Outlanders

Chapter 45: Distant Machinations

A/N: Sorry for bringing you this chapter late! Schoolwork, stress and a necessary breather from this story conspired to create a delay. Chapters will continue on a weekly basis from this point on.


Across the world, a thick, bunched purple smoke spread over the planet's surface like a wave of sickness, rolling over the landscape and flooding every sapient set of lungs with hateful energy. Cities and town descended into bloody chaos in a matter of seconds as neighbors turned on neighbors, friends turned on friends, and even parents and children leaped for each others' throats. Like a sweeping scythe, all that was once good and precious about the Earth that separated it from the violent and needless cruelty lurking in the galaxy beyond was eradicated.

Above this all, Garlic Jr. watched with rapt pleasure. The Earth begin to remake itself in his image.

0o0o0

A long night took hold of him when the world slipped from his grasp, suffocating him into thoughtlessness. He felt nothing, heard nothing, knew nothing as time passed without any tether of meaning- it simply passed, a judgment of his own existence doing no more than existing. His mind, tortured by such an unending pressure, fought to crawl out of such a haze.

Hua...ghea….ghuah...

Bubbles of air floated up and down past him, streaking up down his matted, ruined body.

H-uahh….

Red light bleared from beyond his world, pulling him closer to the surface of his own mind.

u...uh… huh? His eyes staggered open, showcasing a small room intermittently lit up by red light. But it was wrong- it was like he was watching a feed of his vision from somewhere remote and distant, wholly unattached to what must have been his body, his eyes…

His first instinct to move betrayed him; his body refused to budge when prodded by his mind. His arms, legs, even head… all parts of him were motionless save for his frantic eyes jumping around in his skull.

Outside of whatever he was in, a clanging came from his right.

'Oh, this won't do…' Someone then entered Raditz's vision, hauling a large metal pipe to the other side of the room. An old looking human set it down and then began twisting a knob above their head. 'Nothing can come in, not now…'

Raditz's eyes noticed something obscuring his full view of the man. Thin lines snaked in and out of his vision, framing a web that covered the entire extent of his visual feed. It was only after a few seconds of strained processing did his mind recognize the lines as wires, the web as a mechanical and electrical girdle, and that both were connected to a thick metal tube going through his body. He could now feel the cold metal touch of the apparatus, penetrating his body with a sense of artificiality.

He screamed- but nothing came out. Not a single vibration graced his body or the liquid he was suspended in. What's going on!?

Without any prompting, The old man in the room swung over to him, stopping just beyond the glass. 'Hmm,' he murmured, looking up and down Raditz. 'Unintended. Perhaps a consequence of the atmospheric readings. No matter…'

Raditz was dimly aware that a lever was pulled, producing a soft hiss of air. Then he was dimly aware that he was sensing nothing. Then, he was… dimmed.

0o0o0

There was nothing for the fighters in Korin's Tower to do until the purple substance spooling down from the sky finished descending. With growing dread, they watched the sky below them start to take a darkened hue, eventually adopting a purple-blue shade. The entire Earth was slowly shrouded in foreboding light.

Launch, who was presently leaning on a railing and peering over the tower's edge, turned her head and looked at Korin's sideways. 'You're sure this isn't part of Mr. Popo's training?'

The cat was pulling on a thin brown robe. 'Positive,' Korin replied quickly, tying a black sash around his waist. 'Not once in my eight hundred years have I ever seen something like this happen.'

'It does look pretty bad down there…' Suno mumbled from next to Launch, unwilling to lift her gaze from the sickly looking sky below them. 'And… it doesn't feel right, either.' She wrapped herself in her arms. 'My ki sense is all wrong right now…'

'Alright,' Korin announced as soon as he had finished preparing himself. 'Gather round!'

Languidly, Yajirobe, Suno, Chiaotzu, and Launch moved over to him. 'Over the past few days I've increasingly felt that something bad was happening,' Korin disclosed, meeting each of their stares, 'though I wasn't exactly sure what was happening, nor was I willing to accept that feeling as the truth. I'm still not sure what's going on, but I suspect that once we get up to the Lookout, we're going to run into trouble pretty quickly. You should all prepare for a fight.'

In response, they gave him grim nods. So we're going?' Chiaotzu asked.

Korin brandished a simple, almost innocuous looking wooden stick, painted in simple shades of brown and red. 'Just do as I do.'

0o0o0

Rayne had felt bad about wanting a chauffeur, but if she had known how to fly one of Capsule Corps. many high-speed planes, she would have gladly done so. At this point flying under her own power wasn't in the cards for her; she wanted to avoid all unnecessary physical exertion. Even taking the short hop to Baba's place had been a nerve-wracking experience. She figured that she had built up some goodwill among her friends, and so she decided to use it.

