Chapter 8

Ginyu's eyes opened slowly and he instinctively stared down at his chest. He'd been stuck in the space pod for days, but he couldn't do anything about the dried blood on his armor and face. The hole in his stomach had begun to heal, but it still hurt a lot. He knew he'd be in much worse condition if he hadn't eaten that bit of fruit from the tree of might.

He still couldn't get over Turles and his power. The Saiyan was a challenge even before he transformed into the great ape. "If only I had that kind of power," Ginyu muttered to himself. He'd been smart to take some of the fruit with him, but he knew Turles had an endless supply of fruit coming his way. He would always be stronger than Ginyu, which only meant one thing. Captain Ginyu would either have to dispose of him or find out his secret of planting the tree of might. With Turles growing stronger all the time, it would be incredibly hard to keep up with him. He would have to train harder than ever. He'd finally reached fifty times gravity back on the ship, but he knew it wasn't that much of an accomplishment now seeing Turles and his amazing power.

Ginyu thought back to his own offering of Turles to join the Ginyu Force. It disgusted and angered him how Turles had insulted his team of warriors. There were several stronger warriors who wanted to join in the past, but Ginyu had stolen their bodies and left them in the dust. If Turles had agreed, Ginyu would either have to grow substantially stronger than him or take his body.

In a nearby space pod, Jeice sat there. He'd been awake for several hours, thinking. It wasn't normal to sit in silence on the journey back from purging missions. He would either be sleeping or talking to the rest of the Ginyu Force on his scouter. He would be talking to Captain Ginyu, but Jeice knew better not to bug him while he was deep in his own thoughts.

The man missed his team more than ever now. It was his first purging mission since the three members were killed. He missed the moronic comments from Recoome and especially the fights and smart comments from Burter. He even missed Guldo just a little bit, taunting the little man and pressuring him into doing things he didn't want to. He missed having drinks over the weekend with his pals and gambling. Captain Ginyu surely wasn't the same, always focusing on getting stronger, which was good, Jeice supposed. He was fine with that. He just wished he had at least one of the former members back to keep them company.

Jeice peered out the window of his space pod. They were nearing Frieza's planet that they had left a month beforehand. It would be nice to get out of the space pod and stretch his legs, but he knew another purging mission would be coming soon enough.


"Stupid Ginyu," Bulma muttered as she paced back and forth. "Leaving me trapped here for a month with nothing to do! He could've at least brought me with them!" The month she'd spent alone was probably the worst month of her life. It was even worse than the time she spent in the space ship on the way to Namek. She had nothing to do all day but sit around and think. It was driving her insane. Before leaving, Captain Ginyu had given the henchmen permission to let her go to the city, but she'd only done so a few times. She made sure to stay clear of the darker parts of town.

Bulma sat down and started typing away at the computer. She didn't spend much time on it, but she was very bored today. She'd managed to get to Earth satellites and now had access to the internet. It had only taken her about a day to get all of that straightened out. The henchmen didn't like her tampering with the computer too much, but she assured them that she knew what she was doing and she wouldn't mess with their security files.

The page in front of her was genetics research. She'd been spending about a week doing research on growth of lost body parts. Her conversation with Captain Ginyu about the Saiyan tail had been instilled in her mind. She hadn't gotten very far yet, but was making an improvement. She was sure it was impossible to regrow a Saiyan tail at Goku's age, but she still wanted to make sure.

The rumble and shaking of the ground was unmistakable. Bulma couldn't help but grin. Ginyu and Jeice had finally arrived back! "Pshtt… Taken them long enough," she sneered. However, deep inside she was incredibly happy. She ran over to a mirror near the door and smoothed out her hair, making sure everything looked alright. When she was finished, she walked out into the corridor. She tried to walk casually down the hall toward the entrance door of the base.

Before she could make two steps, a fiery explosion appeared in front of her. The wall at the end of the corridor fell down and with it came smoke and a bit of fire. She couldn't see anything and started coughing as the smoke started entering her mouth. After a few seconds, she could hear a distant voice.

"Are you insane? The whole point was to go in stealthily! I told you to play it cool!"

"Shut up!" another man barked back. In front of her, Bulma could see a short figure. As it closed in, it was unmistakable.

"Vegeta," she whispered. Her eyes grew wide with fear and turned around to sprint back to the room where she came from. She managed to slip behind a corner and stayed there, breathing heavily as she heard the footsteps edge closer.

"Bulma! Bulma!" Someone was calling her name.

"Shut up, kid!" Vegeta ordered. "You want the whole damn place to know who we're looking for?"

"I'd say they already know considering half the people here are dead and you just blew up the entrance to their base." It was a low, husky voice that Bulma immediately recognized at Piccolo's.

"Piccolo," Bulma whispered to herself. "But it can't be. Piccolo's - ."

"Come on, Piccolo," another voice boomed. "Let's just find Bulma."

"Gohan," Bulma whispered. "But if Piccolo and Gohan are here… that means they're… not… dead!" Bulma jumped up to her feet and sprinted around the corner. She ran right into Vegeta, who glared at her.

