Author's Note: Okay, now while a lot of you will be disappointed by the lack of Gohan in this fic, there is a lot of action developing. I'm saving the best Gohan bits for the next chapter.
Dragonball Z
Alter Age
Multiple Fronts
(Meanwhile)
(Back on Earth)
For the residents of East City, the latter half of their morning had gotten off to a pretty funky start. At first their day had begun like any other- morning routines, breakfast, which was then followed up by the typical, back-to-back nightmare that was rush hour traffic. In the middle of all this chaos however, while the people were heading out to their day jobs, the once warm and pleasant daylight was interrupted by a thick layer of black clouds rolling in from over the horizon. This anomaly caught everybody by surprise.
At first everyone thought that a freak storm had suddenly pulled in over their metropolis, prompting all those people who were walking the streets to seek the nearest shelters available. The occurrence of lightning bolts and thunderclaps dancing across the heavens also signaled the approach of an impending downpour, which immediately had the population of the dense city brace themselves for a heavy shower. But then, after a solid five to ten minutes of staring up at the blackened atmosphere and waiting for the inevitable rainfall, the entire sky suddenly cleared up and the black, ominous clouds vanished into thin air. A short time later, the once heavy overcast covering the region surrounding East City was once more punctuated by the clear blue sky of day and the hot sun beating down on the community.
This dramatic shift in weather baffled the people of the large town, as not only was the expected forecast for the day supposed to be warm and sunny without any chance clouds, but when the clouds did come, there had been no rain to speak of. Not a single drop. It was almost like someone had taken a blanket over their part of the planet and then relinquished it moments later. Of course, not willing to dwell on the strangeness of the event any longer than they had to, the civilians immediately forgot about the weird change in conditions and simply continued on their intentions of getting to work on time.
The boring slog of the weekday opening continued on for more or less the next hour- to the point it looked like it was going to be another ordinary, mundane working day for the people of East City. But then, at approximately 11:43 AM, the monotony of the day was once again shattered by the thunderous sound of sonic booms ringing out overhead, followed by the distinct noise of an approaching jet.
When people turned their attention towards the sky to see what it was that was causing such a stir, the civilians currently walking and driving through the downtown area were horrified when they saw two burning objects rocketing towards them. In a matter of seconds, the two meteorites cut through the clouds and into the city's airspace- where one of them sliced straight through a building and caused it to topple in on itself. A moment later, a loud crash reverberated across all of East City as two plumes of dust and debris burst into the air.
The clouds settled moments later to reveal two large craters had been punched into the ground in the middle of one of the town's busy intersections. Traffic immediately ground to a halt at the edge of the chasm, whereupon people from the vehicles and the sidewalk quickly went over to investigate. Phones and cameras were immediately pulled out and began flashing in rapid fire, as the sight of the two craters in the middle of the city was one of the most alarming and surprising instances to occur in this town's recent history- and quickly became subject of immense chatter.
"W-What are they? Military drones?"
"They look a little bit… like space ships."
"Did those things fall from the sky?"
"Careful. Don't get too close."
"Did anyone get hurt?"
These were among some of the first questions and comments to start up amongst the slowly forming crowds, with humans and earthlings of all species, races, colors, creeds and genders quickly starting to gather into a large mob around the crash site. Those at the front of the mass were given a much clearer view of the craters and were thus able to see inside of them, where they instantly spotted the pair of smoldering space pods lying at the bottom.
As sirens began to ring out from emergency services being called to the scene of the accident and the people were starting to clamor even louder, a new movement suddenly occurred. With two loud hisses, the hatches to the pods opened, swinging down and exposing the two creatures dwelling inside. Over the next few seconds, the crowds gathered atop the craters watched in awe as a pair of armored, humanoid figures stepped out of the tiny craft, floated up out of the holes they'd formed, and suspended themselves over the crowds.
The stunned civilians followed the pair as they then drifted down to the tarmac, where they eventually touched down just a few yards from their ships. At the same time, the doors to their pods sealed themselves shut, closing with a two simultaneous clicks.
While most of the crowd continued to gawk in awe, several people had the right mind to promptly vacate the area- fleeing from the scene at the sight of the two smirking visitors from outer space. With the taller, balder, and muscular one standing at the back, the shortest one remained at the front- surveying the large groups of people through the pink lens of his scouter.
Nappa chuckled when he did a quick head count of the people that'd gathered around them, his blue scouter beeping as it analyzed their individual battle powers. "So, Vegeta… what should we do with these gaping fools? They're starting to bother me."
Nearby, a young truck driver in a checkered shirt gulped when he saw the smallest of the two aliens smirk in his general direction- causing him and the girl with green hair next to him to back up. "W-Who are they… what are they?"
"I… I'm not sure," the young woman squeaked, at the same time reaching over to tug on his shirt nervously at the menacing glare she received.
Liking the way the crowds were reacting, Vegeta snickered. "Oh, I don't know. Why don't you decide this time? I already got to pick back on the last planet we stopped at."
A dark chuckle left Nappa's lips. "Heh. Thanks, Vegeta. This is gonna be a lot of fun for me."
"Heh… don't mention it," the prince chuckled.
Without needing any further prompts, Nappa decided to go all in for an introduction. His right hand tensing and emitting a cloud of ominous steam, the man then clenched it tightly, extended his index and middle fingers, and promptly swung it upwards. The instant he pointed skywards, a flash of blinding light then occurred, first engulfing the grinning Saiyans, before then swallowing up everything else. The entire city became bathed in a blinding white light, with everything within proximity of its glare- from the people to the buildings surrounding them- being incinerated in an instant as a blast of heat equivalent to a nuclear bomb being ignited went off.
From there, a deafening roar of an explosion shook the earth and heavens, sending shockwaves rippling across the planet for miles in every direction. The sheer magnitude of the blast rocking the entire continent on its foundations was so great that the flash and ripple generated by Nappa's Bakuhatsuha (Volcano Explosion) could be clearly seen from space. At the same time, a flash comparable to the sun's shine, filled the clear blue sky and tore through the atmosphere, distorting the air and space around it.
Multiple communities across the globe felt the full force of the blast rock the planet, with the scattered Z-fighters also bracing themselves when they felt the waves of the explosion tear across the countryside and smash into them. The entire thing lasted for only a few seconds, but due to the sheer volume and size of the fire dome being produced, it was almost like the event dragged on for several minutes.
Eventually, after the light from the fire flash faded moments later, the entirety of East City was left completely and utterly devastated. While the outskirts of the town and the port had been rattled by the resulting shockwaves, the entire center and downtown area of the metropolis had been totally annihilated- with nothing but a smoking hot crater with scorched areas of glass lying smack bang in the heart of the community. Stretching for a couple of miles in every direction, the steaming fissure was all that remained of the once popular business and entertainment districts of the municipal.
Floating above the plumes of dust and admiring the carnage from a high altitude, Nappa and Vegeta could be seen. Completely unscathed, both men were looking upon the devastation with mixed expressions of joy and annoyance respectively.
"Haha," Nappa laughed, "Do you think I was trying too hard to impress them, Vegeta?"
Not feeling as delighted as his companion, the prince grunted before proceeding to lecture his teammate, "There isn't anyone left to impress, Nappa. I should've known better than to let you have any fun."
"Aww, but why?" the man groaned, before raising his hand in a reasoning manner. "Come on. A little destruction won't affect the sale price of this planet. What's the big deal?"
"Try to use your brain a little," Vegeta huffed, before then shooting a glare across at his partner. "We came here for the dragon balls- a collection of mystical objects that can grant wishes. Please tell me you haven't forgotten about them."
"Uh…" the bald warrior stuttered before thinking back to the start of their trip. "No. I… I remember. We were going to use them to wish for… immortality… is that it?"
"Yes, and we need all of these balls to make that wish happen, right? So let me ask you this- what if one of these so-called dragon balls happened to be in the city you just destroyed? Huh?" Vegeta asked, narrowing his eyes on his subordinate and watching him shirk back under the intensity of his stare.
Stuttering momentarily when he was reminded of their main objective here, the large, bald warrior inhaled deeply and lowered his head. "I-I'm sorry. I guess I was just so caught up in the excitement that I just flat out forgot about that."
"Hmph. Well let's both forget about it. What's done cannot be undone," Vegeta grumbled, before then glancing around thoughtfully. "First let's find the highest power level on this planet. If my guess is correct, he'll be the one that chased off Raditz." He then reached up and pressed the main button on his scouter a couple of times, quickly tuning it to this planet's environment and immediately scanning the area. "Hopefully that sorry excuse for a failure stays out of our way. Make sure to lock down the Attack pods so that he can't access them and escape."
"Right," Nappa grunted, using his scouter to do as Vegeta instructed- electronically shutting their vessels down with a security code- before then proceeding to scan the planet. After flipping through several modes that analyzed the environment and atmosphere surrounding him, the bald warrior then recoiled when he suddenly engaged the power scanner. As the numbers blinked past the screen, the warrior then looked around as he began tracking the multiple signals flashing by his lens. "Hang on… more than half a dozen people on this mud ball have battle powers over a thousand!"
Vegeta, frowning when he noticed the same numbers crop up on his screen, glanced towards the horizon when he saw more readings jump up, which had him furrow his brow.
Head snapping in the same direction, Nappa frowned. "Hold on. Two thousand? That can't be right. When we read Raditz's scouter results a year ago there were only a handful of people with power levels barely scraping the two hundred mark." The warrior then felt his fists clench when he quickly recalled that particular report. "The only abnormal reading was the one we got from Kakarot's brat when his battle power jumped to six thousand."
