies remain mostly in place during travel. Their movement is erratic like a fly scavenging for food, but their objective is clear. Every single one of them sets their thousands of faceted eyes on the Saiyans.
Raditz gulps back the urge to vomit.
"Alright, some action," says Nappa.
He raises a hand over his head. It crackles with energy down to the elbow. The arm falls to the opposite hip before sweeping across his body. The front line of the approaching enemy from the north explodes. Smoke washes over those behind. It clears quickly as the colony pushes through it. There are no bodies for them to climb over as their march continues.
"I didn't kill a single one?" says Nappa.
"What have I told you about underestimating your enemies?" says Vegeta. "Especially when you don't have your scouter to gauge their power."
"I just held a little too much back is all. No big deal. Watch this!"
Nappa starts to float from the ground in a hunch. Both forearms spark with greater energy than before. Dirt clods and rocks follow him, levitating on an unseen force. Once he is about six feet from the floor, he unleashes two destructive waves right next to each other. The explosions are twice as wide as the last.
Bodies catch fire and vaporize.
"How's that?"
"Wasteful and inefficient as always," says Raditz. "You should stick to punching and kicking."
He fires one singular concentrated orb after another from both hands. His fingers make the gesture of holding a gun and pulling the trigger before opening the palm to release the blast.
Zizzoop. Zizzoop. Zizzoop. Zizzoop.
Each green tinted shot finds their mark and punctures the hardened shells before bursting out the other side.
"If you bothered to control all that power, you might actually be a threat."
"Oh that's rich coming from you," says Nappa. "What have you killed, like six? I've already wiped out dozens. But maybe I would be more conservative if I had such a limited amount of energy."
"You wish you had my skill," says Raditz.
"Silence, both of you. Stick to your strengths," says Vegeta. "Push yourselves hard and don't waste this chance to get stronger. If I'm lucky, this might actually get my adrenaline pumping too for a little boost."
Vegeta fires an incredible volley of violet blasts that curve upward in an arc before bombarding dozens of bugs at a time, tearing them apart in flares of power. When it ends, he immediately fires off another round.
"That's our Prince," says Nappa. "Not even breaking a sweat. Limitless potential. I bet he could even achieve the legend."
"Don't tell me you believe that old myth?" says Raditz.
They continue to reduce the numbers of their foes with their respective tactics.
"Aw, you're just mad that low class Saiyans have a capped potential and could never do it."
"Heh, yeah right. I bet I'd achieve it before you. I'll be passing you soon enough."
"Alright, you're on."
They share a smile and unleash another barrage of ki. The noise of chittering abdomens, clacking joints, and snapping mandibles steadily dies down as more and more of the bugs are exterminated. Eventually the battlefield quiets as the last bug falls.
Nappa checks his scouter and still gets nothing. He pulls off the huge gauntlet from his right forearm and moves his wrist in circular motions. As he does this, he walks around searching for signs of any missed enemies.
He stops next to a carapace corpse while putting the gauntlet back on and taking off the other one to stretch that wrist as well. His boot prods at the husk lifting various pieces up for inspection. An antenna twitches without him noticing while he kicks at the wings.
The bug rears up bringing its mouth around to bite him. Nappa raises his naked forearm overhead to block the three pairs of chomping mandibles. They clamp down with a liquid slap as ooze runs over them and onto his skin.
The serrated edges of the six spindles slide up and down trying to dig into the flesh. However, the skin proves too tough to penetrate, and they glide harmlessly in place.
"Oh you poor bastard," says Nappa. "You never had a chance."
He places a palm upon the exposed underbelly. The exoskeleton begins to glow a dull red which quickly transitions to orange, then yellow, and finally white before the body explodes apart.
Nappa laughs as he shakes the liquid from his hand before putting the armor back on. As it rubs against his skin, an irritation burns. He stops laughing to pull the protection back a bit. The skin is bright red. He moves the appendage closer to his face.
Just then his scouter beeps and a voice speaks into his ear.
"The solar radiation has subsided to safe levels. Travel is now possible."
