Here's chapter 65! Thanks to Diosa de la muerte, Vic The Super Saiyan, Ryo-chan wolfgirl, Scimitar X, Heseltine, Dragon1157, Perfect Carnage, Richardc269, Apope, icewolf, Dark Domination and Caedas Vitiate for all the reviews on chapter 64.
Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or any of its characters, Akira Toriyama does!
...
Daiz ended the life of his last adversary and took off in hot pursuit of Zarbon.
'The kid's done for if that pretty boy takes him to Frieza. Not to mention Turles will have my head!' the former prince thought.
He had tried to contact Turles and his fellow crew members to no avail. What a time for his scouter to malfunction! Daiz knew he was taking an enormous risk taking on Zarbon on his own but there was no avoiding it. There was no way he was going to allow Frieza's peacock to take Gohan without a fight!
Zarbon picked up speed obviously trying to elude him. They had long passed the settlement and as they progressed rocky ground with no vegetation quickly became the norm. Mountainous terrain loomed ahead. Fissures in the planet's surface suddenly began to appear, molten rock bubbled from below. The scent of sulfur permeated the air. Clouds of steam floated about concealing dangerous chasms.
A sigh of disgust came from Frieza's general as he realized that the annoying Kabochan trailing him had no intention of allowing him to complete his chosen task. Zarbon landed and tossed the half-ling none too gently onto the hard ground and turned to face the furious Daiz who had landed as well.
"EASY!" Daiz barked.
The teal changeling sniffed disdainfully," I seriously doubt that the little beast even felt that, he is half-Saiyan after all. But considering Turles's reputation, Kami only knows what the other half is!"
"Let the boy go, Zarbon!" the dark green-haired pirate demanded.
"Are you really that concerned for the brat or are you afraid of facing Turles and telling him what became of his whelp?" Zarbon taunted.
Amber eyes widened in shock as a fist slammed into a teal-skinned cheek. How had the pirate managed to land a blow so quickly?
"HOW DARE YOU? That's probably going to leave a nasty bruise!" Zarbon sputtered.
Daiz shrugged, "I'm sure it would do wonders for your looks."
"Like you'd know anything about appearances!" the changeling scoffed.
"I get by!" the former royal snickered.
"I'm curious about something, Daiz..." the emerald-haired officer began.
"Yes, Zarbon. That armor does make you look FAT!" Daiz quipped.
With a howl of indignation, Zarbon flew at the Kabochan...
...
Everything was going according to plan, his little unscheduled trip to this cursed rock had proved beneficial after all. Turles would never know that he...Artruay blinked in absolute disbelief. He rubbed at his eyes and looked again. Sure enough, that Saiyan scourge from the deepest pits of Hell was striding towards him. What was HE doing here? The arrogant pirate was accompanied by that bearded oaf from Kardanaga.
"I'm rather surprised to see you in such a place, Artruay. What business brings you here?" the dark-skinned Saiyan questioned.
The gray reptile knew it wasn't a request, Turles was intent on discovering the reason for his presence on this miserable excuse for a planet. What was he going to do? What could he possibly say?
"I'm waiting, Artruay," Turles growled.
Bulma and Chi-Chi's employer knew he'd better come up with a plausible excuse and fast. Of course! Darathazer was a virtual magnet for scum but it exported some of the finest wine available...
"Greetings Lord Turles! You rather startled me. I'm simply here purchasing some Greshlira wine for the restaurant. Our more affluent customers are sure to appreciate having such a difficult to be had luxury made easily attainable. Profits will greatly increase with such an item on our menu," Artruay explained.
That should be enough to get him off the hook. Appealing to the Saiyan's greed was always a wise tactic.
Turles wasn't so easily put off this time.
"How many cases of this delectable beverage are you planning to purchase?" the pirate queried.
"Uh...I'm sure three cases will be sufficient for now..."
"Ardly worth tha effort ta be comin' ere'!" Gartoas huffed.
"I agree. You must purchase at least SIX cases!" the Saiyan insisted.
"S-Six cases!" the reptilian business owner sputtered.
"Make it nine! And of course we'll take three off your hands. We do have room on the ship for three cases don't we, Gartoas?" the amusement was quite apparent in the pirate commander 's voice.
"Ah'll MAKE room ifn' we don't!" the Kardanagan chortled.
Artruay suddenly felt ill. It was going to cost him a staggering amount to make such a purchase. It was particularly infuriating as he had not even had the intention of actually going through with it. And now there was no escape...
...
