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 58: The Last Rotarian
Verto walked back to his room at a rather brisk pace some four hours after leaving it. Upon entering though, a sharp gasp accompanying the particular condition of the girl it came from caused him to turn and cover his eyes.
"Damn it Lenz, put some clothes on!" he growled.
"Not my fault, I though you were leaving with your new friends!" Lenz fired back, clearly agitated.
"Not for a few days, and they're not my friends. You were bathing four hours ago, why the hell were you prancing around naked? Wait a sec, don't tell me that you and your brother…" Verto asked as he let his words bounce off the wall.
"No! Why would you think about something like that?" Lenz screeched. Verto rolled his eyes, Gee, I wonder.
"Never mind, where is Fuzai anyway? I need to speak with him," Verto stated.
"I dunno, he said he'd be back soon but that was right after you left. I've been relaxing in the bath until a few minutes ago," Lenz claimed.
"Doing god knows what, I imagine," Verto muttered as his eyes shifted to the left, scanning the area for Fuzai. The large number of powerful ki signals made him difficult to locate. It took Verto nearly a minute to find Fuzai, and he wasn't very close by. As he was searching, Lenz came up behind him, wrapped in a loosely hanging towel as she draped her arms around Verto's neck.
"The bath water is still hot," Lenz whispered into his ear.
Verto stepped forward, out of her reach, "I don't have time for that. Can you sense where your brother went?"
Lenz frowned with disappointment as she stepped up beside him and glanced upwards, "I dunno, feels like the dungeon."
"I was just at the holding cells at the lab, he wasn't there," Verto argued.
"Yeah, there's an actual dungeon here too, a really old one. Whoever Frost wants to suffer for awhile gets put there until he decides to kill them I guess. Go down the hall, take the third right and then the first left. You'll see the way down. I wonder if he's visiting someone…" Lenz put a finger to her chin thoughtfully. When she did, Verto had to resist the urge to look over when her towel slipped down a little further.
He tried to stay on subject instead, "Maybe your brother is in charge of torture, or maybe he's receiving some. Can't say it would bother me."
"Hmmm, he might be talking to Yogen. I used to visit that poor old man, but he wasn't very nice to me most of the time," Lenz said.
"Who is Yogen?" Verto asked.
"Some old man that Frost has kept locked down there for years. I think he was originally Frieza's prisoner. Still don't know what he did, but apparently it was worthy of some sort of formal death sentence. I'm amazed that they haven't carried it out," Lenz explained.
"Frost doesn't strike me as the inefficient type. There must be some reason, and I'll find out what it is," Verto replied as he stepped towards the door.
Lenz's arms wrapped around his neck again, chest bumping against his shoulder, "I'll keep the bath going for when you get back!"
Verto scowled, "Don't bother, I'm not here to relax and you know that. You really should focus on your own mental training, because you don't want to be caught off guard again when shit finally hits the fan around here!" Verto left a slightly startled Lenz in the room alone.
She managed a grin though despite the brash comment, "Heh, alright little brother, I'll prove myself to you yet!"
Verto followed Lenz's directions, but it took quite a time to find the right way. After going into easily two-dozen rooms, he found an old, dimly lit stairwell carved out of rock similar to the arena. Verto stepped in cautiously, going down through the poor lighting for what ended up being several flights before it leveled out at the bottom. Got the dungeon part right. There was only one door there, next to a flaming torch. Verto heard Fuzai's voice coming from it and proceeded inside. The conversation came to an abrupt end when Verto opened the door.
"What do you want now, brat?" Fuzai grunted.
Verto cast his eyebrow up at the taller demi-Saiyan, "Looking for you, I've got a few questions." Verto then noticed whom Fuzai had been speaking to. Behind an earth-style set of prison bars sat an old humanoid man that had a startling resemblance to Master Roshi. The only real differences were that his man had an ancient, wrinkled appearance and had squinted eyes.
"What do we have here Fuzai? Another of your lost race?" he asked in a cracking, high-pitched voice.
