Chapter 27.
Stampede.

As weeks became months, Rhuba felt herself becoming heavier and heavier.
Keeping active was becoming a chore, but she watched with spite as Garagus made up for lost time by doing push-ups every day.

She was scared to do push-ups with him, in case her little one got hurt. But she was getting so bored having to watch him exercise every day when she used to be so on top of it.
'screw it…' She thought. 'if I can't be on top…'

Garagus didn't hear her escape the bed as his perception of the floor shifted closer then further every second.
Then, from seemingly nowhere, Rhuba's face slid into view from below him.

"Help me." She demanded, face inches from his. "I want to stay strong. Help me."

"Stretching helps. Do that." Garagus adjusted his push-ups to stop their noses from smashing into each other. Then again…
Bringing his face down, he landed a kiss on her lips before pushing away again, then again.

"Stop that!" Rhuba tried to push him back, more interested in getting stronger than fooling around.

"I was here first, stop moaning or do something else~"

Sighing, Rhuba lay back on the floor.
"Lock hands with me." Elbows pressed down with her palms up, she waited for him to interlock fingers with her. "Now, push up…"

Garagus struggled to get his balance with a less stable surface but did manage to get himself fully extended.
Once he was, Rhuba pushed him further away by extending her arms.
"Okay, and back down."
Together, they slowly bent their arms until their noses were practically touching.
"Again?"

Looking down their bodies, Garagus could see her bump was nowhere near him.
She could work out her arms with no risk to the baby.
"Sure, okay."

After another an hour and a half of continuous push-ups, Rhuba was starting to feel unbearably sore in her arms. After all, she was lifting his weight this time.

"Remember to breathe," He encouraged. "you're doing amazing!"

"I can't…" She cried, feeling her hands tighten around his.

"One more! Just push! Give it all you have!" Garagus urged, watching with a proud grin as she managed to extend her arms fully once more.
From there, he dismounted, and lifted her onto the bed.
She was damp with sweat, panting, and her muscles were exhausted.

"Aw Rhuba, I expect twice as many tomorrow." Petting her head softly, he noticed the makings of a smile on her before leaning in again, he kissed her cheek.

"water please…" Eyes closed, Rhuba heard him leave the room. On his swift return, she gulped down the refreshing cup. "Tricked you~"

"hmm?"

"You'll never be stronger than me again~" Rhuba laughed. "I am the Elite Saiyan!"

"oh…" Garagus gazed out the window. Couldn't look more guilty if he tried.

"What?"

"Rhuba…" Grinning at her, he flexed his arm.
After being gone for a year in space, Rhuba noticed right away when he came back less defined. But sneaking out into the canyon to train in secret had a far more gradual change to him.

"You've been cheating on me!" Rhuba gasped, slapping him weakly with her throbbing tired arm. "So who's the stronger?"

"I guess you'll have to find out," Glancing down at her, he tried kicking the hornet's nest. "After you lose some weight."

"Oh, you…" Biting her lip, Rhuba resisted the urge to assault him right away. "You're dead,-oh… See! Even the baby is sick of your crap!"

Placing his hand on Rhuba's tummy, Garagus felt another little kick with her.
"Let's take a look…" Using Rhuba's scouter, Garagus scanned for the little power level. "One point six."

Rhuba grumbled.
"Getting stronger… and always an even number… Doesn't that strike you as odd? What if it's two babies?" Rhuba had only started getting used to the idea of there being a little one running around soon. Two little ones is really upping the ante. Not to mention they hadn't even affirmed on one name for a boy or a girl, let alone a backup of either in case they end up with two of the same.

"Two babies? Hmm, that would definitely explain it…" Garagus muttered, stroking his chin in deep thought.

"You really think so?"

"You're definitely big enough to store two babies."

"I Was Talking About Their Power Levels!"

"hmm." Garagus caught her wrist right before she blackened his eye. "I'll get you some food, you seem cranky."