"I guess the fun's over then," says Raditz, walking past Nappa towards the ships.
"Yeah, I guess so," says Nappa.
He looks at his arm one more time before slipping it into his gauntlet despite the pain. He follows Raditz's long, trailing hair into the air to join Vegeta who is ready to leave. As they head for the open roof, Nappa continues to stare down at his arm.
A new voice pops out of their headsets, and they stop.
"Come in Squadron S64. Are you there? I repeat. Are you there?"
"This is Vegeta. What do you want?"
The voice hesitates before responding.
"Central Command lost touch with the audio transmissions from your scouters. As you know, disconnecting from the grid is an act of treason against the empire. The higher ups are demanding answers for your actions."
"If they want to punish us so bad, we'd be more than happy to face them in combat," says Vegeta. "Ask them where they'd like to meet."
"Vegeta, please."
He sighs.
"We went through an electromagnetic storm which our ships will confirm after they reestablish connection to the network."
"Oh, yes I see," says the voice. "Apologies Vegeta. You're quite ri—"
The voice fades away into indiscernible static.
"Is it another storm?" says Raditz.
A light flaring below pulls their attention.
They stare at it as a rainbow of colors breaks out of a short slit in the back of one of the locust hides. The shell splits open as two giant, ethereal wings unfold with a flap. They shine with the light of a white star while other fleeting colors shimmer across the surface.
The Saiyans squint their eyes as more of the pure energy creature pulls free. A slender body connects the beautifully blinding wings. The spiritual being seems to be some kind of butterfly with empty black voids for eyes.
As it removes the last of its legs from the ugly cocoon, the Saiyans notice other wings bloom from the shells of their ostensibly defeated foes. Their faces lengthen in awe at the sight. An aurora of flapping wings releases iridescent dust.
"Uh, guys," says Raditz. "I think we should get out of here."
"How are you still afraid of them?" says Nappa. "They turned into an even daintier bug."
One of the butterflies takes flight at unexpected speed. It zips by them. They barely have time to marvel at the tremendous creature before averting their eyes from the brightness. Waves of heat wash over them as it passes by. They each raise an arm to protect their faces. The hairs of their nostrils burn like candles. It feels as if someone opened a giant oven.
Vegeta presses the button on his scouter. He does not know how to interpret what he sees. The numbers rapidly climb faster than he has ever seen and then reset to zero before repeating the loop. They return to the garbled symbols of before after a few series
"Prepare yourselves, these things seem to have a type of power level we've never seen before," he says.
"You see," says Raditz. "Bugs are bad news. You never know what kind of shit they can do."
A swarm of the insects take to the air and enclose them in a cloud of their bodies. The heat and light attack their senses. Never have they been assaulted by pure radiation like this before. Their usual method of overpowering weaker attacks with their own strength does nothing to protect them from the piercing emissions.
"Enough of this!" says Vegeta.
He lets loose a series of ki blasts. They easily punch through a multitude of bodies, dispersing their energy forms. With a hole ripped through the haze of bugs, he leads the way out to fresh air.
The swirling cloud turns in a wide arc as it circles back to them.
"Alright men," says Vegeta. "Open fire!"
Raditz and Nappa nod and prepare their attacks. Raditz shoots one condensed shot after another to snipe off minions while Nappa makes swaths in the insect ranks with swings of his arms releasing huge explosions. Vegeta unleashes yet another bombardment of violet blasts.
The insects redirect their course offering a brief respite before surging upon them again. Vegeta checks his left and right to see both his subordinates breathing heavy.
"Back to the ships," he says. "Or we'll be overwhelmed by their numbers."
Auras burst forth from their bodies, and they rocket for their landing sight. They use suppressive fire to slow the horde as it chases them. The rows relentlessly replenish as bug after bug takes the place of the last one.
But rather than continue to be picked off one by one, packets of the phantasmal butterflies begin to clump together. Their transcendent boundaries easily merge into an even bigger version of themselves. These giants then fuse with the other giants in the same manner picking up the stragglers along the way.
The Saiyans watch in horror as the army melds into a single colossal monstrosity. Their energy attacks simply splatter across its surface completely overtaken by the combined power of the whole hive.
