I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the rights to any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.
Chapter 15: Recognition
Vegeta flip-kicked the large Misokatsun as he attempted to punch the Saiyan prince. He stumbled backwards, stunned, and Vegeta took full advantage by charging in and punching as hard as he could. Misokatsun's large belly took the punch all the way to the point where Vegeta's fist got stuck, surrounded by the flab of the newcomer.
"What the?" Vegeta gasped as he looked up into the monster's grinning face. Vegeta jumped back as a big fist came swinging, barely missing him. Just what is this tub of lard made of? That was no ordinary punch, Vegeta pondered as he stared down the beast, who was chuckling slightly.
"What's so funny tubby? Did I make a joke?" Vegeta growled as he slid back into his fighting stance. He appreciated the new challenge, but he was still uncomfortable without his energy. Misokatsun declined to do more than laugh before he trudged forward again. Vegeta read his attack before he even made it, and caught the fat arm in mid-punch. Vegeta swung the large beast around and hurled him into the wall, smashing it into several stone pieces. Vegeta didn't wait for him to get up, and rushed towards the fat monster. It rose to a sitting position just in time to see Vegeta's fist drawn back. Misokatsun was flattened by the head blow, and groaned heavily as he lay stunned for several seconds.
"Even that pathetic creature over there took more effort to beat, you're a disgrace!" Vegeta spat as he walked back into the room. Misokatsun stirred and stared angrily at Vegeta, who turned back to return the glare.
"So, you want some more?" Vegeta asked with a slight smirk. Misokatsun rose out of the rubble and slowly stomped towards Vegeta, eager to engage him again. Bulma suddenly screamed, causing Vegeta to glance over. Dr. Redwood was down and being dragged from the room by a pair of dark arms clenched around his legs, he quickly vanished. Vegeta turned just as the large monster smashed his face, and a whole new realization came to him as he flew into the wall. Blast it all! The woman was right again; there are more than one of those alien freaks. My pride has gotten us into enough trouble for one day, its time to adjust my strategy. I won't be able to fend this thing off and keep an eye on her without my energy and without Trunks here.
"Bulma, call the boy!" Vegeta growled as he pulled himself from the wall. Bulma was already dialing.
I was lazily watching the tube when I heard the phone ring. I let Mrs. Briefs answer though; I really didn't feel like getting up just yet. She had taken her sweet time in taking over babysitting duties; apparently the conference she and her husband were at went into overtime. She had blamed it on the big ball of stubbornness that most scientists and philosophers eventually become. That and the whole song and dance about Dr. Briefs getting into it with a rival of sorts over robotic technology, some dude named Cash. I eventually tuned her out when she went into every single detail about how rude he was. I was looking through the local news for any relevant developments, hoping for anything that didn't involve bitching scientists. That was when Bunny came rushing in with the phone.
"It's for you honey!" she said with a ditzy smile. I cocked an eyebrow up at her, wondering just who would be calling this late.
"Yes?" I asked into the phone.
"Verto, it's me!" Bulma's voice rang in.
"What is it?" I asked, though noting the urgency in her voice.
"We need your help down here. We ran into a lot of trouble. There's aliens running around, the drilling team ran out on us, Vegeta's fighting some sort of really big monster, and we can't find Trunks!" she said quickly as the sounds of Vegeta's battle cry echoed through the phone.
"All right, I'll be there shortly!" I said.
"Thanks, oh I almost forgot!" she suddenly called out.
"What?" I asked as I heard some static build up in the phone.
"There's something weird about this place, Vegeta can't seem to use his, …. So be ready… that. Bring a …kit, its very cold!" she said, breaking up before I heard a disconnect tone. Humph, cellular service at it's best.
"What's going on cutie?" Bunny asked.
"Some sort of trouble, I'll be back later. If you see Lenz, tell her I went to help them out, but she is not to come down!" I said as I put on my shoes.
"Hey, you forgot your green shirt!" she called out as I promptly headed for the door.
"Wash it!" I shouted back, shaking my head slightly at her air-headed behavior. When I reached the door though, a fiery red headed girl greeted me with the deepest scowl I had ever seen.
"Going somewhere boy?" Leira asked.
"Yes I am actually. If you're here to tell me why you're here, it will have to wait," I said sternly.
"You never think things out do you? Just rush out the door to help your friends without trying to analyze the situation," she said.
"I'll have to make due on the fly, as I don't know the situation aside from what I was just told, now get out of my way!" I said, attempting to push past her. She blocked my way and actually pushed me back into the building. Well, she is fairly strong, I'll give her that.
