Disclaimer: I do NOT own Dragonball/Z/GT or anything related, except my own made up characters. Everything else belongs to their respectful owners.

Chapter 8 - No Way Out?

Vegeta was SSJ4. He was making much better progress now. An indentation on the wall indicated the area where he'd been working on non-stop for more or less fifteen hours. His body was aching but he couldn't stop to rest. Not with the poisonous gas making slow but sure progress towards him.

He rammed his body into the wall and let the pain soar through him. This was definitely no ordinary kind of metal. When I find out who did this, I'm going to choke them to death with whatever thing this wall is made of!

He charged into the wall, recovered and charged again. Recovered and charged again...

Until, suddenly he felt heavier. Much heavier, as if something was pulling him down. This was nothing to do with his lack of energy. It was as if someone had changed the gravity of the room to an immeasurable amount.

Vegeta fought on. A bead of sweat trickled down his forehead. He couldn't give up. He won't let this woman go through the pleasure of seeing him die. A woman!

The woman replied as if knowing what he was thinking. 'I'll see you die one way or another. No point in resisting. Vegeta.' She said his name as if it was some kind of disease. Suddenly the gas was much more rapid. It definitely more than quadrupled its speed. 'And just to rub some salt in the wound, I'll tell you this: You'll be meeting the rest of your friends soon. Very soon. In the otherworld!' She laughed with delight.

Vegeta didn't reply. He was too focused on trying to stay up and not getting pulled down. He started charging an energy blast.

'Big… Bang…' He was already feeling the little energy he had being drained away from him. His will power alone kept him going. He was panting, gasping for breath. '…Attack!'

Vegeta fired at the mark where he'd been trying to get through for what seemed like aeons. At that very second the pull became too much and he couldn't do anything about it. He felt exhausted and fell down like a dead bird. He just managed to glimpse the results of his attack. The dent had almost tripled. A small smile forced itself through, but it quickly changed into a frown.

He had been so stupid! If only he had done that right from the beginning while he still had a lot of energy. A few attacks and he would have been outside right now.

Vegeta held his breath and braced for impact. He landed on the ground surrounded by the poisonous gas. He looked upwards, still holding his breath. One small breath of the gas could probably be fatal. He figured he now had about two hours. That definitely wasn't enough time. Not with the insanely increased gravity and the need to gather his energy and not forgetting he needed to get out of this poison filled area.

He began to slowly climb his way upwards. He didn't have enough energy to fly. The gravity was pulling him down, tugging at every atom in his body. He made painfully slow progress. Every step of the way his whole body screamed for air. Physically it was over. His mind was the only thing that kept him in it.

He had to go back and help the others. Who knew how strong this woman was? Who knew if she was even going to fight them? She might lead them into a trap like she led him. He had to get back. He forced himself to go faster. His arms and legs were like those of a spider. He scuttled up the walls and within a few painful minutes he had climbed above the gas and was finally able to breathe. He had been in danger of blacking out a couple of times during his climb but he managed to force himself on.

Vegeta made much faster progress from then on. The ability to breathe had certainly helped a lot and within a minute he was back to his original spot. He was panting for breath and was about to black out. He just managed to hook himself onto the door handle using his armour before drifting off to unconsciousness.

In the morning Gohan and Chichi had called everyone. They told them that Goku was back. Everyone was delighted with this news. They had all came here to see their old friend again but also to hear what Kazino had to say.

'Good to see you back, Goku,' said the smiling Krillin.

'It's been a long time,' added Yamcha.

'It sure has.' Goku said. He looked around at everyone. A puzzled look came over his face. 'Where's Vegeta?'

'Oh, he went somewhere yesterday.' Bulma replied. 'He should be back sometime soon… I left him a note telling him where we are.'

'We'll just start now and then tell him what's going on once he's here,' said Goku. He nodded at Kazino, 'You can start when you're ready.' Kazino nodded back.

'Well… to put it bluntly,' Kazino started, surveying his audience. He seemed to pick his words carefully. '… I'm not from this… universe...'

A look of shock took over his audience's faces. Krillin was the first to recover.

'What do you mean you're "not from this universe"?' he asked.

'I'm not from this universe.' He continued. 'Not even from this dimension. I'm a Barmun, the leading race in a Universal Alliance.' He sighed. 'It was an idea to help other races less fortunate than us. We were blessed with fertile lands and great minds, allowing us to produce great amounts of food. More than we actually needed, much more. We also had the best scientists that were available at our disposal. You could say we were a well-developed race.

'But others weren't as lucky. Some were facing starvation. Others used all of their money to buy food and had none left to invest into science and development. Some even resorted to pillaging and plundering each other. So my father, Narmus – our King, proposed a deal to all of them…

Everyone was seated around an oval shaped table. These were the kings of all the different races in the universe… at least the ones we know of. I looked around me in awe. There were fifty-seven different "leaders" in all – males, females and genderless. I never thought I'd be sitting with so many important people. Not when I was still only twelve. I sat to the left of my father. To his right was my older brother, Kojo, heir to the throne.

The room was huge, easily able to fit about a thousand people. But it wasn't its size that caused me to look in awe every time I entered it. Nor was it the fact that the tables and chairs were made of gold or that the walls were coated in silver. It was its many pillars placed at set intervals around the circle shaped room. They were holding what appeared to be an inside balcony. A few doors indicated the way in and out of there. The thing about the pillars that took my breath away was what they were made of.

Pure diamonds.

My father had brought in the finest architects on the planet to design his palace, wanting it to be the best there is. He had paid them well and was very pleased with the results. He immediately approved of it and . He had it constructed in no time.