"Not exactly," Fuzai replied. The old man studied Verto more thoroughly than the younger boy would have liked. For the briefest moment, Verto sensed a very small amount of energy float through the air. This moment was interrupted by another in the next cell down.
"You! You get me the hell out of here! I hate this place! All the drama these stupid people bring on their own shitty lives sickens me!"
Verto gave the red alien inside a partially confused grimace before glancing at Fuzai, "What the hell is his problem?"
Before he could answer, the alien piped up again, "Did you just swear about me, in front of me? Why don't you say it to my face you little shit!"
Fuzai grunted, "Let's just say he has a habit of insulting the wrong people and then has a problem with the rebuttal, just a damn hypocrite if you ask me."
"Yeah, I think I know more than one in the room," Verto grumbled.
"He's also guilty of breaking into the brothel and disrupting another patron's…entertainment. This was after he was the only paying customer to ever be turned away," Fuzai explained.
"Oh, one of those types of people that fail at life and feel the need to share his misery with others?" Verto asked. Fuzai merely nodded and Verto turned back to the red alien.
He stepped towards the bars around the prison cell, letting the alien get a good eyeful, "Do me a favor, shut the fuck up before I personally remove your voice from the conversation." The alien went nuts and got within inches of Verto despite the presence of the metal bars.
"Oh yeah, what are you gonna do about it runt? I'd take you with both arms tied and both eyes closed!" he claimed.
Verto stepped back and presented a half grin, half scowl, "I'm probably not going to do anything, but that's my choice. You on the other hand have no choice but to sit there and slowly rot for the rest of your life, however long that is. Maybe instead of continuing to fail, you should try to better yourself and not treat others with disrespect. You might be surprised by the results."
"What the hell would you know about it, shrimp? I bet you're still wetting the bed!" Verto's bottom lip twisted slightly in anger, which caused Fuzai to step backwards.
"Well, we could go with option two. That's where I make good on my threat, come in there and tear you apart. I'll leave you in near-death agony and take whatever your people call a voice box since that's the only part of your miserable life that might be worth something to you. Then you really will have lost everything. So, you want to push your luck or not?" Verto asked in a raised tone. The alien seemed to take the words to heart, and backed down quietly.
Verto shook his head slightly as he went back to the previous cell, "I really can't stand people like that."
"You really can't stand a lot of people can you?" Fuzai asked, amused.
Verto sighed, "The list seems to get bigger by the day, who's the old man?"
The prisoner in question spoke up before Fuzai had a chance, "Interesting past you have, boy. Not so bright a future I expect, but it won't be boring at least."
"How would you know anything about me? Unless…" Verto paused shortly before coming to a very quick conclusion from the earlier clues, "You're Rotarian aren't you?"
"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. It really is irrelevant now when that species is down to one old man and a handful of hybrid monsters!"
Verto blinked in slight confusion while Fuzai scowled, "Meet Yogen. I doubt you have to guess what his ability is."
"A prophet, great. As if I haven't run across enough of those. So, why is he locked up down here? I thought all Rotarians were dead?" Verto asked.
Fuzai started to answer, but Yogen cut him off, "What of it little Saiyan? Why would you be concerned at all?"
Verto's head snapped towards him, "Because I'm trying to solve a few mysteries and believe it or not, I do care. However, if you want to spend whatever's left of your life rotting in there, then by all means."
The old man grinned, showing that he had very few teeth left, "I find you amusing, I'm sure Frost does as well. I've been 'rotting' here as you say for well over thirty standard years, much longer than that fool over there. It was the tyrant Frieza's doing."
"Why?"
"When those with power hear something they don't want to hear, they typically take action. Frieza headed my warning to leave planet Rotaria alone, and he did. For that, I was imprisoned for the remainder of my life," Yogen explained.
"Whatever, all your people were killed off anyway if my facts are correct, well except you," Verto pointed out.