Once the situation had been explained to him, and even though he was serving as the lead mechanical scientist at Capsule Corp. in Bulma's absence, Retu dropped everything he was doing and offered to fly Bulma personally. It was easy for Rayne to forgot how charitable her friends were.

Their plane touched down at the foot of Fire Mountain without incident, despite Retu complaining about stubbornly strong winds and bad visibility for parts of the flight. Rayne would have probably commented on the strange purple hue to the storm if she hadn't been too busy locked in her own self-directed anxiety.

After Rayne stepped out and cursorily examined her surroundings, she rapped on the side of the plane. The window to Retu's cockpit slid open. 'You're sure you have nowhere to be?' She asked to the face that appeared.

Retu waved away her concerns. 'I made this time for you, Rayne. If you don't want to fly anywhere, I'll wait. A few hours sitting around isn't anything new to me.'

She creased her brow, nodded, and drew back, letting Retu slide his window down closed again. She hesitated near the plane for a moment, then spun and hastily began climbing up Fire Mountain. The path had a gentle slope but zig-zagged up the mountain, making it longer than it had to be, Chi-Chi was grateful- the long trek gave her time to think. So… how should I phrase it?

She rounded a switchback. How about… "from a soon-to-be-single mother to another, I need advice"… No, that just sounds desperate…

Maybe… "a baby is going to pop out of me. Help?"

She halted. Brain, what?

As she rubbed one hand over her other arm in an attempt to prod her to think of something even marginally better, her eyes caught that the shade of light cast over the entire mountain was odd- curious, she turned and looked out across the land in the shadow of the mountain.

Fire and smoke frothed up from the flatlands below, stemming mostly from the village located not a few miles from where Retu had landed the plane. More alarmingly, everything, down to the leaves passing down the mountain to the streams and rivers twisting down its slopes, was basked in a purple glow.

Something twisted and dropped in the pit of her stomach. With a plunging terror propelling her forward, Rayne dashed up the mountain.

0o0o0

They presumed the ship was in transit, considering that Nappa never returned to them to follow up on any of his grisly promises. This fact, however, hadn't improved their collective mood; in fact, it had probably worsened it. There was no disputing it; with every minute that passed while they were locked away, they were being taken farther and farther away from their mission. When their ship had been destroyed, it had taken every useful tool with it. Gone were the star charts and the navigational computer, which had done most of the piloting for Bulma. Gone were the dragon radar and the quality of life items like the capsule house and the warm shower it would have graced her with. In the space of a few minutes, every good thing Bulma had planned on having had been yanked out from under her, depriving her of some solace in what, even normally, would have been a trying time for her.

They were still alive. Bulma knew that she had saved their lives. And yet she knew that whatever ship they were on now was taking them further and further away from Namek and the hope that planet offered.

She bent over and let her head fall to her knees. Such a horrible cost to survive…

Her companions, Tien to her left and Yamcha across from her, were suitably silent. This, at least, was good- she didn't care much for what they had to say at the moment.

Tien seemed to think differently; he spoke up not a few seconds after this thought ran through Bulma's mind. 'Yamcha?'

The scarred human regarded Tien from underneath heavy eyelids. 'What?'

'Why did you admit to killing Raditz before?'

An immediate tension filled the small cell, making an already miserable space even more so. 'I killed him,' Yamcha stated. 'We were prisoners. I figured we were going to die- so I wanted to tell them this, disturb them, so that I could claim some small victory before the end.'

'And yet, they were happy to hear that Raditz had died.'

Yamcha narrowed his eyes at Tien, then broke off eye-contact. 'I figured wrong in that regard.'

'I know this is a useless conversation to have at this point,' Tien grumbled, not bothering to hide his dissatisfaction, 'but why? Why do any of what you did without talking to us first?'

Yamcha's eyes jumped to a corner in the room. He said nothing in response.

'Fine,' Tien sighed, 'be that way. I'll make sure to keep up my end of this healthy relationship intact; if I decide to do something to jeopardize everyone's lives, I'll make sure to do so without talking to you, or Bulma, or the big fu-'

Bulma held up a hand, silencing Tien. 'Please…' she said softly. 'Please… just let the cell be quiet.'

Tien's mouth opened to continue, but then his expression changed and he clamped his mouth shut.

Peace, at last. Horrible, dreadful, anxiety-driven peace, but peace nonetheless. In spite of the verbal quiet filling the room, Bulma began to rub her temples to stave off a forthcoming headache. This is hopeless… Her eyes began to roam the room, looking for something of interest that would distract her. It was at that moment that Bulma noticed that both Tien and Yamcha looked awful- and then she remembered how they had been brought onto this ship. They weren't in suits. Their bodies were shipped through space like cargo… She could now see the freeze burns that patterned their bodies, inflicting on them what must have been excruciating pain. The more she thought on it, the more remarkable it became that they had even survived their brief transit through the vacuum of space- perhaps their ki had done that?

