Dragon Ball - The Heart of Adventurers
Chapter 29 - Dividing the Battlefield
Written by LastationLover5000 and Demod20, Edited by Firegod00

Jaco could scarcely believe it.

Just as hope was about to run its course for the super elite, hope arrived in the form of a distant comet trailing ship. With his impeccable vision being far superior compared to the average sentient life form he picked up the subtle transparency with the flames burning around the spherical craft. At first glance one could confuse it for another of those space pods of Freeza's men; but upon holding his gaze he could see the dim black painted streaks around the ovular incoming craft and the faint partial reading of "CAPS" on the side facing them.

Hearing Bulma whisper in relief, the patrolman had a nervous smile work its way up on his face. This truly was the highest and lowest of his career to have suffered so many nervous breakdowns in such subsequent order. He cast a glance around at Tights and she fell to her knees, her eyes having picked up the comet of hope that her younger sibling had.

And, seconds later, his unblinking lenses for eyes saw it. Streaks of raspberry and red light carried what was impossibly living beings. Whereas Butta and Jheese were still looking ahead, the patrolman would see the two Saiyan brothers pass them by and land directly in front of the Earthlings. The instant their feet produced a succinct pair of taps, the two Ginyu members whirled around and gawked with disbelief.

"S-S-S-Ssssssso fassssssst!" Butta slurred out, his pupiless red eyes almost bulging from their sockets.

"Where did these buggers come from? And why do they look familiar?" Jheese inquired aloud to himself.

Ignored - at least, for the moment — Gokū knelt down and observed his inertly lying child. Prone to the ground, he showed a layer of care and empathy few would see from him, friend or foe. Placing a hand behind Pan's head he raised her face up, doing his best not to grimace at the grisly sight of her destroyed nostril or a series of fractures that was certainly lying beneath the blood caking her face. Pulling out a lime-colored bean from a pouch strapped to his side, he tentatively forced her mouth open and guided her mouth to chew before leaning the head back to swallow.

Seconds later, a brief pop! Then Pan's black eyes opened with a flutter and her lavender hair stood on end. Looking left and right, she'd look up to see Gokū's smiling face, relieved to see her animated expressions.

Then, she leaped up to wrap her arms tightly around his neck, nuzzling into the crook of it while letting out a muffle shout, "Papa! You made it! You really made it here!"

"That's right," Gokū softly spoke, rubbing her head and patting her back with both arms. "I made it just in time. You did really well while I was away. But now, you don't need to worry anymore," He paused, looking over to Bulma with a confident smile. "Both of you are safe now."

At the same time, Raditz had approached Kuririn who was adjacent to the kneeling Tights and the petrified Jaco. As he squatted down, cautiously rolling the brutalized dwarf onto his back while pinching a bean he was given by his brother, he looked up at the blonde with steely coals for eyes.

"Nice to see you're still in one piece," He muttered, absentmindedly, as he forced the bean into the ex-monk's mouth and forced him to chew it. "Good to see your meat shield has some use after all."

"I-I am a Super Elite-!"

"Sure you are," The elder brother of Gokū replied dryly, watching the bean become swallowed by the former orin monk. Within seconds the effects were made known and the man blinked rapidly. Looking up at the man with a long carpet of onyx mane, he briefly tensed up before realizing there was no ill intent in his eyes. Laying back on the grass, Kuririn sighed while Raditz stood up with a snort and arms crossed over his chest. "This is a pitiful display for yourself, dwarf. I thought you were better than this."

"Hehe...well...they were better, I guess?"

"Tch," He clicked his tongue. Raising his head, his eyes met a now standing Tights, her black eyes piercing his own. It was enough to make him briefly blink and avert his gaze from her face. "Wh-What? You're safe now. No need to stare at me like-"

Before he knew what happened, the blonde leaped the distance and wrapped her arms around his chest. Her Sun-kissed head rubbed into his chest and Raditz raised his arms up with surprise, feeling completely disarmed. A hint of red brandished over his face, only intensifying when her beaming smile looked up at him with an earnest sincerity.

"Glad you made it. Thank you for not being later than you already are."

"I...you...we are not late!" He shouted, his voice full of fluster. "Why didn't you keep out of sight and mind?! You were told to wait for us, right?!"

"Hey, they came to us!" Bulma cried out in indignation, bringing Raditz's fuming face towards her. "We were laying low. I even used an underwater hideout-"

"Did I really need your backtalk, woman?!"

"Oh put a sock in it, Raditz-"

"So, it really is Raditz," Jheese proclaimed, bringing their attention off of each other and back to the remaining pair of the Ginyū Special Squadron. He had his hand up on his Scouter, the instrument bleeping with alien numbers of energy it was estimating. When a flat number breached the screen, he grinned with relief as he put both gloved hands on his hips with assurance. "I thought it was you. But I can't believe it. Your energy's somehow gotten even weaker than before: 800 flat."

"Yeah, the other guy'sssss no better," Butta snickered, lowering his own clawed set of digits from the ruby lens reader on the left side of his head. "He'ssss only sssix hundred. Don't know how they got by usssss ssssso quickly, but it hardly mattersssss, doesssss it?"

"Yer right, mate. This will be a walk in the park," The red skinned elite of Freeza stated with smiling certainty. Taking a glance over his shoulder at the still sore Aspara, he gave a brief wink at her and laughed. "Congratulations, love. Your death is going to be stalled for a few. Get ready to witness these louses get their asses handed to-"

He'd be interrupted by an explosion of pain slamming into his face. His nose crunched under a set of knuckles, sending him skidding back by his heels, cutting through the water-logged soil till he was several meters back. While Aspara blinked with shock, Jheese raised a pair of hands up to his crooked nose, looking on with disbelief as the blood leaked over his tomato pigmented skin.