"Frost did that, Frieza merely wiped out the half-monkey scum that was left over. He came to me about the legend of the Super Saiyan many years ago you see, and I told him that a great destroyer would emerge from the crossbreeding of species if the planet was ever destroyed. This great destroyer will bring chaos and destruction to a universe that has too much of it already. Frieza may have been ignorant, but being the superstitious being that he was, he left the planet alone. Obviously Frost did not. Soon, all will pay, and pay dearly!" Yogen continued.
"And you think that this 'great destroyer' is a Super Saiyan?" Verto asked.
"Listen to my words boy, don't move them around. I have no idea what this ender of life will look like; I merely sense the outcomes of events as well as their turning points. And it will be because of you that this galaxy and everything beyond it is wiped out!"
Verto's eyebrows shifted again, "I think you're letting your imagination run wild. Maybe you should be checked for dementia."
"Oh? The way I see it, there's only one way to stop this catastrophe from happening, allies and enemies must unite. Your alliance with Lord Frost must remain intact, or all will be lost. Even if it holds, I fear that the wrong decisions will be made, and in turn, you will be the one responsible for it!" Yogen claimed as he pointed his finger straight at Verto.
Verto's face went completely serious while Fuzai scoffed, "Crazy old codger isn't he?"
Yogen then pointed at Fuzai, "And you, you will be the reason he splits the alliance! A split that will be with your own flesh and blood!"
"Shut up about that rubbish! It's not important! I didn't come down here to listen to your damn prophecies!" Fuzai shouted back.
"Then why did you?" Verto asked.
Fuzai glanced at Verto in surprise, "Not that it's any of your concern, I was going to ask him where to find more of these." Fuzai then pulled a small yellow gem from around his neck, one that resembled Lenz's but was shaped a bit differently.
Yogen snorted, "You have one of those eh? I knew you were full of deceit Saiyan, but I didn't think you were such a thief as well!"
Fuzai took particular offense to that, "I did not steal it! It was one of two family heirlooms that my parents gave to me. My sister has the other one."
Yogen grinned again, "Your sister is that pretty purple headed girl with the perky chest right? I always enjoyed it whenever she visited me." Both Verto and Fuzai scowled as Yogen's nose dripped red for a brief moment, but said nothing.
Yogen's happy moment didn't last, "You Saiyan thieves are all around us! Your cursed breed should never have touched something so pure! I do know where these gems came from, but it's a moot point. May I make a suggestion? Never take it off, and tell your sister to keep hers on as well. Oh the sight of a pretty necklace squeezed in-between those massive…" Yogen's nose bled again immediately.
Fuzai blew up, "Enough about my sister you filthy old lecher! As for me, I'll do what I please. Now where can I find more of these gems?"
Yogen remained calm, "On Rotaria." Fuzai grumbled a moment before turning around and punching the wall.
Verto chuckled and shook his head, "It's just a gem, what's the big deal? You don't look like someone who wants jewelry, unless you're a bit fruity."
"It's not for that, idiot!" Fuzai snapped back.
"Then enlighten me," Verto replied.
"Hold it for a moment," Fuzai said as he handed the gem to Verto.
He looked the gem over, feeling nothing unusual, "So…what is it supposed to do?"
Fuzai winced slightly for no apparent reason; "Now try to channel your rage like you did to me. You can control that unstable energy right? Well let's see it!"
"I can't control it completely, and I'm not bringing that out unless I really have to," Verto said simply.
Fuzai gritted his teeth in anger, "Just do it, you'll understand in a moment. Hurry it up!" Verto shrugged his shoulders a bit before tensing up. His deathly glare intensified, but nothing immediately changed.
When a small gray aura sprung up, Verto stopped in confusion, "I didn't feel any change, but at the same time, I couldn't feel it. It's hard to explain, but it's like a dam of power trying to break through, only this time it had no chance. It also helps if I'm able to suppress my ki, somehow it usually cancels the effect. Let me try again, I'm not mad enough."
Fuzai seemed to be on the verge of losing his temper completely, "Don't bother, give it back!" Just as Verto did, Fuzai's flashed with red for the briefest moment before returning to black.
"What the hell?" Verto asked.
Fuzai sighed, "I'll get to that in a moment. Try again while I hold the gem." Verto handed it back and his own eyes turned red almost instantly.