First thing first. Bulma rocked to her feet and began rummaging through an internal pocket in her suit. Clenching on something, she then released the suit's locks and let the heavy sections fall off one by one from her body. Yamcha and Tien both lifted their heads a fraction as dull thunks registered on the metal floor.

Bulma squatted between them, flourishing a small medical kit. 'Do you two mind?'

Neither of them verbally replied, but she caught a glint of appreciativeness shine in their eyes and their heads nod incrementally.

Satisfied, she got to work.

0o0o0

By the time that Korin's frighteningly fast magical stick had finished propelling them all skywards, a good number of the riders were ready to vomit. They had made sure not to let go, however, and as a result, they all safely touched down onto the Lookout. What should have been a sacred place was quickly disturbed by Chiaotzu and Suno hanging by the edge of the platform and dry heaving.

'Give them a minute,' Korin said over the gurgling to Launch and Yajirobe. 'Meanwhile…' he scanned their surroundings. 'Where's Mr. Popo?'

Launch strode into the center of the Lookout and bent down next to a body-sized imprint in the tiles. 'Would this fit their shape?' She asked, drawing Korin's attention.

He and Yajirobe joined her. 'Unfortunately, yes,' he replied. 'What happened?'

'Maybe he slipped?' Yajirobe suggested.

'He's an eternal attendant,' Launch shot back. 'Eternal attendants don't slip.'

'Well, how else could this crater be created?

'Maybe someone sat down too quickly?'

'Maybe!?'

'Maybe. You don't know!'

'Are you even using your eyes right now?'

Ignoring their bickering, Korin continued to study their surroundings. The air around them was turgid, as if no wind had blown here in quite some time. Just as he was about to acknowledge the creeping feeling of dread welling up inside of him, a sound startled him out of his thoughts.

Clack. Clack. Clack. The sound of wood tapping down on tile started to emanate and echo across the air. Slowly, the five of them turned to the yawning entrance of the main complex. Chiaotzu and Suno gathered themselves and joined Korin, Yajirobe, and Launch.

Clack. Clack. Clack. A short, diminutive hooded figure slowly came out of the darkness, revealing themselves to the world one step at a time. A wooden staff, smaller but similar to Kami's continued to clack clack clack against the tiles from the figure's hand. Their robes were also eerily familiar- they were of the same color scheme of Kami's. Most disturbing of all, the same symbol was blazoned across their body that had graced Kami's front during his unflinching tenure as guardian- God.

Korin felt the fur on the back of his neck stand-up. The figure's ki felt so utterly wrong. This is all wrong! Some… perversion!

None of his companions seemed to experience the same sick realization he had felt. 'Who are you?' Launch asked somewhat casually.

A ghost of a smile may have formed on the figure's face, but considering their head was still hooded, it was hard for Korin to tell. 'Can't you read?' They responded, amused. 'I'm God.'

Launch rolled her eyes. 'Yeah, okay. Very funny.' She flippantly pointed at the crater at her side. 'Did you fake this? Or was it Mr. Popo?'

'Launch-' the name briefly caught in Korin's throat- 'everyone, something is wrong. This being's energy… it's vile! Use your ki sense!'

Intrigued, they did so- and collectively, they took a step back. 'Who are you?' Launch repeated.

At this juncture, the figure drew back their head, revealing an imp-like teal head. They were indeed short. 'I. Am. God,' he proclaimed. 'Your God, Garlic Junior. Is this how you treat your better? The better?...' he asked, hinting at some unspoken threat.

'Our "God" is dead,' Suno replied harshly. 'You're nothing more than a charlatan dressing up in a great man's clothes.'

'Such a pity,' Garlic mocked quietly. 'You really don't know what you're dealing with, do you?...'

'Pity?' Launch abruptly laughed. 'It took me a minute, but I've got your read, buddy- you're not even a third as powerful as Raditz! This is going to be a cakewalk!'

'Prattle all you want! You'll bend to me-'

'Haaaagh!' Launch rocketed forward almost imperceptibly fast, aiming a roundhouse kick at Garlic's head. He moved lethargically slow, only succeeding in raising a single hand in a warding gesture in front of him.

Her hit never came. When Launch came within five feet of him, Garlic clenched his hand, summoning a wall of purple and black miasma to rise in front of him. Launch barreled through this and disappeared.

'Aha!' Garlic half-laughed, half-cheered, as the foul fumes around him dispersed. 'Fantastic! Wonderful! Kami couldn't even dream of this power!'

'What did you do to her!?' Chiaotzu yelled from across the Lookout.

'Unimportant!' Garlic then began to rise into the sky. 'I realize now that you will not leave my humble abode peacefully! Nicky! Ginger! Sansho! To me!'

A rustle of movement came from the main complex- an instant later, three hulking fighters appeared on the ground below Garlic Jr. They looked taller, and physically, they looked much stronger than their apparent master.