"H-How the Hell...did you do th-ACK!" He'd try to speak, only to follow up by another punch that twisted the nose in the other direction. Howling in pain, he covered his face with both gloves, now staining them with a different shade of red compared to his bright crimson flesh. Shaking visibly, he looked up, a blank pair of coals for eyes coming from the man who looked like Raditz but also like someone else he vaguely knew; not from experience but from reputation.

"Huh. I could'a swore you'd dodge that one too," Gokū spoke nonchalantly, raising his free hand to scratch his cheek while keeping his fist erectly pointing at the Ginyū Squad member. "Sorry, you were just leaving yourself open and my body said, 'Attack!'. So I did. Were you not ready?"

"T-This can't be happening," Jheese stammered out, taking one step back and pressing it to the Scouter again. This time, the machine whirred and then bleeped at a now substantially higher number than before, but somehow not even comparable to his own maximum battle power. "Y-You shouldn't be even able to touch me! 7000? That's not even a tenth of my power level!"

"You guys should really stop relying on those machines," Gokū advised with a smirk, his eyes construing into a hardened stare full of confidence. "We Earthlings have the ability to alter our battle power at will. That device won't do you any good."

Growling out, Jheese let out a howling bark at his partner, "Butta! Let's take this guy down together! No one makes a mockery of the Ginyū Special Squadron and lives!"

The tall reptilianoid rushed in a streak of bluish-black, while Jheese rushed in a stream of white-overlayed-crimson. Two sets of fists threw themselves at Gokū, each packing more than enough power to shatter a continent.

Connecting, they released a palpable bang, and a gust of air released from the point of contact; whipping out to make the bystanders grimace and close their eyes. When they'd look back, they'd look on in awe and -in Aspara's case, terror- as Gokū casually held back both pair of fists with either arm. One held above his angled frayed black hair, and the other out in front of his face.

Sliding by his heels, Gokū throttled them both through the intensity of their own physical pressure. Grasping at their arms he'd throw them around his shoulders, whipping them into the earth with a streak of force that smashed them through the island and into respective bodies of water on either side.

"Gokū's..."

"...really fast!"

"He's toying with them," Raditz commented, his arms crossed over his chest as Kuririn and Tights looked up in surprise. The Saiyan stared ahead at the scene that had unfolded before his eyes. "He's not even taking them seriously."

"S-Seriously?!" Kuririn gawked. "Just what kind of training did you two do in six days?!"

"The hardest in my life," The elder brother of Gokū responded, his eyes closing in memory of it.

While he was contemplating the past near full week, Butta and Jheese launched up out of the water into the air. They looked flustered, beyond furious, and embroiled with halos of ki.

"This is bloody stupid!" Jheese spat out, shaking his fists out with a temperamental outburst. "How can this top of the line Scouter be so broken?! Someone of your level shouldn't be making these kinds of moves!"

"You can always give up-"

"Are you in-SANE?!"

"Calm down, Jheese!" The crimson fighter heard Butta say over the Scouter's comm. Raising his head up to look at the not-too-far figure of Butta floating at a similar altitude, he felt a bit of his anger dissipate as he heard his comrade's voice whisper into his Scouter's audio. "Listen. He may be just really fasssst, but hasssss no power. Sssso we ssssshould combine our energiesssss and hit him with a ssssingular attack. After that, you ssssshould ussssse a Crussssher Ball and I'll russsssh him the moment he triessss to dodge. He may be fasssst, but he'ssss not the fasssstesssst in the Universssse."

While Jheese wanted to correct him on the last part, it wasn't a bad plan. True he hit fairly hard, but it wasn't anything he hadn't experienced before. Remembering his sparring match with the Captain after his newest acquisition, he had to take an entire week off to recover. This was just a slight setback, that's all it was.

"Alright! Let's do this!" Jheese howled out, powering up his amethyst aura till it turned into a stark red.

At the same time, Butta also raised his energy till it became a brilliant blue. When everyone below looked up curiously, they'd watch the pair of elite warriors rush at each other till they almost appear to slam bodily. Instead, to a few keen eyes, they'd notice how they'd swiftly rotate themselves in a perfectly coordinated spin, harnessing their significant energy till it became a rapidly thrumming disc of red lines overlapping blue lines.

Then, a cacophony of orbs of light fired from them, coalescing the energies of both fighters into singular spheres of destructive power. Approaching Gokū they'd whiz by, some missing their mark with the Earth-raised-Saiyan not even flinching. Even as they exploded in deep but precise holes nearby, he'd automatically swing his arms without batting an eye to deflect each attack, sending them careening to explode in bursts of orangish flames around their vicinity.

Splitting apart, the two flustered elites grimaced, seeing their luck hadn't changed even with their combined symmetry. Still, following up with the plan concocted, Jheese angled himself into a posture as if he was going to throw something. An upraised hand formed his telltale Crusher Ball, the same technique he used to knock out Nappa and Vegeta in a single blow. Hefting the shimmering orb, he'd throw it hard, sending it streaking straight towards Gokū's head.

Much to their combined surprise, Gokū pulled back his arm, fingers curling but not quite making a fist-

-and then thrust it out, landing a kiai that sent it shrieking back upwards, but aiming straight towards Butta instead.

"EEEK!" The blue reptilianoid squealed, narrowly sidestepping the destructive bomb as it veered up and disappearing into the emerald sky. By the time he turned to look where his enemy stood, their opponent was completely gone. "W-WHAT! WHERE DID HE GO?!"

A simple tap to the back of their jackets brought them rearing around with shock.

"Hey," Gokū replied, smirking at them while keeping a hard glance at the pair with a very casual mannerism that made them shake in anger. "I hope this isn't all you got. I came here looking to get a real workout. I'm kind of disappointed from what I've seen so far."