Reading the results, the Saiyan Prince grunted in an unimpressed manner. "These guys have probably been preparing for us. No matter. Let's just find the highest one," Vegeta answered, continuing to scan the vicinity as his scouter made sense of the results being thrown up onto the lens. Nappa did the same, with the pair working in tandem to isolate the six or so signals they were currently receiving.
After a few more seconds, the Saiyan General's unit beeped back with a number, which caused the warrior to grin. "I just found two of them together. They definitely have the highest battle powers on this planet."
When Vegeta looked in the same direction, the prince smirked. "Really? Well, this could be interesting after all. Let's go over there and say hello."
After Nappa slammed a fist into his open palm in excitement, both he and Vegeta powered up and took off, their bodies shooting over the ruins of East City before soaring into the clouds. As the pair assumed a basic flight formation, they began making good, fast progress towards the two energy signatures they'd picked up.
OOO
(Meanwhile)
(Across the quadrant on Eclipse-I)
The moment the all-clear signal went out from The Comet following its strike against the enemy planet's oscillator, the Cooler Force's specially formulated fleet waiting on standby quickly sprang into action. As the ice planet serving as Lord Slug's capital planet came to a dead halt, the space on the very edge of the alien warlord's acquired territory suddenly became filled with multiple flashes of light, as dozens upon dozens of large saucers and transport ships aligned with the emperor's branch of the Planet Trade Organization, exited light speed and began pouring into the system en masse.
Each vessel blasting into the system one after the other in a mixed pattern, the assault group immediately made a B-line towards the ice planet's surface, easily breaching past its defensive range and barreling through its thermosphere. With all the satellite's plasma batteries and turrets all knocked out, the majority of the fleet's freighters and transports proceeded to go to ground. During which time, Cooler's capital ship and headquarters of his grand empire, exited hyperspace behind the rest of the force and positioned itself in one of the orbital paths of the system's many moons. Stopping a safe distance away from the combat zone, the Commander and Chief of the imperial forces then looked on comfortably from the bridge, as the major bulk of his great assault fleet moved in on the stricken war world to begin off-loading troops on the surface.
In a matter of seconds, the grey, cloudy skies and dense atmosphere above Lord Slug's mobile world was found itself swarmed by the freighters and transports of the Cooler Force spearheading the assault- the heavy collection of armored warships diving through the banks and gliding over the wide open, ice plains just a few miles short of the planet's citadel. The first freighters to make it down immediately opened their side doors, allowing the troops of Cooler's military to spill out and scatter themselves across the cold battlefield.
Hundreds of aliens of multiple humanoid and extra-terrestrial species clad in RIT armor poured onto the scene- most of whom were dressed in cold weather gear, protective helmets, and armed with wrist blasters and rifles. The first squads to make it to the ground were immediately ordered by their officers to secure the area, as the transports they arrived in quickly took off to make way for the next wave of reinforcements.
In the span of only a few, short minutes, an entire division of men, women, and Saibamen support units were deposited on the planet's continent, with even more platoons following shortly afterwards. As several of the larger, attack saucers following the transport ships into the atmosphere positioned themselves at low altitude to cover the area of deployment, the largest of the group of round vessels slowly descended to the battlefield and touched down in the rear. As soon as the craft's crab-like legs made contact with the ice and the soldiers already on station moved in to secure the landing sight around the frigate, the commander on the bridge then lifted his hand to his scouter and made contact with all his officers and sergeants already present.
"All units, advance on the citadel! Fox and Dog Company take point! I want Easy and Able to provide cover from the rear and protect their flanks!" the scar-faced warrior shouted, immediately receiving a confirmation reply from all stations.
Moments after his order was given, all troops on the front line began to dash across the icy fields- their weapons hot and ready for engagement. The sound of their combined footfalls all slamming into the icy ground caused a thunderous roar to echo across the hills, creating a fitting chorus for their approach of the enemy base. As the troops moved, not only did many of the squads take flight and begin gliding over the men they had on the ground, but back over at the assembly area, the more transport ships then began dropping large vehicles onto the field with the troops.
These consisted of Cold Force designed hover tanks, each one covered in plated armor designed to deflect ki blasts, two turrets on the main body, and a large, rotating blaster cannon at the top. The moment the vehicles were dropped onto the field by the carriers that swooped in to deposit them, the drivers began moving the tanks forward- joining the troops as they began making their way towards the citadel.
As they charged, the soldiers at the very front of the line suddenly picked up multiple energy signatures and life forms on their scouters. Looking ahead, they suddenly saw several large sections of icy land give way along the hills and drop into the ground. The moment these strange openings formed, hundreds upon hundreds of armored soldiers wearing black spandex, white plated armor, and full head helmets with thick visors began pouring out of the ground.
It was almost like the Cooler Force had disturbed a very large, landscape-wide ant nest- only this nest was filled with Lord Slug's forces.
The moment the army of identically dressed soldiers began spewing out of the ground from the multiple gateways opening in front of the invading forces, the squads of soldiers leading the empire's charge loaded their weapons before the sergeants at the front bellowed at the top of their lungs.
"FOR EMPEROR COOLER! CHAAAAAAAAAAAARGE!" the higher ranking officers yelled, a command that was met by the unified battle cry of every single Cooler soldier pumping themselves up before sprinting forward at full speed.
In response the enemy troops surfacing from the tunnels and bunkers below also cried out in unison, the regiment of soldiers rushing forward at full speed too. Those armed with rifles cocked and aimed them, while those who didn't need them raised their hands and took aim. The moment they came within sight of the first line of troops, the waves of soldiers in Lord Slug's demon clan army began opening fire- the air becoming filled with golden tracers as multiple laser bolts began flashing towards the incoming Cooler forces.
Answering the incoming fire with their own, the charging imperial troops also began to unload upon the enemy, bravely charging into the field of fire and unleashing hails of golden and blue energy bolts towards the enemy. At only thirty yards apart the two lines of troops met- ki and plasma bolts tearing into both sides as men were either cut down by the hail of fire, or managed to deflect it with pure strength and skill. Even as the energy bullets began crisscrossing the field, the waves of soldiers simply charged into one another, pushing forward until the troops at the very front collided into their adversaries.
With their emperor's will and strength behind them, the soldiers in the Cooler Force drew first blood, managing to not only mow down a large chunk of the incoming enemy, but managing to smash down the most troops when they came into close range. From there, a bloody and violent skirmish then broke out in open field, as the soldiers on the Cooler Force began engaging the thousands of Lord Slug soldiers that came charging out of the ground in waves- with seemingly no end in sight.
To accompany the laser bolts now flying across the battlefield, fiery explosions then began going off across the flat plain, as both friendly and enemy forces began exchanging high volume blasts and heavy payloads. Those troopers who were airborne quickly swooped in to hammer in the punishment on the flightless Lord Slug troops, while those with heavy blaster cannons started unloading into the swarms of troops to begin thinning out their numbers.
While the opening seconds of the battle initially appeared to be dead even- as Cooler's soldiers pressed on and began adding their mixture of more powerful fighters and weapons into the mix, the tides almost immediately began to flow in their favor. When their tanks rolled in and began lobbing enormous balls of plasma into the waves of Lord Slug soldiers, wiping them out in droves, the battle quickly fell into their pace.
However, as Cooler's frontline fighters began to press into the hordes of troops- taking down squad after squad that came charging at them on piss and vinegar- the imperial soldiers suddenly fell under a vicious salvo of energy bolts that suddenly came raining down from ahead. As large explosions suddenly took out a few groups of Cooler soldiers, one of the officers at the front of the advance noticed enemy vehicles suddenly come rolling up from the cave systems ahead.
This took the form of large, grey, metallic hover tanks with rocket artillery on their backs, each one heavily built and double-shielded. When they emerged from the ground, the airborne Cooler soldiers attempted to take them out with a combined barrage of blaster fire from their gauntlets- only to watch their plasma bolts bounce off of the tanks' sleek hulls.
As if laughing off the attempted attack from long range, the enemy tanks suddenly aimed their cannons and launched a salvo of rockets across the battlefield. The tiny warheads broke up and scattered, arcing through the sky in multiple directions, before homing in on large groups of Cooler soldiers. While a couple of units in the sky ended up getting hit and blown up, the rockets that aimed for the targets on the ground detonated with even more catastrophic force. The large explosions going off in the rear, mixed with the screams of soldiers being sent flying into the air, immediately told the companies of the Cooler Force that they were going to be in for a very messy hike towards the citadel.
Immediately upon seeing the enemy tanks start to advance and unload on their troops, the lieutenant at the front line- while continuing to fire ki blasts into the approaching Slug forces- pressed the button on his scouter and shouted. "Heavily armored enemy units on sight! We need air support! I repeat! We need air support, now!"
With rockets and plasma bolts crisscrossing midair and decimating both enemy and friendly troops alike, it almost seemed like the lieutenant's cry for help would go on completely unanswered. But as luck would have it, as two of the newly arrived enemy tanks started to make their way down onto the field to support their troops, a loud whoosh from overhead followed by a flash of light was followed by the pair of vehicles to detonate and burst into flames- as it was promptly shot at by a low-flying Comet.
The roar of the Cooler Armored Squadron's ship's engines deafened the troops below as it swooped in over the battlefield. Slowing its descent as its cannons engaged several of the enemy units below- mowing them down and pushing the enemy back- the bays beneath the bullet-shaped vessel opened. When they did, the three tiny forms of Kida, Riko and Rei- the three kitsune-seijin girls- dropped down from the sky and dove right into the enemy formations.
Seeing the ground fast approaching them, the blue fox grinned. "Alright, Riko-chan! Rei-chan! Let's do this!"