Each flap of its enormous wings sends dust storms ripping across the surface of the planet. Plants and rocks fold beneath the hurricane winds. A long proboscis unrolls from beneath the empty black eyes of the leviathan. The Saiyans adopt an evasive flight pattern to dodge the probing feeder as it jabs at them. The fear of turning into molecular soup drives their adrenaline up.
The spike of fear helps put some distance between them and the monster, but Nappa and Raditz begin to slow as their stamina wanes. Their pursuer does not.
Vegeta stops to hold his position. The other two look back in horror at their leader's decision. He nudges them on with a turn of the head before focusing on the charging insect. He assumes a pose Nappa recognizes immediately, having seen it only once before.
Vegeta leans his right shoulder towards the target. His right arm is across his chest, fingers curled over his palm. His left hand hovers behind the almost closed fist as if about to grab it. An aura sparks around his body. Raditz stares in awe. Violet arcs jaggedly lick the air with a hiss.
Raditz starts when a hand clamps his shoulder.
"Time to go," says Nappa. "You don't want to be around when that thing goes off."
Raditz nods and follows after Nappa.
Vegeta never wavers as the monstrous insect closes in. The proboscis reaches for him. He utters a battle cry as the aura around him swells with long streaks of it zipping outward.
"I am the Prince of all Saiyans! You will know the full fury of my race!"
He slams his open palms forward. A cylinder of energy the same size and color of his aura rushes forth. His aura fuels the canon, ceaselessly pulling from it. The beam thunders ahead crashing into the feeding tube of the beast. They clash and vie for control against one another. Vegeta feels the resistance force him backward as he loses ground.
Nappa and Raditz reach their pods and watch with anxious reverence. Lights blink on and off as the ships run through their startup procedure.
"What is that attack?"says Raditz. "I've never seen anything that powerful."
"That's Vegeta's Gyarikku Ho," says Nappa. "It allows him to tap his full power level in a single attack."
"You mean he can reach his full 18,000 all at once? Zarbon can't even hit that hard, and he's in the mid 20,000."
"It's supposed to be a secret, so you can't tell anyone. He's saving it for defeating Freeza."
"Well, you could have told me sooner. This isn't exactly how I wanted to find out."
"Haha. Well we're usually under surveillance so it's hard to talk about these things. You know how it is. But it sure would make his old dad proud if the King could see how powerful he is now. If anyone can achieve the legend, it's Vegeta."
Raditz looks at Nappa for a moment before turning to watch the battle.
Beads of sweat form on Vegeta's forehead. Before they can run down his face, they evaporate under the intense heat of the attack. His arms go numb from being held straight under such a strain. He screams and makes a final push of energy to reach his limits.
The beam forces the proboscis to fray apart at the tip. Little by little, the purple blast drives further into the feeding tube. It finally gives and the resistance releases. The beam fires down the throat of the feeder. It blows apart from the inside as the Gyarikku Ho smashes into the face of the insect right between the black, empty eyes.
The blast rips through the head, then the thorax, and finally out the back of the abdomen. The ethereal energies destabilize with the intruding beam. They expand searching for relief. The monstrous butterfly bulges in unnatural ways as its swelling innards struggle to escape the pressure. The insect bursts apart like an overly inflated balloon. Blankets of rainbow mist fall to the ground in a huge cloud.
Vegeta smiles through his gaping mouth as he inhales air. Nappa and Raditz cheer from the sidelines.
Their celebration cuts short. The dust of their supposedly fallen foe pulls itself together in globs which start to reform as individual insects once again.
"Get Vegeta's ship ready," says Nappa.
"What are you going to do?" says Raditz.
"I've got to grab him. He'll be too exhausted to reach us before they swarm him. Be ready for takeoff as soon as we arrive."
"Right, move fast."
Nappa blasts off at full speed. He sees Vegeta being closed in on by the ghostly pests. The Prince shoots obviously diminished ki balls to fend off the horde. They do not disperse the bugs this time. They merely slow them down.
