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 51: Search

Gohan quietly flew through the morning sky. He wanted to meet with Verto about a training exercise before dealing with his mother and eventual wife for the day. He had about two weeks before the senior prom at high school, and was getting at least ten reminders from each woman about it, per day. I hate wearing formal clothes. Nothing about it is nice and I have to stay as stiff as a board or they'll tear too easily. I don't understand why it's even necessary to dress up and basically lie to others the entire time. It's like, hi, how are you? Oh I'm glad to meet you too, now hurry and leave so I can change into something that normal people wear! Gohan sighed at the thought of tuxedo shopping before scanning ahead for Verto's exact position. He didn't feel any significant presence nearby at all.

That's strange, he should be around here somewhere. I don't sense Piccolo or Lenz either. Gohan expanded his sensing range, picking up on both his father and Vegeta almost instantly. Both of them were coming his way from different directions. Gohan came up on the Capsule house and landed at the door before knocking lightly. Nothing happened, nor did Gohan detect anyone inside. He did however sense something faint just a few miles to the west. Gohan took off in that direction quickly as a feeling of dread came over him. As he approached, he saw the ground had been disturbed in spots and a few trees had been flattened. Gohan's eyes widened when he saw Piccolo lying next to one of the fallen trees. Gohan rushed down and tried to shake him awake.

"Piccolo, are you alright?" Gohan asked. The Namek didn't respond, but did appear to be breathing slowly. Gohan glanced around for any signs of battle as well as anyone nearby that he might not have detected before. What the hell is going on? Whoever did this must have been very powerful if they can take down Piccolo without anyone knowing it. His thoughts were put on hold when Vegeta landed.

"What happened to the Namek?"

Gohan glanced back at him, "I don't know, I just got here. It looks like Verto and Lenz are missing!"

Vegeta growled, "Well that's just perfect! Maybe he knows what happened, wake him up!"

"I've tried, it's like he's in a coma!" Gohan claimed.

Vegeta grabbed Piccolo's cape and pulled him up to his face, "WAKE UP!" Vegeta dropped him when there was still no response.

"I've never known Piccolo to even sleep unless he was knocked out," Gohan pointed out.

"He'd better wake up soon, I don't like waiting!" Vegeta said as he glanced upwards. Goku was dropping in with a curious expression on his face.

"Hey guys! What's wrong with Piccolo?" he asked.

"We were trying to wake him up when a clown arrived and rudely interrupted us!" Vegeta retorted.

Goku ignored the insult, "He won't wake up? That's weird, have you tried shaking him?"

"Yeah dad, Vegeta even yelled at him, no luck," Gohan said.

"Well I know a surefire way of waking someone as stubborn as Piccolo up. Now let's see, how does it go again?" Goku asked himself as he scratched his head.

Vegeta chuckled lightly, "Don't tell me you have some great secret technique stashed away for just such an occasion?"

"Not quite, I haven't done it much myself. Master Roshi liked to use it around beautiful women and I think Gohan used it while playing with his pet dragon a long time ago before Piccolo told him to stop. Let's see, take a deep breath, pucker my lips real small and then slowly let out the air. Okay I'm ready to try it!" Goku said. Gohan cringed and glanced down to see that Piccolo was starting to stir.

"No dad, don't!" Gohan urged. Goku completely missed Gohan's words and started whistling. Within about three seconds, Goku was hammered down by an angry Namekian's green fist.

"How many times have I told you? DON'T DO THAT!" Piccolo roared.

Goku rubbed the sore spot on his head, "Oh yeah, sorry about that." Vegeta couldn't help but laugh at Piccolo's predicament, forgetting the subject momentarily.

"So what happened here Piccolo?" Gohan asked.

"It was that damned kid, he somehow knocked out Verto and Lenz. He's probably taking them back to Frost!" Piccolo began.

Vegeta's grin melted off, "What?"

Goku became confused, "What kid?"

Piccolo rolled his eyes, "Let me explain." He told them every detail of Fuzai's short visit up until Piccolo was out of commission.