"What you may not have heard is that your energy will not function there. There is a temple buried in the ice, which is where they are now. It is a sacred place, and has a natural suppression field that blocks out Psionic waves," she explained. My questioning eyebrow went back up for a moment at this informative girl.
"Fine, I'll only use my ki, anything else?"
"That will not work either, as Vegeta and Trunks know by now. Someone other than your surrogate mother got a hold of the Protoss technology that was left behind. I'm sure you remember the ki disruption devices," she said with a beaming look. I growled slightly, not directly at her, but of the memory of that particular occurrence.
"So are the Protoss back as well, or is this a different breed of aliens?" I asked.
"Didn't you hear what I just said? Argh, no, these aliens have been frozen on Earth for some time. I'm sure you'll know what to do with them once you get there. Since you might have problems, I am willing to offer some assistance," she claimed.
"You're going to come with me then?" I asked. The offer was quite tempting given the situation; my knowledge of her was very limited. Even without directly telling me what I wanted to know, seeing her in action would probably be enough to answer a few questions.
"No, I am not coming with you. I will only give you this," she said, dropping a thin brown stone into my hands. I looked it over briefly, seeing small markings and inscriptions all around it.
"This enchanted stone will allow you to channel a small amount of your spiritual energy, but beware. Its power is limited, if used too much or too long, it will crumble apart and become useless. Choose your spots wisely and carefully and you may yet be able to rescue your friends. In all cases however, do not allow any of those creatures to escape their frozen tomb. They will create quite a mess on this planet if that happens. You will see what I mean when I get there," Leira said as she turned to leave.
"Thanks, but when are you going to tell me who you really are, and why you are here?" I asked.
"When it is your time to know little one," she said in a much nicer tone. I watched her vanish into the shadows before shutting the door and taking flight, heading full speed towards the cold wastelands of the south.
Trunks walked carefully through the passages as he attempted to find his parents. The temple had shifted several more times, altering his path a great deal. He now had no real idea where his current path would lead him, but he had a feeling that it would be near the temple entrance. The only thing to tell him this was the increasingly chilly air. This was the only real benefit of his energy being gone, the ability to rely on his other senses. Currently, his sense of smell was picking up two distinct scents in the air. One of them was human, but the other one was nowhere near anything he had ever smelled before. It was barely even there, more like a strong musty scent one would find in a wet basement. If they weren't in a frozen wasteland, Trunks probably wouldn't have even noticed it. He didn't feel that his mother and father were up ahead since they had ventured deeper into the temple's catacombs, but he needed a point of reference right now before he tried to retrace his footsteps. He also figured that if he would encounter them anywhere soon, it would be there. Several hours had passed since he left the other humans and the tiny creatures that had attacked them, and he hadn't seen or heard anything since then. For quite awhile he was lost in the confusion of the constantly shifting rooms and passageways, but once that halted he was able to find a main hallway to stick to.
A sudden shout grabbed his attention as he heard footsteps up ahead, followed by a gunshot. He ran towards it quickly, but didn't reach the source of the sound for several minutes. When he arrived, he saw the gun on the ground, still smoking a bit. It was also covered in a strange slime that was dripping from the ceiling above. Next to it, there was a distinct hole in the floor that was still slowly eating away. Trunks recognized it to be the acid blood of the creatures before, but he didn't see any of them nearby. Another sound of footsteps came through the air, with the sound of a body hitting the floor like it had tripped. Trunks turned around when he realized the sound was behind him, and readied himself for whatever was running towards him. Trunks was expecting another one of those creatures, but knew that the sound coming was much different. Out of the shadows, a larger human was running towards him as fast as he could. Trunks narrowed his eyes when he saw it to be Captain Gates. Gates' eyes widened a bit when he saw the purple-haired child waiting for him, and he slowed down enough to catch his breath.
"Come on kid, you and me need to get moving! There's no telling how many of them are behind me!" Gates said.
"How many of what? Just what are you running from?" Trunks asked with a cocked eyebrow. Gates hesitated as he nervously glanced into the child's piercing eyes. He had enough memories of Vegeta's death glare to last him a lifetime, now he had the younger prince staring at him with a similar look.
"There are terrible creatures on the loose in here; they'll kill us all in no time. You and I are the only ones left; we need to get out of here!" Gates said in a pitiful tone. Trunks didn't buy it either.