"H-How dare you mock ussss!" Butta howled, raising a vein throbbing fist as his obtusely shaped neck up to his oddly scaled head ebbed sweat while gnashing teeth in indignation. "We are the elite, the bessssst sssssoldiers in the whole galaxy! There aren't any compared to ussss in the whole Universsse! What makessss you sssso sssspecial?!"

"I'm a Saiyan who was raised on Earth," He replied with a casual shrug. "Does that make a difference?"

"No way!" Jheese balked, his eyes bulging. "Apart from him, the rest of you lot are garbage, barely worth recognizing! No monkey is better than us!"

"That'sss right!" Butta replied with venom, pointing his finger straight at Gokū. "How can a Saiyan be better than the elite of the elite?!"

"Maybe...I trained harder than you guys?" Gokū inquired with a tilt of his head. "Yeah, I think that might be it."

No longer bearing the patience for rational plans or strategy, the red and blue pair launched themselves in a feverous assault. Combined they could effortlessly weave in and around their larger or smaller frames, as they had done so in the past dozens of times over. However, even as they did, the lithe bodied Saiyan ducked, stepped and maneuvered around every attempt to hit him. The barest of glances were made from the palms of his hand or the sides of his feet to keep them from making a single precise blow.

While Kuririn looked up with amazement, Pan was leaping up with glee at seeing how strong her father had become. Bulma couldn't register a single thing, despite the mass of readings her optics gave her, never once pinning down a designation for what level of strength Gokū had at any time. Tights felt dizzy watching while Jaco felt like he was watching something while he himself was in slow motion by comparison.

Aspara looked up in disbelief. She knew now, beyond a shadow of a doubt, this put a wrench into every plan her father had. It was enough that the brief panic she had with Vegeta surpassing Reacoom was now just a distant flight of needless fear. This was a real problem.

"How...how can my weak cousin be this strong?" She thought, biting her lower lip till she drew blood. Glancing over at Raditz, she felt anger boil up within her swollen stomach, seeing how he easily kept his gaze on the action. What's worse, he was perfectly content to stand by and watch. Was he just as strong, or worse, stronger than the runt of the family?!

In a split second, Gokū evaporated from sight, leaving Jheese and Butta to accidentally punch into one another. The impact made them rebound, and glare at each other due to the pent-up feelings they had at the time. Baring teeth, they raised fists until a loud whistle tore at their ears and brought their mutual gaze at a distantly floating Gokū waving his hand.

"Hey! You wanna call it quits here? I wouldn't mind picking this back up when you've gotten stronger!" He exclaimed.

"Quit?! You're talking crazy!" Jheese spat incredulously. "The Ginyū Special Squadron never retreats!"

"Let'sss waste this guy!" Butta sneered, raising a hand up and charging an orb of bluish light.

"Took the words right of my mouth!" The white-haired warrior jeered, raising his other hand to match the blue-scaled man's posture. While he formed his own ball of energy, the two spun in place, swirling around and then combining into a pure amethyst orb of light. Swelling up in size, they'd launch their full powered attack, shrieking across the air straight towards their designated target.

Inhaling deeply, Gokū clasped his wrists together while squatting in the sky.

A second later, when the orb was nearly on top of him, he let out a mighty roar. A blast equivalent to a hurricane tore through the horizon, blowing down to the viewers below, making them take cover or turn away. Only Raditz maintained a stoic gaze as his hair whipped wildly behind his back, his tail unfurling with an idle flicking motion of certainty. When Jheese and Butta recovered from their own attack's failure to connect, they'd see that their enemy, once again disappeared into oblivion once more.

Butta grimaced, balling his hands up and twisting around to find him, anywhere. While he looked side to side, even below, he failed to notice the speeding silhouette from up in the sky.

Jheese batted a pair of lashes, his mouth opening to release the words, "Butta, above-!"

Right before a sledgehammer of two pairs of fingers entwined into a single ball of kinetic force slammed straight onto the reptilian humanoid's skull. Eyes bulged out, the Scoutter cracked, then exploded on the side of his head, and he dropped down like a torpedo. Instantly, a shimmering Afterimage of Gokū appeared at his side, landing a crushing kick to his stomach that propelled him into a teleporting kick to the spine. Catching him in midair, he'd toss him down, falling ineptly to the ground before Jheese's horror filled eyes.

"BUTTA! NO!"

"Now you see how pointless this is?" Gokū inquired incredulously. "I don't want to see you again until you want to fight like you mean it. Otherwise you'll get what he got."

"Y-You murdered my best mate!" Jheese shouted out, his hands shaking in anguish while his face contorted in a miserable mask of fear and anger. "You won't get away with this! I'm going to bring the captain, and he'll show you what it means to cross us! Just wait and see!"

Igniting into a plume of purple, he arched away into a lancing spear into the distant repetitive vista of Namek.

And just as quickly as it began, the battle had ended. What would've surely been the end of everyone, Saiyans and Earthlings alike, had been dealt with all of the trouble of checking the kettle for boiled water. Gokū's showcase was so miraculous that it brought a well of relief and joy within the previously panic ridden heroes who were put in danger by the flamboyant squadron.

For Aspara, she could only stare with abject fear.

Watching her cousin descend to the air beside the fallen presumed corpse of Butta, she felt her body tense up, intensifying the pain she felt that was dealt not but minutes ago. What was he going to do to her? Even if she escaped -doubtful, but still a fleeting thought- her father would kill her for failing in such a spectacular fashion. Casting a glance at the burnt and barely breathing bodies of Vegeta and Nappa, she felt tempted to finish them, here and now, but that'd cause more attention on her.

