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 44: Pendulum 3
Verto stared wide-eyed from the shadows as Leira gave her grave warning from beyond. Just who the hell is she talking about now?
Frost was wondering the same thing, "So, there's some sort of great destructive monster out there that wants to kill everything?"
"I don't recall giving it that kind of description. However the potential for that to happen exists. It's a preventive measure, but I cannot give you any insight on who or what this thing may look like, as I do not know yet. It may not even happen as I expect, but when dealing with unknowns, I prefer to be cautious," Leira explained.
Frost snorted, "Wise choice." Leira nodded and promptly departed the room, causing it to warp and distort suddenly. Everything shifted quite a bit as Verto tried to make sense of it. It didn't last but five to six seconds before he realized he was staring at the back of Frost's chair again. The room had changed a bit with added decoration and updated technology. That wasn't all; Verto could sense an exponential increase in Frost's power level. This must be more recent than the other meetings have been. Frost pushed a button on his apparently repaired chair and the video display came on, showing the same blue, horned alien as before.
"Lieutenant Burotsuno, what is the latest on the situation?" Frost asked.
"The strange insect swarm and the alien fleet chasing them have passed. They did engage our scout troops and obliterated their ships. They did not pursue those that did escape. Our soldiers are on their way back for a complete debriefing," Burotsuno replied.
Frost scowled slightly, "Were they able to gather any significant information about these invaders?"
"Very little. Our scans show that they possessed a very unique power system unlike anything we've ever seen before. Shall we gather a larger force to confront them?" Burotsuno asked.
"No, let them go for now until we learn more. They may also have powerful warriors to go along with their weaponry, we should leave nothing to chance," Frost suggested.
"Understood sire. Also, the mysterious marauder has attacked again, this time on the outpost on Veridi Four!" Burotsuno reported.
Frost rubbed his chin a bit, "Another old base. What was taken this time?"
"All of the medical equipment and most of the infantry armor. They left none alive just like last time sire."
"Whoever this is, it's obvious they wish a war, perhaps with us directly. Forget about the insects and whoever was following them, these newcomers bother me more. Were you able to get a power reading from them this time?" Frost asked.
"Yes sire, but the readings are inconclusive so far. We are trying to isolate the exact frequency of the energy readouts, as they seemed to vary from one type to another. There was only one specific wavelength that stayed constant while others were in a constant state of flux, and its power level was temporarily at nearly forty million!" Burotsuno explained further.
"Very well, what species did it most resemble?" Frost asked with impatience.
Burotsuno paused as he read something, "You're not going to like this sire, but it's Saiyan!"
Frost reaction was surprisingly mellow, "I see. Shutdown the Rotarian space station. Detain every single Rotian-Saiyan that is in our military! Suspend all traffic with any passengers with Saiyan blood! The ungrateful monkeys have crossed their last line!"
"Sire, I have my doubts that this marauder and the Rotian rebel faction are actually one and the same. There is no Rotian that is even capable of old elite power levels," Burotsuno pointed out.
"I don't care, detain them anyway. My family was killed by Saiyans due to their own carelessness, I won't fall victim to the same mistake!" Frost barked out, scaring Burotsuno.
"And the two Rotians here?" Burotsuno asked.
"The stripper is not going anywhere, and her brother is very valuable to me as a soldier. Just keep an eye on them!" The room faded back to the pendulum room, and Verto stood there in confusion.
What was that about? I must have strayed off the target event, or there wasn't anything else with Leira involved. Hmmm…while I'm at it, I should look into the time that Vegeta and Frost were actually friends. I have my doubts that Vegeta would actually rescue someone like Frost or Frieza without a lot of convincing. Verto reappeared on an unfamiliar planet with a bright golden sky. Upon stealthing again, he sensed Frost nearby, along with a much weaker Vegeta than he was used to detecting. Verto slowly approached their position from the trees, finding them surrounded by some of Frieza's soldiers. The younger Vegeta didn't look much different than the current version, which was no surprise. Frost however looked like he was in his smaller base form. It was remarkably similar to Frieza's except he did not have any horns sticking out of his head. Wait, why isn't he in his final form?
"Is the next one ready yet?" Frost asked.
One of the soldiers turned from some sort of equipment station, "I'll go find out for you sire!"
"Move it then! Otherwise poor Vegeta will fall over from boredom!" Frost claimed.
"Am I that transparent now?" Vegeta grumbled.
"My friend, I agree that this is a waste of time, but father is extra paranoid these days," Frost pointed out.
"He's been paranoid for over a decade now. Is he afraid of some random ghost coming back to extract revenge or something?" Vegeta asked. Frost's eyebrows lifted up, but he shrugged and didn't answer as the soldier came back.