"What creatures? Those tiny little spider things? I'm pretty sure my dad could take them all no sweat! After all, I beat one easily! I'll bet even you could with all your guns!" Trunks said with a slight laugh. Gates stared at the child for a moment, realizing a few things. First, the smaller aliens had attacked the other group before his men could get out, but he figured that might happen. Second, Trunks had obviously escaped some of that, because he didn't know about the larger aliens yet. Third, Trunks had no idea of what had transpired between himself and Vegeta, and he planned to use that last fact to his advantage.
"No, there are larger creatures around here that are killing everyone! Your dad tried to fight them off by himself while we attempted to escape, but he failed. He was very brave in trying to hold them all off, but it was futile. By now, everyone else has likely died. Now we need to get moving and seal that tunnel we dug out! Otherwise those things might escape!" Gates said as he grabbed Trunks' hand and attempted to pull him along. Trunks didn't budge, and Gates lost his grip and fell to the floor. When he turned, he saw that his little speech hadn't had the desired effect. The young Saiyan had inherited quite a list of things from his father, and pride was very high said list.
"No! I don't believe you! My dad can beat anything, especially some stupid monsters! We are not leaving them down here! If he has in fact failed to fend off these things, then I will take his place and beat them myself. Now take me to them!" Trunks ordered with a surprising tone for a child. Gates cringed slightly; he wasn't expecting Trunks to take the false information like that. He knew what would happen if he took the child back into the depths of the temple and ran into Vegeta. On the other hand, attempting escape right now wouldn't be a great idea either; he knew the child had strength beyond his normal human perception. As the gears turned in his head, he eventually gave in that he would have to accompany the child for now, and ditch him at the earliest convenience.
"All right, I'll take you down there. But I'm telling you there is no point, and we may get killed," Gates said, attempting to change the young Saiyan's mind, to no avail.
-
Less than five minutes into the journey back into the temple's depths, Gates started panicking and tried to stall.
"No, I won't go back in there again. Those things wiped out my team!" Gates cried out in fear as he sank to the ground. Gates was honestly not sure what he was more afraid of, the aliens, or Vegeta. He knew where he stood with the either choice, but at least he had a slight chance to get away from the aliens. Vegeta was a different story and even Gates knew that if the Saiyan prince spotted him again, he was dead meat. Trunks growled a bit as the human refused to move any further when he tugged on his jacket a bit. Trunks was considering just throwing him into the wall like his father was known for when people were in his way, but decided it wouldn't be the best idea right now. He needed the man's help to find his parents. A sudden sound above caused him to drop Gates' arm.
"I'm telling you I'm not moving from this spot kid!" Gates said, still groveling.
"Shhh," Trunks rasped as he tried to trace the sound. He heard a faint breathing sound, but didn't recognize it.
"Don't you shush me kid, I'm older than you and I know better. Those things killed everyone and we're only killing ourselves going back down there!" Gates shouted back.
"Shut up moron! There's something in here!" Trunks said as quietly as possible. Gates promptly shut his mouth as he got back up and looked towards the rafters. Trunks scanned the walls and ceiling over, finding several small holes that might serve as airshafts. He saw no movement, but that didn't mean anything. A soft step down grabbed his attention away from the rafters and into the shadows ahead. He saw something move into the very soft light in the area, but couldn't tell what it was right away. It got closer, and Trunks was able to make out some of its very alien features as it crept towards him and Gates. Being without Saiyan vision, Gates was unable to see what was coming, but he had a pretty good idea and backed up several steps.
"Time to run kid!" Gates suggested as he turned on his heel and took off.
"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Trunks shouted, prompting his alien opponent to attack. Trunks turned just in time to see the alien leap at him, and dodged aside. The alien recovered from its landing very quickly and leaped again. Trunks blocked its claw and spun quickly, smashing it in the head with his fist. The alien bounced off the floor once before landing on all fours and hissing at him. Trunks heard more commotion above him, and dove out of the way right as another large alien jumped down. Trunks got to his knees carefully as the two aliens stepped slowly towards him. Behind the two, he could still see Gates running for the exit to the temple. Trunks got up and growled a bit as he rolled up his jacket sleeves as an angry expression took over his face.
"You creeps have no idea what is about to happen to you!" he warned as the two aliens attacked.