"Yes!" the other two responded, before all their expressions steeled.
A few moments after the three demi-human girls leapt from the orbital drop doors, the trio immediately became engulfed in veils of bright, blue flames, as the trio simultaneously shielded themselves and powered up through use of their elemental magic. The second they touched down on the grass between the legions of Lord Slug's troops, they immediately tore right into the enemy forces, cutting through the warlord's men and beginning to take them down in rows.
Columns of fire erupted across the enemy's forward lines when the three supplementary members of the Armored Squadron started thinning out their numbers- clearing the path for their troops while at the same time making their first, true marks on the battlefield.
The sight of the napalm like explosions engulfing Lord Slug's forces as the demons cried out in horror at the sudden surprise attack from above drew a cheer from the advancing Cooler soldiers, all of whom waved towards The Comet as the group's famed ship took off from its position over the field and shot into the sky- safely out of reach of the enemy's fire.
The members of the commando group had a job to do after all, just as the rest of their army did. And so, as Cooler's ground forces were joined by a dozen of their navy's freighters flying low and unleashing waves of blaster fire upon the enemy to help take out the tanks and heavy units, the troops- sustaining only a handful of losses- continued to march towards the citadel a few miles away.
OOO
(Meanwhile)
(Onboard Cooler's Ship)
From his position above the icy planet, Cooler was able to watch the entire battle take place over the many monitors he had on display near his vessel's main viewing window. Though the opening descent of his naval force had been one heck of a spectacle, it was the actual ground assault that followed that had the ruler's full and undivided attention. Being able to view the engagements through the live video streams of his sergeants and lieutenants leading his troops across the icy tundra was more than enough to give the young emperor a good idea of the kind of enemy he was facing and the tactics they were employing.
While their hand-to-hand combat skills and proficiency paled in comparison to his men, who proved their mettle by being able to bring down many of the soldiers that came charging up to them to engage them in CQC, the enemy still had a great deal of weapons and firepower at their disposal, which helped to even out the playing field. The sheer numbers of troops that seemed to be bursting out of the ground and the military vehicles they were also starting to roll out, told Cooler that his army's advance across the countryside was not going to be a quick one.
Though the prince could very well swoop in and mop up all of the enemy soldiers by himself, the man was certain that any moves made by him were exactly what the maniacal Lord Slug was expecting. With the way the enemy as sending out its troops, it was as if they were baiting the young prince to step onto the field.
But Cooler wasn't going to bite. At least not unless he had to.
The strategy that the ruler was employing with his forces was to distract the major bulk of the enemy army- draw all of their manpower and weaponry to one part of the continent, while at the same time his commando unit snuck in from behind and entered the citadel. With all of the enemy's attention focused on the invasion at the front, Cooler anticipated that his elite infiltration squad would have the opening they needed to enter the command center, take out the leader, and rescue his nephew.
As the young emperor turned around and approached the hologram table he had set up on the bridge- where he could see a full, three-dimensional render of the current battle taking place projected over the large, twenty foot wide platform- Cooler inhaled deeply. "This strategy will take some time."
Kikono, who was standing by the tablet and monitoring the deployment of their troops, glanced up at the young prince and spoke in a cheerful tone. "Our forces are advancing on all flanks, sire. By my calculations, at the rate our companies are progressing, they should be able to reach the citadel's main steps in approximately thirty minutes." The man then grinned nervously. "Provided the enemy has no other surprises for us."
Cooler grunted as his fingers clenched and tail waved behind him patiently. "My men will be able to take care of them. Tell Commander Raino to keep pouring on the pressure and moving the men forward. Cover Kida and her two friends as they thin out their center ranks and break the enemy's resolve." He then pointed across the field and towards the ships he had hovering at range. "Have the assault ships provide continuous layers of suppressing fire on the enemy and take out their heavy artillery. I want all forward positions to be on top of those cliffs inside of ten minutes."
"At once, your grace," the yellow science alien chirped, before he turned around and relayed these exact instructions to the runner behind him. When the soldier received the orders, he quickly gave a salute before rushing over to the radio operator on the computer terminal behind him, who he then told to contact the commander of the fleet. "Should we be expecting enemy air support?"
"Most likely," Cooler replied, scanning the vicinity of the three-dimensional map before narrowing his eyes on the mountain areas ahead of his advancing troops. "Have Lieutenant Shira move into over watch position above the western ridges after she completes her sweep. I suspect our friends inside this glacier of a fortress will be sending birds out once they realize their forward lines are about to collapse." He guessed that they were aiming to draw this out as long as they could.
As the radio operators on the bridge began conveying the prince's instructions to his forces, a purple, male Brench-seijin over on one of the computer panels suddenly placed a hand to his ear piece before spinning around and calling across the floor. "Conn! Sonar! New contacts! Bearing two-five-eight on the long range scanners! We've got incoming, sire!"
Turning away from the battlefield projection on his hologram, both Cooler and a select number of his officers on the deck focused attention on the alarmed radar operator. When they saw his attention fixed squarely on the prince, the carapace alien nodded to him. "Do you have a visual? Put it on screen." He then turned his attention to one of the large monitors above. A couple seconds later, the screen flickered to a new image- this one of five familiar looking Attack Balls exiting hyperspace and tearing across the territory.
When the cameras moved in on the five pods that'd just entered their range, Kikono blinked in surprise. "It's the Ginyu Force. They… They're here?"
"Oh, wonderful," Cooler groaned sarcastically, shaking his head before glancing across at the staff he had working the computers beside the radar station. "Comms Officer. Patch me through to the lead Attack Ball."
When a familiar beep echoed from the communication officer's desk a few seconds later, the blue, scaly alien with the large ear pieces turned around and gave the young emperor a nod. "You're on, sire."
Straightening up, the young ruler spoke. "This is Lord Cooler of the Cooler Force- First Son of King Cold, Second Class Inquisitor for Beerus the Destroyer, Prince of the Central Systems, and Chief Overseer of the North-Western Quadrants of the Planet Trade Organization. You and your men are entering an active warzone in my territory, Captain Ginyu. As Supreme Commander and Leader of the imperial forces in this space, I am ordering you and your squad to stand down and direct your ships to a safe location. Do you copy?"
There was a brief moment of pause between Cooler and the computer terminal- the prince waiting for the leader of his brother's commando unit to respond. Hoping that his presence would manage to get the attention of the captain, the young ruler then received a surprise when the second strongest warrior in his sibling's armed forces responded. But not in a way that he was expecting.
"Greetings, my Lord Cooler," Ginyu's croaky, arrogant voice suddenly filled the air as he responded to the address. "We hear you loud and clear. Under normal circumstances, my squad and I would never think of crossing into your borders without express permission from you or your forces- nor would we ever consider meddling in your affairs, no matter how small or large. However, as it is our mighty emperor's own son that has been so unjustly taken by these fiends, my squad is duty bound to our prince to move in and rescue him- no matter the cost."
Cooler balked, "What?"
"My deepest apologies, Cooler-sama. But my team has received clear, explicit instructions from Lord Frieza to board the enemy vessel, destroy its leader, and retrieve his son. And it is an order I intend to see through to the end," Captain Ginyu replied, before the sound of him fiddling with his pod's instruments suddenly echoed around the command ship's bridge. "We'll be sure to stay well out of the way of the combat zone. This way our forces won't cross paths and there will be no complications for either of us. Captain Ginyu, out."
"No, wait! GINYU! Listen to me! You don't understa-" Cooler proceeded to shout, only to hear the feed cut out as the Captain disconnected him. Freezing in place for a moment, the young prince stared at the monitor for a moment before his fists clenched in frustration. "Kai, damn it. That arrogant, braindead idiot."
Despite the captain's good intentions, the leader of the Cooler Force knew that the man was in over his head. He was entering a combat area that was not only incredibly dangerous, but with no Intel on the enemy's strength or numbers. Though The Ginyu Force was touted as the strongest battle group in Frieza's territory, with their current battle powers they absolutely paled in comparison to not only his subordinates, but Lord Slug's subordinates as well.
What they were essentially barreling into was a suicide mission and Cooler was frustrated that he wasn't able to communicate that to the leader of his brother's commandos.
Determined not to let this situation get more out of hand than it already had, the prince then prepared to make another call to Captain Ginyu's men. However, before he could issue his next set of instructions to his communication's crew, the familiar, weightless presence of his attendant suddenly crept in over his shoulder. When Cooler looked over his shoulder and past the many men he had running around the deck and keeping tabs on the war effort, the leader spotted Berryblue floating directly behind him.
However, instead of sporting her usual smile, the woman had on a rather serious and foreboding frown. It was this expression that momentarily caught Cooler off guard, as he had rarely ever seen the woman sport such a glare. In fact, this was probably one of the first times he'd ever seen her frown.
Hands behind her back, the blue-skinned, white-haired servant of the Cold family then spoke in a voice that was not only loud enough for the prince to receive, but also for the troops across the bridge as well.
"My lord, an emissary from your father- King Cold- has just arrived on your ship. They wish to meet with you right away."
Straightening up as a look of alarm crossed Cooler's face, the emperor not only became aware of most of the room coming to a grinding halt, but also the beat of his heart. His mind quickly processing the news as fast as it could manage, the young prince then looked around, whereupon he quickly noticed almost all of the personnel on the bridge were staring at him in silence- clearly not expecting to hear such a report.
"My father… sent an agent? Why?" Swallowing nervously, the young prince frowned and nodded. "Very well. Send them in."