He stared at his hands as they shifted back to blue just as quickly, "So that's why you gave Lenz that necklace, and why you two haven't had any problems. Although, that doesn't explain why she showed no symptoms of whatever affects Rotians."
"I'm not sure about my sister, but she's very close to unleashing that energy, it only takes the right amount of emotional turmoil and it happens. Whether or not she can control it is another story. As you can probably tell, I'm not so fortunate. I haven't been able to take that thing off for more than a minute before it hits me," Fuzai explained.
Verto nodded, "I think I know why Lenz isn't affected yet. Either the right situation hasn't happened, or it's because she's a Super Saiyan with plenty of ki energy keeping her stable. I thought I had seen a glimpse of it the other day when she got into that scuffle, but I didn't sense it."
"Either way, she won't last forever without one of these and that's a proven fact. Look at the others you and Lord Frost brought back," Fuzai pointed out.
"So your plan was to find more of these so you can cure your people then?" Verto asked.
Fuzai paused, "More or less."
"It won't work. Once a hybrid completely succumbs to the curse, it's irreversible," Yogen claimed as he vaulted back into the discussion.
Fuzai glared at him, "Curse? What curse?"
"Young fool! You wish to blame my side of the gene pool when the answer lies in that putrid tail of yours! Saiyans are overpowered vermin!" Yogen declared.
"Watch it old man," Verto warned, "I understand your opinion and frustration, but insults aren't exactly helping right now. What is this curse you speak of?"
"Very simple really. The Saiyans that Frost saved from his father's wrath were considered to be third class outcasts. If not for the planet's destruction, I doubt anyone would have even noticed them missing. I'm sure even you know the type of people I'm talking about, dejected and rejected from society. In any other civilization they would be the equivalent of street walking scum that live off handouts. The reason for this is that their families were cursed for eternity, and this curse has been passed down over thousands of years!" Yogen explained further.
"If that's the case, and the source of the unstable Psi energy is them, then how come there aren't more?" Verto asked.
"I don't know the details boy, only the results. It wasn't something that affected every Saiyan, I know that. I suspect that they were isolated very early and all descendents were kept apart from the Saiyan's normal society. They should have been killed off from the start!" Yogen declared again.
"So, if this uncontrollable power is this so called curse, then why do I have access to it? I'm not like them," Verto said.
"I do not know, but beware. The longer you use that dark power, the further down the dark road you will go. I do not feel that you are the 'great destroyer' I mentioned before, but you will play a significant part!" Yogen said in a creepy tone. Verto grimaced as he left the dungeon, This vaguely makes sense with what I learned from the Pendulum Room. And if these Renegade Saiyans can indeed control the dark Psionic energy, we're in a load of trouble. Curse or no curse though, I should see if there's a way to help these people.
Two days passed quickly for Verto, though he spent most of it in the suite, trying to piece everything together. So far he had determined the origins just fine, the supposedly cursed and dishonored Saiyans were the Renegades and either their direct descendents had parented the Rotians, or they were closely related cousins. The unique aspects of the Rotarians had merely clouded everything, as did the strange gems that Fuzai and Lenz had. Verto had considered attempting to restore one of the crazed Rotians, but decided to wait until he knew more. He wanted to be sure it would work first, so he planned to do it after their return from the mission. Due to all of the mental debating, Verto spent a lot of his time meditating prior to the mission departure, but he was still tired. Only when Lenz finally gave up on coxing him into a bathtub did he get any real sleep. He was currently waiting at the landing pad, where the large spider-like ship was parked.
