"Unexpected
Romance: Changes"
Chapter 8- "Arrival"
By- Tiny
One month does not seem like a very long time, not when you are a normal person living in a normal town living a normal life, but to the fighters who have protected the planet for so many years, it's a lifetime. The small band of warriors had been training hard the last month in preparation for their enemy's arrival on their home, anxiously awaiting the battle that was to come. They had come a long way in the strength department, the three older humans who still fought having managed to surpass the power of Frieza's second form, but there was always room for improvement.
Gohan was spending less and less time training with his surrogate father figure, Vegeta, and had taken on the duty of training the small girl he had discovered potential in, a young pre-teen named Lime. The brown-haired girl was progressing at an accelerated rate, the only thing keeping her behind the older warriors being her inexperience, but her mastery of the ki arts was most impressive. The Saiya-jin boy wasn't doing to bad in the strength department himself, easily as powerful as Frieza's third form or stronger, and that wasn't even when he used the legendary Kaio-Ken technique.
The great prince Vegeta had opted to occupy most of his time training Chi-Chi in the gravity room he had borrowed from Capsule Corp., saying that as far behind as she was she would need the extra boost. That hadn't slowed down any of the Saiya-jin's own prowess, however, as Vegeta was presently the second most powerful fighter on the planet, next only to the Nameksei-jin ex-guardian. That was a fact of life that irked the prince to no great end, causing him to spend long hours training in the gravity chamber, even when he was far beyond his limits.
Things were going well for the inhabitants of planet Earth, despite the ever looming threat of an attack that they knew was bound to come soon, the relationship between Vegeta and Chi-Chi progressing slowly. They were still worried that Goku would barge in and separate the two of them, but for that reason Vegeta was still working towards his goal of becoming a Super Saiya-jin. He had come close once before, the anger at himself for being so weak causing him to reach that inner gate, now all he had to do was figure out how to open it.
Yes, things were going well indeed, but peace never lasts long in the lives of warriors, and they were about to get the ultimate wake up call...
Piccolo was meditating underneath a waterfall near the temple that had served as his father's home base during his reign many centuries before, the steady murmur of the flowing water soothing his senses. He often came here when he felt stressed out or just needed to get away from the other fighters for a while, especially his apprentice Gohan, as the boy had a tendency to bug his old sensei. Today was not such a situation, he simply needed the clarity of mind that would be needed to sense a powerful energy still out in space, wondering just how much time they had left.
Things seemed to slow down to almost non-motion as the Nameksei-jin focused his senses on tracking strong ki signatures, feeling the three human men sparring somewhere on the other side of the planet. Gohan was training with Lime and the new guardian at the Sky Palace, the young Saiya-jin barely exerting any force whatsoever while sparring with the two humans. As for Vegeta and Chi-Chi, the Saiya-jin prince was clearly still not taking it easy on his chosen pupil, as he was at his maximum strength while sparring against her considerably weaker form.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, just another day of training for the big fight that was coming, and Piccolo was about to take off for his own training when something came to his attention. A powerful surge of energy closing rapidly on the blue planet, the culmination of six individual energy signatures, all of them seeming very familiar to the Nameksei-jin warrior. One he knew for sure was that of his old comrade, the traitor who had convinced himself to try and take over Nameksei centuries before, ending up getting both of them banished.
"He's here, so soon," Piccolo growled, fear clutching at the back of his subconscious, "I hope we're ready for him..."
Rocketing across the cold reaches of space, a dark figure rested comfortably in the throne that he had had fashioned many centuries ago, his yellow eyes gazing out at this subordinates as their goal came into view. There were four underlings that were warriors under their leader's command, the rest of his minions being little more than scientists or grunt soldiers so weak a well-trained kid could kill them. The four that stood before him now were the most powerful fighters that he had been able to gather during his travels, though even in his aged state they were no match for their leader.
The largest and second most powerful of the subordinates was a very burly looking creature, who kept his upper body uncovered so as to give people a better view of the scars that crisscrossed his well-defined muscles. He had a very dark brown-colored skin in contrast to the vibrant red color of his hair and blue of his eyes, though apparently in his race such traits were common. This man also wore a pair of baggy white gi pants tucked into golden colored boots, a sword strapped to his back that looked almost too big to wield properly, but he did so with surprising grace.