Rhuba felt herself nearly becoming blind with rage, but what was more annoying was that he was right.
"you'd better…" She mumbled as Garagus got dressed to head out.

In the jungle, the wild creatures that once burrowed underground to hide from the Saiyans were now somewhat more acclimatised to their sight, sound and scent. They no longer hide themselves away, so as Garagus walked through, he'd hear the bustling sounds of critters scurrying about, hisses and chirps of various creatures.
He even saw a beetle half his height sharpening its horn on a tree.
Or even a giant swamp eel slithering its fifty-meter-long body through to find softer soil.
The latter of which still made him shiver from the sight of the half a dozen egg pods suspended from the tip of its tail.

Apparently, they look for soft damp soil to dig into, bury themselves to their tails, and wait for other animals to eat the 'fruit' and become hosts for the offspring.

He counted himself and Rhuba lucky.
The parasitic eels grow fast and usually eat their way through the host if they get the chance.

From how fast they grow, Garagus wondered if he was looking at one of the wigglies he threw out with the others.

Regardless, He wanted none of them spawning anywhere near the ship. So once the eel was buried in the soil, he detached the eggs and threw them as far as he could.
The eel won't know the difference, but the other animals around should be thankful to be spared such a horrific end.

To discover what was or wasn't safe to eat, he'd paid a few visits to the native settlement in the cover of night and make notes of what they've been farming.
The wild uncultivated versions aren't as refined, but they do give off different readings than the 'fruit' filled with parasites.
At least now they had something to go on.
Though it did have to be said, the Wiggly egg pods were on the menu at the village.
Seems the native bug people are better at processing it than Saiyans are.

After plucking ten of Rhuba's favourite fruits and five of some that he liked, Garagus was about to head back.
However, he'd noted that the sounds in the jungle had stopped.

It was eerily silent. Even the Giant betel had curled up and tried to disguise itself next to rocks.

Reaching for his hip, he tried to grab his scouter. But his one was plugged into the long-range scanners looking for Freeza and Rhuba's was tuned in to watch their baby's growth.

"oh well." Throwing his bag over his shoulder, Garagus flew over the canopy of trees to find a place where he could see why the critters were acting like something was coming.
Garagus wasn't expecting the sight of what was approaching the jungle. With the sun looming above the horizon behind them.

Arriving at the ship, he boarded and closed the ramp.
"Rhuba!" He called through as he dropped the bag in the hall. "There's a swarm of, of, Things coming this way!"

"Wigglies?" She yelped, wrapping herself in the quilt.

"No, it looks like pill bugs, but there's bug men riding on them!"

"And you're smiling about this because…?"

"Bug men riding giant pill bugs! I couldn't stop laughing, I nearly forgot to hide in the trees when they got closer." He stopped suddenly, glancing at the cup of water on the side table.
It was vibrating.

"Are we going to be okay?" Rhuba asked, sitting up right in bed.

"I think so, it's not like they'll be able to see us through the perimeter."

"Yeah…" Rhuba looked out the window. All she could see was a wall of trees caked in mud. "But it also means we can't see them."

"Yes we can." As Garagus reached for the scouter to reset the tuning, he was able to track the movement of the approaching army. "Oh, they're actually real close."

The ship was pretty much soundproof. Even the loudest of sounds needed to really shake the hull for those inside to hear it.
That was why when several of the trees blocking their view toppled towards them, it almost seemed unreal.
The window broke into shards, letting in the roaring sounds of thousands of scurrying pill bugs and riders blowing horns as they charge through the jungle, tearing down all the foliage in their wake.

Inside the bedroom, Garagus had thrown himself over Rhuba.
Part of the tree was inside the room with them, and the branches were hitting his back as he tried to protect his family.
Rhuba reached out to him and pulled him close. Feeling the bark of the tree scrape against her arms as she too tried to protect him.