Bulma stared down at the small device in her hands. It was hard to believe that the small metal rectangular item was going to be the source of Turles's destruction. He was going to finally pay for all the horrendous atrocities he had committed throughout the known galaxy all these years. He would be lured here soon and her deadly contraption would be placed in his ship. Once concealed on the Saiyan's ship, it would prevent the ship's engines from functioning at the chosen time. She herself would get to press the remote control that would cause the despised pirate's craft to fall from the sky. Bulma could hardly wait...
...
Artruay had balled his fists up so tightly that his claws drew blood. His "unplanned purchase" had cost him more than seven hundred and fifty thousand tanirs! He couldn't even afford transport back to his home planet! And to add insult to injury, after Turles had seized his ill-gotten three cases of the extravagantly priced wine, he had insisted on sampling it! Four bottles were imbibed by the Saiyan and his roguish crew member before Turles was satisfied with 'testing the quality' as he had so obnoxiously put it. And of course, those four bottles DIDN'T come from any of Turles's cases.
The livid reptile sent a transmission to his assistant on planet Arturay.
" Belas, I need you to send a cargo transport to Darathazer immediately!"
"Of course, Sir! But I thought you weren't making any purchases today."
"Just send the damned ship!"
...
Turles tapped his scouter,"Zailora, inform Daiz that..."
"Excuse my interruption, Commander. But Daiz isn't here," Zailora voice stated as it came over the communication device.
"He should have been there an hour ago!" the Saiyan pirate snapped.
"E's probably' out foolin' wi' tha' brat," Gartoas mused.
"Master Turles, Daiz wouldn't shirk his orders. Something's wrong!" the Kabochan female pressed.
"Daiz, whatta ya doin'?" the burly Kardanagan huffed into his own scouter.
"Kinda busy, right now! Zarbon ..." the former prince's voice faded and was replaced by a crackling noise and then silence.
"ZARBON?" Gartoas choked.
"Do you still have his coordinates, Gartoas?" Turles demanded.
"Yup! Z468C2HL!" the bearded pirate called out.
"Commander, are Daiz and Gohan all right? Gartoas?" Zailora's pleas went unanswered as Turles and Gartoas took to the sky.
Gohan did not respond when Turles reached out with his mental link to the little half-blood. Something tightened in the Saiyan's chest. Gohan was in danger, he could just feel it.
...
"Oh, did I damage your scouter? Well I suppose you won't be calling for assistance!" Zarbon mocked as Daiz tossed away his now useless crushed scouter.
The dark green-haired pirate was sent reeling from the impact of the next powerful blow but he leapt back onto his feet and faced Frieza's right-hand man once more.
"Persistent aren't you? A pity you don't have a chance against me," Zarbon mused.
"Don't be so sure!" Daiz shot back.
The teal-changeling phased behind the Kabochan and delivered a double ax-handle to the small of his back.
Spitting out a mouthful of sand, the member of the original Crusher Corps shakily rose to his feet once more and fired off a ki blast.
The blast was easily deflected by the emerald haired warrior.
"Tsk, tsk! You don't even have the sense to stay down do you?"Zarbon scolded.
"You're the one who's going down!" Daiz growled.
"My, we DO have a high opinion of ourselves, don't we?" the changeling simpered.
Daiz aimed a kick and as Zarbon moved to block it he slammed his right fist into Zarbon's chest. The teal-skinned officer flew back and skidded several feet across the ground before coming to a stop.
The enraged minion of Frieza delivered an uppercut to Daiz's chin that violently snapped his head back and sent him somersaulting into a cliff.
" Amusing as this has been, I'm really pressed for time..." Zarbon began.
"Going to be late for a dress fitting? Or does Frieza's backside feel neglected?" the pirate sneered.
Daiz was rewarded for his remark with a series of savage blows to his rib-cage. Coughing up the blood that pooled in the back of his throat, the former prince struggled to stand.
"Before I was so RUDELY interrupted, I was going to inform you that time is of the essence. So as much as I detest doing so it seems I'm going to have to resort to drastic measures to dispose of you in short order," Zarbon declared.
The Kabochan stole a look over at the still motionless Gohan.
"Don't trouble yourself over the brat. I'm quite certain he'll be out for some time."
"YOU MONSTER!" Daiz shouted.
"What an interesting choice of words!"
Gohan's elder crewmate gaped in disbelief as Zarbon transformed into something from a nightmare!
"NOW I'M A MONSTER!" the teal-skinned changeling's laughter rang in Daiz's ears...
