Chapter 6
"Do you really think you can defeat me, boy?"
As those words rang through his ears, anger welled up inside of him. He was not a boy. He was a man. He was old enough to fight in the army. Yes, just barely old enough. But old enough. He had been assigned to a section nearly a month ago. He'd been training for quite some time now and he could feel he'd been growing stronger. He was stronger than many men in the army.
But still, now he felt a wave of fear pass over him. He wasn't feeling as strong anymore. The bit of muscle he'd built in the past few months was nothing compared to the man in front of him. The man in front of him had years of experience. His big, bulky figure was in contrast to the soldier's thin figure. He was just a boy crammed in a suit of armor.
None of them were prepared for this invasion. It had come as a huge surprise to everyone on the planet. The soldier was drafted into the army, but this was the first huge threat he saw. It was kind of funny that this invasion was happening just as the soldier entered the army.
Frieza's men had landed on the planet only hours before, ready to take it from them. They weren't going to give up without a fight. The boy was a little scared at first, but his confidence grew as the invasion went on. The other soldiers thought of him as an outcast. He didn't seem to care much about protecting the planet. In fact, he seemed to care more about fighting and killing than trying to save his people from destruction.
"Did you hear me, kid?"
The soldier turned back to the man in front of him. He was wearing a recognizable suit of armor. It was easy to just look at the man and tell he was a soldier from the Cold Empire's army. His skin was a light shade of gray and he had cropped dark hair. He wasn't probably a very high class soldier.
Then there was the other soldier. He was a thin man, a teenager. His skin was a dark blue and his head lacked any hair at all.
"What's the matter?" the mercenary asked the teenager. "Are you scared? I can tell you're new at this. You're just a kid."
Both of the boy's fists started to clench. He wanted to clench them down farther. He wanted to break something that was seemingly nonexistent. It was an odd feeling.
"Are you stupid or something? Can you not talk?"
A small smile reached the boy's face. He'd been dragging this out too long. "You're mine!" The sudden flash of light appeared in an instant. With all the fighting going on around them, barely anyone noticed the transfer happening. Before long, the transfer was complete. Ginyu had successfully taken the body from Frieza's soldier.
The other man looked very confused for the moments following. "Hey, what gives?" he said.
Ginyu just laughed before proceeding forward, ready to go in for the kill.
Captain Ginyu jolted for an instant. It had taken him a second to realize where exactly he was. He was in the healing tank… once again. The man slowly opened his eyes to take in his surroundings. When the small man before him noticed his eyes opening, he made his way to a control panel.
Another stupid dream. Ginyu had been having quite a few dreams lately. The last one he had was a recurring one. It was his first time ever trading bodies with anyone. He was just a little teenager trying to fight off some of Frieza's soldiers. That was years ago now.
"He's in here," said the young girl. She'd been spending most of her time at the hospital for the last couple of days. She turned around to face the two people she'd led into the room. A small boy and a short, bald man had followed her into the hospital room.
"Thank you for your help," said the bald man. Krillin was dressed in his street clothes. He wore jeans, a jacket, and a baseball cap. Gohan was dressed in similar attire. His hair had grown out a little bit since returning from Namek.
"You better watch out for this guy," the girl said. "I told you what happened, right? My boyfriend went to get him help and the goy totally beat the crap out of him. He broke an arm and a leg. And I guess after that, the guy passed out. And I found both of them just lying there in the woods. So I called an ambulance." Both Gohan and Krillin nodded, recalling the girl's story from before.
Gohan and Krillin had been spending most of their time in West City at Bulma's house. They'd advised Dr. Briefs about what happened on Namek and told him they were going to get Bulma back. They'd been spending weeks strategizing and planning things out. Then they heard a news story about a local space ship landing and they investigated from there.
The girl who had led them into Vegeta's hospital room was also visiting her boyfriend. Oddly enough, the two shared the same room. She had brought him some chocolate from the supermarket across the street.
Meanwhile, Krillin and Gohan made their way towards Vegeta's bed. "Yep," said Gohan, "it's him, alright. Why would he come back here?"