Finding the area they had drilled in wasn't too difficult; there was nothing else there besides ice and snow. Though, it was nice of them to leave the trail of broken up ice that lead me straight to the drilling equipment. I flew low once I spotted it, as I sensed a void of life energy ahead. My Psi energy was long gone miles beforehand, so the task ahead was becoming increasingly daunting. I landed just before I entered it, and scanned around for anything that resembled a Protoss device. I didn't see anything other than the drilling equipment and the Capsule houses, and I didn't expect to either since there was a lot of snow being blown around by the wind. I sighed slightly, the area affected was much too large to detect an exact center point, and I really didn't have the time. I carefully stepped through the snow and felt my senses cloud up almost immediately just as my ki energy vanished. I considered testing the ancient stone that Leira had given me, but her warning of its power duration concerned me. Oh well, its not like I haven't dealt with this kind of thing before. My arms shivered a bit as the cold wind hit my bare skin. Should have brought a jacket though. I quickly ran through the cold and reached the large tunnel that had been drilled out. I spotted a large amount of blood suddenly and traced it back to the drilling equipment. There were five human bodies there, all of them dead and slightly frozen. My eyes instantly narrowed at this as I looked around for anyone else, finding nothing but snow. The bodies were strung out in a way that represented the murderer had simply walked up and killed them without much of a fight. A few of them had been slammed up against the massive drill; another had his throat ripped out by the look of it. In the snow there was one large and heavy looking set of footprints, all leading to the tunnel. Whoever did this is likely down there with them, most likely something big.
I could see small lights had been set up along with a few cables to hold onto, so I wasn't venturing into a completely dark abyss. I gently grabbed one of the cables and stepped into the tunnel, slowly gliding along as I used my hand for a brake. I repelled off the walls a few times to gain some speed, and reached the bottom about three minutes later. A large amount of lighting had been set up next to a return sleigh that was currently parked. Ahead, I spotted the mysterious temple in the dark cavern. It was much larger than I thought it would be, and judging by the way it was constructed, it also looked like it would have chambers far below the snow it was sitting on, meaning it could actually be huge and I was only seeing the top portion of it. I heard a loud shout coming from the top, prompting me to dash towards the stairs and run up them. Within thirty seconds I was standing at the entrance, and I spotted a grown man running straight at me. He looked like one of the guys from the drilling team, though I hadn't even seen much of them aside from what I had seen from my window two days ago. He slowed down a bit when he saw me, but he looked absolutely terrified.
"Who the hell are you kid?" he asked as he glanced behind him.
"You first. You're obviously part of the team that was supposed to come here with the Capsule scientists. My question is; where are the rest of them?" I asked carefully. The nervous man wasn't sure how to answer at first, but he shook even more when he got a good look at my face.
"I've seen his face somewhere before. Oh god, it's the other son," he whispered to himself.
"Close enough, care to answer my question?" I asked again with a slight smirk. Well, he knows something about me at least. But does he know that Bulma called me, probably not.
"I'm Captain Gates. This place was overrun by some sort of alien species. They attacked us way back there and we all got separated. Your mother and father were killed; I saw it with my own eyes! Everyone else is dead too, or soon will be. We have to get back to the surface and blow the tunnel so those things can't follow us!" he said, trembling as he did. As pathetic as his plea was, it didn't get any pity from me, as it was inaccurate.
"Funny, she said that you guys ran out of them. And that there was some other large monster running around down here. And what exactly are these aliens that you say have killed everyone? Choose your answers carefully, as I can be worse than Vegeta is when people lie to me!" I said with a slight glare. Gates trembling increased in intensity when I said Vegeta's name, answering at least that he may be alive and that this fool did in fact run out on him. Gates decided not to answer anything that I asked for the moment, and only gazed into the dark temple.
"You will find your answers in there," he said.
"Oh I won't be going alone. You're coming down with me!" I said as I grabbed his arm and tugged on it.
"No way kid! I'm not going back in there with those things running around. You can fucking forget it and nothing you say can make me go!" Gates said as he stood as firmly in place as possible.
"Whether you like it or not, you are coming down with me. I will figure out why you ran out on my family, and trust me, you don't want Vegeta or I to be hunting you down when we get out of here. I can promise you that you will remain safe from our wrath if you do what I say. I'll wait until we are out of this mess before I address what you may have done!" I said. Gates didn't seem to relax a whole lot, but he did stop trembling for the moment.
"Look kid, we were only hired to bring them down here and leave. We didn't know that we'd be killed as well," he said. Part of that sounded accurate, but there was something else he was hiding. I can't let this guy get away and seal up the tunnel.
"Your other comrades may not have known, but I'm guessing you did. Funny how you're the only one that has gotten out so far. No matter how bad things are, I wouldn't try to leave my friends behind. And guess what, you won't either! Now come on!" I said as I roughly dragged Gates into the temple.
-
I heard light sounds of battle a few minutes into the temple, and judging by the battle cry I heard, I could only guess that Trunks was up there.