"Watch where you're going, woman," he commanded.

"Gohan! Krillin!" She ignored Vegeta and ran to Gohan and Krillin. She hugged both of them at once, squeezing them as tightly as possible. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you two! I've been stuck here for months! You have no idea what I've been through! I thought you guys were dead!"


"Captain." The voice coming in through Ginyu's scouter greatly surprised him. He hadn't heard it in months and he was almost expecting not to hear it again.

"Lord Frieza?" Ginyu said, trying to look more presentable, even though Frieza couldn't hear him.

"It's my understanding that a group of Earthlings, a Namekian, and Vegeta have just broken into the base where you are stationed at. I'd like to know how this is possible." Captain Ginyu sensed no anger or worry in Frieza's voice, but he couldn't help feeling that his leader was disappointed.

"We're on our way back from a purging mission," Ginyu replied. "My most humble apologies, Lord Frieza. We're landing right now. I assure you that they won't get far."

"I'm not worried, Captain," Frieza said. "I just thought I'd inform you. If you let these people slip through your hands, I just thought you'd be mocked at the tournament next month. I suppose a new reputation comes with a new body."

"Uh… er- Yes, Lord Frieza," said Ginyu. "Thank you."

"You're very welcome," Frieza's cold voice came before leaving the line. Ginyu growled with frustration as the space pod made contact with the ground. As he did so, he felt the sharp pain in his chest and stopped.

"Hear that, Jeice?" Ginyu called to his comrade through the scouter. "We got company. I was planning on a nice trip to the healing tank, but I guess we gotta take care of some business."

Captain Ginyu struggled to get out of his space pod as the door swung open. He glanced back at the fruit behind him. It was tempting to take another bite, but he knew it would be best to eat it after he'd been to the healing tank. It wasn't going to do him a lot of help in the long run if he was weak.

A large space ship stood next to the one that Ginyu had taken back from Namek. It was obviously another ship from Earth. The two looked very similar and a large "Capsule" logo was placed on the side. The front entrance of the base had been blown up. Bits of rubble and debris could be seen everywhere.

Captain Ginyu slowly entered the base, not wanting to be seen at first. He was in a weak state and didn't very much feel like fighting at the moment. He stopped Jeice from edging any further into the building and put up a finger over his lips, signaling for him to stay put and be quiet. He could hear voices.

"Dende revived everyone who was killed by Frieza and his men. Then he sent them all to Earth!" The voice sounded familiar. Ginyu racked his brain, trying to think of where he'd heard it before. Then he remembered. It's that bald Earthling. But I thought I-… killed him. Ginyu gave a sour look. It was true. The little Namek boy had wished back all the dead and they were now inhabiting Earth. Those were the boy's first two wishes.

"Bulma, it's alright!" came another voice. Ginyu recognized it to be the voice of Goku's son. "Piccolo's back, see? Dende says that Guru died of natural causes. We couldn't revive him, but Earth's dragon balls are back. They should return in about four month's time. Our plan was to get my dad his old body back, but we might have to change that. Vegeta says it's best to wish for Frieza to be mortal again."

Ginyu clenched his fists and marched into the corridor, Jeice close behind him. "You're doing no such thing!" The captain sent a blast of ki at Gohan, who jumped out of the way at the last second. "You little brat! You're supposed to be dead!"

Gohan glared back at the eyes of his father's old body. "You body-stealing coward!" Gohan growled. "My father was twice the warrior you are!"

"Your father is dead!" Ginyu roared, hurling blast after blast at the boy. "Jeice, give me a hand!" Jeice did as he was told, firing blasts of ki at the boy. Before any could actually reach Gohan, Piccolo jumped in his way and punched them back.

"Leave the boy alone," he said. "We came here for one thing only. I can see you're in no condition to fight. All I ask is we take her back to Earth and we'll leave you alone."

Captain Ginyu growled at this. "You're not going anywhere with her, ya hear me?" At this, Vegeta, who had been standing still the whole time, jumped forward and punched Ginyu several times in the face. Fresh blood came oozing out of his nose as Jeice lunged forward, pushing Vegeta back. He managed to push him up against the wall and punch him in the gut.

However, in a few moments, Vegeta managed to escape and cuffed his arms around Jeice's shoulders. The Ginyu Force member struggled desperately to free himself, but couldn't. "Ready to die, Snow White?" Vegeta asked. "Or should I take care of Ginyu first?"

"Vegeta, no!" Gohan yelled. "You can't kill them! We came here for Bulma, remember? We don't have to harm them."

"Keep out of this, brat!" Vegeta growled. "Know your place!"

"Vegeta, stop!" Krillin yelled.

"Why should I listen to you?" Vegeta grunted back, his fist close to Jeice's neck, ready to kill him with a single blast of ki.

"Because you're in no position to do such a thing," Piccolo answered as he stepped forward. "You were to come here and help us get Bulma, then come back to Earth with us. That was the plan and you're going to stick to it. If you kill them, you'll have no help in defeating Frieza from any of us. We won't be helping you find the dragon balls either. Goku will need Ginyu to be alive when the dragon balls return. He can't have his body back unless it's alive."