'These "guests" are being difficult!' he yelled down from above, pointing one imperious finger towards the clump of people towards the other end of the Lookout. 'Stall them, for it seems that they have not yet succumbed to the Black Water Mist!'

Yajirobe, Suno, and Chiaotzu froze- the situation was quickly spiraling out of control.

Korin sighed. 'Out of my way,' he commanded of the remaining fighters, pushing past them to the front. Upon his appearance at the front of his group, he drew back his hood and let his white fur glisten in the sunlight.

Garlic laughed. 'You?' he called down. 'You're still kicking? I would have thought someone would have killed you by now.'

'Oh?' Korin said pleasantly. 'So you do remember me?'

'I remember how you cowered while Kami fought my father!' Garlic spat back. 'You, the weakling, who was helpless against their combined might! To you, they were titans! And now, aided by the powers granted to me as Guardian of Earth, I have surpassed them both!' He boasted, crossing his arms self-assuredly. 'You can't even begin to approach my power!'

'That may be true,' Korin replied cheerfully, 'but, either way, I'm glad I prepared!'

Korin's positivity seemed to irritate Garlic Jr.- he frowned. One flat palm rose into the air, facing Korin's group. 'BEG-'

A sickening crunch filled the air, reminiscent of a building collapsing in on itself. The space between Korin and Garlic halved twice in the space of a second, nearly causing Garlic to tumble out of the sky. 'What!?' he growled, throwing out his hands to stabilize himself in the air. 'How are you doing this!?'

'I was trusted with a few responsibilities when I was given immortality,' Korin thundered, 'and being the caretaker of the position of Guardian was one of them! Haaaah!' Slivers of lightning erupted out from Korin's body, shooting and curling into a protective ball around him and Garlic. The Guardian quickly thrust his hands to the side, forming a sphere of energy around him. These two opposing figures seemed to lock in place, each one throwing their combined powers against each other. The wind began to whip into a frenzy, causing everyone else in attendance to raise their arms high to brace against it.

Realization struck Yajirobe. 'Charge!' he yelled out. 'Protect Korin!' With that, they raced forward, moving to intercept Garlic's henchmen.

0o0o0

Piccolo's presence at Krillin's side at first was alien, even distracting, considering that Krillin's first reflex whenever the demon flashed in the corner of his vision was to throw up a block. Habits that had saved his life on multiple occasions tended to die hard. Once it became clear that Piccolo wasn't going anywhere (or that he wasn't going to try and strangle Krillin's dead body to further undeath), however, Krillin began to accept Piccolo for what he was- a companion. While this had been a hard concept for Krillin to wrap his head around initially, the difficulty of accepting this development had served as a good way to pass the time; there wasn't much else to think about while going along their unending trek.

An indeterminate amount of time passed- any bodily urges Krillin knew fully died, suggesting that his initial desires to eat and sleep had been psychological, not physical. He found himself missing the sensation of sleep and the respite it offered from what was now unending consciousness.

He found himself missing a lot of things. Seems like it's going to be a long time before I see any of my friends… Rayne... hmm…

Mired in his sulking, Krillin was jolted out of his head when Piccolo's hand grasped the back of his gi and yanked him back. 'Hey!' He exclaimed, shaking out of his grip and turning. 'What was that for?'

Piccolo said nothing; instead, he pointed one finger towards something in the direction Krillin had been running. Krillin briefly glared at him, before finally relenting and swinging back around. 'Huh...'

Before them was a staggeringly large palace, somehow even more visually and architecturally impressive than the complex that had first greeted them in the afterlife. A single avenue branched out from the main path of Snake Way, though importantly, Snake Way did not end at the palace. If anything, the palace looked more like a stop than the end of their journey.

'I don't want to go in,' Piccolo announced while Krillin was still in the process of figuring out what he was looking at.

The human gave him a sideways look. 'Why?'

'This clearly isn't North Kai's place. Snake Way continues.'

'So?' Krillin whined. 'We've been running for… I don't even-'

'Two months, give or take a month.'

'How'd you figure that?'

'What else could I be doing right now except counting the miserable days until this torture ends?'

They stared at each other. 'Fair enough.'

'Stopping here will just delay us from finishing this gauntlet,' Piccolo stated. 'And I don't know about you, but I'd rather not drag this out.'

Krillin couldn't argue with that logic, though… 'Why don't we just check?' he suggested. 'We can find out who lives here and if it isn't North Kai's we can continue on our way.'

Piccolo rolled his eyes. 'Fine. Lead the way.'

Both of them walked over down the side path and up to the palace's gigantic doors, taking the opportunity to stretch as they walked. Krillin knocked once on the wooden doors, producing an audible rapp rapp. After waiting a few moments for a response, he knocked again more loudly. Rapp, Rapp, Rapp. Still no response. Finally, Krillin called out, 'Hello? Anyone home?'