"Stay here, and don't even think about leaving!" I warned as I let Gates' arm go. The instant I did, he took off running in the other direction. I sighed slightly and chased him down, blocking his path a few seconds later.
"How did you get in front of me without your power?" he stammered. Big mistake, now I know for sure that you and your men were more than a little involved. My eyes narrowed a bit as I glared at him and he gulped slightly, backing up. I jumped at him and pushed him up against the wall harshly.
"Where is the Protoss device?" I barked at him.
His eyes widened a bit, "I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Bullshit! Whoever hired you had the technology from all the crap they left behind after the Zerg left this planet. I know all about it because I was deeply involved with that war! Now answer my question before I decide to get rough! Where is it?" I shouted as I shoved up against the wall even harder.
He stopped trembling for a brief moment and grinned just slightly, "It's buried in the snow!" I dropped Gates once he said this, he and I both knew it would prove difficult to find under all that snow. The sounds of battle got closer, and while it didn't sound like Trunks needed my help that badly, I figured I better get up there and see for myself just what we were facing.
"Stay here. You even think about running out on me again, and you'll find that Vegeta and I have something in common!" I growled at Gates. As soon as I turned around, he got up and ran for the exit again.
"Fool!" I shouted as I caught up with him again. He tried to avoid me and keep going, but I kicked his leg out from under him and he fell to the ground.
"No, you can't make me stay in this hellhole!" he said, shaking again.
"That's where you're wrong!" I said as I grabbed a hold of his left leg. With enough applied force, I chopped his knee once. I heard an instant crack and his scream of pain said enough. I then moved down and did the same around the middle of his calf and then I grabbed and squeezed his ankle long enough to feel the bones crack. His screaming continued as he held the leg protectively.
"I warned you enough times. Now you won't be leaving without my consent!" I snarled as I got up and moved towards Trunks. Gates continued whimpering as I left him behind, but I had more pressing matters to attend to. I reached Trunks quickly enough, and saw the two creatures he had been fighting with. One of them was down and barely moving at all. The other one was in a crouched position, and readying itself to attack again. Trunks looked barely scratched if at all. Once that was established, I examined the creatures in general as I got a bit closer. They were all black with strange looking heads and bodies. For a moment they looked oddly familiar to something I had seen in the past, but I couldn't pinpoint it. They weren't like the all the different aliens I had seen in my time away from Earth, not even close.
"Verto! How'd you get here?" Trunks asked.
"I flew," I replied with a slight scowl. The crouched alien leaped at his distracted face, and tackled Trunks to the ground. Just as I moved towards it, I saw it open its mouth, and a second set of teeth slowly extended out from the inside. I have seen one of those things before! Trunks stayed still for a moment until he saw the attack coming and quickly rolled out from underneath the beast. I ran towards them and kicked the alien off of him.
"Thanks," he said as he got up.
"We gotta kill these things quickly Trunks," I said.
"Well what's the hurry? I already beat that one over there, and this one won't stand a chance against both of us!" he said with a deep smirk.
"Let's just say those things use humans as hosts to breed. We can't let a single one survive!" I explained.
Trunks' eyes widened a bit, "So that's what those little spider things were doing to their faces! They all came out of some sort of really slimy eggs!" I glanced at him with a questioning look. Ah crap, that can't be good.
"Were the eggs frozen like the rest of this place, or did the slime look very fresh?" I asked carefully.
"They were absolutely drenched in that nasty stuff, had to be fresh. Why does that matter anyway?" he asked. I growled a bit as the alien in front of us slowly recovered.
"It means that there is a much bigger version of these things laying those eggs," I said.
"How do you know all this?" he asked as suspicion flashed over his eyes.
"In a minute, first things first," I replied as I revealed the sacred stone from my pocket. The instant I grasped it, I felt a tiny twinge of my Psi energy coursing through me.
"What is that thing?" Trunks asked. I ignored him as I concentrated the energy into the stone and watched as it started to glow blue. The alien had finally recovered and hissed as the blue light lit up the entire area. Once I felt enough control over the stone, I released a little more power into it. The stone glowed brighter and took in more and more energy. I glanced up at the alien and grinned slightly as my Psi sword emerged from the tip of the stone and moved with it.
"Whoa, you can use your energy here?" Trunks asked.