There were two pillars at opposite sides of the roombuilding considerably larger than the others. From where I was sitting, with the door behind me, one was at "nine o'clock" and the other at "three o'clock". Different coloured Diamonds were collected for these two and then put together to form writing.

The one at "three o'clock" was arranged so that it said, 'Prince Kojo', using the green diamonds for the letters and white diamonds for the rest of the pillar. The same was done for the other pillar but instead it said, 'Prince Kazino', using blue diamonds instead of green.

Under the palace was a gigantic water tank, home to many different sea-creatures such as whales and dolphins. At the front of the palace is a stairway which leads down to the water-tank. I've been there many times walking along its vast corridors or staring at the different sea-creatures for hours on end. The tank was bigger than the palace and extended for about another 20m around it. The ground there was covered in something like a wire mesh to allow oxygen to dissolve into the water and keeping the creatures from suffocating to death. The same was done at the sides of all the rooms, the side where the door is usually remained untouched.

The floor of the room was made of glass, allowing the occupants to see the water-tank and the sea-creatures within it and marvel at its beauty. I couldn't recall the amount of times I sat, alone or with my elder brother, staring at the water-tank as a whale swam by or a couple of dolphins played together, diving in and out and above and below each other.

The ceiling of the room hosted three huge chandeliers in a straight line. The one at the middle was twice the size of the other two.

'Welcome to my home.' Narmus stood up addressing everyone. His voice, loud and firm, was easily heard throughout the room. His posture was imposing, desiring respect as King of the Barmuns but none more than he ought to have. He was a just ruler loved by his people. He acted fairly and did not allow his personal feelings to cloud his judgement, something he was deeply respected for throughout the universe.

'I know that you would all like a way to improve the conditions in which your respective race lives in.' he continued. A murmur of agreement was echoed around the vast room.

'That is why I have gathered you all here. I would like to propose something that would benefit everyone. Every race would produce as much food as they were able to, we will gather all the food we'll put them all together and then divide it up equally, with each race getting the same amount.'

Approval was clear in the room. I looked around at everyone and they all seemed to agree. But one of them Then I saw someone who looked troubled, as if he didn't think it would work. He waslooked old and fragile, the long years certainly taking their toll on him. He stood up to speak.

'That is not a bad idea, King,' he said. It was a custom to call people by only their position when speaking formally. 'But the populations of the different races vary.'

Another man stood up. He was much more agile and strong. Lord of the Sandorians. I easily recognised him for his race had quite a fearful reputation though no one knew the extent of their powers.

'What has that got to do with anything Old Man?' he asked. The Emperor didn't answer but glared at him. A moment of awkward silence passed until finally, the Sandorian Lord spat the word, 'Emperor,' his disgust evident in his voice.

I didn't know how someone like him culd be allowed in such a huge meeting. He was arrogant and held no respect for others. I felt like going over and punching him square in the face but I knew that I wouldn't stand a chance against him.

'It's all very well for you, Lord,' countered the Emperor. 'You Sandorians have a small population. But what about us who have bigger numbers? The food will not be enough.'

There were a few heads nodding in agreement.

'It is not our fault that you cannot control the population of your race.' snapped the Sandorian Lord. It was obvious that he was getting angry. Which wasn't surprising as the Sandorians usually relied on force. His race was unknown to the rest of them until it was recently discovered on accident by a group of scientists a few months ago but they've already got a reputation for taking matters into their own hands.

'I'm sorry but I don't believe in using threats and physical force to "control" my race's population - unlike some people here.'

'Puny little weakling…'

'Lord, Emperor, if both of you may sit down. This is not a battlefield.' Narmus said. 'You have a good point emperor.' The king stopped and thought for a few seconds. 'We could divide the food depending on how many beings each race has. Each being would get a set percentage from the food, which will be given to their respective leader. He should divide it among his people as he wishes.'

The Lord of the Sandorians was still frowning.

'All in favour stand up.' Asked my father.

Everyone stood up except the Sandorians' Lord. No one except father met his eyes as he glowered at all those standing. It came to my attention that the water tank visible through the see-through floor had suddenly become a huge attraction.

'It is decided then.'

'But we ask something in return to our favour.' Narmus said, pausing for a moment before he continued. ' The Barmuns be recognised as the leaders.'

This time there were much more people frowning, although they were civilized enough to keep their anger under control.

'There's always a catch…' moaned the Emperor.

'If you agree to this could you stand up again.'

One person stood up.

'You will still govern your own planets.' Narmus continued, ignoring their obvious discontent . 'The only difference is that my word over-rules everything. Whoever wishes to accept my offer, stand up.'

A few people stood up uncertainly. Eventually others started to follow suit until there was only one person left - The Lord of the Sandorians.

He was still frowning, his face was the spitting image of rage. All eyes were on him, but he refused to stand up. Eventually glowered around at everyone and reluctantly stood up, muttering something under his breath.. His race's survival was more important than its pride. At least that's what I thought was why he decided to finally agree.

I caught his eye; his deep red eyes, something I wish I had never done. He glared at me. His eyes were full of hatred; they drew me in to their very depths to see the monster within - waiting for the right moment to unleash its fury. I quickly looked away suddenly becoming very interested in the intricate carvings on the gold table.

'Thank you for your co-operation.' Narmus said, and then, 'We will share a feast to celebrate.' Narmus said.

For once there were cheers from everyone as they made their way out. I decided that I was right in saying that feasting was definitely a favourite.