"Isn't it obvious enough?" Krillin said. "He had nowhere else to go to. And he can't defeat Frieza without any help."
It appeared that Vegeta had heard what they were saying, because after Krillin spoke, the Saiyan started to slowly open his eyes. A doctor nearby noticed and walked over to him.
"Hello?"
The Saiyan didn't say anything as he started to get a grasp on his surroundings. He felt a little dizzy and lightheaded.
"Well good morning," the doctor said. "You're quite the fast healer. Now I don't know what happened to you, but you were in pretty bad condition. That being said, you should be ashamed of yourself! This young man right here told me you picked a fight with him. And you know what? You broke one of his arms and one of his legs! For whatever reason, karma decided not to take revenge on you."
Vegeta glared at the man and a deep growl started in his throat. He was still a little weak and didn't feel like doing anything at the moment. He would wait for the fool to say another comment like that and the doctor would be as good as dead.
The doctor backed away and Krillin and Gohan moved closer. At the sight of those two, Vegeta's eyes shot wide open. "What the… hell?" Vegeta's eyes moved back and forth between Krillin and Gohan. "I thought you two fools were dead! Ginyu killed the both of you! How could you have…? Unless… I'm…." Vegeta instinctively started to get up from his bed and look around.
"You're not dead, Vegeta," said Gohan. The Saiyan prince looked down at the little half Saiyan. "Dende wished us back to life with the dragon balls. We were wished back to life before we even reached the after world."
Vegeta's expression was one of surprise. He was angered by this. "Two whole damn wishes wasted!" he yelled. "The little Namekian brat took forever! And what the hell did he wish for? You two to be brought back to life!"
"Well," Krillin began, "technically, no. Dende wished for all the Namekians and Earthlings who were killed by Frieza and his men to be revived and transported back to Earth."
Vegeta growled. "Oh, so where's Kakarot, then? Come on, I know he's got to be around here somewhere! I'm gonna kill the bastard for letting Ginyu take his body! Kakarot should have killed him when he had the chance!"
"If I remember right," said Krillin, "you left him to fight Ginyu alone."
"And you think he couldn't have taken him on?" Vegeta yelled. "Saiyans are supposed to be merciless killing machines. Kakarot is the only exception. So where is he?"
"Dad's coming back later," said Gohan. "He wanted to train some more with King Kai before he returned to Earth."
"Why the hell does he have to train even more?" Vegeta asked. "You two saw his power level on Namek." The Saiyan started to think and then a grin appeared on his face. "Oh… please don't tell me… he's still in Ginyu's body?" Gohan didn't say anything for a moment, but then slowly nodded. Vegeta bursted out laughing. "That fool! Now he has to train all over again because he was stupid enough to let Ginyu take his body! Well guess who's stronger now, boys?" Vegeta looked at the two of them with his evil grin. They didn't want to admit it, but Vegeta was right. He probably was stronger than Goku at his current state.
"If he was going to stay in the afterlife, he would have taken his original form," said Krillin, "but he's training right now. Ginyu's still in his body. When Goku comes back to Earth, he's going to be in Ginyu's body."
"You mean his body?" Vegeta said with a laugh. "You two might not like it, but that's Kakarot's new body now. So how do you like it, kid? Knowing your dad looks like that?" Vegeta just couldn't stop laughing. Gohan started to glare at the man.
"Cut it out, Vegeta," said Krillin. "We all know why you're here. You just don't want to talk about it. You need help bringing Frieza down, but you just don't want to admit it."
Vegeta's laughing stopped and it was replaced with a fierce glare. "I wouldn't be talking, baldy," he said. "If anything, you two need my help. Kakarot surely won't be in much condition to fight anymore. I'd be your strongest ally."
"That's what you think," said Krillin. "When the dragon balls come back, Goku will be in his old body. He'll be stronger and we'll be able to fight."
"What are you talking about?" Vegeta asked. "Frieza's immortal now. He has no use for the dragon balls. He destroyed Namek."