Swallowing hard, she cast her gaze at Gokū as he put a hand in the pouch that she witnessed bring the child and the dwarf back to full health. Did he need it when he didn't lose a single ounce of stamina?

"Hey, you!" Gokū cried out, making Aspara's tail stick out in a frayed display of shock. "You're hurt, right? Why not help get these to Vegeta and the other guy?"

Balking, the normally smooth hair that reached past her hips briefly frayed up on end. Raising her hand that wasn't covering her swollen abdomen, she hoarsely croaked out, "You want me to help them?! Why?!"

"I know you guys don't have any real love for each other, but if this Freeza is as much trouble as I've heard, we're going to need everyone's help to get through this," Gokū replied. Despite the look Raditz was making at what Gokū said, it made enough sense that he didn't attempt to counter the point. They had argued about this on the trip over. They were sorely outmatched if Freeza was even a tenth as the nightmarish tales make him out to be.

Pinching the beans between his fingers he shot them like bullets towards Aspara. Watching the woman grab them, he'd cross his arms and look at her expectantly. Seeing the way his face partially frowned with a sour look around the lips put an almost tangential jolt of fear that brought a shudder up and down her spine. The face of her father ran deeply in her cousin, even if the intent was different.

Whether out of self preservation or years of conditioning ushering her into obedience, Aspara took the first bean and put it in her mouth. It tasted bland, with barely any real substance as she chewed it between her teeth. Swallowing it, however, she felt the 'magic' of this surprising cure-all take effect. The injuries she sustained from Jheese were gone, pain vanishing as if didn't happened; even more impressive, she felt a rush of energy from depleted stamina she didn't even realize she had lost from being rudely ejected from the tank earlier.

With Gokū's hawk-like gaze on her, she begrudgingly continued to follow his orders, complicit into his demands and the logic reinforcing them.

Bending down she shoved the bean rudely into Nappa's mouth and then, for a few moments of hesitation, placed the other into Vegeta's. After Nappa half consciously chewed it -with her having to force Vegeta to do the same- she witnessed firsthand from the outside what it did for the pair of Saiyans.

Nappa's eyes bolted open, burns gone with only the flecks of dried blood still staining his burly build. As he stood upright, patting himself up and down to check for injuries, Vegeta himself had his eyes bulge wide open. Realizing what the last thing happened Vegeta stood upright and looked at Aspara first, then over to Gokū; the latter of which now was armed with a cheeky grin on his face.

"Y-You!" Vegeta stammered out, his face paling. "Kakarrot! When did you get here?!"

"Just a little bit ago," He replied nonchalantly. "Good thing I got here when I did. If I was any later, you'd be in a lot of trouble."

The prince scowled, finding it hard to believe this man whom he soundly beat into the dirt had gotten strong enough to afford that kind of talk. But any words of derision left his mouth when he looked down and saw the prone form of Butta, his tongue hanging out for comical effect, while completely undignified for his usual proud self. Nappa himself gawked, which only added a bit of humor to Aspara as she had already gotten over the feat.

"You...did this?" Vegeta inquired slowly.

"Yep! Wasn't as strong as I thought he'd be. Kinda hope this Freeza guy is stronger, otherwise I'd feel a bit disappointed, haha!"

"Kakarrot, just because we trained in 100x gravity, doesn't mean you should get carried away," Raditz remarked with an eyeroll, much to Gokū's nervous chuckling chagrin. "Not everyone can just do the kind of training we did. I swore I felt like dying some days."

"Well, we made it out alright. I'm sure anyone can do it with enough practice."

"Your optimism is nauseating, little brother," Raditz sighed with eyes clenching shut with visible cringe. "Just be thankful I need you in top form, otherwise I'd slap you for talking so foolishly."

"H-Hold a sec!" Nappa exclaimed, bringing the pair out of their personal conversation. Vegeta was still stunned, allowing his burly cohort to raise a hand up with visible incredulity. "Y-You said you trained under a hundred fold gravity?! By what metric is that, and how?!"

"Gravity altering machine in the ship Kakarrot's mate's father made," The elder brother explained, unfurling his arms and addressing Nappa straightforwardly. "And the metric is by Earth's. So if you don't want to hurt your empty head, Nappa, it'd be ten times our old planet's gravity."

"What was that, you runt-?"

"Quiet!" Vegeta snapped, bringing the tallest of the trio under his proverbial heel. Closing his eyes, he let out a sigh, his arms crossing over his chest while looking ahead at the entourage of bumpkin idiots -or at least as he thought of them-. "As much as I like the sound of us working together, Saiyans in arms, I don't want to place my life in the hands of a traitor and a third class wretch; nor your half breed child, either, Kakarrot."

"And why not?" Kuririn interjected, raising his hands up with ridicule poised at him. "You 'volunteered' us quite eagerly when the Ginyū Special Squadron showed up before. Why stop now?"

"Because Freeza has the Dragon Balls, you dimwit!" Vegeta shouted, bringing a sense of alarm through realism of their given situation. "Ginyū took our Dragon Balls and more than likely reunited them with the others."

"Uh...he hasn't used them yet, though," The ex-orin monk noted audibly. "Whenever we use the Dragon Balls, the sky goes completely black and a massive dragon larger than any building anywhere appears from them. And I may have blacked out, but I swear we haven't seen one yet."

"That's right," Bulma said, her eyes blinking rapidly as she cupped her chin and looked over to Gokū then her sister. "Maybe, the Dragon Balls didn't work for him or some reason. That means, we still have a chance to keep him from using that wish."

"And bring Mister Piccolo and the others back to life?!"

"Exactly," The lavender haired scientist said to her child, bringing a beaming grin to the wagging tailed girl. "There's still hope."

"But, Ginyū is still likely at the ship with Freeza," Jaco pointed out, looking at everyone expectantly. "How are we supposed to get past him and Freeza?"