Silence. It seemed like this entire plane was devoid of any sound. That was another thing Krillin missed.

'No one's here,' Piccolo grumbled. 'Satisfied?'

'Maybe…' Krillin placed both hands on the door and started to apply some pressure. It didn't budge in the slightest. 'Perhaps with ki… ' His grip suddenly slackened, as did his face. 'No… I don't sense anything. Weird.'

'Can we go now?'

Krillin held back for one more moment, straining to feel and hear anything… and failed to do so. The palace appeared to be thoroughly deserted. 'Alright… lead the way.'

Piccolo cast one more look at the building before storming off towards Snake Way. Krillin, pouting somewhat, followed him. I would have enjoyed a good break, now that I think about it...

0o0o0

A woman with pale blue skin crouched above a lip in the wall, carefully watching two figures dash past the palace through a window. 'Princess Snake?' she called out to someone behind her. 'Should we try to lure them in?'

Directly beneath this woman, in what used to be a grand serving hall, a woman in ragged and burned clothes stomped about, casting simmering glances to the ruined fixtures and furniture around her. 'Are you joking!?' She erupted. 'We still haven't fixed up this place since the last one! If you let them in I'll have your head on a silver platter!'

Frowning, the woman watched the two figures move beyond a ridge and disappear. Once this happened, she leaned on the windowsill and sighed longingly.

0o0o0

Though she tried not to exert herself, Rayne found herself racing up Fire Mountain in record time. I can't be blamed for having nervous scrambling energy, right? I need to use it somehow… It's not like I can forget that the town below is on fire…

Another few ki-enhanced hops and Rayne found herself standing nearly level with the castle sitting atop of Fire Mountain. She was also face-to-face with a monstrous hole that had blown away nearly a quarter of the structure's side. Dear… Kami… Lying near this gaping wound in the building was a vaguely humanoid shape.

Rayne raced over as fast and as quietly as possible. Smoke drifted through the area, forcing her to pull part of her gi over her mouth and nose and slow down. She was about halfway to where she guessed where the body was when her foot crashed into something soft and large. 'Oooohhhh…' a groan rose up from the ground.

She immediately cringed and yanked her foot back. 'I'm so sorry!' She burst out, kneeling down. 'I didn't see you, I… wait…'

The smoke cleared some. Rayne could see that the person she had rammed was gigantic. Arguably giant-sized. 'Who… who are you?' She managed.

The man on his back struggled to open his eyes. One massive hand trembled upwards. Instinctively, Rayne tried to grab it and force the man to relax, but the hand lurched away from her grasp and pointed into the castle. 'Please…' he said hoarsely. 'I'll be fine… save my daughter and my grandson…'

'Daughter!... So you're-'

The man's hand plopped back down the ground- he slipped unconscious.

After taking a moment to make sure the man wasn't going to die on her, Rayne stood and faced the gaping maw within the building. She could faintly sense that some people were inside. So… Chi-Chi and Gohan. Still… what the hell is going on? Did they get attacked?

She took a deep breath, then plunged through the breach.

0o0o0

It couldn't have been more than a few days of monotony, broken up by flickering lighting and meals given at odd times, did every single whirring and wheeze from the ship around them stop. Bulma was quick to assume what followed a few minutes later- Nappa clapped what must have been handcuffs on all of them and led them out of their cell.

Normally, Bulma would have relished the chance to pour over every inch of detail of the ship around her, seeking to sate her burning curiosity- but she felt no such impulse now. She wasn't feeling much of anything, if she was being honest with herself. Too much misfortune in too short a time. Though perhaps she was looking at their situation the wrong way. They were all still alive. For now.

Nappa led them through a few winding, scanty hallways, up and down a few flights of stairs, and then herded them into a box-ish room. When two sets of doors slammed closed behind them and some audible machinery began adjusting the air level within the chamber, Bulma deduced they were in an airlock.

'We're about to disembark onto FP083,' Nappa informed them. 'Its atmosphere should be breathable to you. Raditz and his brother were able to breathe on your planet, correct?'

'Yes,' Tien muttered.

Nappa made a shark-like grin at them. 'Then breathing should be the least of your concerns.' A hiss filled the room and the wall before them started to lower down.

The sight that greeted them was indescribably alien- darkened black-green skies ran to the horizon, framing a rocky and craggy dull brown landscape. Smack dab in the middle of this vista, however, was a small, squat base about a mile out, softly lit by yellow light. It stood out like a beacon among the sparseness.

The sound of a boot ramming against metal sounded from behind them. 'Move,' Nappa growled as soon as the wall-ramp finished descending. The Saiyan stepped off the ship first, moving seamlessly down the ramp onto the rocky ground below.