"Did you not hear what we just said?" Krillin asked. "Dende wished for all the Namekians and Earthlings to come back. Piccolo's back. That means the dragon balls on Earth are back." Vegeta raised his eyebrow.
"Thanks for the info, baldy," he said, "but if you two really think you can beat me to the dragon balls, you're sadly mistaken."
"They're not back yet," said Krillin. "By time the dragon balls return to Earth, Goku will be back on Earth. And once we get the dragon balls, Goku will have his old body back."
"You're an ignorant moron," said Vegeta. "If you didn't hear what I said, Frieza is immortal. This planet is open for attack and I guarantee you it will be targeted at any time. The only thing that can stop him is if we wish for him to be a regular mortal again. Or, we can play it safe and wish for my immortality."
Gohan shook his head. "There's no way we're wishing for that. You've proved too many times that we can't trust you, Vegeta."
"Whatever, kid," he said. "But you two know you need me. In fact, if I wanted to, I could make this whole planet go up in smoke. I could kill each and every one of you and then wait for the dragon balls to come back."
Gohan shook his head once more. "You're not going to do that though. You need our help finding the dragon balls. And you need our help fighting off Frieza and his men."
Vegeta just looked at the boy for a moment before speaking. "Fine, kid. I have no reason to do anything rash. I'll wait it out like you say I will. But don't think this means we're going to be all buddy-buddy now. That wish is not going to be another waste. I don't give a shit what you two think you're going to wish for. At the end of the day, it's going to be what I say."
Both Krillin and Gohan glared at the Saiyan. Once again, they were forced into another temporary alliance with him. "We'll see. Goku should be back soon enough."
"Ah," said Vegeta, lying back against his pillow. "You two are still putting much too faith into Kakarot. Maybe you should do yourselves a favor and actually learn how to fight. Then you wouldn't have to sit around waiting for the bastard to come save your asses." Vegeta turned to his side and Gohan and Krillin left the room to sit out in the hallway.
"You think you can surpass him?" Bulma's eyes had been following Ginyu as he did sit-up after sit-up.
"Who?"
"Goku of course," she replied.
"Obviously," Ginyu grunted. "I've had years of training to get where I am today. I'm going to surpass him soon enough. But I gotta admit, it's not the easiest. I saw your friend's maximum power on Namek. He should've been smart. He should've killed me when he had the chance. Or better yet, he should've joined Frieza. There's no way in hell, no matter how strong Goku was, he would've never been able to defeat Lord Frieza. If he joined us, the opportunities would be unimaginable for him. He would be an elite under Frieza. Think about it. He would've been stronger than me. Well, I guess it is a good thing the guy didn't have the guts to kill me."
"He would have if he knew what you were going to do to him," Bulma said angrily. "And Goku would've never joined you. He's fighting for peace. Consider yourself lucky he didn't kill you. He only kills real threats who won't stop. Like his brother…"
Ginyu looked surprised at this. "His brother?"
"Raditz…," said Bulma. "At least, I think that's what his name was. He came to Earth over a year ago looking for Goku, saying he needed Goku to complete a mission. When Goku wouldn't leave with him, he stole Gohan and threatened to leave with him. But Goku and Piccolo managed to kill him. The guy was a ruthless jerk."
"How Saiyans should be," said Ginyu. "How I am. Don't you get it? The problem with Goku was he wasn't ready to kill in an instant. He didn't finish the rest of my force off. That damn Vegeta probably killed them because Goku was too much of a coward to do it."
"Just because Goku's a Saiyan," said Bulma, "doesn't mean he has to be a ruthless killer. I've known him since he was just a little guy. No matter how ignorant the kid could be sometimes, he was always good. No matter what. He has a pure heart. Goku was just a normal person. Saiyan or not, he was a good before. Before you were a part of this whole planet trade business. Who were you?"
"Nobody."
"Come on," Bulma said. "Why do you care if I know? I'm not exactly asking for your whole life story."
