Disclaimer: Chapter 2.
Yes, yes I do enjoy using plot-devices so I can be like, "Ha ha! I've got the knowledge and you don't!" I find it quite entertaining.
The scientists were working practically the entire night to combine data and update logs. Since this included Bulma's assistance and a lot of silence, the others had to amuse themselves either quietly or outside the ship, which lead to a good deal of training among the warriors. Vegita was more aggressive than usual, but it wasn't really unexpected considering.
Regarding the unusual situation with Atsarute, it only got stranger. It accepted its capture willingly, indeed walking into the holding area by its own power, not resisting or assaulting.
Vegita came back into the ship just in time to see Arufuredo walk out of the lab with a small, translucent container and what looked like a very fine-bristled floor brush. There was a pair of goggles pulled back on his head that looked like they had a specific purpose.
"Are you still working on the damn files?" Vegita sneered at the tired doctor.
"I've read through and noted the logs made by the walking fiend's previous captors. Its intellectual capabilities have definitely increased, but I have yet to witness a certain behavior that they described."
"So it doesn't do it anymore. Big fucking deal."
"You don't understand. This has to do with it's appearance, and, in all honesty, I haven't had a clear look of it except the few, low-quality stills in the logs, and that was while it was in their captivity, anyway. In order to witness it for myself, Atsarute has to take off its wraps. Right now, I'm taking some samples of what it might have shed in the cell. Now, if you don't mind…"
"First-" Vegita held his arm out to block the doctor's path. "-Explain to me why it agreed to surrender, and why it's acting so oddly. What else are we going to do after this, by the way? I don't see a reason that we have to wait for you to finish your shit. Just hand him over to that queen of yours."
"That's unacceptable! I've already told you my plans to betray the queen! I can't just give her General Atsarute!"
"Why not? He's dead! He's just a zombie, wondering around, trying to get back to life when he can't! How can that pathetic thing lead an army?"
"I have to try something! Besides, I can't turn it over to Komugiko-joou until after I've finished the research."
"So what's taking you so fucking long? Why aren't you already finished!"
"Maybe if you shut that blowhard trap of yours I can get some work done!"
He was slammed into the wall by the prince's fist before he knew it. Vegita crossed his arms and scoffed. "All of your constant 'studying' has made you weak, scientist."
Arufuredo rubbed his cheek with the back of his hand, and then stood straight with a serious glower. In a snatching motion, he removed the glasses from his nose and slipped them into his pocket. "You've done nothing except rat on my ass and be a fucking pain since this mission started! If that's the way you want to play—" he cracked his knuckles"-I wont be so rude as to not oblige!" He raced forward with a punch, but Vegita jumped to dodge it and kicked towards the man's face. Arufuredo blocked with his forearms then sent him backwards with a thrust. Vegita landed and went back into stance, but the fight was now over.
"Damnit!" Bulma had raced in between the two and faced her husband, her arms outstretched to block Arufuredo. "What the Hell do you think you're doing, Vegita! What is this all about?"
Vegita spat onto the floor. "If that bastard's so smart, he should know when to keep his mouth shut." Without allowing her to question any further, he shot stormily into their room and slammed the door loudly behind him.
"What's going on?" Goku and his son, followed quickly by the others, had jumped in to find out the cause of all the ruckus. "We heard fighting. What happened?"
"I've not a clue," Arufuredo answered, "Your friend confronted me and attacked. Is he always so hostile?" A beep came from a console. He put up a finger as request for them to hold the response and pressed some buttons. Komugiko appeared on the screen.
"M-my Empress!" He scrambled for his glasses and tried to put on an honorable facsimile. "What is it that you wish of me?"
"Doctor, you look like you've been in a bit of a scuttle. Have you had trouble since you've reached the planet?"
"You could say that…"
"Do you mind giving me a verbal report?"
"…Now?"
"Yes, if you don't mind. I'm slightly worried by what I've observed from the streams. Have you spoken to the Namekku-sei-jin about what I told you?"
"No, my Empress."
"Good. I've noticed that your position isn't far from Atsarute. How is your progress?"
"Uhh… well…" He coughed. "We've found some signs and are trying to catch up with previous logs and reports. Capture is assured, however it may be difficult. It would be wrong to this crew for me to give a deadline or even a rough estimate. The situation must be approached with extreme caution."
The queen was silent for a long moment, staring at him. "I see… you will report to me when it is captured immediately. Understood?"
"Yes, my Empress."
"Good luck." The screen blanked out.