"Simple," Gokū replied, propping his hands on his hips. "We let that guy from before,— what was his name, Juice? — bring this Gen-yuu guy. He said he'd be back with the captain, so I can only assume that's who he's talking about."

"And between the two of us, we can easily take out these two louts," Raditz surmised, looking over to Vegeta. "If Freeza hasn't figured out how the balls work, then it's quite likely you or the rest of us don't either. So if you can make a break for it when Ginyū shows up—"

"I can connect the rest of the dots, Raditz," Vegeta hissed, closing his eyes as he let out a snort. "Much as I don't like to admit it, this does put as at a remarkable advantage. Moreover, we already have someone working with us on the inside. Getting the Dragon Balls away from him may not be as difficult as it could've been."

"But...can we really trust him?" Nappa leaned over, inquiring under his breath.

"Don't be dense, Nappa. Of course we can't. But we do need him to be in Freeza's good graces, so we'll have to rely on his underhanded nature to get us what we want," Vegeta spoke back, turning to give a tempered glare at Aspara. "Play your cards well, Aspara, and maybe you too can find reward in complying with us. Just make sure you know whose allegiances matter, less you be ground to dust."

"Understood, my lord," Aspara bent her head down, grimacing behind the frocks of her bangs.

She could only wonder how her father was handling things back at the ship, or what Freeza will do when he finds a way to summon the balls. Just how many hard places was she to be crushed by? Too many, for her liking.

If only she could get rid of the prince...

Freeza's Ship, Outside

There's no bleedin' way in Hell what I saw back there was real!

Jheese's panicked filled thoughts wracked his brain, the red-tinged man rushing in the direction his Scouter pinpointed; where he could see the ki signature of his team's leader in the distance. The Ginyū Special Squadron second-in-command was so preoccupied with his own thoughts that he didn't notice himself passing under a tumultuous storm cloud, the torrential rain drenching him even as he curved downward, veering left onto the landmass on which Freeza had left his ship.

He landed clumsily, nearly crashing into the ship, as opposed to the normal elegance expected of members of the Ginyū Special Squad. The eponymous Ginyū himself looked positively affronted at the tacky landing Jheese had made. Keeping a firm grip on the Dragon Balls, to prevent them from blowing away in a storm that simply would not end, Ginyū spoke loud and clear over the combined clamour of thunder and rain.

"Jheese! Just what is the meaning of this?!"

"C-Captain, you won't believe what I just saw!" Jheese spluttered, unable to maintain any sort of dignified composure. "Everyone...everyone dead sir! Saiyans...Vegeta...we all got wrecked...and Butta...and I got away...and—"

If Jheese had possessed any sort of self-awareness, the man would have noticed a vein throbbing more prominently than the other veins in the Captain's temple. He did not, however, and it was only when his incessant rambling was cut across by a violent yell of "Jheese!" that the second-in-command of the Ginyū Squad stopped short, realising he may have made a mistake.

"Jheese, you will give me a report in a brisk and orderly fashion!" snapped Ginyū, sounding almost more like an irate parent than a disgruntled commanding officer. "Was all the training you went through under my command pointless?!"

"N-No, sir!" replied Jheese, standing at attention dutifully. "I...I sorta lost meself for a second there!" Clearing his throat, he continued, in a far more orderly manner than before. "Captain, we've...we've got ourselves in a right bind, we have. I don't know any way to say this, so I'll be out with it...everyone in the Ginyū Special Squad except us."

"Everyone?!" repeated Ginyū incredulously. "Gurd, Butta, and even Reacoom?! Lord Freeza's finest, defeated by Vegeta and a ragtag bunch he cobbled together in desperation!?" Ginyū was trembling, partially from shock, partially from repressed rage. He felt a tooth crack from the strength of clenching his jaw, but paid it no mind. The pain that Freeza would inflict on him — even if he was not allowed to kill him — would be far, far worse.

"That's...that's right, Captain. Everyone, even my old cobber Butta, defeated..." replied Jheese, a trace of remorse in his voice. "But it wasn't Vegeta who did the bulk of it...I mean, he did clobber Reacoom, but the effort nearly killed the bugger...and Butta and I were ready to kill them all...but then Raditz and another Saiyan arrived! Our Scouters must've been wonky, Captain, because their combat readings kept fluctuating like mad!"

Captain Ginyū looked pensive. "Fluctuating power levels...Jheese, you made an amateur mistake! Those beings, Saiyans are not, must have the ability to freely control their own combat strength. The Scouters aren't going to do you any good against them, and you blundered because you relied on it too much!"

"I...sorry, Captain! I should have had the foresight!"

"Apologies are pointless, Jheese," said Ginyū. "Actions will serve us much better." Inclining his head towards the ground, the purple-skinned alien released a blast of telekinetic force, which hollow the damp soil out considerably, and placed the Dragon Balls deep within, before burying them. "The ground looks like it's been disturbed, but they're buried close enough to the ship that even if intruders arrive, they won't notice immediately."

"W-What are you going to do, Captain?" asked Jheese nervously.

"Isn't it obvious?" replied Ginyū. "We're going to kill the Saiyans who killed my men! We will have time to mourn our losses later! Show me some resolve, and let's bring those Saiyans to their knees in the name of Lord Freeza!"

"Yes, sir! Right, Captain!" Jheese crowed, ever at Ginyū's beck and call.

The duo erupted into pillars of ki — one lavender and the other deep crimson — before breaking off into the horizon, leaving the storm, and unknowingly, a plotting schemer, far behind them.