The outer hull of the ship was strong enough to endure a lot of punishment, and the trees themselves had branches that were trying to support the weight.
Had the trees not recently been uprooted and moved, they may have had a better chance of withstanding the abuse as the riders scurried over the hull of the ship.
But nothing in the jungle was fully safe.

A few of the riders would see the odd shape and colours of the alien vehicle below, but they'd moved on before they could get a proper look. To slow down would be suicidal, as they'd be trampled along with everything else.

Although the riders were merely the first wave of attack.
The self-proclaimed new ruler of Arlia had been taming wild Yetti for years in preparation for his campaign of conquest.
They were trained to follow the riders and pick off survivors left behind.
The tall beasts would swallow anyone whole if they could grab them.

Of the dozens following the herd as wide formation, seven of them took note of the ship, and lifted the trees away to look up close.

"Garagus!" Rhuba screamed, seeing the giant hand move in and grab him.

Garagus only caught a glance before pinning her to the bed, stopping her from getting pulled out with him as the Yetti pulled him towards its mouth.

As Rhuba moved towards the window, she saw Garagus burst from the creature's hand and start fighting off the monsters.
"that's not fair…" She wanted to join in, but there was a tree still half hanging in the bedroom.

It would be safer for her and the baby if she left the fighting to Garagus, and he looked like he could handle it on his own.
But Rhuba wanted to see.
All that chaos, she wanted to see what caused it.
So going from the room and opening the airlock, she stepped down the ramp and saw the back of the attack force disappearing over the devastation. She could see the treeline vanishing in front of them as they tore through.

It was crazy. The once lush forest was destroyed. Smashed into the dirt with the thick green and purple ceiling of leaves completely gone.
It was the closest she ever felt to being back home living in the jungle, and once again she got to witness its destruction.
It made her cry.

A Yetti saw the ramp open and the lone woman standing in the shade of the entryway.
Too simple-minded to care about her appearance or the ship, he simply went for the kill, but it wasn't unnoticed as it came from the stern of the ship.

"Die." Rhuba reached out her hand and blasted a hole through its head. That simple action set fire to her Saiyan blood. "And that was about as much fun as we're going to have."

Garagus had no idea she had been chased, or that she'd even left the ship.
He was too busy killing the monsters on his side.
One by one, he crushed and smashed Monster heads. Getting covered in blood and brain juice.

Most of the Yetti herd had already moved on to keep up with the riders, but once Garagus had dealt with the ones attacking him, he ignored the ones turning their back to the ship as he swooped down to push the tree aside.
"Rhuba. You alright?"
He checked the bed. It was empty. He checked the bathroom. Empty.
"Rhuba?" Walking through the ship, he saw the ramp was open, saw the headless body of a Yeti and Rhuba sitting on the ramp.

"Hey." She sighed, rubbing her tummy as they both looked over the destroyed forest.

"You feeling okay?"

"I'm fine…" Glancing to the headless monster, she laughed at how much better she was than her would-be attacker. "So what do you think, those bug people were being chased by the giants?"

"I don't think so. They seemed too organised. Like they were riding in formation."
Helping Rhuba up, he walked her back to the bedroom to tidy up the messy disaster that was their bedroom.

"Garagus, you clean up in here. I'll free up the ship." She gave him a look that told him not to argue.
Removing the trees from the ship will be hard work as well as moving the foliage away.
Either one of them can do that, but the reason she assigned him to the more domestic task is that his ability to bend down currently surpasses her own. So clean up is his job for today.

Rhuba kicked, pushed, pulled, lifted, and shifted trees until she had a pile of them.
Every now and then she'd see animals climbing out from the tops of the horizontal trees and, despite their lack of expression, Rhuba could feel the heartache even they felt.

On the other side of the ship, she could see leaves, branches, and bark chippings being thrown out of the open window.
Her eyes locked on that. She'd never seen the window open before and was sure it was never supposed to open.

"Hey, Garagus."

"Aye?" His head popped out like a mole from their bedroom. Like the animals who lost their home, the pair of Saiyans felt a creeping reality settling in.