"Almost," I said as I stepped towards the hissing alien. Trunks appeared to be trying to find his own power, to no avail. The alien continued to hiss at me, but didn't appear to be anxious to fight me now that my sword was staring it in the face. I suddenly ran towards it, sidestepping its attempt to claw me, and slashing across its head. The sword steamed slightly as yellow blood poured out, but maintained its shape as the ground started to hiss and bubble. The alien collapsed and died immediately, though the same could not be said for its blood, which ate right through the stone floor. Just like I thought; they are exactly like I remember.
"So, you wanna tell me what these things are?" Trunks asked as I stared down the injured alien.
"They're aliens from a different world. I don't know what their proper name is though," I said simply.
"How is it you know about them?" Trunks asked again. Ugh, sharp as ever.
"You remember when I first came here and we got stuck in that wizard's trap?" I asked him.
Realization flowed over his face, "Yeah, we went to those other worlds and you knew about them. Like you had seen it on TV and stuff!"
"Same kind of deal, only this time they are on our world, not some other dimension," I explained.
"But how did they get here?" Trunks asked.
"Someone must have brought them here by spaceship a long time ago. I don't think they are smart enough to fly a ship on their own, but they are very lethal hunters," I explained.
"Yeah I noticed that," Trunks said as he glanced back at the injured alien.
"Do you know how many there are?" I asked.
"I have no idea, these are the only two I've seen, other than those spider things that came out of the eggs," he replied.
"Hmmm, better question. How many people came down here with you?" I asked carefully.
"Well, me, mom, dad, Dr. Gray and Dr. Redwood. I think there were sixteen or seventeen others. I know there were still a few on the surface!" Trunks pointed out.
"Five, right? They're dead," I answered. Trunks eyed me carefully for a moment after gasping.
"It wasn't me Trunks; they were dead before I got here. There's something else here besides the aliens, because I don't think they would have gone to the surface already with so much fresh meat around here," I said.
"Well why not?" he asked.
"Because of the queen," I said as I stepped towards the injured alien. Possibly nineteen or twenty of them total, though I doubt Vegeta would let anything happen to his wife. And that leaves the queen, who can bring thousands more if she escapes.
"That's the egg-layer I take it?" Trunks asked. I quickly stabbed the alien in the head with the end of my sword, and waited until it stopped fidgeting before I removed it.
"Yeah, we need to kill her, or at least prevent her from escaping by any means necessary. Like I said before, these things can use humans as hosts to breed more of them, and she is the key to it all. If she and all her little minions die, end of story," I explained, passing the hint to him.
"What about that thing?" Trunks asked as I powered down my sword, leaving only the brown stone behind.
"I'm not completely sure, but in this environment it's going to be useful. I can't use my power either. That red headed girl we encountered before gave it to me on the way here. I still have no idea what her story is, but it'll have to wait for another day. As for our ki energy, there's a Protoss device planted out in the snow somewhere. I think you know which one," I said.
"One of those ki blocker things again?" Trunks asked, agitated.
I nodded slightly, "We're going to have to press on and hope it runs of power or something on the way. It'll take too long to search the ground up there and risk that queen escaping. Plus we need to look for Bulma and Vegeta, so sealing the tunnel is not an option yet. Understand?" I asked. Trunks nodded slightly.
"This might get a little messy, I need you to stay strong," I said with a reassuring hand to his shoulder.
"Yeah, I know. I'll do my best!" A sudden scream from behind us drew our attention, and judging by the sound of it, it was Captain Gates.
"Damnit," I growled as we both sprinted towards him. We arrived just in time to see his body vanish into the rafters, being pulled by what was likely another alien. Argh, well I suppose I should have expected that might happen since I left him crippled. I had no choice though; he would have trapped us down here.
"We should follow that blood trail!" Trunks suggested.
"No. We might lose them in the air shafts, or we might get lost on the way," I said.
"But you said they might escape! The door is open after all if they can all move through those vents!" Trunks said in a panicked voice.
"Relax Trunks. Those things won't be leaving without the queen. And she is much too big to go through those. If she tries to escape, we will be able to intercept her in these main passages. Odds are that while there are still humans around here, she will stay put. And it will likely be in the warmest and deepest part of the temple," I said.
Trunks nodded slightly, "Probably near the central core at the bottom, right?" I gave him my own questioning glance, prompting his own explanation.
"I heard the grownups talking about it, they said that's where all the heat was coming from," he replied.
"Well you're catching on, that is likely where we'll find that thing. Let's get going!" I said as we slowly moved into the darker depths of the temple.