Freeza's Ship, Inside

The fierce rainfall continued to hit the sides of Freeza's ship, and the howling wind was only slightly muffled now; the storm that Chi-Chi's Bashōsen had created was, if anything, becoming stronger, rather than dying down. Tullece kept a watchful eye through one of the spherical windows, Chi-Chi at his side, as Jheese arrived, conversed with Ginyū, and then both left at breakneck speeds. A broad smile spread across his face, twisting what was otherwise Gokū's face, albeit older, into one of pure malice.

"This is turning out better than even I have planned," said Tullece, unfurling his tail, which was resisting the urge to twitch in delight. "Not sparing a single thought for foresight, any of them — Freeza, Ginyū, or his lackeys. Come with me outside. We won't have a better opportunity than this."

Chi-Chi nodded curtly, and followed Tullece towards the automatic doors of the ship. When the two exited, the full force of the storm hit them with all of its might. Their hair whipping around, Tullece raised a hand and felt the water droplets hit his palm. To Chi-Chi's surprise, his confident smile didn't waver. It only seemed to grow in the face of the relentless squall. "This is a surprise, but a welcome one."

"What do you mean?" inquired Chi-Chi, genuinely confused. "My storm is going to help you?"

"You made this happen?" Tullece couldn't contain his surprise, glancing at the darkness that shrouded the skies overhead, and the deluge of water that poured down from it. Lightning crackled and flashed, and thunder rumbled. "You're an even better acquisition to my forces than I imagined then, Chi-Chi," The woman noticed it was the first time he'd said her name since she'd told it to him, and was not surprised that it sounded strange on his tongue. "These waters are precisely what it needs to grow."

Chi-Chi was at the very urge of asking what it was — as her new master had been very tight-lipped about it, despite hinting at it earlier — but found herself saved from the necessity when the man pulled a small, round item from within his armband. Chi-Chi couldn't mask her curiousity; the object may as well have been a pebble, but Tullece was eyeing it with enough reverence to make her spine tingle uncomfortably. Whatever it was, it was dangerous.

"Tullece...what is it, anyway?" Chi-Chi braved the question.

Tullece ignored the perceived rudeness, a lack of any title, and surveyed the area, not answering Chi-Chi at first. Where to plant this...? Ginyū buried those Dragon Balls around here, and while I don't care for them personally, it would amuse me to see them be forcibly pushed aside when it grows... His black eyes fell on Freeza's ship, the Saiyan shaking his spiked head. The woman, Aspara, and I will need this ship when it is time to depart...I can't afford to damage it, so I'll want this grown enough of a distance away that I can safely ensure the ship functions. Lost in his thoughts, it was almost as if he hadn't heard Chi-Chi, and only when she impatiently cleared her throat, clearly disgruntled, did Tullece acknowledge her again.

"Ah, my apologies," Tullece spared her only a passing look. "I'm going to be a moment, so I'll need your patience." Chi-Chi was clearly unhappy with the answer, but she held her tongue long enough for Tullece to find a spot he considered worthy; it was closer to the ship than he cared for, yet had enough distance to avoid damaging the craft for later. Kneeling down, Tullece made an indent in the ground with his ki, placed the pebble-like item there, and covered it again.

Following the burial, the entire planet trembled; beneath Chi-Chi's feet, she felt a clear shifting in the ground that was more than simply tectonic plates. Had that happened because Tullece planted...whatever it was? "It's a seed, I can see that much clearly..." muttered Chi-Chi, eyeing the spot where Tullece had planted the seed with an air of trepidation. "But what is it a seed of?"

"My endgame," Tullece replied shortly.

Seeing that she was going to get nothing else, Chi-Chi placed a gloved hand on her hips, malcontent threatening all over her face. "I thought I allied myself with you; are you not the sort of team player who shares information with his subordinates?"

At this, Tullece laughed, and sauntered over towards Chi-Chi. The man was surprisingly tall, something that Chi-Chi had failed to appreciate until he was quite literally looking down on her. Gripping her chin, he forced her to look directly at him, black eyes peering into one another. "I assure you, so long as you prove your loyalty to me, then our alliance will place you at the top of all creation. What I just planted is not for me alone — you will benefit from it too, should show me that you deserve it. So why would I spoil the surprise?"

"When I prove myself?" Chi-Chi wrestled her chin out of the man's grip. "I'm already wearing your colours, and I follow your orders; what more do I need to do?"

"I'm glad you asked," replied Tullece in a way that made Chi-Chi regret actually having asked. His tail snapped eagerly, Tullece jerking his head in the direction of the ship. "I'm sure when you boarded, you saw it was mostly empty; Freeza brought limited personnel — his most trusted soldiers, but also what amounted to scouts, techs, and pilots — to Namek. Most of the scouts are currently out running patrols, which is why you didn't exactly see a welcoming committee when you boarded." Wearing a supercilious smile, Tullece continued with the proposition. "What I want is for you to kill every last soldier on board this ship. We'll handle the stragglers when the time comes."

Chi-Chi balked only slightly at the proposition. She'd be hard pressed to say she wasn't a violent woman, but she didn't thrive in causing harm to people she had no quarrel with. And if what Tullece had said was true, then much of the ships staff were not fighters. Some might work in data entry, others in the galley, and some were simply pilots. They weren't fighters, and weren't actively causing harm, and yet Tullece was asking her to slaughter them. He was clearly watching her for signs of hesitation and refusal, but Chi-Chi gave none.

These folk are hardly innocent, right? She justified to herself. They threw in their lot with Freeza, and they get what's comin' to 'em. Glaring directly into Tullece's eyes, she said, "Fine. Do you want me to leave the corpses where I make them or pile them up for you?"

"It's chef's choice," replied Tullece airily. "Just try to damage the ship as little as possible. We will need it." While Chi-Chi didn't give Tullece the satisfaction of a verbal response, the two made their way back into the mercifully rain-free interior of Freeza's ship, and dried themselves off through the use of ki. The Saiyan waved his hand forward. "Go ahead, my lady. You have an appointment to keep."