Ginyu grunted. He'd only mentioned his story a few times to his force members, and obviously to Frieza, but no one else knew. No one else knew Ginyu's original form. No one knew where he came from. "Alright," he said. "That was it. I was a nobody. Some stupid kid who got drafted for the army. Frieza invaded our planet because it would fetch a big price on the market. He'd made a deal that if he purged the planet of life, these people would pay him a large sum of money and would allow him to place several bases on the planet for the Planet Trade."
"Like this one?" she asked. "Is there even more life past the city? All I've seen is a lot of desert."
"There's a few more cities," said Ginyu. "They're smaller. The bases nearby them are smaller too. This planet's pretty small in itself. But yeah, you could say that. My planet was larger. We were pretty high tech. We had a lot of state of the art weapons. We were a strong race too. But Lord Frieza's always been one step ahead of everyone else, hasn't he? Anyway, the invasion just began. I'd fought off a few guys, but that's when I came face to face with a really tough guy. Come to think of it, his power level was nothing now. But I thought he was tough back then. He was going to kill me. At that moment, I knew we were done for. There were too many of them and they were too strong. So I went for it. I traded bodies with the guy."
"And you abandoned your people?" Bulma asked, slightly disgusted. "The people you were supposed to be fighting for?"
"You gotta watch out for number one," Ginyu said with a laugh. "Frieza is one of the strongest people in the universe. Don't you get it? You join him or you die. Most of my reasoning for joining him, though, was out of respect. The guy's worked hard to get where he is today. I'm perfectly happy working under him. I mean, at that moment, I had no idea I was going to work under him, but after I met him, I knew. Purging missions are fun too. It's a good life."
Bulma tried to control herself and not say anything about this. "So then what happened? After you stole that guy's body?"
"Considering he was one of Frieza's elite," said Ginyu, "he knew. He knew there was something different. So I told him my story. I told him I respected him and I wanted to work under him. He let me. Eventually, after another new body or two, I found Jeice and Burter. They were mutants, just like me. Then we found Recoome and finally Guldo. Frieza decided to form an elite squad. I named it after myself, of course. And there you have it. The greatest fighting force in the universe was formed. The Ginyu Force was created. I have to admit, I'm more than a little pissed at your friend for killing them off. We spent years perfecting our choreography."
"You know," said Bulma, "I don't exactly know if your choreography is the most frightening."
"You dare question the Ginyu Force?" Ginyu said, getting up. "Make all the fun you want, but at the end of the day, we've still won."
Before he left the room, he turned back to Bulma. "I'm leaving for a few hours. I'll probably be back with some food."
"Now," the doctor said, "I wouldn't be walking around too much for the next week or so. Just relax. Don't move too much. You should heal pretty fast." Vegeta glared at the doctor once again. As he turned around, a small ball of ki formed in Vegeta's right hand.
"Vegeta, no!" Gohan yelled. Before he could do anything, a small hole had been made in the wall right next to the door. Vegeta had only slightly missed.
"Relax, kid!" Vegeta said. "Just having a bit of fun. Didn't your father ever teach you to have fun every once in a while?"
Gohan rolled his eyes. "Come on. Krillin's got the car waiting for us downstairs."
"Car?" Vegeta asked.
"Mode of transportation," Gohan said with a sigh. "It runs on gasoline."
"Why the hell are we using that?" Vegeta asked. "All of us know how to fly."
"It's just easier," said Gohan. "Plus, you're not fully recovered yet. You shouldn't be really flying until you feel better. You heard what the doctor said."
"Screw the doctor," said Vegeta. "You know how long I've been here? Back on my planet, we had these things called healing tanks. We'd feel better in only a few hours. Your doctors don't know what they're talking about."
Gohan sighed again and went over by Vegeta to help him out of the bed. "Get away from me, kid. I can get up myself." Gohan backed away and waited as Vegeta slowly got up. He was wearing nothing but underwear.
"Now where's my armor?" Vegeta looked around. His battle armor was nowhere to be found, but the under armor he usually wore had been sitting on the window sill. He snatched it up and quickly put it on before sliding on his boots and gloves. "Great. I'm going to need some new battle armor. As far as I know, this damn planet doesn't have any good armor."