...
."Where the Hell is he?" Turles snarled.
"Is' scouter musta bin' actin up! Dun' got tha wrong cord nits!" Gartoas groaned.
"Muh scouter mus be actin' up! Ahm pickin' up one 'ell of a power level!" the Kardanagan protested.
"That would most likely be Zarbon!" the dark-skinned Saiyan changed directions in mid-air and took off at top speed.
"Show-off!" the bearded pirate huffed as he followed after.
...
Daiz fought valiantly against the teal-skinned behemoth Zarbon had become but it was a losing battle. Turles's second-in command grimly realized that this might be his very last skirmish.
The ground suddenly shook beneath the two combatant's feet. A huge gash appeared in the planet's surface, molten rock began to bubble up from deep below.
"What if I let you go out in a blaze of glory?" Zarbon jeered.
Enormous hands seized the dark green-haired pirate. Daiz struggled in vain to free himself.
A fine spray of ash began to fill the sky. Nature's fury was about to be unleashed.
Another great fissure appeared, it also quickly filled with steaming molten rock.
With a mighty lunge, the changeling threw the former royal towards the hellish chasm. Only a warrior's reflexes kept Daiz from being catapulted into the white -hot molten mass. He barely caught his breath as he fell to the rocky soil just short of it. An incredible explosion rocked the ground, Zarbon seized the little half-blood and took to the sky, he smirked as he saw a huge plume of magma spurt skyward. Laughing to himself, the emerald-haired general tucked the youngster under his arm and headed for his ship.
Daiz instinctively threw up his hands as a wave of scorching heat rushed over him, he could feel his skin began to blister from its intensity. The ornaments he wore that proclaimed him a member of the Kabochan royal family suddenly felt as if they were burning into his flesh. Daiz quickly removed them and flung them away, ignoring the searing heat that burned his fingertips. Now the wounded, exhausted pirate tried to get his injured legs to function. His aching muscles refused to comply. Daiz widened his eyes in horror as he took in the sight of the molten rock slowly flowing towards him...
...
When Turles and Gartoas arrived at the new coordinates, it seemed as if a portion of Hell had put itself on lurid display. Pools of flaming magma covered the ground, steam and ash filled the sky.
The pair were in no danger from their height in the sky but what of Daiz and Gohan?
A glint from below caught the Kardanagan's eye, he covered his mouth and nose from the volcanic ash and flew downward. It was a piece of a scorched earring. Gartoas felt his stomach lurch as he recognized it immediately .
"Ah, Daiz...whatta ah way ta go.."
The burly pirate pulled a cloth from his waist and wrapped it around the hot metal and flew back to where Turles waited. A grim line formed on the Saiyan's face as Gartoas held out his find. They could find nothing on their scouters and no ki could be sensed.
"The boy is alive, I know he is!" the Saiyan pirate insisted stubbornly.
"Ah guess we gotta be tellin' Zailora," the Kardangan sighed. He was not looking forward to that task.
"Let's get back to the ship. We'll have to start searching for Gohan immediately!" Turles ordered.
'Brat's good as dead ifn' e' ain't already' Gartoas thought but he kept silent and nodded.
...
Zailora paced the ship consumed with worry. Daiz was a capable fighter but would he really have a chance against someone like Zarbon? A sigh of relief escaped her as the ship's door slid open. Her face fell as she quickly noticed only Turles and Gartoas entered the ship.
"Where's Daiz and Gohan?" the Kabochan female asked cautiously.
"Zarbon has taken Gohan," Turles growled.
"A-and D-Daiz?" Zailora choked out. An ominous feeling suddenly came over her.
Gartoas shook his head slowly and handed her a small bundle of cloth that felt warm to the touch.
"N-NO! N-NOT DAIZ!" the dark green-haired female screamed as her eyes fell upon the scorched metal.
Zailora tore from the bridge area. Her sobs and cries of anguish could still be heard from her quarters.
"I'm going to alert every one of my contacts to be looking out for any sign of Gohan. You are to set your course for planet Kelshir, Gartoas," Turles ordered.
Gartoas nodded and with a heavy heart he started up the ship. The bearded pirate glanced over at the Saiyan. He shuddered at the pure rage that emanated from his very being. Zarbon had dared to take Gohan and there was going to be hell to pay!
...
Zailora gasped as she realized they were leaving the planet! Any shred of hope she might have clung to dissipated immediately. Daiz was really gone!
...
Next chapter- The search for Gohan begins!
daughterofrisingsun