Gohan grimaced, "That's terrible. Dad, can't we use instant transmission to find them?"

"I can't sense them anywhere near Earth right now, and since King Kai's planet is gone, traveling to Other World won't help any!" Goku claimed.

"But you can sense things from the afterlife right?" Gohan asked.

"Only at King Kai's and on the Supreme Kai's world, I'm not sure why that is," Goku pondered.

"Then we should contact the Supreme Kai instead, he should be able to track them down anywhere in the universe," Piccolo suggested. Goku and Gohan nodded, promptly teleporting out and leaving Vegeta and Piccolo behind.

"That boy, getting taken down by a weakling," Vegeta grumbled.

"There's no way he could have seen it coming Vegeta. Be glad that he was being cautious about things for once instead of eagerly going after an enemy."

"So can you find them?" Gohan asked.

"It may take some time if they're being kept under, but it shouldn't take too long. If Kibito can't detect them though, we may have to wait until they arrive on the edge of East Galaxy," Old Kai said as he created his viewing ball.

"Alright, do the best you can, we're counting on you," Gohan said.

"Thanks again!" Goku added. Both of them vanished and Kibito broke his silence.

"This is going too far Elder! We have to put a stop to this!" he argued.

"We can't and you know it. I don't like the Guardian's terms anymore than you do, but if it saves this realm from total annihilation, then we have no choice!" Old Kai fired back.

"This is wrong and you know it! It's no longer a mere test, this is something different that we've allowed to go on for too long!" Kibito shouted.

Old Kai glared at him, "I agree, so you had best be ready to act when it is time. I can't imagine that Leira really set all of this up by herself, but it is possible with all of this time traveling. It's obvious that neither of us would have noticed this in the past, with me being sealed up and you searching for Buu. Still, poor girl, it's a pity that it's going to end so badly for her when we have no idea what kind of potential she had. This chain of events is unavoidable I'm afraid," Old Kai softened suddenly.

"Verto is going to be devastated, even more so when he finds out why she has to die. I pity him," Kibito added.

Old Kai snorted, "Save your pity for both Frost and Leira. I certainly won't envy those two when the fireworks begin…"

Verto slowly became aware that he wasn't lying in his usual sleeping position and shifted a bit as a result. Then he realized that the bed felt like a slightly different brick, rather than the Capsule house version. It wasn't until he rolled over and brushed something warm that he woke up. As he opened his eyes, he saw a young, beautiful girl sleeping soundly with her purple hair strung all over her face. His disorientation began to clear and he sat up and looked around. There were average beds stacked everywhere with only one white sheet on each. When he saw the room design though, he quickly deduced what happened. The room was identical to what he knew to be that of the Kold Empire. The girl next to him was Lenz, looking like she was just as out of sorts as Verto was. He only detected one other power signal nearby, Fuzai's.

The son of a bitch abducted us. Great, how long have I been out? Verto reached out with his senses and felt little to nothing around the spaceship, but it was a little cloudy due to the speed they were traveling at. He couldn't sense any significant energy nearby, outside of what was probably a star they were passing by. Verto checked himself over carefully, wincing when he noticed mild stiffness in his legs. Had to have been out at least a day if I feel like this, maybe two. Alright, let's find a way out of this. Verto already knew he was too far from Earth to rely on Goku or Gohan, so he tried a higher target.

"Supreme Kai, can you hear me?" he called out telepathically. There was no response, nor was there after another minute when he tried again. Damnit, looks like I can't reach him from here after all, and I'll bet King Kai isn't monitoring either. Looks like I'll have to get out of this the hard way. Verto reached back without looking and lightly grabbed a hold of the soft skin of Lenz's arm.

"Hey, wake up!" he rasped.

Lenz stirred slowly, "Wha? What's going on?"

"Not sure, but I'm guessing that brother of yours is responsible. We're on his ship, not Earth," Verto explained briefly.

Lenz giggled in her usual suggestive tone, "So does this mean you're feeling up to some fun?"

