Chapter 007 - The Saiyans Arrive
The darkened sky had thrown the two children off. It had just passed midday, why was it suddenly dark?
"Hey why'd it get dark all of a sudden?" Gohan asked baffled.
"It's not night time," Corset added puzzled.
Piccolo knew what was going on, although neither of the other two knew this. The Dragonballs had been gathered months ago and now Goku was finally being wished back to life. This was bad. According to what Raditz had said the Saiyans shouldn't arrive for another couple of months. Yet why else would Shenron be called forth?
It was closing in on them. The doomsday was closing in.
A couple of days passed.
Training resumed as usual, albeit Piccolo seemed unusually reluctant to go all out or even force them to train. Instead the two were told to get plenty of food down their stomachs when they woke up, then Piccolo allowed them time to 'digest their food'. Since when had he been so caring? Corset wished she'd asked sooner.
A shockwave bolted across the sky just before lunchtime. It hadn't gone unnoticed by the three fighters – or the animals nearby.
"What's going on?" Gohan asked.
"The Saiyans have arrived," Piccolo answered.
Corset's stomach plummeted hearing those words. Sure she'd been trained and prepared for this day but now that it had arrived she couldn't help but feel nervous and a little scared.
A small shockwave hit the trio, a relatively strong gust of wind whistling past them before slowly dying down.
"They've destroyed a city far from here," Piccolo muttered. "Looks like the bloodshed has begun."
Anxiously the three waited for the invaders to make their next move. Corset's heart was thumping madly in her ribs; the day had finally come for her to face the two Saiyans. She didn't know how Gohan was feeling or how Piccolo was feeling but she felt terrified. Two powerful monsters who were meant to be stronger than the man who'd hurt her mother and floored Goku.
It wasn't just this that had her scared. Something else was playing on her mind.
It didn't take long before Piccolo's attention was taken again. He turned his head as he felt the two strong ki begin to move. "The Saiyans are coming for us. Both of you be on your guard!"
"O-Okay," Gohan nodded.
Corset seemed to be preoccupied with something.
"... Mr Piccolo... can I ask you something?"
"What is it?" Piccolo muttered.
Corset wasn't sure how to explain how this thought had come to her but she felt a need to ask it. "... The reason Gohan and his daddy and that mean guy had tails was because they were aliens, right?"
"That's right," Piccolo nodded. "It seems all Saiyans – and apparently half-Saiyans – are born with tails. That's why you and Gohan had tails."
"... My mama isn't a Saiyan," Corset mumbled, "… so does that mean my daddy is?"
"I assume so," Piccolo nodded.
"The pineapple-haired guy said there were only four survivors," Gohan had a feeling he knew where Corset was going. "If he and my dad were two of them..."
"... then doesn't that make one of the two coming today my daddy?" Corset asked.
Piccolo didn't speak for a while.
"...From what that Raditz guy said, there are only four known survivors from when their home planet was destroyed; he and Son Goku included. No doubt one of the two we are about to fight was responsible for your birth... Don't let that stop you from concentrating on the fight! Both Saiyans are set to kill you, rediculous family ties or not. You both saw how Goku's brother treated him; ties to family don't mean anything to them; they are true fighters. Don't get yourselves killed – either of you!"
"Right!" Both Gohan and Corset chanted.
Corset frowned to herself. So that's how it was. She finally knew something about her father's identity but she wasn't sure she wanted to meet him... She had no choice; she'd been trained for this moment for just under a year.
"There are loads of them," Gohan mumbled. "I thought there was only supposed to be two Saiyans."
Corset blinked and realised there were several ki converging on them. Her nerves began to kick in – just how many big power levels were on the planet?
Piccolo turned to the right as someone began to descend. Gohan and Corset both spotted him as Krillin landed beside them.
"S-Saiyan!" Gohan cried.
"Hey, long time no see, Piccolo," Krillin smiled.
Corset blinked and squinted at the bald guy. She gasped and realised she did recognise him.
"Hey, I remember you!" Gohan realised. "You're that guy from the turtle hermit's place! You're one of dad's friends!"
"I'm Krillin," the small monk nodded, turning his attention to the two children. "You two have both grown a lot since the last time I saw you!"
"You're small but you're still strong. My dad used to tell me all about you!" Gohan beamed.
Krillin pouted and placed his clenched fists onto his hips. "Small, eh? Figures your dad would lead with small, just because he grew a little…" He leaned in closer to the two of them. "So how was training with Piccolo? I'm amazed you two seem to be as polite as you were a year ago!"
"The training was ok," Corset replied.
"Yeah, it was alright." Gohan smiled. "Mr Piccolo wasn't that bad either; once you get to know him he's not as bad as everyone-"
"The small talk is over!" Piccolo interrupted Gohan. "They're here."
Krillin, Gohan and Corset all looked up into the sky.
Two dark silhouettes hovered high above; the two Saiyans staring back down at them.
Just the sight of them sent chills throughout Corset's body. She watched almost frozen as the two descended and landed before them. The difference in size was crazy! One Saiyan was at least six times the size of her whilst the other was a lot shorter, possibly half the size of the tall Saiyan. The looks in their eyes reminded her so much of Gohan's uncle, terrifying her further.