Cooler watched as Berryblue turned around and gestured to the guards at the door, who they then saw step aside and open the steel barrier. The moment the two barriers slid apart with a loud whoosh that cut through the silence choking the air, the all of the officers on the bridge then saw a figure march in across the threshold.
Their footsteps clanking against the floor, indicating that they were wearing very hard boots, Cooler, Berryblue, Kikono, and the rest of the bridge watched as the newcomer walked all the way up to the hologram table positioned in the center of the deck. When they stopped just a few feet from it, the young emperor felt his blood run cold, as he immediately recognized the person as a member of his father's personal commando unit and royal guard- the Blizzard Corp.
There was absolutely no way Cooler could mistake them. After all, not only had he had plenty of time to observe the members of the group while growing up in his father's palace, but he also remembered being on the sword end of the team's wrath that one time when he had that incredible outburst in his father's throne room. All memories of that incident aside, the group was also touted as the greatest and oldest fighting force in the cosmos, with its members not having changed since they were granted their positions by his great grandfather- Grand Emperor Blizzard.
Gulping nervously, Cooler then promptly marched over to where the guard was now standing and waiting patiently for him. Along the way, the young prince was able to get a better look at the guard- noticing that not only were they shorter than him, but had a slim, womanly build, framed clearly by their full body, black spandex, white boots, white sleeve gloves, and the full, white, figure-hugging RIT plate armor they were wearing. They were also sporting a helmet that completely covered their head and bore the insignia of the Blizzard Corp on the left side of their chest- a black diamond with eight lines protruding from it, like a snowflake. They also had a sword sheathed at their side, an odd tri-guarded saber that seemed a little too big for them to wield.
Upon coming to stand beside them, Cooler then frowned in their direction when he saw the helmeted figure staring at him through the full, black face visor covering their mug. "This emissary's presence aboard my vessel is a great honor. Is there something I can do for you, uhh…?" He then paused, unable to identify the warrior in the armor, even though he recognized them as one of his father's eight guards.
Realizing she was being addressed by the young prince, the female figure bowed and reached up with both her hands to grasp her mask. Pressing two latches under the helmet that caused a hiss to ring out, indicating that the helmet was being depressurized, she then lifted it free from her head. What Cooler then saw, to his surprise, was a large mass of orange, curly hair suddenly dropping down from the back space of the helmet when it was removed, all of which sat atop the head of a beautiful, blue-skinned female with pointy ears, sharp blue eyes, and wearing golden, diamond shaped earrings.
It didn't take long for Cooler and his attendant, Berryblue, to identify the Blizzard Corp commando as a Hera-seijin- the same race as his subordinate, Myra.
Once the helmet was removed and placed under her arm, the small female looked upon the alien ruler with a calm expression and a cool smile. "I'm Captain Zangya- second sword to Grand Emperor Blizzard and second in command of the Blizzard Corp under the great King Cold. It's a pleasure to be welcomed on board your ship, young prince."
"The pleasure is all mine." Nodding in greeting to the young woman, Cooler then cleared his throat before giving her a very inquisitive stare. "I had no idea my father knew about the operation going on in this sector. I assumed that my younger brother…"
"Word of Lord Frieza's forces being decimated by a mobile planetoid and his son being kidnapped by a member of the enemy faction spread fast across the four quadrants of King Cold's territories. Naturally my lord caught wind of the event and guessed that not only would his youngest son respond to the issue by sending a detachment of troops to retrieve the princeling, but that his older brother would also assemble a taskforce and mount a rescue mission of his own," Zangya answered, before then glancing about the room she was currently in. "Judging from the personnel you have on station and the large fleet you have mobilized in the area, I can assume that the great king was right on all counts."
Cooler, sharing a quick look with Berryblue floating beside him, then looked back at the royal guard inquisitively. "So… the reason that you're here is-"
"I'm not here to participate in the assault," Zangya answered, stepping towards the hologram table in front of her and promptly setting down her helmet. The moment she rested it on the console beside the three-dimensional render of the battlefield, the clearly powerful woman then proceeded to analyze and watch the battle taking place on the projection before her. "I'm simply here as an observer. Rumors of your stellar achievements over the past year have peaked a lot interest in the empire's capital- and I must say King Cold is quite curious to see exactly what kind of progress you've been making in developing your branch of the organization. As this unfortunate incident has become a sort of contest between both you and Lord Frieza, the great king would like to know who out of the two of you is the most prepared and determined in retrieving Prince Kuriza from the clutches of this new menace. Thus he has sent me to this area to assess the operation."
Quickly understanding why the woman was here, Cooler then moved forward, "Of course. I can see that my father means well in sending you out here to make sure the incursion goes smoothly. In fact, given the seriousness of the situation, he has every right to be concerned. But I assure you- Zangya-san- that I have the situation well in hand."
In response, the orange-haired beauty smiled back at the young lord. "Then you should have nothing to worry about, sire. If your assault on the planet and retrieval of the young lord turns out to be a complete success, then you can expect me to give a full, shining report back to your father regarding the quality of your force." She then turned her attention back the hologram in front of her and continued to watch as the troops on the field continued their assault. "I sure hope your men are up to the task."
Realizing he was not going to be able to get rid of his visitor anytime soon, Cooler at first expressed a great deal of frustration and anxiousness, all of which seemed to be boiling just under the surface of his composure. However, after taking a few deep breaths and calming himself down, the prince decided to just play along with his father's meddling and promptly joined Zangya in observing the table.
Now that he knew that this entire situation has boiled down to a race between himself and his brother, Cooler- shouldering the burden of this entire operation- turned to the men at the computer terminals and called out his next orders. "Contact Salza and his crew! Let me know when they arrive at the citadel!"
OOO
(Meanwhile)
(Back on Earth)
Over in the mountainous regions to the west, situated down on the valley floor, the tall, imposing forms of both Raditz and Piccolo could be seen standing shoulder to shoulder, and staring up at the sky with serious expressions of anticipation. While the Namekian warrior removed his cape and turban, his temporary ally and training partner readied himself by cracking his knuckles and his neck, all the while making sure that his belt was done up nice and tight.
"That was one hell of a lightshow those two put on for us," Piccolo remarked while tossing his headwear aside and hearing the object thump against the ground behind him. "Damn. They wiped an entire city off the face of the map."
"Yep. That would be Nappa," Raditz replied, his eyes narrowing as he kept his eyes glued to the horizon- which had since been cleared thanks to the country-busting energy wave that his former comrade dropped on the planet's surface. "That dumb brute of an ex-commander loves making a spectacle of himself whenever he arrives on the scene. Every time Vegeta gave him any kind of free reign during a mission, he would always take things two steps too far. He's the reason why several of the planets we conquered in the past ended up depreciating in value."
"Well, if his aim was to get our attention, consider it grabbed," Piccolo stated, inhaling sharply and mentally preparing himself. Upon doing a quick scan of their targets, the green warrior felt his chest seize up when he caught a good glimpse of the pair of energy signatures heading their way. The sheer breadth and magnitude of both of them was enough to cause his entire body to tense. "They're on their way here. Man, you weren't kidding about their power levels. While one of them is pretty impressive, the one flying next to him is at least four times as large and twice as foul."
Raditz grunted while uncrossing his arms. "And that would be Vegeta- known by his allies in the force as the Prince of All Saiyans. He's the king's oldest son and the most talented warrior to ever be born from our race." The man glanced across at the Namekian. "When he gets here, make sure you and the others keep an extra eye on him. While I'm positive he'll send Nappa in to fight us first, if things look like they're about to go south for his teammate, he'll definitely step in and take us on himself."
"Yeah. Don't sweat it. I remember what you said," Piccolo answered, letting out a steady breath as he kept his energy signature suppressed.
Raditz meanwhile stared at his partner. "Are you worried?"
To answer his question, the green male smirked broadly. "Heck no."
His confident response had the Saiyan mercenary chuckle. "That's what I thought." His smile remained as he then lowered his head. "I have a score to settle with my bald ex-teammate, so make sure you leave him to me while the rest of you take Vegeta. Alright?"
"Yeah. No worries."
As the two current strongest warriors on the planet continued to hold the fort, waiting for the two Saiyans to arrive, the silence was suddenly broken when- dropping down from the sky- a third familiar face suddenly arrived on the scene. Eyes glancing across the clearing, the pair saw that Krillin had just touched down nearby, smiling broadly while adorned in the Turtle School's signature orange gi.
"I take it the two of you are waiting for those crazy massive power levels heading in this direction," the short, bald warrior chirped, at the same time straightening up from his crouching stance and setting a hand on his hip. "If you ask me, I'd say you guys could use some backup."
While Raditz grinned at the arrival of one of his other compatriots, Piccolo gave a lighthearted laugh toward Goku's friend. "Sure. Why not? The more the merrier. It's what you guys have been training for all this time." He then folded his arms over his chest. "But just so you know, things are about to get really intense around here. So do your best to keep up."
"Oh, I think I can manage," the short fighter exclaimed in a confident tone as he grinned back at his best friend's arch rival. "After all, I've been training with you two power houses for the last six months- and both of you are the most hardcore and terrifying fighters I know next to Chi-Chi. So taking these two Saiyans on is going to be a walk in the park."
Sensing the young man's confidence, Raditz gave him a broad, Saiyan-like smile. "Heh. I admire that spunk of yours, cue ball. Just make sure Kakarot's mate doesn't catch you saying that about her, because I'm pretty sure she'll tear you a new one if she hears you calling her that."