Verto became a tad confused but didn't turn around, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You tell me, you're the instigator!" Verto turned to see that it wasn't her arm he was holding onto. He quickly pulled back, earning her sly grin as she sat up.

"Did you at least enjoy that?" she asked.

Verto returned the glance, "Well, I won't complain. At least those balloons don't seem quite like monsters anymore, must be the strength training."

Lenz moved a bit closer and batted her eyes a bit, "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Like I said, I won't complain," Verto replied.

"Well that's positive. Is there anything else you want to examine while we're at it, young stud?" Lenz asked.

Verto snorted as his expression darkened, "No, I'm going to be busy, tearing your brother apart."

Verto and Lenz slowly made their way to the bridge, checking other rooms along the way. Lenz suggested that they stop at the mess hall and eat first, but Verto kept going towards Fuzai's ki signal. The half Saiyan turned just as the door opened, though his positioning said that he was expecting them.

"Finally awake huh? That didn't take as long as I expected, but it doesn't matter at this point," Fuzai said.

"Why did you kidnap us big brother?" Lenz asked angrily, "You could have waited and we probably would have come willingly!"

"No, I couldn't. The mission was far too important and timing was everything. If I had waited, the odds are that all of your new friends would have come along. Lord Frost made sure that it didn't happen that way," Fuzai claimed.

Lenz's eyes narrowed, "How could he do that?"

"There's a bomb on this ship that is wired in to the life form scanners. If I hadn't left within twelve hours of landing with at most three passengers, boom. It also has a general lockout in place on everything save for the food dispensers and the medical equipment. We're stuck on autopilot for two weeks until we arrive. We passed through the interspatial shortcut I mentioned a little while ago, and now it is closed. You might as well enjoy the ride," Fuzai suggested.

"So, it was a trap all along. Guess it's a good thing you told us all of that before I decided whether or not to kill you. Alright, there's more than one way out of this, how far away are we from Earth now?" Verto asked now.

Lenz glanced at him with concern, "Little brother, even your energy couldn't possibly sustain…"

Verto gave her a dark stare that stopped her words, "Shut up Lenz. Answer the question Fuzai."

"We left around twenty hours ago, and according to my latest check, we've traveled around fifty-point-seven light years. That is not including the distance covered with the interspatial rift," Fuzai answered.

"Forget that idea then," Verto muttered.

Lenz grunted, "Hmph, told ya!"

Verto ignored her, "So, what did you do with Piccolo? I can't imagine he just let you waltz into the ship with us out cold."

Fuzai grinned slightly, "The Namek never saw it coming, much like you two."

Lenz's eyes widened, "What did you do to me? Your own sister!"

"I've done what's necessary to survive, my foolish little sister. Maybe you should have thought about the risks before helping this brat in destroying the empire's super computers. It's because of you that most of our people are dead!" Fuzai stated. Lenz's eyes watered up as she cried softly.

Verto stepped in front of her as if to shield her from her own brother, "You're pathetic. Blaming her for having more guts than you even though she couldn't stand up to Frost."

"I won't be scolded by a tiny thing like you. You're obviously too soft to be a Saiyan anyway," Fuzai declared. Lenz stopped crying long enough to back away when the energy in the room shifted dramatically.

Verto maintained his calm but serious glare, "You'll find out just how soft I am soon enough. As for you, you're a complete and utter fool."

Fuzai was puzzled, "How so?"

Verto smirked just slightly, "You kidnapped the wrong Saiyan."

"Whatever kid, I know you're just trying to scare me," Fuzai said.

"It's true big brother. Our friend Gohan is the one that Frost would be after, I didn't meet this little guy until I was dead," Lenz pointed out, earning a frown from Verto at the little reference.

"So what? He asked for a Super Saiyan with silver hair, why does it matter?" Fuzai countered.

"There are a few subtle differences between myself and Gohan, but we will get to those a bit later. You said only the food dispensers and medical equipment will work for us, right?" Verto asked.

"That's right," Fuzai confirmed.

Verto turned to Lenz, "You feel like taking care of the food issue Lenz? Give me a few minutes and I'll join you."