"Sire, they're having some sort of problem at the detonation site. They're requesting your presence!" Frost frowned and grunted loudly as he lifted into the air.
"Don't worry, I'll baby-sit the troops while you're gone! Who's up for target practice?" Vegeta snickered. Most of the soldiers promptly ran inside the nearby building for cover.
"Save a few for me. I don't think the five scientists will curb my aggression," Frost stated.
Vegeta smirked back, "First come, first serve!" Frost's frown deepened as he blasted off towards the east. Verto considered following, but instead decided to keep an eye on Vegeta as he nearly took the limbs off random weak soldiers. Frost was only gone for about three minutes before a very large explosion rocked the area from afar. Trees were blown down and debris was flying everywhere. Verto managed to avoid all of it without losing his cloak, but the Frieza soldiers weren't so lucky.
"Report!" Vegeta shouted. Only one soldiers dared to go near a scouter; the rest were too terrified.
"It looks like one of the test mines went off prematurely sir! I'm getting no reading on Lord Frost. He may have gotten caught in the blast!"
Vegeta scoffed, "Like that mine could even scratch him…" Vegeta was cut short when another blast shook the area from a different direction.
"Sir! Detonation site number four has just gone up early as well!"
"Thank you for stating the obvious you imbecile!" Vegeta growled back. A loud alarm filled the small base, piercing Verto's ears with its volume.
"Oh no, it appears that the rest of the test mines have all been rigged to detonate in ten minutes!" the soldier reported.
"Can't your incompetent specialists shut them down?" Vegeta asked.
"No sir! We must evacuate the planet immediately!"
Another elite came into the discussion, "But the only ship here is Lord Frost's private saucer! The rest of them won't get down here in time. And we can't fly there fast enough to escape!" Vegeta's blue aura suddenly came to life, surprising the soldiers.
"I guess you're shit out of luck boys! Good bye!" he declared. Vegeta blasted off, leaving all of them coughing dust. Verto took off after him, deliberately risking exposure. He won't be able to sense me yet, and no one should think anything of it should they believe that Frost is alive. I just have to stay back from him and keep my power to a controlled level. Verto let Vegeta have nearly a mile lead on him while he kept pace, though Vegeta was flying as fast as he could. Only a few minutes passed before Vegeta landed outside of a large spider-like ship much like others that Verto remembered. There was a cluster of activity outside as Vegeta stared down some of the guards. Verto was able to re-cloak himself and slowly glide down without anyone noticing.
"Where is Lord Frost?" the first guard on the left asked.
"Get out of my way scum! Haven't you figured out that we need to get off this planet immediately?" Vegeta growled.
"Our reports show that Lord Frost is still alive and awaiting rescue. We won't leave until he's onboard!"
"You stupid fool!" Vegeta shouted. Vegeta was about to pound his face in, but stopped short when someone else walked down the ramp. Verto didn't recognize the black armor and red jumpsuit, but her face was enough. Oh great, why is she here?
"Who the hell are you?" Vegeta asked.
"That's the last thing you should be worried about! Maybe you should go save your friend," Leira suggested.
"I don't have friends, only mere acquaintances. This empire would be better off without another Changeling!" Vegeta claimed.
"I find that hard to swallow, even coming from you. I can only imagine what Frieza will do to you when he finds out that you left his only son here to die!" Leira said calmly. Several of the guards nodded in nervous agreement as Vegeta put on his classic smirk.
"Shows what you know woman! It was Frieza who staged this charade!" Leira stared at him in question, as did the other soldiers.
"Besides, how could I say no to ridding the universe of another one of their wretched kind? Just one less to deal with later!" Vegeta boasted. The soldiers weren't sure how to react, but Leira never gave them the chance. She lashed out with her hidden energy whip and beheaded all of them before anyone could move. Vegeta gasped when he realized that he wasn't able to see much of the movement until the heads were already rolling.
"Listen to me Vegeta. It is imperative that you rescue Frost and bring him back to his father! Both of you have an important future ahead, and you don't want to leave things to chance like that!"
Vegeta snorted, "The only future I'm worried about is the one that sees me ruling the universe as I was meant to!"
"Then perhaps you need to realize that at the rate you're going, you'll never defeat Frieza. As one of the last few Saiyans alive, you hold an advantage over every crony Frieza has! Maybe you should use it!" Leira suggested.
"Stirring speech woman, what will you do for an encore?" Leira didn't answer, but she did glare at Vegeta very sternly. Verto suddenly sensed some sort of energy shift in the air, and Vegeta gasped as he grabbed his head. He dropped to his knees and clutched his head in apparent agony, much like he had done when Babidi had taken him over.