Vegeta bounced off the wall before dodging out of the way of a large yellow fist that left another hole behind. He growled and cursed silently at his current situation. He had been keeping decent pace with the monster and taking very few hits, but it was still agitating to him. He had Bulma move towards one of the corners of the room so he could at least watch her from the corner of his eye. He then tried to ascertain the weaknesses of the monster other than its general lack of speed. He couldn't find it, and had to find out the hard way that it was strong enough to both bruise him and take a beating at the same time. Ever since then he had danced around the room as he dodged and counter-attacked, only to see his attacks have no real effect when the monster kept getting up. Its head seemed a bit vulnerable, but without energy to power up, Vegeta could not hit it any harder to exploit it. Its belly was another story all together, it seemed to absorb every attack Vegeta landed. To him, it was a lot like fighting the fat form of Majin Buu, though that was an entirely different battle. Vegeta could out maneuver this monster quite easily as long as he stayed a few steps ahead of it and didn't take an unnecessary risk, but until then it was virtually a stalemate.
"Hey Vegeta, are you sure you can beat this thing by yourself?" Bulma asked suddenly.
"Be quiet woman, don't distract me!" Vegeta barked back. Bulma fumed over this, but let it slide when she spotted the large sword still lying on the ground. She knew that he would not find it meaningful to use a weapon if he didn't have to, and it might damage his pride a bit, but this was a unique situation.
"Vegeta, maybe you should try using that big sword we found!" Bulma suggested. Vegeta glanced at her and then at the sword in question before turning back to Misokatsun and following his movements. Vegeta allowed the monster to get a little closer before jumping and flipping out of the way several times while Misokatsun was a bit overzealous in his punches. Vegeta glanced back at the sword once more when he had a moment, but turned back and continued his duel. Bulma thought that maybe his pride was preventing him from retrieving it, but declined to say anything about it for the time being. After a few more clashes, Vegeta was able to get behind the monster when he punched hard enough to embed his fist in the floor. Vegeta didn't even waste a moment and rushed Misokatsun, unloading with a series of hard punches to the head that stunned the monster. With a loud battle cry, he kicked him hard in the chest and watched as Misokatsun went flying into the wall and stayed there for a moment as dust flew from the hole he left. Vegeta dashed over to retrieve the large sword and then slowly walked towards Misokatsun as he positioned himself behind the slowly recovering monster. He steadied the heavy sword before arching back and started to swing just as Misokatsun turned. The monster managed to raise his arm to block, and did so successfully as Vegeta slashed downward. Vegeta's expression changed to pure surprise when he heard a slight clang coming from the point of impact. There was a slight trace of blood coming from the arm of Misokatsun, but not nearly as much as there should have been. There's metal in there! That blade should have sliced right through him, what is he? Vegeta backed off as he examined Misokatsun a little more thoroughly based on what he had seen so far.
It must be some sort of blasted android; that blow should have severed its arm. This will be difficult to finish without my power. Vegeta didn't detect any sort of Red Ribbon insignia on the beast, but held little doubt that Dr. Gero could have made this one as well. After all, Cell didn't have that symbol either. The only thing that was blocking that theory was the fact that this beast was likely created long after Gero had been killed, and he doubted that Gero's computer could have made such a defective android. It lacked intelligence and speed, and that was something Gero's androids had been most proficient in. Also missing was any energy the creature may have had, because ki restrictors didn't affect the androids. Vegeta lifted the sword back to a ready position in front of him, as he planned to use that vulnerability around its head to his advantage. His planning was interrupted though by a scream behind him. He turned to spot Bulma cowering in the corner with an alien very close to her and closing in. Vegeta dropped the sword and rushed to her aid, leveling the alien with a hard head blow. He didn't have but a few seconds to react before Misokatsun was all over him. The monster wrapped him up in a bear hug from behind and squeezed with all its might. Vegeta groaned a bit as he felt this unwanted pressure, but held steady as he attempted to overpower the grip. The monster's raw strength surprised him a bit and made him unable to escape for the moment. The sound of another alien approaching and his wife screaming again drew his attention for a brief moment before he cried out, trying to break free. Misokatsun laughed just a bit at this until he noted the alien's close proximity to Bulma. Misokatsun dropped Vegeta and stomped towards the alien, surprising the hell out of it by grabbing it by the shoulders and throwing it across the room. Bulma and Vegeta both left a resounding gasp in the air as the monster ran after the alien, which managed to land on all fours. The alien jumped at Misokatsun and managed to claw at his chest and face before being grabbed by the tail and swung into the wall with a great deal of force. One of the alien's shoulders snapped, and a bit of the acid blood spurted out and onto Misokatsun's large arm. The acid went right through it, revealing a sparking wire mess wrapped around a metal endoskeleton. Misokatsun glanced at Bulma with a narrowed expression, and then turned to Vegeta with one of pure hatred. Vegeta was able to decipher a few things about this, the monster was definitely some sort of robotic creation and it was after him specifically. That fact almost ruled out Dr. Gero completely, plus most of those androids were after Goku to begin with. The female Android Twenty-one and Cell were the only exceptions to that rule. The other thing he figured out just added to the mystery; the beast was programmed to either protect his mate, or at least make sure she was safe. That made it a little easier to fight; he wouldn't have to worry about the robot going after her.