"What's this about Goku's wife?" a new, shrill voice suddenly echoed onto the scene, causing the three men standing in the clearing to stiffen. When their eyes turned skywards, the group suddenly saw a yellow cloud shoot overhead, before a silhouette suddenly dove down and landed in front of them in a blur of movement. Once all eyes focused on the newcomer, they saw none other than Chi-Chi herself standing in front of them. The second the raven haired woman in the blue qi-pao and the rope wrapped around her body appeared, she narrowed her eyes on the group and smirked. "I heard you say my name. Is there something the three of you want to say to me?"
While Raditz promptly swallowed his tongue and looked away nervously and Piccolo simply crossed his arms, Krillin- realizing he was the one now being stared at- laughed and raised his hands defensively. "Uhh, it… it was nothing, Chi-Chi. Heh-heh. Nothing for you to get worked up about." After chuckling away the terror and fear of death that was racking his small body, the diminutive fighter then gave the fierce woman a quick once over, before then noticing the things she was carrying on her back. "Hey. Isn't that Goku's Nyoibo (Compliant Staff)?"
Chi-Chi, turning around and showing off the red staff she had sheathed into the case on her back, smiled broadly. "Uh-huh. I picked it up from my house on the way over here… along with this," the woman replied, grabbing the second item she had on and swinging it around. A loud whoosh echoed out when the female warrior showed off a green, palm-leaf shaped fan with the red trim and leather handle.
Piccolo balked when he recognized the second weapon. "The Bansho-sen (Banana Palm Fan)? The mystical fan that can raise a typhoon with a single swing? You have that?"
"Yep," Chi-Chi grinned, casually propping it over her shoulder like it were a bat. "Goku and I managed to get our hands on it during our trip to Other World to visit Annin- the keeper and protector of the Furnace of Eight Divisions. Since we'll be facing off against a pair of aliens strong enough to level entire cities with a wave of their hands, I figured that these two things will come in real handy against them."
While the two earthlings gaped at the weapon that the woman had so generously brought along with her for the battle, Raditz glanced between all three members of the Z-crew with an incredibly puzzled look in play. Hearing all of these words being thrown around and how they were connected to Goku caused him to shake his head a few seconds later in confusion. "I feel like I'm missing out on some really interesting stories here…"
Chi-Chi, hearing this loud and clear, smirked at him. "Well… I'm sure my husband- your brother- will be able to tell you all about them once he gets back. If he gets back…"
Before anyone in that area could comment on the woman's remark over whether or not Goku had been wished back to life with the dragon balls, Piccolo- a nervous bead of sweat breaking out on his face- looked up towards the sky with a frown. "That's enough small talk. They're here."
At his announcement, Raditz, Chi-Chi and Krillin's heads snapped towards the sky above them where, through the glare of the sun, the trio immediately spotted the two, shadowy figures of their enemy. Slowly descending from their altitude side-by-side, the armor clad forms of the hulking Nappa and the fearsome Vegeta appeared before the small group of Z-fighters, both of them flashing similarly menacing smiles as their scouters beeped to indicate they'd found their prey.
The moment both groups spotted one another, a tense atmosphere instantly fell over the area.
Nappa, taking note of the four people staring up at them, chuckled in an amused tone. "Heh. So two more joined them. What do you suppose these four are doing out here in the middle of nowhere?"
A similarly eager grin crossed Vegeta's lips. "I think they were waiting for us. Yes, I'm sure of it. Oh… and look who else decided to join them." the prince remarked as his eyes fixated on the familiar, big-haired form of their former compatriot standing amongst them. "Little weakling Raditz."
As the four members of the Dragon Team glared up at the pair of foes staring down at them from above, Krillin felt his body start to tremble. Clenching his fists and raising them in an attempt to quell his body's nerves, the short fighter found himself unable to keep a straight face as the magnitude of what they were facing suddenly hit him square in the chest. "Whoa. This is it. It's really happening. So these are the Saiyans. Can you guys feel those power levels? They're even stronger than I imagined!"
The larger one was pretty damn big. But the little guy… he was on a whole other level.
While Krillin was freaking out at the scope of strength he could feel radiating off of their enemies, Chi-Chi, Raditz and Piccolo were easily able to keep it together. Their eyes fixating squarely on their targets, the three, battle-hardened warriors of the group watched as the pair of powerful extra-terrestrials floated down to the ground- touching down several meters ahead of them at virtually the same time. The moment they were down, the two separate groups promptly squared off.
"We meet at last," Vegeta remarked, his arms crossed and an arrogant on full display.
Standing in a row, the four defenders of the planet glared back at the two invaders- Chi-Chi's grip tightening around the handle of her fan while Krillin raised his fists even more and clenched them at his sides in a defensive position.
Piccolo, being the calmest of the lot, grunted when he felt the grins of the duo bear into them. "The pleasure is all mine." After a tense moment of silence drifted over the group, the demon of a fighter took a steady breath and frowned. Figuring that this stand-off wasn't going to last, he decided to make the first threat. "I'm only going to say this once- leave this planet. This is your first and last chance to get out of this alive."
The moment he heard the Namekian call out to him, Vegeta's eye twitched. "That voice." His lips quickly curled upwards into a smile. "I see. So you're the one that defeated our former teammate one year ago. Piccolo, right? Yes. I figured that large power level would be you," the prince remarked, watching the warrior's expression tighten before his eyes shot towards his former comrade, who he could see standing beside the green fighter. "And speaking of old acquaintances, I'm surprised to see you're still alive, Raditz. What's a Saiyan like you doing with a group like this?"
Hearing the prince's jab towards him had the ex-Frieza Force soldier frown and grunt. "I think the answer to that question should be pretty obvious, Vegeta. After the two of you cut ties with me and threatened to hunt me down after I failed my mission, I figured the best thing I could do was join forces with these guys and help them fight against you two." He then put on a rather brave smirk and directed it at his former companions. "I reckon it was a win-win situation for me. And since we're being completely honest with each other, compared to you two assholes… I like these guys a hell of a lot more."
This comment actually had Piccolo, Krillin and Chi-Chi smile briefly at the Saiyan warrior standing between them, before the trio were drawn back to the enemy when they heard the shortest one chuckle.
"Oh really?" Vegeta asked sarcastically, snickering in a clearly unimpressed manner. "Well isn't that something? But to be frank with you, Raditz, I'm not surprised. After all, what more could we expect from a low-born, lower-class boot cleaner like you- blessed with absolutely no unique qualities or talent whatsoever?" He then smirked cockily as he fixed his glare upon the now frowning scout. "No wait. Scratch that. I don't think we can even call you a Saiyan anymore. You're far too weak and cowardly to possibly have any relation to our people." Vegeta's grin vanished and became replaced by a deep and disappointed frown. "You're nothing but a snake, a failure, and a traitor- something unpleasant lying in the gutter that I would rather step over. Instead of saving your honor and taking your own life when you had the chance, you decided to keep your miserable, worthless-self intact and stand against us."
Nappa, concurring with Vegeta's assessment- though personally finding it quite harsh- also threw the frowning Raditz an arrogant smirk. "Sorry, pal. But I'm afraid you've just signed your own death warrant."
At that moment, the bravely standing Raditz was filled with an intense, burning rage. His fists shaking as he stood there, baring his teeth and using all of his willpower to keep himself from snapping and lashing out at his former teammates for mocking him so openly, all the Saiyan male could do was stand there and snarl. It was a series of reactions that did not go unnoticed by his teammates, all of whom were also feeling quite offended at the disgusting words that the would-be leader of the Saiyans was using to belittle his former ally.
When Chi-Chi and Krillin noticed how angry Raditz was and saw how his body was shaking from the humiliating and derogatory words thrown at him, both human fighters knew they had to say something. While the young mother's eyes filled with sympathy and hurt for the man's pain, Krillin- puffing his chest out and gathering whatever courage he could, stepping forward and shouted at the pair in defense of his long-haired teammate.
"Hey, you jerks! That was completely uncalled for! Why in the world would you say something so horrible about one of your own?!" the bald fighter barked, at the same time throwing his arms out in disbelief. "I mean, geez! Wasn't Raditz one of your friends not that long ago?"
When Vegeta and Nappa frowned in Krillin's direction and saw his glare leveled at them, Chi-Chi also stepped forward and snapped at the two Saiyans. "Yeah! How dare you say such disgusting things about him! Even though you may think little of him, Raditz is far more of a warrior than you two think he is!" She then added to this by pointing across at the surprised mercenary standing next to Piccolo and continued her rant. "The fact that he's standing with us and facing down you cosmic rejects is proof of that! Don't you two scumbags have any sense of honor or decency?!"
"He may have been our enemy once, but not anymore," Krillin continued, speaking up in support of the tall warrior beside them. "He's a good man and our friend… and neither one of you has the right to talk down to him like that!"
Her fist clenching around the fan she was holding, the battle-ready Chi-Chi snarled. "Men who talk trash are usually the ones who lack the most discipline and self-respect! You Saiyans can take your comments and opinions, and shove them up your backsides!"
Being the innocent and normally kind-hearted young woman she was, Chi-Chi wasn't used to dealing out insults with offensive language- at least not on a regular basis. In truth, her words could be considered quite an age appropriate response for someone coping with bullies in their life. However, in spite of her subdued use of insults, it didn't mean Raditz didn't feel uplifted by her compliments and support. Once his brother's wife had finished chewing out the pair of extra-terrestrial warriors, the Saiyan mercenary felt a smile tug back onto his lips.
When he saw Chi-Chi glance across at him and give him an encouraging wink, the man felt all the resentment he had before leave him. "Thanks," he whispered, his chest swelling as he allowed himself to once again face down his two former comrades- both of whom were looking quite rocked by the verbal onslaught.