"Alright Vegeta, I'm done playing around. You are going to rescue Frost now, or I won't let you leave this planet. If you think I'm bluffing, just say so and that minor headache will increase tenfold. Do we understand each other?" Leira asked with an incredibly calm voice. Vegeta gritted his teeth and nodded sharply.
"Now get going!" she demanded. Vegeta got up tentatively, but no longer in pain and gave Leira his classic glare.
"You only have five minutes, you might want to make the most of them!" Leira reminded.
"Who's to say you won't take the ship and leave us here to die anyway?" Vegeta countered.
"What would be the point of bothering with you at all if that was my plan? I could have taken it hours ago!" Leira claimed. Vegeta grimaced and blasted off in a different direction, leaving Leira alone. Verto watched her carefully for any strange activity, but she did nothing except wait. Vegeta was back in exactly four minutes, carting a battered Changeling. The Frieza look-alike had a large wound on his left side, multiple lacerations all over and a partially missing tail. Two more soldiers ran out of the ship and took Frost aboard without a word, leaving Vegeta and Leira alone. Once they were gone, Leira rolled up her sleeve and revealed a small device strapped there. She pressed a glowing button on its side and sighed heavily.
"Good work Vegeta, you may have just saved your own life," Leira said.
"I take it that was the detonation override?" Vegeta asked.
"Correct. If anyone asks, you never saw me, you never met me. I will see you again some day down the line, and know my reasons for this were for the good of the galaxy. You may disagree, but trust me, having Frost alive will be better in the long run than not!" Leira claimed.
"What? What are you, from the future or something?"
Leira turned her head slightly, "Not exactly, but I suppose for your purposes, that's close enough. Farewell!" Leira vanished suddenly, but so did the rest of the area, and Verto found himself back where he started.
Well that explains most of why Frost even exists. The main question is still unanswered though, for what reason? Why the hell is she changing history? As Verto pondered this, the room reacted again. This time, he appeared in a forested area that was completely vacant. He carefully walked through the trees as he scanned the area, not picking up anything suspicious. In a small clearing ahead of him, he spotted a single engraved tombstone. He walked up and knelt down to read the inscription, but was unable to read the language.
"It says, 'The Greatest Life Partner Anyone Could Ask For!' Well, that's the rough translation," a voice said from behind. Verto knew it was Leira even before he turned around in slight panic.
"There's nothing wrong with curiosity, but it can reveal things to us that we don't want to see, or don't want to know. I admire your resourcefulness in choosing to use this special room, but you must stop!" she claimed.
"You weren't willing to give me any answers that I needed. I had to investigate somehow and this place sufficed," Verto claimed as he glared up at her face.
"And it's an honorable trait. But like your surrogate mother has learned, it's best not to delve too deeply into something you do not understand," Leira warned.
"Fine, but can you at least explain what I saw?" Verto asked.
Leira shook her head, "I won't. I will allow you to connect the dots on your own. I will say this though, it was all for a good reason. You will understand in time," she said vaguely.
"And this?" Verto asked as he pointed at the grave.
"This is the most important piece of the puzzle. You wanted to know why? Every small detail you heard or saw has to do with this grave, even if it doesn't seem like it. The question you should be forming is…" Leira paused.
"Who's in there?" Verto replied.
"Very good. It's up to you to figure that out, but not with this room. And if you should decide to try this place again, I shall know. Farewell," she said as her voice faded.
"Wait!" It was too late, she was already gone, and Verto was back on the lookout. He quickly stepped out of the circle, slightly dazed by what he had witnessed as he went back over it in his head. He found Kibito and Popo patiently waiting outside.
"Did you solve your mystery?" Popo asked.
"No, in fact I'd say what I found generated more questions than answers, big surprise there," Verto grumbled.
"You are free to use the room again if you wish," Popo suggested.
Verto glanced up at Kibito's concerned face before shaking his head, "No, I've got other things to do right now. Digging into an altered past isn't going to do much good if I can't figure it all out."
Kibito sighed in apparent relief, "So I trust you're not going to pursue this anymore?"
Verto's eyes narrowed as he stared down Kibito, "Well don't get the wrong idea Kai. You immortals obviously keep a watchful eye on important matters. Don't you dare think that I won't do the same!"
A/N: Have I effectively twisted your tiny minds around enough yet?
WDG: My mind has always been twisted. Really, I hardly notice any difference when others try to twist it even more. Well, I suppose it is time to shift focus. Dare I take a guess about the depressed man's identity..?
VB: You could try, but I doubt you'd be right.
Next time on DBV: Verto decides to leave Capsule Corp to train out in the wilderness with Lenz and Piccolo. Meanwhile, Goten and Trunks pursue their own goal and encounter a depressed man out in the woods who possesses a Dragonball. They bargain to help him in exchange for the Dragonball, and in the process, Trunks stumbles upon a disturbing discovery of his own.