"Are you able to fix this?"

Not knowing how to answer, Garagus threw the last of the branches outside before leaping through the window to assist Rhuba in clearing the way for the ship.
"The first thing on the agenda is getting the ship somewhere safe. So we need to make more room."

It was bothersome to clear the way.
So much of the foliage was interlocked with tangling vines and branches. Rhuba did suggest that they might be in the clear enough for vertical take-off, however Garagus was afraid of the thrusters starting a fire.

"With the jungle as it is, it'll spread until there's nothing left."

Rhuba understood. But there was another option.
"Putting that aside, we can't take off until the window is fixed. So why don't we repair the ship now, and clean the mess up later?"

Garagus was no more excited about clearing the way than she was, but the task had to be done. If the foliage starts rotting, it'll be that much more bothersome to do.
"I don't like it either, Rhuba. If you want to go inside, I can do this myself."

"I'm not trying to get out of helping, Garagus." She insisted. "We Do need the ship repaired first and foremost. But remember that rain we had?"

Garagus could still hear it battering off the top of the ship. Four whole days nonstop noise plaguing their attempts at sleeping.
"You think the wood is still wet enough that we can take off without it igniting?"

"Maybe." Lifting just a few of the branches, Rhuba could feel how damp they were. "All I'm saying is, I wouldn't use this as kindling."

There was still a chance of course. The thrusters for take-off are very powerful and could easily evaporate rainwater. The initial take-off will likely start a few fires, but the surrounding foliage is probably wet enough to cope with the fallout.

"You make a good point. Let's go find somewhere else to land."

With a cheerful nod, Rhuba abandoned her position to walk with him back to the entrance.

"I still think your choice is motivated by laziness, though."

"Shut up!" Rhuba slapped his head just as they turned the corner.
Her heart stopped at the sight of giant pill bugs gnawing on some of the fallen trees, but mounted on top were Arlian riders.

The disappearance of several of their yeti had compelled a team to go back and check.
They found several dead, a structure of unknown origin, and strangest of all…

"Who are you!?" Dismounting, the leader of the team raised his shield with his sword drawn. "Surrender peacefully, or you shall be destroyed!"

Rhuba covered her tummy while Garagus stepped in front of her.

"I'd rather not kill any of you." He warned. "Leave, or you will be incinerated when we take off."
It would have been better if they hadn't been observed at all. But it can't be helped now.

"You dare threaten us?" Leaning forward, the leader flashed red before emitting an energy blast straight at Garagus.

Rhuba yelped at the sight, she didn't expect them to be capable of something like that.
However, Garagus wiped the sweat from his face before dashing forward and sweep kicking the leader clean off his feet.
Having literally become airborne, the leader was then slammed into the ground by Garagus' elbow.

"What were you saying again?" He asked, resting is foot on the leader's thorax. "You DARE threaten us? Surrender or be destroyed? Who are you?" With a smirk, he turned to the others on their mounts. Their antenna twitched as they watched these strangers fight back. "You took the words right out of my mouth."

"Maybe they're able to read minds?" Rhuba called from behind. "Or speak the future?"

"Maybe you're right, love." Garagus put more weight on his foot. "So tell me, do you run away, or do I do I get your friends here to wash you off my boots?"

"S, spare me! Please!"

"I'm hungry…" Rhuba slowly walked up. "What do bug men taste like?"

Turning to her with raised brows, Garagus asked her how badly she wanted to know.

"I'm so hungry!" Rhuba bared her teeth, looking deep into the bug man's ommatidia. He got to see her lick her lips and his captor nod approvingly without even having to turn his head.

"You can have food!" He begged, struggling to get away. The stranger's boot felt like someone hand dropped a boulder on him. "We're about to sack a village, there'll be plenty of food and spoils! We'll share it!"

Lifting his foot, Garagus watched the leader crawl away, even ignoring his dropped sword just to climb onto his pill bug.