The three humans, headed by Bulma, timidly followed him down. The instant Bulma stepped onto the ramp, however, her legs buckled and she nearly tumbled forward onto the hard metal. It was only through Yamcha's quick reflexes was he able to rush to her side and wrap a hand around her waist, catching her. His muscles screamed from the effort, even as his feet struggled to find purchase on the metal ramp. This gravity!... It's insane!...

With his back facing them, Nappa gave a half-turn of his head. 'Did I forget to mention this planet's gravity is higher than your planet's own?' he asked, amused. 'This won't be a problem for such strong fighters such as yourselves, will it?'

Tien came up to the other side of Bulma and roped himself under her left arm. With added support from him, Bulma unsteadily rose to her feet. 'Keep leading,' Tien grunted to Nappa. 'We'll be right behind you.' If he was affected by the change in gravity, he made an effort to not show it.

Sneering, Nappa whipped around his head and set a brisk pace towards the complex in the distance. With both Tien and Yamcha grimacing, and Bulma looking to be on the verge of passing out, they persisted after him. For the most part, their path was flat and unremarkable, which was lucky- both Tien and Yamcha doubted they could have climbed even a small hill considering the circumstances. Collectively, and with Bulma barely conscious, they gasped in relief as they saw Nappa slow in front of them. A large gate slid into the ground, revealing an antechamber filled with a litany of different humanoid aliens of various shapes, sizes, and colors. None of them looked particularly friendly.

The hologram they had seen days earlier, a Saiyan with wicked hair and a permanent sense of power belying their posture, was present in-the-flesh and stood at the front of the group. With a simple wave of his hand, Nappa stepped to the side and motioned his captors to step forward. 'As per your request, Prince Vegeta,' Nappa said in an oddly deferential manner.

Tien and Yamcha hobbled over, each one supporting Bulma under one arm. Vegeta's smile grew. 'These are our would-be warriors? They can barely walk,' he commented with a condescending smile.

'It's… the gravity…' Tien sputtered. 'We're… just not used to it.'

Vegeta raised an eyebrow. 'Is that so? I'd hate to break it to you, but this planet has one of the weakest gravitational pulls of any system in the known galaxy. What would you do if you traveled to a planet with four times the gravity of this planet, hmm?'

'Give us time,' Yamcha snapped, 'and we'll be adjusted as much as any one of you.'

Nappa and Vegeta shared a look, followed by Nappa beckoning over one of the various aliens gathered around. After barking some orders to a mottled green and blue bald alien, he turned back to them. 'You will have one day to recover. Then, tomorrow, we'll decide if you three can work for us. Understood?'

Yamcha and Tien gave weak nods, withering under Vegeta's steady gaze. A throng of aliens then descended on the humans, enveloping them and helping them further into the base. As Nappa watched this, Vegeta motioned for him to follow.

0o0o0

Far away from any prying eyes and ears, Vegeta stopped Nappa in one of the base's solitary hallways. 'Your scouter noted the same thing, did it now?' he asked.

Nappa nodded. 'Barely topping a power level of 10 for the two still standing. The one for the woman was even lower…'

'And yet they were able to stand- the two men, anyway. It would appear that Raditz's intel was accurate. They can hide their power level. There's no way a being with a power level of 10 would be able to walk here considering the gravitational pull on their native planet.'

Nappa eyed Vegeta. 'So you think they may actually have some worth?'

'Possibly. I'm more inclined to believe that they defeated Raditz and his brother now having seen this ability for myself. If they can hide their power levels, it would have been simple for them to catch Raditz off-guard. At the very least, I've grown more confident that they aren't working with Raditz and his brother. They don't have the look of people who would get along with him.'

'Has there been any more ship launches from Earth?'

'Not one,' Vegeta replied, 'which makes me think that the two ships we gave to Raditz are either still on the planet or destroyed. There's no way he and his brother could have left if they weren't working with these humans. They're either still alive on the planet or dead, and I doubt the humans with us would run off and leave their planet undefended if the former was true.' Vegeta crossed his arms snug to his chest, signaling to Nappa that he was thinking.

'They could have fled the planet because Raditz and Kakarot are laying waste to it. You know, like refugees.'

'But then where were they going? And if that was the case, Raditz would have contacted us in some way… unless, of course, he went rogue…' Vegeta began to massage his temples. 'It doesn't make sense… Again, Raditz's duplicity has created a web for us to untangle…'

'Raditz had to be sneaky!' Nappa chuckled. 'He wasn't strong enough to do otherwise. If he wasn't lying to his brother from the start, do you really think he could have convinced him to join up with us?'

'Hmm.' Vegeta narrowed his eyes at the ground, then let his arms fall back to his sides. 'Regardless, I have a feeling we know much more about our prospective mercenaries than they do about us,' Vegeta opined. 'I intend to exploit this asymmetry of information.'

'Is this what you'll be doing while I take the fighters out to the gorge tomorrow? Extorting the blue-haired woman?'