Nappa swoops in gargling ki in the back of his throat. He drops his jaw letting it extend further than normal. Yellow energy bubbles up like water from a fountain. He sweeps his chin from shoulder to shoulder as he fires it. The panning ray tears through bugs and explodes along a visible line carved into the air from start to finish.
Vegeta gawks from the corner of his eyes for who came to the rescue.
"I gotcha," says Nappa.
Vegeta collapses into his huge arms without protest. Nappa hefts his leader over his shoulder and zooms back for the ships as the next wave of drones falls in behind him.
He pushes hard to outrun the hum of quickly beating wings. The hum gets louder and louder. Something nips as his boot, and he instinctively kicks it away.
He can see the pods now. Light surrounds him as the insects close in from all sides. He squints his eyes and tries to power on while bracing for the inevitable burn of their stinging attacks.
Zizzoop! Zizzoop! Zizzoop!
Green spheres fly in from afar. They smack each of the bugs solidly enough to drive them back.
"Raditz really is a crack shot," says Nappa. "That jerk isn't going to let me live this one down."
He smiles and pumps in the last of his energy leaving a massive trail of it in his wake. He drops in front of Vegeta's craft and slams his comrade against the cushioned seat. Vegeta winces as Nappa pushes a few buttons.
"See you in space sunshine," says Nappa.
The pistons hiss as the door starts to close. Nappa looks to his left as Raditz's ship does the same. He leaps to his pod and taps some buttons while situating his huge butt and torso. His craft takes off just as an insect pounces upon where it was a moment ago.
The pod moves slowly needing time to build up propulsion before it can achieve the velocity necessary to break out of orbit. The insects swarm beneath him climbing over one another to pile up to reach him.
"These damn things aren't going to let us go easy!" he says.
He presses a button which opens the door despite a computerized voice warning of the safety hazard of doing so while preparing to launch.
He leans out of the ship and pumps out ki blasts with the recoil pushing his arm back at the elbow each time. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see his fellow squadmates doing the same.
They fire furiously as their crafts gain speed. One bug manages to lash at the bottom of Nappa's pod with its antenna and front legs to pull him back. It does not find a grip on the slick surface but leaves behind gashes from melting the metal.
Close door now, take off in 3, 2, 1.
Nappa slams his back against the seat as the door snaps shut. His ship rattles from below as the insects claw and bite at it. Then the rush of escape velocity drops his stomach.
The world fades away from view through the red glass as clouds replace ground. Then the blackness of space closes in around the light reflecting from the planet.
Nappa sighs when the rush wears off as the speed stabilizes.
Laughter cracks up in the earpiece of his scouter. Raditz bellows with delight.
"What's so funny?" says Nappa.
Raditz just laughs harder.
"You should…"
Raditz starts.
"You should have seen the look on your face."
His voice gets higher with each syllable before breaking into laughter once more. Vegeta joins in, hooting just as loudly.
"Oh you're one to talk Mr. I'm afraid of bugs."
Vegeta laughs harder as Raditz goes quiet while Nappa gets in on the levity.
"Well you both better check your pants from when they turned into that huge monster," says Vegeta.
All three of them laugh in unison this time as they fly off towards their destination. As the laughter settles down and Nappa wipes a tear from his eye, the burning under his left gauntlet reminds him of the strange attack.
He pulls at the protective garment only to stop immediately from the pain. He grits his teeth and yanks hard. It comes off with a squishing sound.
The back of his forearm is bright red and inflamed with seeping pus beneath. Strange discolored blisters have formed all over it.
He pulls out a plastic tube of cool blue liquid from a compartment. He rips the top off with his teeth. He squeezes the gel onto the top of his left wrist and lathers it around the entire infected area.
The burning relents. He sighs at the relief.
"Everything okay Nappa," says Vegeta. "You went quiet."
"Yep, I'm good. Just can't wait for a real fight on Earth."
"Well don't expect much," says Raditz. "They could hardly handle Cui and his Saibamen."
Vegeta and Raditz laugh again. Nappa joins in at half their enthusiasm as he looks at his arm while they drift further into space.