Gohan didn't say anything as Vegeta followed him out the room and down the stairs to the first floor. Krillin was waiting inside a hovering car. Both Gohan and Vegeta slid into the back seat. "Alright, guys," said Krillin before taking off.
"Where are we going?" Vegeta quickly asked.
"We're going to talk to Dr. Briefs," said Krillin. "Bulma's dad. She's the one who made the dragon radar."
"So she's the brains behind everything," Vegeta stated, thinking back to the blue haired woman he'd met on Namek.
"Basically," said Krilin, "but Dr. Briefs is pretty handy too. We're going to ask him if he can figure out a dragon radar for us to use when the dragon balls return to Earth."
Krillin pulled the car into a very large driveway and made his way into the large house before him. "Your friend is pretty wealthy," said Vegeta.
"That's Bulma," said Krillin. "She's been rich as long as I've known her. Her dad owns this big company."
The three were quickly greeted by Dr. Briefs, who appeared to be working on a small object in the living room. A screwdriver was by his side. The television was on, but he wasn't really paying attention to it.
The man looked up at them. He had bags under his eyes and his face was unshaven. He appeared to not have slept for quite some time.
"Any word on Bulma?" Dr. Briefs asked.
"No," said Krillin in a sad tone, "but we do have someone who can help. This is Vegeta. He's a Saiyan, just like Goku."
"Hopefully he doesn't have the same appetite," said Dr. Briefs, obviously joking, but Vegeta wasn't laughing.
"You've built Kakarot a training area, correct?" Vegeta asked.
Dr. Briefs looked at Vegeta, puzzled. "Kaka-what?"
"You built Goku a training area?" Krillin asked.
"Yes," Dr. Briefs answered. "I built him his ship for Namek. It had a specialized training area just for him."
"Good," said Vegeta. "Then I have a request for you. Build me one."
Krillin and Gohan both glared at Vegeta, but Dr. Briefs didn't say anything. He thought it over for a moment. "I can't right now."
"When can you?" Vegeta asked.
"When my daughter is returned," the man replied. "Krillin and Gohan told me she's probably dead. But we can use the dragon balls to return her."
"No," said Vegeta. "Your daughter isn't dead. In my weak state, I barely managed to escape Namek alive. I saw Jeice carrying her. She was unconscious, but surely not dead. They probably took her back to one of Frieza's planets."
Dr. Brief's tired eyes shot open. "Bulma's… alive?" Krillin asked.
"You three need to save her!" Dr. Briefs exclaimed. "What if she's in danger?"
Vegeta laughed to himself. She's probably working as a concubine. Knowing Ginyu.
"I'll cut you a deal then," said Vegeta. "I'll return your daughter. You build me a training area."
"Yes!" said Dr. Briefs. "I'll have a space ship ready for you as soon as possible. In the mean time, you're going to have to stay here."
Vegeta nodded and left the room. "Vegeta, wait!" Gohan yelled, running after the Saiyan prince. "What do you think you're doing? Have you not thought this out? That Ginyu guy is probable there with her! He killed both of us!"
"He killed you two weaklings," said Vegeta. "He didn't kill me. He won't kill me. I know what I'm doing. Plus, Ginyu's too much of an oaf. Did you see him in Kakarot's body?"
"He almost killed you too, Vegeta," said Krillin. They were walking down the hall at this point. "If we're going to do this, we need to have a plan."
"Fine," said Vegeta as he picked up his walking pace. "We'll plan. Do whatever you want. I'd say we could bring some backup, but Kakarot is gone now. And there really isn't anyone on this god-forsaken planet who can help us."
Krillin and Gohan both looked at each other. "Piccolo. We can go talk to him tomorrow."
"Whatever you say," said Vegeta. "Now I require some nourishment and I smell some cooked meat coming from this direction." He pointed down the hall toward the kitchen door, where Mrs. Briefs could be heard humming as she cooked some dinner.
Gohan and Krillin hurried to keep up with the Saiyan prince.