Chi-Chi inhaled deeply. She wanted to end this quickly; the woman didn't intend to take any enjoyment in slaughtering these people, or following her new master's orders, that much was certain. But she also placed a value on her own life that was higher than the likes of Freeza's lackeys. Chi-Chi bent at the knees, crouching, almost like a wildcat. The pose might have embarrassed a lesser woman, with her rump raised suggestively, yet Chi-Chi paid it no mind. She was focused now.

She'd entered combat mode.

A rush of bubbling ki immersed her entire form, cloaking the woman's body in a complete covering, with protrusions above her head resembling that of bull's horns, constructed from the same ki that made up her cloak. Chi-Chi grinned, giving herself over the rush of ki accompanied by the Gyūken, before sprinting off at a breakneck pace down the curved hall of Freeza's ship. Her armoured boots dug into the tiles, ripping tracks that trailed behind her she tore madly through Freeza' ship. The young martial artist took a turn, heading deeper into the ship — through an automatic door she hadn't seen when she'd been mesmerised by Tullece's presence in the Medical Machine — arriving in a circular room that she was almost certain shouldn't fit into the ship but somehow did.

The interior of the room was filled with various machines, each of them far too complex for a country girl like Chi-Chi to process. Her black eyes swiveled around, falling onto the soldiers who were busying themselves with the maintenance of the ship. They still hadn't noticed her arrival, but that was about to change within the next moment. Chi-Chi cocked an arm back, the shroud of ki covering it enlarging, appearing as an engorged, transparent glove. The young girl thrust her arm forward, extending the shroud outward; it raced along like a snake, the five large fingers gripping the midriff of one of the mechanics.

"Reel 'em in!" Chi-Chi crowed, pulling her arm back with excessive force. The ki arm retracted, rushing backwards towards the waiting woman. This was the cue that Freeza's soldiers needed, the lot of them glancing towards Chi-Chi with shock, anger, and horror.

"Who the hell are you!?"

"Where'd you come from, bitch!?"

"Get her! In the name of Lord Freeza!"

The few who could used ki prepared several kikōha above their palms. The rest grabbed blasters at their hips, cocking the weapons and pulling the triggers. Chi-Chi, who had just slammed her first victim into a wall, braced herself for impact. The shroud around her flared upwards, donning a rotating spherical shape as it protected Chi-Chi's body from the incoming kikōha and blasterfire. Amid the flames of the ensuing explosion, the smoke that rose as quickly as it died, and the crimson aura, Chi-Chi appeared to the members of the Freeza Army as what she wanted them to see: a demon princess.

Chi-Chi lunged forward, blurring her form with her speed; gripping the faces of two nearest soldiers and slamming them into the ground. They twitched, their faces split like melons, and they were still. Turning towards the the soldier to her immediate right, Chi-Chi backhanded the soldier; he was sent flying into the nearest machine, his body going limp instantly. If Chi-Chi had been completely focused, she'd have time to marvel at her enhanced power, a gift from the Eldest Nameccian. Against the Saiyans, it hadn't meant much, but here? She was cleaning house.

"S-She took out our ki fighters!"

"Don't back down! That means we can prove ourselves!"

Chi-Chi released her aura in an expanding wave, a red explosion engulfing the bulk of the room. By sheer miracle, the machinery escaped damage, yet the soldiers found themselves thrown back. Those who could still stand forced themselves to their feet, others fell unconscious from the concussive force.

"She's a monster!" crowed one of the remaining soldiers.

"We're being routed! Fall back! Fall back!"

"You're not goin' anywhere!" Chi-Chi shouted. She leapt across the room, slamming her leg into the face of one of the retreating soldiers. The kick snapped his neck soundly, and he lay crumpled "I have my orders; no one is leavin' this ship but Tullece and I." The princess of Mount Frypan balanced on both hands, spinning violently like a top, applying her flexibility to her legs; she assaulted the Freeza Army troops nearest her with an upside-down rotating straddle split, multiple kicks striking the chests and face of the remaining forces.

Chi-Chi did bring the violence to a halt until there was no pulse left on the ship but of her and Tullece. She scoured every inch of the ship, bringing an end to the lives of each and every remaining Freeza soldier. By the time she had finished, Tullece — who had been observing — saw the woman he had recruited cloaked in red, standing in the middle of a group of corpses and flaming, broken machinery. She turned to glare sourly at him, clearly conflicted with the results of her rampage.

"Is this what you wanted to see from me?"

Tullece beamed. It was ruthlessness and jovial mixed into a singular expression, the man unable to hide his elation. "You've done very well."

The bubbling aura around Chi-Chi flickered and faded, her expression unwavering. She was in no mood to accept his praises, but she had made her bed, so she would lie in it. The woman took a harrowing look at the carnage she'd caused in no less than five short minutes. Was this her or was this the role she was playing for Tullece? She didn't like to consider either option, and yet knew it had to be one of them. Hoping, truly hoping, it was the latter, the girl nodded curtly. "Thank you."

She'd see this through to the end. Chi-Chi felt the planet rumble beneath her feet again, and knew what was responsible for the tremors. That seed...when Tullece had revealed it, it had put her on edge. It looked...wrong. Everything about it radiated a sense of wrongness that she couldn't explain away. Mother...she would probably know...she'd know what's wrong with that...thing. Chi-Chi had no other word for it. I'll get to the bottom of this myself.

Namek, Location of the Battle with the Ginyū Squad

"What...what was that?" Bulma shuddered. The planet had shaken, not once, but twice now, and whatever it was, Bulma could tell it was no normal seismic quake. She didn't know what it was, but there was never a seismic quake like that. "Didn't you all feel that?!"