Vegeta and Nappa, feeling a tad bit surprised at having the short male and the woman lash out at them so brazenly, shared a look with one another. Upon which the pair then glared back at the heroic entourage and smirked.
"My. That's some big talk coming from a pair of useless earthlings. You may act tough, but I bet your battle powers are absolutely pitiful," the prince remarked in his usual, cocky tone. "Though I guess after taking a look at the company he's now keeping, I can see where Raditz finally managed to get all of his courage from… not to mention why his little brother decided to go turncoat on us. Weaklings and rejects are only strong when they gather together and fight as one. Neither one of them has the strength to stand on their own. You humans must have addled their brains with your talks of unity and friendship. Hmph… how pathetic."
It was then Nappa made a rather interesting observation about the collection of fighters in front of him, which then compelled the hulking fighter to address his partner. "Hey, Vegeta. I just noticed something. The green one standing next to Raditz… the Piccolo guy… he's from Namek, isn't he?"
Vegeta, turning his gaze back to the silent, brooding demon of the Z-fighters, nodded at his comrade's question. "Yes, he's a Namekian alright. No wonder our old friend had such a hard time against him and Kakarot. Both of his foes were from two completely different planets. Though admittedly they were still incredibly weak by comparison."
Though the announcement didn't stun Raditz or Piccolo in the least, as both of them were already well-aware of this information, Chi-Chi couldn't help but give her husband's rival an odd look.
"Oh. You're from another planet, Piccolo?" the raven haired woman asked- not quite expecting that as she always assumed the man was born on earth. In truth, though he was, it was a technicality that was easily overlooked.
Taking the question in stride, the Namekian nodded. "Yes. Kami and I are from another world… though the two of us still call this planet our rightful home."
Chi-Chi nodded, at the same time glancing over at Krillin and seeing the man smile her way and shrug. After which the duo then returned their attention to their visitors.
The Saiyan Prince, lifting a hand to his chin, then gave it a rub as he contemplated this little nugget of information. "I am curious. Since you come from such a far off, isolated world like Namek… it certainly explains why a backward race like these earthlings would have artefacts like the dragon balls in their possession. Considering this planet's lack of high battle powers, cosmic sorcery, and other resources of significant value, it stands to reason that a member of another alien race hiding out on this rock would have brought and introduced magic to the population of this world."
By this point, Nappa found himself looking down at his teammate with a look of confusion. "What are you getting at, Vegeta?"
Getting straight to the point, the prince clicked his finger and pointed across at the Namekian in a triumphant manner. "The Namekian… he created the dragon balls. Not the earthlings. Such a skill would be beyond the capabilities of such primitive life forms." The flame-haired warrior then smirked at the green fighter. "I won't waste any more time with formalities. Tell us where the dragon balls are. Now!"
While the entire team of Z-fighters backed up momentarily at the rather demanding tone Vegeta used, with Raditz and Piccolo bracing themselves defensively, Krillin quickly chimed in with a stutter.
"B-But… no one knows where they are," the bald fighter commented as he looked across at the pair of Saiyans and watched Vegeta lower his hand. "Since we already used the dragon balls to make a wish, they won't be active for another whole year. So no one will be able to find them… not even the people who know how."
Nappa smirked at the short fighter's response and promptly shot down his explanation. "That's enough. We know the balls are down here, so there's no point in playing dumb or trying to hide them from us." The large Saiyan then raised his hand and clenched it into a fist in a threatening gesture. "Make no mistake- we will find them- either with you alive or with you dead. So we're going to give you this one chance. Tell us where they are… or prepare to be crushed. It's your decision."
While Krillin tensed up fearfully for but a moment, Chi-Chi, Piccolo and Raditz all promptly crouched down and slid into their respective fighting stances. While the Namekian assumed his signature Demon Claw stance, the long-haired Saiyan swung his arms out and locked himself into a stance similar to his brother's, and the lone female warrior slid her foot out and propped the Bansho fan into a downward facing position along her arm- taking on a textbook Ko Gasumi samurai stance. When they took their positions, Krillin also followed suit- standing alongside his companions in a mantis stance as they glared their enemies down.
"Enough!" Piccolo barked, a big grin crossing his lips as he saw Vegeta and Nappa recoil at their synchronized movements. "We're not here to bow down to your demands! We're here to fight! So go ahead and do whatever it is you came here to do!"
Upon sizing up the four, now fully guarded warriors, an incredibly calm Vegeta chuckled and crossed his arms once more. "I guess they're not going to tell us where the dragon balls are, Nappa."
The bald Saiyan standing beside the prince scoffed. "Wanna bet?" the man snickered, at the same time reaching up with his finger and pressing the button on his scouter. "Alright, if that's how they want to play it, let's see how strong these punks really are." The instant he engaged his device, Nappa watched as a cluster of numbers began jumping up onto his screen, the readings changing as he shifted his gaze from one fighter to the next- starting with Krillin. "Okay… the midget is at one thousand, one hundred." He then moved the lens to Piccolo. "The Namekian is at two thousand." He then directed the lens to Raditz. "Our old pal is at two thousand, one hundred." He then finally shifted it over to Chi-Chi. "And the human female is at one thousand, five hundred. Ha! You fools! Do you really think you can take us on with such puny power levels?"
Processing the numbers that Nappa read out, Vegeta frowned momentarily before then removing his scouter. "Hey, Nappa. Take your scouter off," the prince remarked, before promptly looking behind him at his teammate to see him glance over at him in surprise. "It seems these earthlings know how to concentrate energy and raise their fighting powers. These figures are most unreliable." He then promptly dropped his device.
Quickly getting what his teammate was telling him, Nappa chuckled and did as instructed. "Hey, right. Good call. I'm guessing our former teammate over there managed to learn how to control his energy as well." He then slipped his device into the beltline of his tail wrapped around his waist, securing it next to him.
Upon relieving themselves of their units, a smirking Vegeta crossed his arms again. "I think it's time we had a little fun with them," the prince remarked, before quickly looking behind him at his teammate. "Better yet, get those Saibamen we've been saving out. There should be six of them left. They'll do."
Nappa chuckled, "You're too much. You really know how to have fun."
This news had Krillin and Chi-Chi recoil, with Piccolo's expression hardening in response. "Wait… aren't those…?"
Raditz nodded to his teammate, "Yep. Watch out."
From their defensive positions, the four Z-warriors watched Nappa wander over to an open patch of ground, kneel down, and poke a few holes into the earth with his finger. He then proceeded to crack open a small, plastic capsule he'd been carrying in the back pocket of his spandex, and drop a total of six tiny seeds into each of the gaps. Upon covering them and spilling a few drops of green liquid over the area he'd planted the marbles, the Saiyan then took several steps back.
Vegeta, his teammate, and the group of defenders then looked on with anticipation as the ground around the affected area started to quiver and quake. Seconds later, a total of six green, veiny heads popped out of the floor, which was then followed by six carapace creatures that sprouted from the dirt like daisies. Shaking and trembling as they grew to full size in a battle of seconds, the collection of six, child-sized aliens all gave a collective screech as they stepped out of the holes they'd burst from and moved out onto open ground. When their eyes flickered open, they immediately snapped to the four warriors watching them from the other side of the field.
Krillin, not expecting the Saibamen Raditz had mentioned to them to look like that, gulped and grinned nervously and the murderous grins the critters shot their way. "Well… at least they're shorter than I am."
Grinning at the looks of surprise that came over the group's faces, Vegeta grinned as he watched the squad of six newly grown plant soldiers stagger forward- bearing their claws and their beaks at the heroes. With his pawns now fully hatched and ready for combat, both the prince and his partner Nappa were eager to test them out on the earthlings.
"Impressive, aren't they?" the leader of the Saiyans asked, at the same time watching as the six little green men marched towards the heroes, like a group of cats stalking a family of mice. A laugh then followed Vegeta's little query. "This group should be a sufficient enough force to put all of you weaklings down for the count. Especially you Raditz- considering they're the exact same strength as you are."
It was then, just when it seemed like the four Z-fighters were about to fly into battle against the band of little imps, a smug grin tugged at Raditz's lips. When Vegeta and Nappa spotted this, they then heard their former companions speak up. "I wouldn't be so sure about that," the long-haired warrior remarked, catching the attention of the two Saiyans and causing the approaching Saibamen to suddenly march to a stop. "You see, after I joined up with Kakarot's friends, I told them everything I knew about you two- about your techniques, your weaknesses, and how strong both of you actually are. During this last month, when I realized we needed to get a bit more of an edge, I asked Kami if he could help us out a little."
Nappa, overhearing this, cocked an eyebrow, "What?"
Knowing exactly where this was going, Piccolo also decided to chime in. "Believe it or not, all of us got to spend some time in this little, magical room in the old man's palace that allowed us to get an extra month of training in just a couple short hours. It was long and nearly drove us bonkers, but every single one of us was able to get all the time we needed to polish up our skills and push us to the level we needed to reach."
This statement had Vegeta frown. "An extra month? What do you mean?"
Raditz chuckled, "It means you've been played, prince." At that moment, the man reached behind him, pressed the button on the scouter in his belt, and shouted. "NOW!"
All of a sudden, just as Vegeta, Nappa and their Saibamen were looking a little dumbfounded, a shocking event suddenly occurred in which one of the green soldier's heads exploded in a blast of blue goop- an anomaly accompanied by a distant, loud gunshot. The moment the little imp's head went off in a spectacular splatter of brains and gore, the five remaining plant men all looked around in alarm, seconds before each and every one of them were suddenly cut down by a barrage of targeted, tiny projectiles that came flying in from the distance.