"Hey, concentrate kiddo," Krillin nudged her, Corset snapping out of her state and taking in a deep breath.
"It seems they've been expecting us," the shorter of the two Saiyans spoke with a cool tone.
Corset glared at both of the enemies intensely. First she looked over the taller Saiyan; he was bald and very beefy with a moustache. His armour reminded her of the same armour the pineapple-haired guy had. He looked scary to her. Then there was the other Saiyan; he was very short compared to his partner. His hair was wild and stood up on end; it reminded Corset of a flame. His stance was unnerving; he seemed quite confident. His armour was slightly different to the other Saiyan's.
"... Voice?" Piccolo asked.
Corset perked up and started listening again.
"Didn't Raditz tell you this device also acts as a communicator?" The shorter Saiyan asked.
"He looks like a Namekian to me," the taller Saiyan added.
"It's not so surprising that Raditz was beaten then."
Raditz? Was that the pineapple-haired guy? Corset was sure she'd heard Piccolo refer to him as that...
"What? N-Namekian?" Krillin repeated baffled. "Hey, they called you a Namekian? Does that mean you're an alien too?"
An alien? Piccolo was an alien? For some reason Corset found this quite easy to accept – he didn't have tentacles but he was green. She'd never seen any humans or animals who looked like him...
"They say Namekians have strange abilities as well as fighting skills; even magic and sorcery. No doubt it was you who created the Dragonballs," the shorter Saiyan smiled.
Krillin gasped. "You know about the Dragonballs?"
"Why else would we bother with this dump?" The taller Saiyan snorted. "Hand them over! Bring all the Namekians you want; they're just weaklings compared to us."
How did they know about the Dragonballs? Although she'd never seen a real Dragonball, Corset had been told plenty of stories from her mother's youth of when she and the gang used to collect them. Corset had always wanted to see one for herself and had insisted one day she too would go on a Dragonball hunt with her mother. Her mother had always said to her 'when you're older'... that day hadn't come so far.
"... You know, I ought to be thanking you guys." Piccolo's voice brought Corset back to reality; she made a note that she was zoning out too much! "Now I have a much greater insight into my ancestry. However, it wasn't me who created the Dragonballs. I'm a fighter and I'll quite happily prove it to you! Now who's a weakling?"
"Someone's raring to go. Don't be so willing to die. If you hand over the Dragonballs now, we might just spare you." The shorter Saiyan spoke.
"Yeah right, we're not handing the Dragonballs over so easily!" Krillin spat.
The shorter Saiyan sighed and shook his head. "... Alright then, have it your way." He turned his head to glance over to his partner. "How many Saibamen seeds have we got left, Nappa? Perhaps these fools can entertain us for a little while to prove their worth."
The taller Saiyan dug into his armour and pulled out what looked like a small capsule. "... Looks like there are six left."
"Plant them," the other ordered. "We'll see just how tough these Earthlings are."
Nappa smiled sadistically. "You like to play games, don't you Vegeta?"
'So the taller guy is Nappa and the shorter guy is Vegeta,' Corset noted to herself, watching in confusion as Nappa bent down to the ground. He appeared to be digging up the soil, placing whatever it was he was holding into several holes. He then poured some sort of liquid over the holes.
The soil began to shift making Corset's spine shiver. What was going on now? Whatever was about to appear made her feel worried...
As if by magic, green heads began to break free of the dirt. Strange little monsters began to rise from the ground, screeching at the top of their lungs as they did so.
Krillin gawked at the beings as they stood opposite them. "Gross!"
Corset began to shake, feeling her nerves beginning to get to her.
"Don't let your guards down for a second, got it?" Piccolo barked, making Corset - and Gohan – jump.
"R-Right Mr. Piccolo," Gohan gulped, putting on a brave face and clenching his fists.
Two ki signals bolted through the four warrior's minds, Corset backing into Piccolo for protection as a tall bald man and a small pale person landed beside them. She didn't recognise either of them.
"Tenshinhan and Chaozu!" Krillin smiled.
"Sorry we're late," The taller man apologised. Corset noticed he seemed to have a third eye on his forehead. How on earth had he ended up with a third eye? Was he human? Then again what was the other guy – he looked like a clown! Was he human?
The young girl couldn't help but feel a little less unique amongst these guys; Piccolo was green, there were now a tall-three-eyed man and a clown amongst them, and the man called Krillin had a very shiny head! Somehow having a tail didn't seem so bad now.
"Hey don't worry about it; you haven't missed any of the action." Krillin smiled.
"... Weren't there only meant to be two Saiyans?" The three-eyed man asked.
"Maybe you should complain, Tenshinhan," Krillin smirked. "Those two guys at the back are the Saiyans; I'm not sure what these green things are but they just grew out of the ground!"
"I see," Tenshinhan looked down at the two children either side of Piccolo.
"... So that's Goku's son and Bulma's little girl? I have to admit the boy's the spitting image of Goku when he was little."