"Attack!"

All at once, the five riders fired blasts at the two strangers.
This time, with more expectation of what was coming, Garagus dodged the three strikes coming at him, while also moving in front of Rhuba to deflect the two beams aiming at her.

"Mine." Rhuba reached out two hands, firing two at the two riders on the left, basting their heads clean off, then by pulling her arms back, the same blasts reversed direction, hitting the two in the middle from behind.

"How in the world?" Garagus demanded, but Rhuba just winked at him. "I'll learn that." Looking at the leader, Garagus started marching forward, grinning menacingly as the leader started riding off.
"We should get going." He told Rhuba.

The leader can return to the others if he wants, but so long as they and the ship are gone before the reinforcements arrives, they'll never believe his story.

However, Rhuba wouldn't just leave. Not without bringing up one thing they both heard.
"He said they were going to sack a village?"

Garagus let out a deep sigh.
"Just get in the ship."

It was a hard ride to catch up with the swarm. Pill bugs are known to charge nonstop for days if needed, but going above their typical charging speed isn't something they're good at for long.

He caught up with the back of the pack, then hand to push his way to the front with the other leaders and captains.
But there was no talking them down from the attack.
Their king's orders will be followed out.

As the attack force approached, the Arlian villagers could feel the ground tremble.
Leaving their homes, they saw riders raise their swords. Mere minutes away, death was absolute.

But more than the sound of the charging attack, a much louder crash of thunder turned everyone's gaze to the skies.

An unknown vessel soared through overhead, shooting jets of fire from underneath as the ship prepared to hover above the village.

The residents ran aimlessly in a panic, some ran int other homes, others tried to flee the town.
Also stopped in their tracks were the attacking force. They'd never seen such a thing before.

"Is it on-Oh. Attention bug riders! You have offended me and must pay the price! I send my champion to fight your strongest warrior. If we win, you will leave this village unharmed!"

As everyone looked to the skies, Garagus, wearing a space suit with welding goggles over the helmet, dropped from the ship and landed on the surface before the army.

"Which of you will die?" Rhuba's voice could be heard by all as she spoke through the ship's com.

It was debated on the way that such a large attacking force cannot possibly be on the righteous path if they're attacking such a small village. What could they have done to offend such a force?
And seeing how quickly they were threatened by just five of them, who also disregarded the chance to flee when handed the opportunity, Garagus opted to stand in as a protector for the village.
After all, the ship can't go into space until the damage is repaired. The time may as well be spent near the nearest city and see if they have any resources to start repairs.
It's also good karma.

Winning their favour by holding off this attack force would be a good bargaining chip, they figured.

The leaders of the riders blew attack horns, signalling for the Yeti to advance.
Usually, they would overpower their opponents with sheer numbers, then the Yeti would clean up the survivors.
But with no way to even reach the unknown vessel, they had to call in the big beasts.

With a loud screech, the lone Yeti leapt clear over the riders, ready to swat the ship from the air.

"Scarlet Blast!" Garagus raised his hand, a beam as wide as he was tall emanated from his hand, hitting the Yeti so hard that it was thrown in an arch back over from where it came before landing in a dead heap.

"If you can not do better than that, I suggest you flee immediately!"

Rising up again, Garagus took random shots at the riders. His blasts intentionally missing, but creating a good dust cloud to terrify them into retreating. Even the Yeti pulled back.

Once it was clear, Garagus flew back into the ship to land them down outside the village.

"We're not doing a repeat of Dishia." Rhuba insisted. "We're here until I have this baby."

"Well first we need to see the extent of the damage." Garagus reminded her. "Are you able to survey the damage while I deal with the inevitable visitor from the village?"

"Why don't we just land a thousand miles away, so they won't bother us?"

"Because we might end up needing their help."

Rhuba hated the idea. But he had a point.
Even if they're not tech-savvy, they could have raw materials.
"By the way. Did I see you use a new move?"