"Transition ended…" Arufuredo turned, sighed, and slouched back on the console. "Damn, I hope she's not getting on to me…"
Rustling came from the observation cell. He flipped the switch for the light and saw the walking fiend pacing about in its space. "Lovely, it's awake. It's not going to let me get the samples, now."
Gohan looked at him curiously. "Which samples would that be?"
"Dead skin cells that it might have shed in the cell. I need to analyze it for properties discussed in the logs."
"What properties would that be?" Bulma moved a strand of hair back behind her ear.
"Apparently, it's guise changes from day to night. During the night, the previous captors recorded that Atsarute looked normal; before death. At day, you could see the corpse's decay and bare muscle—" Kuririn shivered as he said this, "—They speculated that night allowed some sort of sorcery associated with the death to restore a living face."
"That's kind of like Prometheus Bound," Bulma said, wrapping her own arms around herself.
"With my knowledge of the talisman that was stolen and the added information of how it becomes irritated in the sunlight, I've come to suspect something. My notions are inconclusive, which is why I need the skin cells." He removed his glasses and pulled down his goggles. "I might as well try."
.-.
Piccolo, per usual, was spending his time meditating: it was the weaker of the two distractions from the old men's shouting. The strongest one was, however, more annoying than the fights, and managed to creep into his consciousness more often than the babble.
It did so again. Jin… was it Jin in my dream? That woman whose face was obscured by memory and who wore that ornate wedding dress? He shook his head. Best not to think of such things. It's… pointless? Damnit, the old man was right. I'm ignoring the subject. I…might as well… The image of the woman in the dress came to mind; the one while she still smiled, before the dream became horrid. The way he remembered Jin filled in the blackness that represented her body and it matched perfectly, fitting like a piece in a puzzle.
Then his mind took the rest. "Are you staying for the ceremony? Please say that you will." She giggled and turned from him, walking away slightly from him like a modest bride would. "You should be there at the reception, too. The drinks that we're having are really out of this world."
He looked up at her from his sedentary position on the ground, but said nothing.
"What's wrong? You act like you don't know me anymore."
"Please stop…"
"Please stop!" She echoed. Her eyes clenched in pain, and her side, which was injured from that spaceship-wreck years ago, began to bleed and soak a growing blotch into the dress.
"Jin!" He rose and took a single pace to her, then grasped her shoulders. "Please, explain to me what you have to do with all of this!"
She lowered at him frighteningly and slowly bowed her head, allowing her hair to hide her face. "I'm supposed to be getting married today, damnit!" Then it rose again, but it was now showing the cruel snicker of the queen. "To you." Her wrinkly hands shot up and grasped his arms before he could retreat.
Piccolo struggled. "Let go, bitch! A person like you can't be!"
"What is it? This leathery hide of mine displeases you?" Her grin grew wider, and her forehead along the hairline bubbled, and her face began to melt from the meaty skull. "Shouldn't you be more afraid of what's under it?"
He finally broke from the meditation and gasped for air like he just came from the water. Still sitting on the ground, his arms were outstretched to the ground before him, and his exhales were dry hisses coming from his fanged mouth. This upset all of the other occupants in his head enough for them to drop whatever they were doing and ask questions. He closed his eyes and rose. There's nothing to explain; it was just a mental exercise that went too far.
.-.
Atsarute's intelligence improved enough that it could explain some of its situation. It allowed the Earthlings around because they were "catalysts", and they helped it regain former capacities by just being present. When asked why them specifically, it answered that they were catalysts of its condition in mentality and their presence helped reverse it. It was caused by a curse that was placed upon it during a battle about half a year ago (it still didn't quite explain how they were catalysts to this). When asked about the talisman that killed it, it said that it was trying to use it for the curse's removal.
Its speech wasn't improving, so it relayed all of this through writing. There was still so much effort involved, so it now slept for the fifth time in the discussion, curled up in the corner.
Arufuredo had been studying the skin cells, but maintained that he needed fresher, living ones, and came in every day for more samples, some harvested from the floor, some from its arm. It only unwrapped for this cultivation, and even then it was only an inch that was quickly hidden again.
Whenever Piccolo came into the observation room, he instinctively stood by the glass pane that separated him from the fiend. The fiend also tended to sit near him and slightly follow his movements. It was well established that the two were unable to perceive each other through any means, which gave another question for the scientists to answer.
Piccolo stared into the emptiness towards the sleeping creature. How am I going to use a cure that I cannot see? Should I hide behind that queen and have her distill the antidote with those tubes for me? Is that what this whole thing means?
Fast chapter. Yay. Now, I have work to do and a sprained knee to nurse.