Chapter 6

Fighters

Morning cast itself within the grand rooms of the Owners, but outside they heard nothing. No chains rattled, no struggling to get off a chain, just silence. It was eerie but as the Owners came out, they looked at the Saiyan whom ate from the bowl by the corpse of the guard. Rushing about, they grabbed prods and chains, luckily the steel they used for the fighting cage was still intact. The majore steel was perhaps the only thing that kept the lone slave in confinements and at the moment, they made sure that was the same steel the chains were made from.

As they neared the slave, they cornered the hungry Saiyan only to find his stare moving from one to another, and back, cautious of the weapons used. Vegeta dipped his chin and growled lightly. He needed food and water, but was denied both. The wound wrapped about the Saiyan's throat in a nasty rip in a full ring. With it hurting, the loose choke chain on his throat hung with blood caked onto it. When he found himself against the wall and cornered, he lunged foward to try to get through, instead finding himself stunned by the prods. Landing hard on the sand, they quickly pinned the Saiyan down and hogtied the slave so that the fierce warrior could not move.

Within the hour they had the slave now tied to another three foot chain and slowly as he came to, he struggled to his feet as the other slaves were let out, this time however would be different. Eyes narrowed as two would hold prods and the moment the Saiyan started trying to fight back from the brutal beatings, he found himself shocked and rendered defenseless. When the slave would regain his bearings, he would finally rid himself of them but placing up a ki shield that threw everyone back. It was at that moment that he looked around at the others. His temper was flared as he stood at the ready but no one approached and it was at this point the Owners looked at each other. Cut, bleeding, aching, and angry, the Saiyan Prince struggled against the chain that held him tight but it did not give. Out of breath he looked back at the others and silence surrounded him for a time. His head dipped and he panted for breath.

One of the three Masters came up and gripped the Saiyan by the thick black hair and cracked his head against the pole. Standing back, he looked over to the other fighters and he narrowed his eyes. "Keep practicing. This thing will be used as expected." It would not be long before they again started their ruthless beating upon the slave shackled to the post. Dazed, in pain, and tormented, he suffered for the next several hours at their hands, the blood lust in the fighters increasing as the days passed by.

The day came though when finally the Saiyan could stand no more. Thrashing about, trying to get free, he found himself surrounded and his gaze penetrating, but something else had changed as well, the gold hair and green eyes shown something more. Then as he powered through, he became the Ascended Super Saiyan. They had heard of this golden warrior, but now, they seen him first hand and the Masters took a step back. The slave looked to each other to try to tangle with the slave but his green eyes looked so evil, they got within five feet and not an inch closer. An unblinking gaze pierced right into them as he stood his ground, roughed up, battered about, but one thing he did know was that he dared any to get close to him now.

Though the Saiyan stood his ground, his Masters grinned, they had found their fighter, and who did they have but none other than the feared Ghost himself. It would play well to their plot as they backed the slaves off of the shackled warrior. Jorith looked toward Vegeta and grinned as he clasped hands together. "My, what a treasure. You'll be making me rich. However it is by your choice, either a fighter, or a freak sideshow. Either will not matter."

Vegeta scoffed lightly as he looked at the other Owners with the same greed in their eyes and turned back toward the post he was chained to. He had no say in the matter, and he knew it, but maybe he could get them close enough. However the slave knew that it would not happen, these people were too skilled at handling fighters, and legends had left him as an expert escape artist, every precaution would be taken. They neared him but cautiously as Martalo watched for any sign of aggression toward the other two Owners. As Jorith and Bothis both neared the Saiyan, they would hold out a piece of meat in their hands and the moment he tried to take the food, they pulled it away, and kept it up until they forced him to eat from the hand itself. The slave had no choice if he wanted to eat and as much as he hated it, he knew their scheme to think that they could tame him. It was driving him in crazy.