'Oh, I doubt I'll have to do anything that extreme,' Vegeta replied coolly. 'Her allies will be far away fighting for their lives. All I need to do is drop a small insinuation and she'll tell me everything I want to know…'

Nappa let loose a harsh laugh. 'That was always your way of doing things, even back on Planet Vegeta. Remember how you dealt with that hanger-on of your father? What was her name? Puashe?'

'Pash,' Vegeta growled, 'her name was Pash. And don't bring her up around me again.'

'Oh, but it's so funny-'

'Drop it, Nappa.'

0o0o0

Like a stone cast into a river, Launch felt herself be carried away in a storm, the world around her blurring into one indefinite and unsensible mess. When she felt her lungs start to burn for air and her flailing muscles start to lose energy, her vertigo came to an abrupt stop. She realized she was face-down on the ground, panting. Gingerly, she pushed herself into a crouch, breathing slowly and steadily. Holy… Kami…

Before her was… darkness. There was no other word to describe it. Even during the darkest nights where the clouds above her completely covered the unlit skies, she could squint hard enough into the hazy distance and be sure there was more to the world than what she saw. Here… she wasn't nearly as confident.

Launch wasn't very experienced with strange, otherworldly powers, but she was experienced enough with her our indignation to hazard a guess as to what just happened. This is some magic bullshit, isn't it? He never even touched me! Ugh! Wizards! Or… warlocks, or witches, or something! I'm going to beat the title out of that Garlic guy!

As she began to rise, the world around her began to change- while the ever-pressing darkness did not lift, a stone gray path formed in front of her, leading to a previously unseen destination in the distance. Launch couldn't quite make out what it was… but it was definitely familiar.

Great. Now I'm recognizing things in the realm of imperceptible darkness. Definitely magic at work….

She briefly surveyed her surroundings, but lacking any other direction to go that didn't include an unappealing wall of darkness, Launch sighed, shook her head, and set off down the stone path.

0o0o0

Having led their charge, Yajirobe was the first to crash against one of their opponents- his polished sword swiped through the air at the hulking creature adorned in black as night armor. Like a cat chasing a point of light, Yajirobe's sword flew from side-to-side, always coming mere inches from the creature's desperately backpedaling body. When his opponent inevitably made a misstep and stumbled, Yajirobe surged forward, twisted the sword around in his grip, and slammed the hilt into the creature's breastplate, shattering it at the center and exposing the dark grey skin beneath. Sailing backward, the creature landed in a tangle of limbs.

Scowling, Yajirobe straightened and leveled the sword's blade. 'You're not as strong as I figured you for.'

The creature began to snarl. 'Stop that!' he yelled as he unsteadily rose to his feet. 'No-one addresses Sansho of the Makyans that way!'

Yajirobe shrugged. 'Prove it.'

In a flash of movement, Sansho disappeared in front of Yajirobe, appearing behind him with a heavy swipe. Yajirobe pivoted, however, and caught the strike on the flat of his blade easily. He was motionless as the Makyan above him struggled to get through his guard.

An idea crossed Yajirobe's mind. 'Can you fly?' he asked nonchalantly.

Bewildered, Sansho hopped back and dropped out of his guard. 'What kind of question is that?'

'It's okay if you can't,' Yajirobe said, frowning sympathetically. 'I can't fly, either.'

'I… it's none of your business!' Sansho yelled at him. 'I'll destroy you!'

A glint of metal flashed from Yajirobe's side. '…'

Strikes flew at Yajirobe, but without any effort he caught every single one with his blade. The deliberately honed weapon danced in the air before him, almost as if it was moving of its own accord. Increasingly frustrated, Sansho backed up and then charged at Yajirobe, trying to grab his at the waist and wrench him to the ground. For his part, Yajirobe nimbly sidestepped and then slashed at the Makyan's back, scoring a thin vertical slice through the black armor. Sansho yelled out in pain even as he had to stop himself abruptly from nearly running off the edge of the Lookout. Wobbling, Sansho yelped when Yajirobe appeared before him, holding up the hilt of his blade.

'Time to see if you can fly.' Yajirobe whispered cheerfully.

'NOOOOoooooooo!...' With a tap of his sword, Sansho lost his balance and flew off the edge of the Lookout. Yajirobe followed him out, peering over the edge to confirm that the Makyan hadn't clung to the edge, and once satisfied, he leaned back and sheathed his sword.

'Alright…' Yajirobe scanned the surface of the Lookout. Chiaotzu and Suno were going toe-to-toe with Garlic's two other henchmen. 'Those two are covered…' Out of the corner of his eye, Yajirobe saw a flash of movement. No!

0o0o0

'You… pest!' Garlic Jr. roared, as he thrust his arms out again in an attempt to break through the shell of energy pressing in on him. The barrier shuddered but did not break.