The Ginyu look-alike Miruk was already aboard the ship, as were Bojack and his crew. They were only missing Frost, who was still in his command center according to Verto's latest power level scan. Verto wasn't sure why Frost was late, nor did he really care. He had the distinct impression though that Frost was the type that made sure everyone was on his schedule, not their own. Verto snorted at this very thought, As if he could keep me on a leash. The coming aftermath of this venture also bothered Verto, betraying Frost for any reason seemed like a stupid idea, Dragonballs or not. Verto could sense it at all times around the base; everyone was anxious. Almost as if they were waiting for Verto to make that dreaded decision. Frost was no exception to this and he seemed to be on guard at all times. Verto didn't want to give Frost a reason to betray him either, though down deep he knew it was going to happen. He hadn't sensed the true depths of Frost's power yet, nor did he expect to until that day came. Verto pushed those thoughts aside as best he could, he didn't want to mark Frost an enemy before he truly was one. Being caught up in his own thoughts, Verto didn't sense who came off the ship behind him.
"You can get on the ship anytime boy, we're all waiting for you. If you're backing out though, you picked a very bad time," Bojack said.
"Frost isn't onboard yet, what's your hurry?" Verto asked.
"Yes he is, we've all been watching you sit out here like a fool," Bojack claimed.
"He isn't onboard though, I'd be able to tell. I still sense his ki in the command chamber," Verto growled back. Bojack erupted with laughter as Verto scowled, "What's so funny?"
"Maybe you should have your head examined, ask nicely and Zangya would do it for you. She'll be happy to take the edge off while she's at it!" Bojack laughed. Verto turned towards the base and scanned against, still picking up the signal. For a brief moment, he felt a slight distortion. He checked that area again, this time for Psionic signatures no matter how insignificant, and there were none.
"A fake ki signal?" Verto asked.
"Precisely. Lord Frost has learned from his experiences to give the impression that he hasn't left, especially if he plans to be gone for awhile," Bojack explained. Verto felt a rush of paranoia, knowing that Frost could literally be anywhere at anytime, taking instant transmission and ki suppression into account. Bojack continued to chuckle as Verto followed him back into the ship. Once inside, Verto didn't waste a moment going to the bridge, where Frost was waiting for him.
"I take it you figured out my little trick?" Frost asked, amused.
"Clever," Verto answered with a scowl.
"Quite so. I considered testing it in an actual combat battle, but it seemed too glitchy. It serves its purpose though. I anticipate that those Renegades would have come here immediately if they believed I had left," Frost pointed out.
"So your pre-tense is just in case they out-flank you?"
"Exactly." Verto sighed heavily for a moment, drawing Frost's grinning glance.
"May I assume that something like that made you so unjustly nervous?"
Verto snorted, "I'd be lying if I said no."
"Fear not, we are partners in this endeavor, and I will honor that agreement as long as you do," Frost proclaimed.
Verto scowled again, "If you call blackmail an agreement."
"I prefer to call it a negotiation. Did you make any headway on your Rotian investigation?" Frost asked suddenly, changing the subject.
"A bit, I have determined for sure that the unstable Psi energy is a result of the Saiyan blood, just as we thought. More specifically coming from outcasts that you pulled off planet Vegita for your little crossbreeding experiments before your father wiped it out. I can only assume these Renegades are related like distant cousins, especially if this supposed curse of theirs is hereditary," Verto summarized.
"Curse? Oh, you have spoken to Yogen haven't you?" Frost guessed.
"Yeah, his story kinda fits," Verto admitted.
"Old fool if you ask me. I really should dispose of him. That old man actually had the nerve to tell my father what he should do to raise me, can you believe that?" Frost laughed. Verto's eyes shifted nervously away, Wait a second, what if Frost took blood transfusions from those cursed Saiyans? Shit, I'll have to ask him.
"Tell me, did you use those particular Saiyans for any other…experiments?" Verto asked in a tense voice.
"Why do you ask?" Frost asked.
"Well, odds are that whatever this curse is will affect anything it's involved with. Anything," Verto said with a raised tone.
Frost's face twisted into a flustered frown, as he looked away, "No." Verto sensed the lie before the words ever came out. He now knew just how careful he would have to be in the coming days.
A/N: Anyone else hear that tidal wave coming?
WDG: I can certainly hear something coming. I'm just wondering how long it'll be until someone goes bananas. You seem to have a main cast full of unstable factors at the moment. :P
VB: Yeah I don't think even the Borg could bring chaos to order here.