It would be months of cruel entrapment and being starved would lead to their goading and ultimately driving him to the point of insanity. It was no longer the calm Saiyan slave that had been known with rational thought, it was a crazed warrior driven for one thing, his bloodlust trained to again be the killer that he once had been. Now he prowled the back pen, lonely, shackled, and his gaze held such a lethal gaze that none dared to near him. Pole leashes were slipped on over the head as they would lead him to the Gladitorial Arena and it was then that they would release him upon the overly confident fighter waiting in the dirt floor.

It was over before it started, the kill too quick to follow with the bare eye and so they unleashed the others on him. One by one, they fell, victim of the ruthless fury of the Saiyan warrior that stood in their midst. Then came the final round, and his wife was forced up to the stage. It was a fight to the death, he knew it and it was for the entertainment of the Free and Owner sitting in the stands of the coloseum. When she came out his heart skipped a beat, she looked terrible, as he took a step toward her, but the guards on hand would shock them both. There was no time for lost times to be made up. They demanded that the two Saiyans fight, and it was a fight that they were provoking. Vegeta turned and growled but the moment he lunged for them, he was brought down hard to the ground and a control collar was slipped around his throat for the first time.

When the setting was on, he tried to again go after the guards but the collar did not allow that. A command was given that he fight the female and he knew he couldn't refuse, not with this collar on. So forced to turn on his wife they talked for a moment, and then the fight commenced to the whim of those in the stands. When came the time for the final strike, she pleaded him to end her life and so with the honor from the warriors, he slayed her. His gaze lifted up to the cheering crowds, and the moment they caught one look from that penetrating gaze, silence filled the stands. His voice was raised loud enough for them to hear now and the Saiyan spoke carefully. "Are you entertained now? Are you satisfied with the bloodlust of the slaves that you have tortured for your own selfish desires? Are you now pleased with your greed and ignorance to those that serve you?"

There would be no other words as he walked from the Arena and the moment he left, none dared to speak. It wasn't until long after the Saiyan left that they finally filtered out of the coloseum and as they went home, they forgot all about the lone Saiyan now in the Southern Forest. As the lights dimmed in the City of Jronia, Vegeta sat in a pine tree and watched the others going to and fro. Alone once more, he meandered through the forests, his gaze to the forest floor and it was then that he placed three headstones and knelt down. On each of the headstones were the names of his kids. On each headstone was placed a single white rose.

------2008-----

Vegeta leaned back a bit in the hospital bed as the Officer and a group of others had gathered to hear this story. Some had tears in their eyes, others left speechless. However the officer noticed one thing that the others didn't and that was a single tear that had silently slipped down his cheek that now dripped into the thick black hair. It was unbelieveable, but everything was adding up. Exhausted the Saiyan would lay back in the pillow and for the first time even the doctors would realize just how alone he had been.

Quietly, the black eyes would close to slumber as they filtered out. This was an intriguing tale to say the least and silently, without Vegeta's knowledge the story was being recorded. That night Jeremy sat down and listened to the story again, and as he did, he typed it up on the computer. This person that had been held a slave for so long, coming so close to freedom was beginning to wake him up to how much people took for granted in his time as well, though there were no slaves here. Still the loss of a family was tragic, and he'd seen it many times in his line of work. Vegeta though still had that black collar around his throat, a mark that he was not yet free of the papers that had held him for so long.

Still many questions lingered after he was finished. What happened to him when he was in the forest? Why wasn't he able to maintain his freedom? What kept the Saiyan alive for so long and could it have been the collar that had granted him an immortality until it was removed? So many questions still remained unanswered, but he could tell by the cracked voice of the Saiyan, that he would not lie of something like that. He was anxious for the next visit to the slave. Little did he know how restless the night would be for the warrior lying in the hospital room that night. As he turned over to sleep, Vegeta gazed heavenward out his window as he quietly gazed to a spot just beneath the North Star to the empty space. A deep sigh was given, the first in years as old wounds were conjured up. They would undoubtedly be back to hear what came next.