Standing directly in front of him was a lizard-like creature, one that greatly resembled the warlord Frieza, only his power level wasn't nearly at that level despite him being in his final form. His skin was a light red color all over his body, except at the shoulders and on the top of his head, where he had what appeared to be a flame-orange skin tone. This creature was the one who did the most battling when they decided to invade a planet and conquer it, seeing as he was stronger than most planet's strongest warriors, but he was the weakest of his leader's top officials.
Next to the lizard man was a rather out of place fighter, a male Saiya-jin with some of the most wild-looking hair ever seen by mortal man, his skin a dark tan color that stretched tightly over his firm muscles. He still wore the black Saiya-jin bodysuit that came up like a turtleneck over his throat, as well as the red scouter over his left eye, but opted for a sleeveless version of the suit. The Saiya-jin was the third-most powerful of his master's warriors, his own pride being what held him back and kept him from being the strongest of all.
The last of the fighters, and the one that seemed to be the most unusual out of this small group, was a slender looking young woman who stood directly by the side of her master's chair. She wore a pair of form fitting black pants with a white, long sleeve gi top over her upper body, her blonde hair stretching down her back nearly to her knees, several long bangs falling down into her face. Most would see this as a disadvantage during a fight, especially for the strongest of the master's warriors, but that didn't matter as the woman was blind, relying on her other senses during battle.
"What is our status?" the elderly, throaty voice of the master croaked, "Turles, give me a report!"
"According to radar, we should be landing on that mudh...planet within the next ten minutes, give or take a couple," the Saiya-jin man growled, "I still don't know what you see in this planet, Lord Slug."
"The planet contains many powerful energies, some resembling that of yourself Turles, and one very similar to our lords," the blind woman mused, "That one is very strong, possibly even as powerful as Goliath or myself."
"Not likely, Minerva, only our lord is that powerful," Goliath, the dark-skinned man, spoke up, "Nobody else could possibly measure up to me on this pitiful little planet, much less you."
"Never the less, when we land you will not underestimate the fighters of this planet when we engage them," Slug chuckled, rising to his feet steadily, "I can sense Zildar's power on this planet, though it is not as it once was, but he is still strong and full of surprises."
"If you say so, my lord," Turles bowed, gulping, "Should we begin landing procedures?"
"Yes, land at the coordinates that I have given you, the location of what I would assume is this planet's holy place," the aged lord chuckled, "Three of the planet's strongest signatures are located there, but I feel that it's nothing Turles here can't handle, right?"
"Why do you send the ape when I should be able to do so?" the lizard-like man snapped, turning on his heels, "Normally, I am deployed first!"
"Usually you would be correct, Blaze, but the opponents that await us on the holy place are not any normal foes," Minerva smiled, an eerie, out of place smile, "One is the guardian of this planet, much of his power is still being held back, and another of the three is part Saiya-jin. The third is insignificant, but the trio would make a far better test of Turles' abilities than yours."
"I still think that it's bullshit!" Blaze snarled, turning to face the screen, "I mean, after what happened on the last..."
"YOU WILL BE SILENT OR I WILL SILENCE YOU BLAZE!" Slug snapped, his own energy sending the lizard-man flying, "We will be facing a Saiya-jin half-blood and a guardian, I will not trust this job to anyone else but Turles, do I make myself clear?"
"Y...yes sir," Blaze gulped, rising back to his feet shakily, "I'm sorry for questioning you sir."
Slug didn't even bother to acknowledge his subordinate any longer as he took his seat once more on the bridge of his ship, gazing out at the image on the screen, that of three young warriors battling. One of them in particular caught the aged warrior's gaze as they sparred down below, the hybrid Saiya-jin boy, one who fought with a stance that brought back many memories. Memories of a time when Slug himself was among the strongest beings in the universe, when he was still a young fighter, and of the rage he felt after his betrayal.
"Soon, you will answer for your insubordination Zildar," the Nameksei-jin elder mused, his yellow eyes twinkling, "And this boy is going to be the key to your downfall..."
Vegeta didn't even recoil as Chi-Chi's ki-infused punch slammed into the side of his head, his gaze shifting towards the horizon as he noticed what appeared to be a comet rapidly approaching the Sky Palace. He could sense something...dark, and very familiar within that comet, something that was so powerful it actually sent a chill rippling down his spine. Gohan was at the Sky Palace, the child that he considered to be the closest thing to his son he had in the universe, and now the young half-breed was in more danger than the prince felt he could shield him from.