Lenz recognized the look in Verto's eye and nodded, "Yeah sure, don't be too long." As soon as she was gone, Verto's deathly glare came back as he focused on Fuzai.

"So what was the point of that?" Fuzai asked.

"I didn't want her to see this. As I said, there is a very distinct difference between Gohan and myself, and that is that he doesn't like to hurt things even when he's angry," Verto explained.

"And that means what to me?" Fuzai asked. He didn't even feel the first blow until his head went through the plating of the computer console. His muffled cry of pain didn't affect Verto, whose eyes had now shifted to a deep red. Fuzai tried to pull himself out, but didn't need to when he was aggressively yanked out by his leg. Fuzai flew into the wall, smacking into it face first and leaving a generous trail of blood from his nose and mouth as he fell.

"Get up!" Verto growled. Fuzai held his face tightly as he cringed in pain. He looked up just in time to see Verto's fist coming at his stomach. Fuzai groaned in surprised agony as he dropped back to his knees, his head draped across Verto's left shoulder. Verto pushed him backwards with one finger before flinging him harshly into the wall again, leaving a Fuzai-sized dent.

"Don't look so surprised you piece of shit. You should have already known that my power made you look like a blade of grass by comparison," Verto said in a calm, uncaring voice. Fuzai managed to pull himself out and held his stomach as more blood dripped from his mouth.

He managed a small smile, "There was one other thing, Frost expects me back. So if the ship detects that I have died, then guess what happens? You die!"

Verto's expression didn't change, "I never said I was going to kill you. I have ways of making sure you survive every minute of this. Fortunately for you, I don't torture others for very long."

Fuzai chuckled painfully, "Then I was right. You may seem like an overpowering killing machine, but against an equal opponent your softness will be your undoing. Saiyans are killers by design, it's obvious you don't have the nerve for it!"

"Don't tempt something you know nothing about. You have no idea what a killer is. Ending a life is one thing, boy. Ending an existence even beyond the fires of hell is another. I've done both, so don't pretend that you have any control of the situation with just your words. They won't do you any favors," Verto explained cryptically.

"Hmph, why don't you get it over with then? We both know that you're itching to finish me off, you can't ignore your instincts forever," Fuzai pointed out.

Verto flashed him a very brief smirk, "Oh, I don't ignore them." Fuzai's perception was introduced to a whole new level of pain suddenly as a burst of red lightning hit him. Fuzai completely fell over as his body smoked in various places. He twitched and struggled to move, unable to do much when Verto came within melee range again. Fuzai barely felt Verto's forearm smash into his left leg, but he certainly felt the bone crack under the pressure. Fuzai screamed loudly as he reached for the broken limb, but the scream stopped abruptly when Verto's next punch shattered his right shoulder at the joint. Fuzai's breath came short as his eyes remained wide, and he somehow sat up, but with a blank expression. He stared at his rubbery arm, dangling slightly as he had no control over it. Fuzai couldn't even form words in his mouth as he stared at Verto, who had his hand extended. Fuzai suddenly lifted slightly into the air, completely out of his own control. Verto was lifting him with his energy, and Fuzai's whole body shook when the smaller Saiyan stepped closer again.

"If you're wondering why you can't talk, it's because that lightning burst likely damaged your nervous system. Since you probably can't feel your broken bones anymore, I'll end this," Verto said in disgust. Verto held him up long enough to unleash a few more vicious fists to Fuzai's torso, allowing him to make another dent in the wall. Another red burst of lightning hit Fuzai just as he slumped down. Fuzai's body reacted accordingly, and he tried to scream out in pain again. Only this time, there was no sound. Fuzai's surprised gasp held its form when he passed out, long before Verto was finished.

A/n: And the violent one returns. Good thing or bad thing, meh, you decide, I just write this. This chapter was shorter originally, but I decided to extend the last scene. After all, I'm not mushy about this kind of thing.

WDG: Mushy you aren't. I suppose we'll have a laugh later. ;)

VB: I'd say a laugh is coming. Whether or not its by review or by next update, hell it's probably both, it's coming.