Vegeta stared coldly back at Piccolo and then let Jeice go. He pushed the Ginyu Force member back up against the wall and punched him one more time.

Ginyu barely had the strength to get up. He looked around at all the faces before him. He eyed Bulma, who was trying to keep her gaze away from the man. "Bulma," he hissed. She didn't respond.

"We'll be back for you, Ginyu," Krillin said. The group of people left the corridor, leaving Ginyu and Jeice alone.

"Captain!" Jeice said frantically. "They're getting away!"

"Don't worry about it, Jeice," said Ginyu, wiping some blood from his nose. He turned around and walked down the metal corridor with Jeice close behind.


Ginyu spent the next hour finding a few bottles of alcohol and mixing drinks. He and Jeice sat alone in a quiet room that was usually known as the cafeteria, but there was no one else to be seen. The ones that weren't dead were probably hiding.

He explained to Jeice what happened back on the last planet they'd purged. He talked about Turles and the tree of might.

"He's still out there," said Ginyu, chugging down the rest of his drink. "Probably stealing more power from more planets right now."

"Captain," Jeice said, "what are we going to do? You heard what that Earthling said. They're going to use the dragon balls on Earth to make Frieza mortal again."

"No, they're not," said Ginyu firmly. "Think about it, Jeice. The dragon balls are gone from Namek, but they're back on Earth. We get one wish. What are we going to use it for?"

Jeice stared down at his own drink before answering. "We're going to bring the others back to life!"

Ginyu grinned at Jeice's answer. "Just what I was thinking. They were lucky today. I wasn't in shape to fight, but when we meet again, I'll be stronger than ever before. Goku and Vegeta won't stand a chance. And when we get the rest of the team back, we can take Earth as ours. We'll have a bit of fun. Just like old times, eh?"

Jeice grinned thinking about this. He would give anything to have the old force back.

Captain Ginyu got up and left the room, dropping the large bottle of alcohol to the floor. It shattered into several large pieces. He made his way down the hall and to the healing room. There weren't any technicians working there, but it didn't matter. He still felt the aching pain in his chest and it was time to go to sleep after a very long day.

After taking off his armor, he jumped into the tank, ready for unconsciousness to overtake him.


The return home was definitely a happy one. Bulma found herself flinging her arms around her father, who was crying tears of joy. Her mother made her way out of the kitchen and joined them. It had been several days upon leaving Frieza's planet and it was a relief to finally be back home.

"Now that we've had our nice little family reunion," Vegeta said, "I think it's time for the other end of the deal."

Dr. Briefs looked up at Vegeta. "Oh, yes," he said. "Dear boy, your chamber has been built in the back. Spend as much time in there as you want. I built it especially for you." Vegeta marched off without saying a word to either of them.

"What an ungrateful brute!" Bulma yelled after she heard the back door slam. "He should be saying thank you to you, Dad."

"But Bulma," said Dr. Briefs, "how could I ever repay him? He returned you home safely."

"Please," said Bulma. "He barely helped. If anything, you should be thanking Gohan, Krillin, and Piccolo." The family looked behind them to see Krillin and Gohan sitting on a nearby couch. Piccolo had returned to the countryside to train.

"He doesn't even appreciate what you've done for him," said Bulma. "At least Ginyu would - ." She stopped herself from finishing this sentence. She no longer wanted to think of her time on Frieza's base. She was back on Earth now and that was what mattered to her.

"Come on, all of you," Mrs. Briefs said. She beckoned them to come into the kitchen. "Dinner's just about ready and I'd love to have a sit-down dinner with all of you. Now if we could only get Vegeta back in here."

"Mrs. Briefs," said Krillin, "that probably isn't such a good idea. I mean… you know what Saiyan appetites are like. It's best we leave him the leftovers for after he's done training."

"If you insist," said Mrs. Briefs sadly.

Across the yard, the Saiyan prince was already hard at training. He hadn't done any training in such a long time, he was starting to worry about his shape. It was easy taking on Ginyu and Jeice back at Frieza's base, but they had just returned from a purging mission and Ginyu was in no real shape to fight at all. If he wanted to take them on at their full power, he'd have to put in a lot of work.


Across the universe, another Saiyan body was hard at work. He hadn't given himself even a day of rest. He was already back in the Capsule space ship, training for what was ahead of him. There was a part of him that was pushing himself harder because of how Vegeta humiliated him in front of the Earthlings. Part of him was pushing himself because of how Turles had greatly disrespected the Ginyu Force and Lord Frieza back on that dying planet. Part of him was pushing himself to get ready for the tournament next month. However, most of all, he was pushing himself to fulfill his mission. It was his duty, under Lord Frieza, to serve him faithfully. He would overcome some bumps in the road, but he had to do this. He had to become stronger to revive his comrades. He had to become stronger to keep the name of Lord Frieza and the Ginyu Force good.

He got up from his situps to adjust the gravity level. He switched it from sixty to one hundred. Instantly, he felt a great force pulling on him, but he had to get up. He had to do this.