The moment they saw their first soldier get hit, with a large pot hole being punched into the ground to their far left, an alarmed Vegeta and Nappa spun around, raised their arms and powered up- just in time to deflect the hail of golden bolts that began hitting them from the distance. While the pair managed to deflect most of them, their five remaining Saibamen ended up getting torn to shreds, as the bullets ripped through them like knives through paper.
The force of the bullets slamming into their energy coated limbs caused Vegeta and Nappa to lurch back a bit, as the powered rounds rammed into them with the force of a locomotive behind each one. Several shots managed to knock the larger Saiyan's arm back, while a final one slammed into his shoulder plate and smashed through it, sending the bald warrior stumbling away.
"GAH! What the fuck?!" Nappa shouted, quickly raising his arm and parrying another tracer that slammed into him, smashing into his arm and cutting it. "Damn it! Who the hell is shooting at us?!"
"A sniper!" Vegeta growled, quickly dodging a large round that shot past him and slammed into the floor behind him and detonated. His eyes quickly snapped towards the horizon as he attempted to locate the shooter. "They're coming from over that ridge! But where?!"
As it turns out, as the Z-fighters were watching the flustered Saiyans attempt to track down their hidden attacker, about ten miles away in the direction the prince was looking, positioned atop a very high, rocky tor, the familiar, prone form of Launch could be seen lying close to the edge and peering through the scope of green Steyr SSG 69 Sniper rifle.
Wearing her pair of tight, black spandex pants, white top and brown leather jacket, the blonde woman with the red bow casually chewed the stick of gum in her mouth as she peered through the modified scope of her weapon, and took aim at the Saiyans she could see positioned in the computerized crosshairs. Cocking back on the bolt and speed loading her weapon with a snap, Launch gave a chuckle of enjoyment.
"Enjoy my ki-enhanced bullets, you pricks," the woman exclaimed, a white aura surrounding her and her weapon, causing a golden steam to radiate off of her rifle. "Take this!" She then braced and pulled the trigger, a loud bang ringing out as her rifle fired a tiny, glowing bullet at several times the speed of sound across the curvature of the planet towards her targets ten miles away.
This specially powered shot flew towards Vegeta, who crossed his arms over and took the shot that slammed into him and knocked him skidding back around the floor after it broke his arms apart. A growl of frustration left his lips as he glared into the distance.
"Little pest!"
Chi-Chi, grinning at seeing Launch's suppressing fire do its job, then clenched her fists and yelled. "Alright, boys! Let's give these brutes a scare!" Doing as she instructed, the group of four fighters then braced themselves and powered up, loud yells of fury leaving their lips as each and every one of them summoned up an aura that flared up around them and started to beat at a furious pace.
Feeling the ground starting to shake and quickly looking back at the four fighters in front of them, Vegeta and Nappa blinked in alarm when they noticed flames of light suddenly surround their enemies' bodies and begin to burn brightly. As bits of debris and steam lifted off of the ground around the group, their auras gained more density and consistency.
Not exactly sure what was happening, but knowing that this was something bad, Nappa hurriedly reached back for his scouter, fitted it over his ear and pressed the main switch. When the numbers on his lens jumped up, the bald fighter recoiled in horror when he saw exactly what was now standing in front of him.
"Uh… V-Vegeta… ow!" Nappa shouted, before reflexively blocking another bullet that shot down at him from the distance, cracking his gauntlet.
"What is it, Nappa?!" the prince demanded, keeping his guard up as he watched the four Z-fighters powering up.
"I… I don't know how to explain it…" the hulking fighter shouted back, eyes almost bugging out as he scanned each of the four fighters one after the other. "Their… Their power levels just exploded!"
"Talk to me! What are we looking at?!"
"You're not going to believe this…" Nappa stuttered while clenching his fist. "The midget's and the woman's power levels have jumped up to four thousand! But the Namek and Raditz's power levels have gone up to seven! No… eight! Eight fucking thousand! That's higher than my absolute maximum!" Sweat started to pour from the bald warrior's head as he watched the group's energy levels continue to skyrocket, causing him to take several steps back in alarm. "W-WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!"
With their auras at full burn, all of the fighters then glared the pair of flabbergasted Saiyans down. When the ground stopped trembling and the rubble floating around the group ceased hovering, a now cockily grinning Piccolo and Raditz faced down the prince as he gawked at them from the safety of his high ground.
Of course, that high ground was looking a little low at the moment.
"What do you think of us weaklings now, your highness?" Raditz asked, baring his fangs in a cocky manner while Piccolo, Chi-Chi and Krillin joined him in glaring at the two warriors.
Vegeta, having just about enough with this farce and insubordination from his former teammate, allowed his anger to fully boil over- shattering the remainder of his patience. Giving a low growl of his own, the flame-haired man then felt a grin tug back at his lips. Taking a deep breath, he then answered, "What do I think? I'll show you exactly what I think!" With a swift hand movement and a burst of ki, the prince- without even looking- then aimed two fingers to his right, before firing off a brilliant Bang Blast from his digits, sending a bolt of barely visible energy arcing across the sky.
Launch- watching carefully through the scope of her rifle from her position on the mountain- noticed the flash leave Vegeta's fingers. A split second later, she sensed his ki spike and a wave of killing intent trigger the danger signals in her head. Eyes widening in alarm, the blonde with the red bow looked up in shock. "Oh, SHIT!" she shouted, before speedily picking up her rifle, scrambling to her feet and sprinting to the edge of her cliff. Before she could jump however, the air around her mountain sizzled and distorted, a split second before a gargantuan fireball suddenly engulfed the entire edifice she'd been standing on.
The Z-fighters confronting the two Saiyans down in the valley almost immediately noticed the flare of fire take place in the distance. Eyes turning towards the mountains on the horizon, the team of four spotted a massive explosion fill the sky, parting the clouds and shaking the atmosphere with its heat. Watching the mushroom cloud form, it took the squad a couple of seconds of observing to realize that what Vegeta had done was send a lightning fast attack at where Launch had been hiding. When the roar of his attack going off reverberated across the countryside in the form of a shockwave, the group's jaws all dropped at once.
Raditz appeared especially shocked, as he certainly wasn't counting on Vegeta suddenly targeting Launch at such a distance. His eyes went hollow and a choked gasp left his mouth as he stared in abject horror at the veritable nuke the prince had managed to drop on his friend's position.
The sight of his former subordinate's stunned face gaping at the destruction he'd wrought put a smile back on the prince's lips, who then turned in the direction he'd blindly aimed his fingers in. "Oops. Do you think I got a little bit carried away there?" he remarked, at the same time giving a very dark and pitiless chuckle.
The Saiyan mercenary meanwhile, stretching out with his senses and being unable to locate Launch, suddenly felt his hands clench into fists and his jaw tighten. "You… you…" the man hissed, his arms starting to shake as the realization that his friend had been hit by the explosion- the very woman who he'd spent the most time with on this planet and showed him the most kindness during his days of training and lamentation- had been taken out in the blink of an eye. "You… killed her…"
And he didn't have time to even react.
Catching wind of his former ally's whispered response, Vegeta snickered. "How sloppy of me. I guess your companion wasn't expecting me to return fire. I suppose that's a lesson well learned for them."
Chi-Chi and Krillin, quickly looking across at Raditz, then balked when they suddenly saw the enraged look cross his face, as the spiky haired warrior snapped his blank eyes towards Vegeta and growled. In that moment, feeling incredibly concerned for their teammate's safety, the shortest member of the troop spoke up.
"Um, Raditz…?"
The words acting like a trigger, the restraints that were holding back Raditz finally snapped as the long haired warrior clenched his fists, inhaled sharply, before letting out a primal howl of rage. "VEGETAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" the man bellowed, his white aura exploding around him as his muscles suddenly seemed to bulk up. The instant his aura flared and punched a small fissure into the ground beneath him, the Saiyan leaned forward before bolting straight towards the two Saiyans. "HRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
Both Nappa and Vegeta were completely unprepared for Raditz's outburst, the roar of his aura and scream of rage deafening the entire area as he charged towards them in a blur of movement. The prince's eyes snapped towards the group in surprise, but he was unable to react with any coherent action when he was suddenly tackled by his former subordinate and sent flying into the mountain behind them.
Not even stopping as he kept his arms wrapped around Vegeta's gut, the howling Raditz powered the man through the rocky outcrop and leveled it with a deafening bang. When they exploded out the other side of the plateau as it collapsed in on itself, the man flew on and slammed him into the next one. However, instead of going through it, the rogue Saiyan ended up slamming his former boss straight into the side of the cliff.
The air being knocked clean out of Vegeta's lungs, the stunned prince gave out a gasp of shock before he suddenly received an uppercut to the chin, followed by a hook across the cheek that practically cleaned his clock. In a blur of furious movement, Raditz laid into the prince with several more powerful punches, knocking his head around with several crushing blows that served to also smash a divot into the side of the mountain. After which, the infuriated warrior grabbed the dazed prince by the head with both hands, drew it back, and began slamming it repeatedly into the side of the mountain.
Treating Vegeta's head like a rock, Raditz repeatedly and without hesitation drove the prince's skull into the side of the mountain over and over again- the impact of each blow shaking the tower of rock and causing chunks of it to start cascading off of its host. In between each concussive blow, the mercenary Saiyan and former solder cried and shouted with every impact, letting all of the pent up rage, anger, and resentment he'd felt for the Saiyan Prince over the years come pouring out of him at the same rate his aura continued to flare.
"DIE! DIE! DIE! YOU MURDERING, SELF-ABSORBED PRICK!" Raditz screamed, ramming Vegeta's head into the mountain a total of eighteen times, which was then about to lead into another one. However, before he could do so, the Saiyan was suddenly rammed into the side by a massive shoulder suddenly darting out of nowhere and knocking him out of the way.