"Oh, yeah." Garagus cleared his throat. "I call it the… srltblaster."

"huh?"

"I… Call it the Scarlet Blaster."

Rhuba's brow slowly lowered as his gaze met hers.
"But it was blue."

"I know!" He growled.

The villagers didn't show up until much later than Garagus expected. They were obviously scared but he assumed they'd want to meet their saviours.
He even had enough time to work alongside Rhuba in beginning repair work to the window to the bedroom.

"We lost so much cargo." Garagus sighed. "I bet those people in the station salvaged it after we docked."

"Probably, do we have what we need, though?" Rhuba asked through her scouter from the bedroom while Garagus looked below decks in the hold.

Garagus found the window replacements. There were a few of them, though.
"I left the manual on the bed, can you read out which window we need?"

After a few moments, Rhuba read out the number as listed on the book.
"P3-Si-Al"

Garagus found it right away.
"Wait, you said P3? Not S3? P usually refers to the leftmost side of the ship."

"… As I said, S3-Si-Al."

"Thank you Rhuba." Sliding out the correct window, Garagus also collected the other components needed for installation as Rhuba listed them out.
"Window, frame, bolts, sealant…" He double-checked the tools he'd need. "I think that's everything."

Rhuba hadn't really did repair work before, just general maintenance. But Garagus insisted that she ought to learn.

"Making your pregnant wife repair a window? Shame on you."

"Don't say I don't let you do anything." Garagus chuckled as he handed her the fitted the replacement sealant to the inside of the wall panel.

Once the broken bolts were removed, Rhuba held the new window in place as Garagus fastened it on.

"Is that really going to be airtight?"

"Not yet. In theory, as soon as we're done here, we just have to decompress the room and the sealant seal breaks."

"Sealant seal?" Rhuba giggled. "Sealant seal, sealant seal, sealant seal!"

"Anyway!" Garagus nudged her to keep fastening the bolts. "The seal breaks and the sealant-"

"Sealant seal~"

"And the sealant releases, spreading and forming an airtight seal around the entire rim of the window."

"How will we know if it's worked?"

"Easy. We…" Garagus stopped himself. He could imagine what their old captain would do in this situation. "You tell me how we'd know?"

Rhuba scoffed, rolling her eyes at him.
It would be so easy for him to just tell her. But, obviously he thinks she knows the answer already.

How to know if the airtight window is indeed airtight?
The answer should be obvious.
"We can't go into space, because if we're wrong, it will be a huge problem…" She saw his smirk. It wasn't helping. It seriously wasn't helping her think at all. "OH! Room pressure!" She announces. "If the window has a leak, the air from outside will keep the room pressure from being a true vacuum. We just need to depressurise the room and watch the monitor for any change over time."
His face while she was thinking was annoying, but his smile when she got it was gratifying.

With the window finally installed, it was time to abandon the room and prepare for depressurisation.
Rhuba watched as the numbers dwindled down to single digits.
It always slowed down around this point, but eventually, it did reach a true vacuum.

"So what now?"

"If there's a leak, room pressure should start returning to normal. Ten minutes should be enough." Garagus thought it would be overkill to wait that long. But it was just to be safe.
He pressed a few buttons to get the room to hold pressure, as the test would be pointless if any air that leaks in just gets pulled back out again.
Basically, he needs the ship to hold its breath.

"So what now?"

"We…" Garagus stared at her. "You're bored."

"Yes!" She cried into her hands. "I had a dream we were already off this planet! We'd found a new one, and the baby was born. It was fantastic! Only to wake up back on Bug World is like a horrible joke." She felt a tremble as her tummy was kicked some more.

Garagus didn't know what to tell her.
"All that's still going to happen," He said, stroking her head. "Just be patient."

"I'm going to bed." She sighed, getting up too quickly.

"Easy there~" Garagus held her as she regained balance. "If you want to lie down, just remember to go to Granate's old room."

"yeah yeah."

Author's Note:
Deja vu?