9: Basil Delivers A Blow

Vegeta held his ground against Cacao and Diaz, dodging every punch they threw his way. His small size worked to his advantage. While the other two were very large and bulky, Vegeta's small frame and short height allowed him to swiftly maneuver around and under their powerful swings with ease. His experience in fighting made him more than fully capable of handling the two low-class fighters. He was almost insulted that he had to fight them in the first place. In his way of viewing things, a Saiyan of his rank and level should not have to even be in the same room as fighters as low-ranked and pathetic as the ones he had to fight right now.

I'm a Prince, for crying out loud. I should not be combating such low-level weaklings. Despite his pride, Vegeta fought Diaz and Cacao like a real Saiyan would. One versus two was hardly fair, but he wasn't one to complain about something as trivial as fighting conditions. He delivered a fiery kick to Diaz, swinging around to dodge a punch from Cacao. They were clearly well-knowledged in fighting, Vegeta noticed this much. The moves and stances they took came from one who truly knew what they were doing.

Little do they know that I am one who surpasses them, Vegeta thought, a pride and arrogance-fueled smile crawling onto his face.

Diaz stepped back to avoid a punch from the small Saiyan. He was starting to get frustrated. Sure, there had been many a time when an enemy he fought on the battlefield stayed on their feet longer than he would like, but this Saiyan was not only staying on their feet, but actually landing more blows on him than any enemy he had fought in a long time. That made him mad. Daiz was a good fighter. Turles recruited him because of how bravely Diaz had fought against him when he had led an army against Turles in order to protect his kingdom from the planet-stealer many years back. Diaz was not one to give up when things got too difficult. He was a warrior! He had pillaged many planets and killed many who were innocent. He wasn't about to let this tiny Saiyan stand in his or his leaders' way.

Cacao managed to get a solid hold of Vegeta, gripping his wrists tightly from behind. Vegeta drew his head back sharply, slamming the back of his head against Cacao. The larger soldier grunted and yanked Vegeta down to his knees. Diaz wiped blood from the corner of his mouth and stepped up to the Saiyan, roughly grabbing his chin. "You really think you and your crew of misfits can overcome the mighty Crusher Corps?"

"If Kakarot fought you years back, I have without a doubt in my mind that I can handle both of you." Vegeta growled, his eyes narrowed as he glared daggers at Diaz. "Better yet, I know I can handle every single one of you."

"That's a bold statement." Diaz said with a snicker. "But, quite frankly, your voice has become very annoying. Luckily, I have just the thing to fix it." Without a warning, Diaz grabbed Vegeta's mouth and began to pry it open, one hand gripping the bottom of his jaw and the other holding on tightly to the top. Vegeta stiffened and a panicked feeling swam through his chest. He thrashed against Cacao, jerking his head this way and that to get Diaz to let go. All his resisting made both Diaz and Cacao hold onto him tighter.

At first, Vegeta was unclear as to what Diaz was doing. The larger soldier was forcefully opening his mouth, wider than it should ever be able to go. Then, it came to him in a horrific rush.

He...he's going to break my jaw!

With that thought placed firmly in his mind, Vegeta began to struggle even more. Cacao had him restrained by his wrists, and even though he furiously jerked his shoulders and arms to try and slip free, he couldn't seem to make the larger fighter budge. Diaz continued to slowly pry his mouth open, making Vegeta cough. The rough, coarse hands forced his mouth open, farther and farther apart.

Diaz gave an evil, joyous smile as he slowly began to win over the arrogant Saiyan.

Suddenly, a loud war cry broke the sounds of Vegeta's struggle. Both soldiers glanced up at each other with confused looks, then Cacao looked over Diaz's shoulder.

Basil pounced on Diaz's back like a cat, her nails gripping into his shoulder blades like razors. Diaz shouted angrily and let go of Vegeta, spinning in a circle as he tried to pry Basil's claw-like nails from his skin. Vegeta fell forward, coughing roughly before flipping around and attacking Cacao.

"Ah! Get off of me!" Diaz yelled, stumbling back.

Basil dug her nails deeper, wrapping her legs around his waist. "Say sorry!"

"What?!"

"Say sorry to my new friend, Prince Vegeta! He's a Prince!"

"So what?! I'm a Prince!"

Basil perked up, then hopped off of his back. "Really? You don't look like a Prince."

Diaz jumped on the opening and grabbed Basil's chest armor, raising his fist to nail her right in the face. But he stumbled forward when a blast hit his back. He turned, anger flashing in his dark eyes.

Jaco stood several feet away, his blaster gripped tightly in his trembling hands.

Basil smiled wide. "Jaco Galactic Patrolman!"

Diaz gritted his teeth. "You want in on this action, too, pipsqueak?"

Jaco gulped. "Uh...maybe?"

Diaz threw Basil to the side and stomped towards Jaco, annoyance written all over his face. Jaco shrieked and darted away.

Basil quickly got to her feet and threw off her armor, running after Jaco and Diaz. "Evasive maneuvers!" She shouted at the top of her lungs, then vaulted over Diaz, scooping Jaco up in her arms.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Jaco cried.

"Protecting my new friends!" Basil replied. She tossed Jaco into his ship, then flipped around and ran back to Vegeta. She grabbed him by his ear and hurried back to the ship.

"Hey, what the hell are you- AH!" Vegeta's protests were silenced as she threw him into the tiny ship. He ended up landing directly on top of Jaco, but Basil was too busy gathering her new friends to stop.

Trunks and Goten battled Lakasei and Rasin back-to-back, both powered up to Super Saiyan. Rasin and Lakasei were quick and clever, dodging attacks with unfair speed. Trunks swung his sword sideways, slicing the air in two. Lakasei jumped over his blade and landed a good punch to his chest, making Trunks bump into Goten.