"Wasn't it just an groundquake?" inquired Jaco. "With Freeza and the Ginyū Special Squad on the loose, I think a shaking planet is the last of our worries."

Gokū shook his head firmly, a feeling of unknown dread creeping over him. His grandfather had always taught him to be acutely aware of nature; he was more like an animal than a man in that regard, and he knew something wasn't right. "That...that wasn't an ordinary shake. Whatever it was...it almost felt like the planet was screamin'."

"S-Screaming?" Tights repeated. S-Son, are you sure about that? That's ridiculous!"

"...Papa is right," chimed in Pan, looking from her parents and then off to the horizon. Like her father, she could tell something was amiss. "Something feels...really bad."

"Guys, this isn't the time for campfire stories," butted in Kuririn.

"I don't mean to interrupt your conversation," interjected Raditz, pointing towards the horizon. "But we don't have time for this idle banter. I can feel it; two large ki barreling right down on us. Jheese and the Captain are about to grace us with their presences."

"Tch..." Vegeta grunted. "The bastard didn't waste any time."

"And we're not going to either," replied Raditz. "Just keep the plan in mind when they arrive; Kakarrot and I are more than enough for those two."

"Listen here, you—" Nappa snapped, a vein throbbing in his forehead. Vegeta, however, raised a hand to silence him.

"Nappa, stand down," ordered Vegeta. While his voice was calm, he eyed Raditz with the utmost of loathing; it was clear the Prince of Saiyans wanted nothing more than to lunge now, but with Ginyū and Jheese closing in, as well as him not having a proper feel for Raditz's current strength, he wasn't so unwise as to attempt it. "Rush in half-cocked and you might very well die."

The bulkier Saiyan desperately wanted to protest, but he heeded Vegeta's warning; if Vegeta could stand to hear Raditz's tone, then Nappa would put up with it, even if it was against his better judgement. Mercifully, their chances to continue arguing were brought to a literal crashing halt, Ginyū and Jheese smashing their forms into the ground with an explosion of crimson and lavender. At the sight of Jheese and Ginyū's arrival, Jaco, Tights, and Bulma ducked for the nearest cover they could find. Without wasting breath, Raditz shouted out,

"NOW!"

Vegeta, Aspara, Nappa, Pan, and Kuririn flared their auras, bursting into the sky and over the heads before Ginyū and Jheese were able to blink. Five streaks of light crossed the horizon, shining different colours, and leaving the two remaining members of the Ginyū Special Squadron gobsmacked.

"I...we...what in the bleedin' hell just happened?!" snarled Jheese.

"You didn't think we were wasting time in few minutes you were away, did you Jheese?" asked Raditz, his tail flicking at his side in apparent delight. "We had more than enough time to formulate a plan of action."

"W-What do we do now, Captain?" Jheese's voice hitched, the rising blood pressure and jumpiness that preceded ensuing panic making themselves known. "Those wankers are headed right towards Lord Freeza's ship!"

"Focus on what's in front of us," Ginyū ordered. Unlike Jheese, the Captain of the Ginyū Special Squadron, had recovered from his initial shock in mere moments. "That was your mistake last time, you allowed yourself to be too distracted." He placed a finger to the button at the side of his Scouter, scanning the combat strengths of the two Saiyans before him. The readings of 800 and 600 flashed across his screen, the leader of the Squad spitting in disgust when he saw them. "Just like I thought; there no way their readings are actually that low. They're suppressing their combat strength. Still, it's a bit strange; I never thought you'd be given trouble by Raditz of all people. And that man, is he—no, he's too young."

"Careful, Ginyū," replied Raditz, smiling nastily. "You'll regret underestimating me."

"So the purple guy is Gen-yuu?" Gokū observed. "I'll have a go at him then; you take Juice."

"Ginyū and Jheese," corrected Raditz lazily. "And why are you sidelining me with the weaker of the two, little brother? I should fight Ginyū, and you can fight Jheese."

"No way!" replied Gokū, turning from the duo to confront Raditz. "I can feel he's got some wicked power! I'm not going to pass up a chance like this!"

"If you're so confident, then go right ahead," replied Raditz, though the older of the two felt like he was giving in a tad too easily. Kakarrot had already had his fun with Reacoom and Butta, it seemed almost like a waste to pass Ginyū over to him. But at the same time, killing Jheese will have its own perks...

Gokū grinned, shifting his attention from Raditz to Ginyū and Jheese...

...just in time to be struck full-force in the jaw by a rush of purple. Ginyū's elbow was outstretched, the man's horned face splitting into the maddening grin of a man itching for a challenge. The second phase of the battle had now begun.

A/N:

Demod20:

It's been awhile since I've written our favorite pointy haired protagonist. It was neat to recreate the feeling of one sided wonder that he embodies. Though I so have to hand it to my co-author for doing a pretty bang up job; both with Tullece and Chi-Chi, and Ginyu with Jheese. Look forward to seeing where this goes from this point on ^^

LastationLover5000: So, it's a bit weird to actually write Heart two chapters consecutively! To anyone who reads both Erased and Heart, I promise the next chapter of Erased is coming soon! Make no mistake about that, everyone! Speaking of Erased, did you know that Erased and Heart now have a joint twitter account (HeartofErased)? I can't say if it'll be worth anything, but little factoids, art commissioned for the series, as well as general updates, will be found here! Regardless, my section was an interesting one; I'm trying to relax on heavy battle chapters, so I kept the violence to a minimum, but jesus, Chi-Chi vented quite a bit of her frustration out on the Freeza Soldiers! And now, Ginyū and Jheese have arrived to take on Gokū and Raditz! Look forward to the next chapter, everyone!