Several feet below, Korin alternated his expression between one of satisfaction and one of intense concentration. Jagged lines of light erupted from his palms, continually feeding into the barrier surrounding Garlic Jr. 'You don't deserve this title!' The stream of energy erupting from Korin reached a crescendo as pure white light began to emanate from Garlic Jr.'s barrier. 'BEGONE, FOUL POWERS!'

There was a crack of sound as the barrier fell away, releasing a mist of gold-white energy that rushed out of Garlic Jr.'s body and quickly dissipated into nothing.

Korin had but a moment to admire his accomplishment before he fell to one knee, clasping his midsection. 'That was… too much…' he panted. 'Too much energy lost…'

Garlic Jr. looked over his body with incensed revulsion. 'Curse you! You stripped me of my rightful powers! How!?'

'It's… what I said. I guard this place, in a way…'

'You!… I'll… wait…' Garlic Jr. began to smirk as he felt his latent energy come back to the forefront of his being. 'You haven't diminished any of my other power at all…'

The cat gave an unsteady frown. 'That… was the gamble...'

There was no hesitation on Garlic Jr.'s part. His gaze lifted incrementally towards Korin before bursting into movement. 'Die!' he zoomed downwards, drawing back a leg-

CHINNNNNGGG. The sound of metal vibrating rang across the Lookout, stopping Garlic Jr.'s leg a few feet away from crashing into Korin. Shocked, the would-be Guardian craned his head to the side. 'Who?...'

Behind a samurai blade pressed flat to Garlic Jr.'s foot, Yajirobe shook with exertion. His gaze was fixed to the ground. 'While I'm still alive…' The sword flashed, swiping upwards and flipping Garlic Jr. backward in the air. Baring his teeth, Yajirobe chased after him. 'You don't touch him!'


A/N: Heyo! Again, sorry about the one-week lapse. I've been sitting on parts of this chapter for a while now and it was a push to get this finished. Happy to say it's done now, though!

Also, in a change of pace, here are some power levels. Thought it would be useful considering the non-canon interactions here.

Garlic:?

Nicky:?

Sansho:240

Ginger:?

Yajirobe: 300

Suno:?

Korin: 200

Chiaotzu:?

Launch:?

Onto reviews:

TC9078: Could King Kai be a stoner? Could Roshi somehow produce the goods in the afterlife? These are questions I'm now considering...

Transformers g1's-Prime: Yep. A ride. Yeah, how close is Frieza watching Vegeta, anywho?

If I'm being honest I do like most of the movie villains. IMO they suffer only because they reside exclusively in movies, i.e. it's hard to develop a background for a character and accommodate them with the rest of the story's continuity in the space of two hours or so. I find that DB/Z fics that organically integrate movie villains (I'm looking at you, Break Through The Limit), so that their introduction makes sense in the larger story, are better for it. This ultimately means, however, that movie villains will interact very differently with the story than you might expect.

That being said, I don't want to spoil who and what this story may cover. I will, however, definitively declare that no version of Bio-Broly will ever exist in any fic I write.

Luke: Sorry for the delay! Hope this chapter sates!

LWexe: Curiouser!

Kurokono Tasuke: Thank you for the kind review! And reviews like the one you wrote inspired me to write more than anything! Stick along for this fic because it's going to be one hell of a ride ;).

Guest 1, 2, and 2 (who I assume is the same person): 1) I think this chapter makes it a bit clear that they don't trust them fully. What they do recognize, however, is that know some things that they're interested in learning/ could potentially be useful.

2) Psychologically, I feel that "dead" people would still feel the urges they experienced while living by habit. It's like how I feel the urge to eat even when I'm not hungry. It's a habit.

3) Yeah, who knows what's going on there?

Thank you for the reviews! It made me reconsider (and I hope polish) some scenes in this chapter.

Legendary-AI: Thank you for returning! I think you've missed quite a lot since you last checked in. I obviously can't say anything about what might happen with Kakarot at this stage beyond that's he's dead, but these are questions some people might be considering.

Raditz had some sort of plan- though it's not very clear. He was sneaky.

Vegeta is interested in what the humans have to offer. We'll see if he's satisfied.

Yeah, I'll cover the language thing next chapter. I feel like I need to put some kind of explanation out there, you know?

Thank you for the compliment! Not sure if I'll ever write another fic for another fandom. I have a lot more familiarity with DBZ fics than anything else. That being said, if there was a future where I wrote other fics for other fandoms, it would probably be some sort of heavily divergent AU for either Star Wars of ATLA. Again, however, it's unlikely.

In terms of writing, every writer has a different style. In terms of creating a story, however, the best advice I can give is to maintain a balance between knowing where you're going plot-wise and letting ideas come to you in the moment to create more interesting scenes. If you have an outline of where you want your story to be at the end of an arc, then you can consider and incorporate any cool elements or changes you think of to enhance that arc's conclusion.