"Dude, watch where you swing that thing!" Goten huffed and hit Rasin in the side of the head with a Ki-blast.

"It's not my fault!" Trunks said defensively.

"Hey, new friends! Come this way!" Basil said cheerfully. She grabbed Lakasei and Rasin by the backs of their armor and tossed them aside, smiling brightly to Trunks and Goten, who exchanged looks of confusion.

Basil sighed and grabbed them by the fronts of their shirts and began dragging them towards the ship. "I wanna go to Earth now. Come on. We can squeeze into that ship if we suck in our guts."

"What?" Goten asked with raised eyebrows.

"Gut sucking! Keep up!" Basil said with an eye roll, as if she were exhausted just having to explain it to Goten.

...

Goku's fight with Turles raged on. As he fought, he considered going up to Super Saiyan God, but he also didn't quite think that was necessary. Sure, Turles was stronger than he remembered, but he didn't want to power up to a new form when it wasn't particularly needed. He knew that all he needed to do was think more closely about his and Turles's moves and plan accordingly. Unlike himself, Turles was arrogant, and it showed in his posture and in the moves he made. Goku picked up on how professional yet stiff Turles moved.

He's proud of himself, but he's also unsure of how best to attack, Goku realized. Hm. He's thinking hard into this just like I am. I gotta give him props for that. He's not dumb, he's smart. And that's the problem. I keep trying to beat him with the same attacks I've used on all my old enemies, which always worked.

Wait...that's it! That's my mistake! I keep using the same old moves I've already used. If there were a time to make new moves, it would be now. Although, I don't have all the time in the world to plan out a new, full-proof technique. I doubt Turles would wait for me to come up with one. Guess I'll have to wing it. Usually, I could just depend on my Kamehameha to get things done, but I'm starting to sense that Turles is Kamehameha-proof. I do have other moves, though, but I'm not sure how they'll hold up. I could try Meteor Combination, but that requires me getting a solid opening out of Turles, which I doubt would happen. He moves too steadily. An opening big enough for a move like that would have to be large and unguarded. I suppose I could try Kaio-Ken, but, just like with Meteor Combination, I need an opening.

Goku swung a wide arc with his left arm, nailing Turles in his shoulder, which bought him a few extra seconds to Instant Transmit behind the Saiyan pirate and kick him in the back. Turles stumbled forward, but caught himself before he fell, spinning around to jam his elbow into Goku's chest, knocking the wind out of him. Goku gasped and staggered to the side a few steps, and managed to suck in a deep breath in time to dodge a deadly blow.

"It's time to face the facts, Kakarot." Turles said as he rained blow after blow upon the slightly shorter Saiyan. "You can't stop me. You can't stop any of this. I know you think of yourself as this big hero, but eventually, heroes fall."

"Not this hero," Goku retorted. "And I'm not gonna let you hurt Basil. She's staying with me and my team."

"Protect the ant all you want, and some day the ant will claim itself to be a lion. But even lions have a death day." Turles spat, and stomped his foot down on Goku's foot. Goku hissed through his teeth and shoved Turles back roughly.

"GOKU!"

Goku and Turles both startled, and turned concomitantly to see Basil waving frantically, Jaco's ship held in one arm. Vegeta, Goten, Trunks, and Jaco were cramped inside it, all of them snapping at the other. Basil wore a wide, friendly smile on her face, her eyes bright and warm.

Goku raised an eyebrow at her, then suddenly realized what she wanted from him. He pushed Turles back and jumped into the air, flying across the short distance to her. He hit the ground running, taking her hand as he did so. "You got everyone?"

"Yep!" Basil replied gleefully. "One of them bit me, but that's okay."

"Great. 'Cause now you gotta get them all out."

"Huh?" Basil's innocent face was warped into one of confusion. "Get them all out?"

"Yeah. I have a way for us to get to Earth without being stuck in that tiny ship."

"Oh...okay!" Basil skidded to a halt and held the ship with both hands. Then she furiously began to shake the occupants out as if she were holding a giant pepper shaker. Everyone tumbled out in a messy heap of body parts and harsh complaints.

Vegeta quickly got to his feet and shot daggers at Basil. "DON'T EVER SHOVE ME IN THAT SHIP AGAIN!"

"Okay." Basil said with wide, unblinking eyes.

"Come on. We don't have a lot of time!" Goku grabbed Vegeta and threw him over his shoulder, ignoring the loud shouts of protest the small Saiyan gave out. "Everyone, grab onto me."

Trunks and Goten placed their hands on both of Goku's shoulders, and Jaco opted to rest his hand on Goku's leg. Basil stared at them with her eyebrows wrinkled in uncertainty. "What are you doing?"

"It's called Instant Transmission. It'll get us to Earth, but not much farther than that. Grab onto me, Basil." Goku explained, and held out his free hand.

Basil reached out to take it, but hesitated. I'm leaving, She told herself, as if she needed to remind her brain. I'm leaving my home. For good. Forever. I won't be coming back.

"Basil, come on!" Goku called out to her, his hand outstretched.

My home. My only home. It's dead, but it's all I've ever known. What if Earth doesn't like me? What if Earth doesn't want me there?

"Dad, we better hurry." Goten said in a warning tone. Across the rocky terrain, Turles and his crew were hot in pursuit.

Goku panicked and leaned over, grabbing Basil by the arm. Then, lifting the arm that held a squirming and whining Vegeta in place, he placed two fingers to his forehead and closed his eyes.

Then they disappeared.