Misokatsun stomped towards him again, before he noticed the other alien slowly getting up. The alien wasn't sure which target to go after, and slowly back stepped while it hissed at them both. Behind it, three more alien heads made their presence felt and joined their comrade in hissing at Vegeta and the large Misokatsun. Vegeta glanced at the robot, which was paying complete attention to the aliens, and turned on his heel to do the same. The four aliens poured into the room, with three of them going after Misokatsun and only one going after Vegeta. Vegeta landed only a few blows before his target fell, and then he took it by the tail and swung it towards the brawl in the center of the room. Misokatsun was throwing the aliens off of himself, but they kept coming after him. One alien was taken out by the one Vegeta threw. The other two were thrown into the wall, but kept jumping on the robot and clawing at its arms and face. Vegeta moved carefully across the room during the short battle, picking up the large sword once he reached it. He double-checked to make sure Bulma was still in a somewhat safe position before he turned towards Misokatsun. He was in the process of crushing an alien with his foot while another was climbing over his large back. He stomped down hard on the one underfoot, rendering it lifeless when its spine was crushed. He grabbed the other one by both the tail and head, pulling and stretching it over his head. Its skin and bones ripped apart and a large splash of the acidic blood washed over him, eating through the flabby skin instantly. One of the two remaining aliens stalked towards Misokatsun, only to be stopped by Vegeta. He cleaved it apart with the large sword. Vegeta noticed the sword starting to disintegrate and then set his eyes on the steaming and sparking robot. By now, only a thick metal skull could be seen with red glowing eyes, though it was also melting a bit. Vegeta rushed towards Misokatsun and leaped into the air, bringing the sword down right through its metal skull. Misokatsun collapsed, his head and neck slowly eating away with the remnants of the sword stuck in place. Vegeta sighed slightly and turned his attention to the one fallen alien, which still wasn't moving after being taken out of the air by Vegeta's aim a moment before. Vegeta stood over it for a brief moment before bringing his foot down on its back harshly. The alien woke up quickly, but could only screech in response to the Saiyan's boot. Vegeta heard bones crack before he let up and then repeated the attack. He did so several times before the alien finally slumped down completely. With the threat finally over, he turned to the fallen robot, which looked finished beyond repair. He slowly walked over as the acid blood finally ceased, leaving behind a melted mess of metal. Misokatsun's glowing eyes even died out, showing that for all intents and purposes, he was dead. Bulma slowly walked over as well once Vegeta was certain that the robot was done.
"Who do you think built it?" he asked.
"I don't know. It doesn't look like Gero's design to me, but it was definitely made here on Earth," she noted, as she looked the fallen robot over. Vegeta spotted something buried deep within the robot and reached in there to get it. After ripping through several layers of wiring and other flexible connections, he pulled out a single undamaged circuit board.
He then handed it to Bulma, "When we get out of here, find out who did! Then I'll deal with that person appropriately," he said as he walked towards one of the doors. Bulma stared at the piece of technology for a moment before slipping it into her coat and following her husband.
A/n: Sounds like most of you readers enjoyed the thought of Vegeta using a big two handed sword much like the Final Fantasy games, sure isn't too hard to imagine.
WDG: Sorry I've been a bit slow on the proofreading, but I'm being bothered by a combination of insomnia, exams, work and birthdays (namely my own). It's getting quite annoying. Well, except for the money I got from it.
VB: Yeah, that's really the only reason I can stand the 12 hour shifts at the rubber mill as I call it. Gotta pay the bills somehow.
Next time on DBV: Yeah that's right, I'm leaving a preview this time. As Verto and Trunks continue to hunt the aliens and specifically the queen, Vegeta and Bulma attempt to escape the chaos of the temple. They come across the main alien nest and after a few words with the barely living Captain Gates, Bulma figures out who set them up. They don't have time to discuss it when Vegeta is critically burned by the alien acid blood, and Bulma begins to wonder if they'll escape at all.