The force of Nappa slamming into Raditz with a full-body check caused a shockwave to ring out as he sent his former comrade bouncing across the valley. After the warrior was sent smashing through a boulder, the surprised older sibling managed to recover midflight and perform a summersault in recovery. Slamming into the ground on all fours, the black haired warrior skidded to a stop, his aura dissipating as his white eyes snapped up to see the large Saiyan had come to save Vegeta from his beating.
Teeth bared, the bald Saiyan commander turned towards his prince. "Vegeta! Are you alright?!"
The short warrior, leaning with his back against the side of the mountain and his body hunched forward, panted several times before looking up. Though his face only had one noticeable bruise on his right cheek, due to having his head being treated as a hammer for a total of five seconds, the repeated blows had caused several cuts to open in his hairline. This caused a thin trail of blood to run down from his oddly shaped hairline and over his face- a sight that caught Nappa off guard.
"Yeah. Yeah. I'm fine," Vegeta growled, before his gaze snapped towards Raditz who was crouching several yards away. "He just caught me by surprise. That's all."
Nappa, inhaling sharply, then turned towards Raditz and powered up as well. His muscles swelling and forming veins and golden electricity began to vibrate off of his enormous mass, the bald fighter then took a stance and held a fist up in front of him. "Alright, Raditz! How about you pick on someone in your own weight-class, you pathetic excuse for a Saiyan!" the warrior shouted.
Comically enough, this was all Nappa was able to come up with as a way to goad his ex-comrade into a fight, as a split second later the man's eyes widened before he too ended up being tackled by Raditz and sent careening across the valley. A surprised Vegeta could only watch in alarm as his teammate was blasted off his feet and sent flying into another distant mountain, as the enraged Saiyan mercenary that had previously been part of his cohort proceeded to lay the smack-down on his aggressors in an unbridled fit of righteous fury.
When the pair exploded out the other side, Raditz had managed to grab the bulked up Nappa by the face and had proceeded to drag the son of a bitch through the earth- tearing a trench through the ground while using the very glorious, glittering baldness of the Saiyan's cranium as a makeshift shovel. The screams and shouts of 'ow-ow-ow-ow-ow' were repeatedly uttered by Nappa as his former friend drove him through the ground before slamming him into another hill, which seemingly collapsed on top of both of them.
Looking on as the plateau collapsed in the distance prompted the now recovered Vegeta to stand upright and growl through gritted teeth. "Where the hell did all of that come from?" the man asked out loud, estimating that he'd probably been knocked around by Raditz when his power level somehow managed to spike to about fifteen thousand in one second. But that seemed incredibly unlikely.
Unfortunately he could say the same thing about the next attack that came at him, because the second Vegeta turned around, he suddenly had the rest of the wind knocked out of his lungs when an orange, spiraling beam of fast-moving energy unexpectedly slammed into his stomach and buried him into the center of his second mountain.
The blindly fast attack of Piccolo's Makankōsappō (Demon's Penetrating, Killing Light Gun) managed to tunnel Vegeta through the mountain and out the other side, ending with a colossal, fiery explosion that sent the hapless prince rag dolling across the landscape before he managed to flip back onto his feet and slide to a stop.
Letting out a shout of pain as he placed a hand over his torso plate, which had been cracked thanks to the beam exploding against him, Vegeta then snapped his eyes up towards the collapsing mountain with a snarl. "Damn it! That was a cheap shot!" the man barked, only to blink when, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a golden bolt of energy shoot into the sky overhead.
"Kakusandan!" (Scattered Bullets) Krillin's shout echoed out, before the large blast ruptured and split into several energy balls that homed in on Vegeta's position.
The prince barely had enough time to leap into the air when the multitude of attacks struck the ground and decimated it, causing several small explosions to punch a crater into the floor. Taking to the air, the flame-haired warrior snarled as he watched the cloud of smoke and dust belch into the air after him, as the sneak attack had nearly managed to get him.
"Pathetic. Did you really think I would fall for that?" Vegeta shouted, only to suddenly get hit head on by a sudden and very powerful blast of wind that knocked him spinning back through the air. Screeching to a halt after several yards and looking up in alarm, the man was then hit by yet another powerful jet of wind, which knocked him back again, and again, and again. After the fourth blast, which the prince managed to smack back, the airborne warrior then focused his glare ahead of him, where he saw Chi-Chi flying in front of him with her large, green fan drawn back and ready to fire. "You wretched cow. I'll show you!" Vegeta shouted, swinging his arm back before pitching his fingers forward- sending a crackling ball of orange fire flying towards the martial artist.
In response, Chi-Chi smirked and promptly swung the fan again, giving a loud shout of effort as she launched another, highly compressed blast of wind equivalent to a miniature typhoon towards the attack. Both the fireball and the wind ball collided in midair, they detonated with tremendous force- filling the sky with a fiery, orange explosion that would've incinerated anything caught in the center of it. As the woman shielded herself against the shockwave, she barely had enough time to spot Vegeta charging at her through the flames, before swinging out at her with a punch.
Tracking his attack, Chi-Chi quickly darted to the side and dodged his blow, only to see the warrior spin around and follow her. Before he could throw another attack and nail her, Vegeta suddenly felt his body jerk to a stop when something grabbed his leg. "What the-?" He quickly looked down and stumped to see a big, green hand had managed to fly up, catch hold of his ankle, and hold him in place- with the hand being attached to an arm that Piccolo had stretched up from the ground below. Before he could question where the hand had come from, the Saiyan Prince swung an arm up in time to block a kick from Chi-Chi when she flew down at him to deliver the blow.
Blocking several more furious attacks from the woman as she shouted with each swing, yet being hampered by the hand still holding his leg, Vegeta was then forced to block another assault from the side when Krillin suddenly came flying in to join the fray. The short fighter lashed out at the prince, exchanging several blows in time with Chi-Chi's that were parried by the warrior, before eventually being nailed across the face by a swift back fist. But then, just before Vegeta could follow that up with another attack, he was sharply yanked down by the hand holding his ankle and forced to look down when he saw Piccolo retracting himself up his arm towards his opponent. During which time the warrior opened his mouth and fired a golden blast from it up at the Saiyan Prince.
Yelping in alarm, Vegeta crossed his arms over his face, produced a shield, and deflected the blast when it crashed into him. Though he was successful, the man was so distracted by the onslaught then when he sensed another attack coming from behind, he was hit by another vicious blast of wind that slashed up the front of his armor and sent him careening across the sky- as Chi-Chi had managed to hit him with another wind attack.
Skidding to a stop in the sky and giving a growl of frustration, Vegeta was about to throw himself at them again, until he was unexpectedly smashed over the head by a solid, golden ball dropping down from the sky from a high angle and clocking him clean in the skull. Letting out a shout of pain as the ball exploded against him, the Saiyan Prince was sent spinning out of the air, only to then slam onto the ground on all fours a second later. Being unable to sense the attack coming due to no longer having his scouter, the short warrior quickly stood up and glared up at the sky. "What? Who did that?"
When his attention fixed on the direction where that ball had come from, he suddenly spotted an adult, human male with long, messy black hair, and wearing the same orange and blue gi that Krillin was sporting- designating him as a member of the Turtle School. The scars on his face, as well as the stance that he'd taken with his fingers pointed downwards, indicating that he'd just finished unloading his signature technique- the Sokidan (Winding Energy Bullet) – upon his opponent, identified him as none other than a newly arrived Yamcha.
Having been waiting to launch a surprise attack of his own on the Saiyans, the human martial artist smirked when he saw the prince glaring up at him. "Yo! What's up, grumpy?" the man casually called out in a cheeky tone.
As Vegeta stared up at the newcomer, completely bewildered by where he'd come from, the warrior then saw Piccolo, Chi-Chi and Krillin fly into view, all of them taking up scattered positions throughout the sky above his position. Counting that he was now facing four opponents as opposed to three, the now outnumbered prince felt his temper rise, his teeth grit, and his energy start to climb. When a light steam began to rise off of his body at his flaring energy level, warning the group above that he was about to attack, Vegeta briefly closed his eyes, inhaled sharply, and growled.
Moments later, as an irritable vein appeared along his forehead, a dark, foreboding chuckle left his throat.
"Heh. Now this is a very familiar feeling," Vegeta growled, before turning his gaze upwards and showing off the rage burning in his eyes as even more veins appeared along his brow. "I sure hope you four are ready… because this is the first time in a while that a group of nobodies has managed to piss me off."
TO BE CONTINUED…
Author's Note: lol. Aside from the plot developments here, if nothing else, I think you guys can sort of guess who the rest of the members of the Blizzard Corp are now. It'll give you a much better idea of where I'm taking this fic… or none at all. Depends on how sharp you guys are.
If you guys noticed, I'm taking already well-known and existing aspects of the DBZ plot and adding it to the story to create a more compelling narrative. Why the Hyperbolic Time Chamber was never used prior to the Android Saga is a plot hole that can simply be explained by the fact that the author didn't even create it until the Android Saga and was only flimsily explained by Goku why he never used it. However, to explain its use here, you could say that Kami perhaps didn't feel the need to use it with the Z-fighters in the original story, because he felt they'd developed enough on their own. But with some convincing from Raditz, the entire team was able to get some time in the room before Vegeta's arrival in pairs, but only for a month- because the strain of the room on them at their current level of strength and ability would've likely made them insane- as according to Goku the room was very taxing for him (granted he did go in by himself). Therefore- limited time was alotted to each member of the group.