Corset perked up and realised the attention was on her and Gohan. Again the blush came to her face as she tried to not make eye-contact. Not quite a year had passed and still she found it horrible when people around her focused on her.
"Their names are Gohan and Corset," Krillin nodded.
"They just keep coming like a swarm of gnats and now they expect us to wait?" The taller Saiyan snorted.
"Be patient, Nappa," Vegeta smirked. "There's six of them now and six Saibamen. Maybe we ought to make a game out of this? They could all take on one Saibaman at a time."
"A game? Don't be absurd! Fight us for real!" Piccolo bellowed. No matter whom he was angry at, it always made Corset cower when he yelled at someone.
"C-Calm down, not everyone's here yet!" Krillin tried to cool Piccolo's temper off. "Goku's not here yet, remember?"
Again a ki signal caught the group's attention. Corset felt like maybe she recognised this one.
Yamcha appeared up above and landed. "Sorry I'm late," he greeted the others.
Corset wasn't sure whether to be happy to see Yamcha or not. Her mother didn't say too many good things about him and when she did, it was usually followed by something bad. Still at this moment in time she knew she shouldn't be so judgemental. Whether he upset her mother or not was irrelevant – they were all in this together. Plus Yamcha had an impressive amount of strength within him so the more help they could get, the better.
"Now there's seven of them Vegeta," Nappa mumbled. "I guess your tournament is out the window now!"
"No matter; one of them will just have to wait their turn," Vegeta didn't seem bothered by any of it, his smirk hadn't wavered and his arms were still folded.
Nappa glared back at the Earthlings opposite. "Alright maggots, which one of you dares to face the Saibamen first?"
Corset almost choked on the lump that appeared in her throat. They were supposed to fight those gross-looking things? She was going to have to fight for real? She was going to have to fight for her life? She was suddenly feeling very unprepared.
"I'll go first," Tenshinhan stepped forward.
Vegeta looked at one of the green monsters, "you go; don't hold anything back." He ordered. The Saibaman nodded and walked out towards Tenshinhan.
The battle began instantly. Corset found she was able to keep up with their movement. The sudden jet of acid caught Gohan off-guard; luckily she'd been standing on the right side of Piccolo and had dodged it. She continued to watch and breathed a sigh of relief when Tenshinhan knocked his opponent down without even taking any damage.
"You did it Tenshinhan!" Chaozu cheered.
"Wow, he's strong," Gohan smiled.
Corset smiled and nodded; yes, Tenshinhan was strong. Very strong.
Apparently the Saiyan called Nappa had not been expecting that result. Vegeta's smirk had faded. Both seemed bothered by the result of the small scuffle.
"... But how?" Nappa asked. "The Saibaman's power is equal to Raditz!"
There it was again; Raditz's name. So these green monsters were supposed to be as strong as the pineapple-haired man who'd kidnapped Corset and Gohan? Her fear of these creatures was reinforced. Corset definitely didn't want to fight one of these things now!
"No matter; it'll just mean more fun for us. It would seem the Earthlings have been preparing for us after all..." Vegeta's smirk reappeared.
The Saibaman began to get back up.
"Tenshinhan – it's getting back up!" Chaozu cried.
In the blink of an eye, the Saibaman was struck by a blast and destroyed, carcass spattered over the ground.
The sudden explosion startled Corset and she stared wide-eyed at the now dead Saibaman... or what remained of it. It was becoming increasingly difficult to hide the distress she was in. The Saibaman was dead. It had taken just one hit. Whatever had hit it, it had only taken one strike... All of the courage and confidence in her abilities were gone. She was going to die.
"... Vegeta, why?" Nappa asked.
"The Earthling had him beaten," Vegeta answered as he folded his arms once again. "The fight was already decided; it would have been a waste of time to continue. I told him to go all out!"
Corset gulped, fearful eyes falling on the shorter Saiyan. So he'd been responsible. The energy she'd felt in that instant was horrendously strong. She felt so weak and insignificant to this fight now. There was nothing she would be able to do. She couldn't do it.
The terror was getting to her as she hid a little more behind Piccolo's leg. Nappa noticed this and smirked. "Hey, how about the little brat hiding behind the Namek be the next challenger?"
Corset's eyes widened, breathing quickening. Now she was dead. Her body shook violently, the emotions conjuring up tears in the five-year-olds eyes.
"Don't be absurd! I'll go before she does! She's just a kid!" Krillin stepped forward.
Corset tensely diverted her eyes to the ground, somehow hoping this would make them forget about her and ask someone else to fight.
"Aww, the little baby's too scared to step up and be a real fighter," Nappa sneered. "How about the other brat instead then?"
"Let me handle this one Krillin," Yamcha stepped forward.
"Why? Listen, I can take these guys." Krillin insisted.
"If I go to fight and something happens, I can still be revived with the Dragonballs; you've already been revived once and we all know the dragon can't grant the same wish twice," Yamcha explained. "Please sit this one out for me Krillin; I promise you'll get your chance. Besides, I'm really anxious to show them what we're all about down here on Earth!"
Krillin seemed to lull over this and sighed with a frown. "Alright, this fight is yours Yamcha," he mumbled.