Despite the fact that he never wanted to have his rival near the woman and child that Vegeta had come to call his own again, the Saiya-jin prince almost wished that the Super Saiya-jin were on Earth. True, Piccolo had gained immense power by fusing with the former guardian Kami some time ago, but while it rivaled some of the energies within that ship, it was nowhere near the master's. Things did not look good for the fighters on Earth, and what made it even worse was that Vegeta could feel a somewhat powerful energy signature leaving the master's location, one that felt very much like his rival.
"Vegeta, what the hell is wrong with you?" Chi-Chi snapped, falling out of stance for the first time all day, "I know you said you would go easy on me during these spars, but this is going too far! Are you just gonna stand there, and..."
"Chi-Chi, I want you to go back to the house and call your friend, that one with the blue hair, tell her to warn the others," Vegeta interrupted, his face emotionless, "Our enemies are here, they need to be prepared, and you need to get to where it'll be safe."
"You expect me to just sit idly by while the rest of you, while you and my son, risk your lives out there?" Chi-Chi growled, storming up to the prince, "Well, mister, you can just forget that!"
"Damn it woman, LISTEN TO ME!" Vegeta snarled, his eyes going from placid to raging inferno's immediately, "The weakest of the energies that I can sense would break you like a twig underfoot, you don't have a prayer in this battle, and I will NOT allow you to risk your life for some foolish need to prove yourself!"
"You...you god damned hypocrite!" Chi-Chi screamed, her face turning bright red as she slapped the prince across his face, "You dare to lecture me about my need to prove myself, yet what are you doing but trying to prove that your stronger than Goku? What right do you have to lecture me, Mao Chi-Chi, the Ox Princess?"
"Then you leave me no choice, and I'm sorry it's come to this," the prince sighed, his eyes actually looking...sad, "I hope you will forgive me."
Chi-Chi didn't even have time to come back with a retort before Vegeta's energy spiked and he vanished from her sight, only to reappear right behind her, his open hand connecting with the base of her neck. The human woman, being significantly weaker than the Saiya-jin, was knocked out cold almost instantly, falling in a heap into Vegeta's outstretched arms. She wouldn't be out for more than a couple of hours, the Saiya-jin man knew that he hadn't applied enough force for more than that, but he figured it should be more than adequate.
Feeling that she would be vulnerable if he left her out in the open like this, Vegeta carried his incapacitated lover back to her home, lying her out in the living room before taking off into the air. His aura blazed a regal purple color as he rocketed towards the source of the largest energies, feeling the Nameksei-jin warrior Piccolo's own energy heading in the same direction. Soon there after, three smaller, yet still fairly strong, energy signatures spiked out over the oceans and began heading for the capitol of West City, where the vessel carrying the dark power's was landing.
"I'm sorry Chi-Chi, but I can't have them using you as leverage against me in the battle," the prince mused, picking up his pace, "I may not have said it to you before, but I hope that I've shown you how much I care about you and the boy. Let's just hope that I can stay alive long enough to tell you...in person..."
Power Level Updates
Slug(aged/suppressed): 5,000,000
Minerva(suppressed): 3,500,000
Goliath(suppressed): 3,250,000
Turles(suppressed): 2,750,000
Blaze(suppressed): 2,100,000
Vegeta(suppressed): 4,000,000
Piccolo(suppressed): 4,000,000
Tien: 3,000,000
Gohan(suppressed): 2,800,000
Krillin: 2,700,000
Yamcha: 2,250,000
Kale(suppressed): 2,000,000
Lime: 1,450,000
Chi-Chi: 200,000
Author's Notes: It's been so long since I updated that I figured I'd treat all of you to an update on people's progress in the power charts, but as you can tell I haven't given the MAX amount for most of our fighters. The full extent of everyone's improvements will become evident later on as the fighting begins with Slug's troops, so expect a few surprises in store. Oh, and if you can, go to my profile page and 1) read and review my stories Nightmares from Hell and Beyond the Fantasy and 2) vote in the Unexpected Romance Poll of my forum.
The next chapter will go into the Saiya-jin man Turles' arrival on the Sky Palace and his confrontation with the three children there, and this is just gonna be the warm-up for some of them! You'll also find out exactly why Slug has chosen to come to Earth of all places he could go, as if you folks didn't know already, and what his intentions for the planet are. All this and more in the next chapter of Unexpected Romance: Changes