A/N: Hello everyone! Wanted to let you all know that I really appreciated your words of support in continuing this fic despite my personal setbacks, and to show that appreciation, here is the latest chapter that I finally found the time and energy to finish. Already got a draft of the next one in the works but still job hunting at the same time, but my wife did get her's back so that bought us a little time while also tending to some personal self-care. Thank you again for all the support, and here's to you!
Based on MasakoX's What If series "What if Gine went with Goku to Earth?", but a retcon with some changes of my own on how I think the story would have went down had Goku's mother escaped planet Vegeta with him.
DISCLAIMER: The following is a fan-based work of fiction. Dragonball Minus, Dragonball, Dragonball Z, Dragonball Super, and Dragonball GT are all owned by FUNimation, Toei Animation, and Akira Toriyama.
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CHAPTER 55: ATTACK OF THE GINYUS
No one moved, the Ginyus holding their poses as the gang from Earth just gawked at them in dumbstruck silence at the admittedly ridiculous spectacle. Only Vegeta showed any trace of fear.
Ginyu himself straightened up and faced them.
"Hey Vegeta, long time no see." He scanned the assembled humans, looking amused. "Who are your little friends here? You trying to build an army to stand against Lord Frieza? I must say that your efforts so far seem quite adorable."
Vegeta said nothing, only glancing nervously between Ginyu and the Earthlings.
Yamcha nervously stepped forward and spoke up. "Uh, look, mister, uh, Ginyu, sir... I-I don't know what you want with Vegeta here, but we are definitely not friends with him at all, if that's what you're thinking. We don't want any trouble, so, uh..."
He received the most murderous glare he had ever seen in his life from Vegeta which screamed "SHUT UP" at him. Despite being stronger than the prince now, the look was enough to make the desert bandit want to shrink away.
"Hahaha, how cute." Ginyu chuckled, then turned back to the prince. "Any way, our orders are to bring you before Frieza so you can answer for your desertion; and for that trashing you gave to Planet 79's medical center. Personally, I'd be happy to just bring only your head to him, but he told me he wants you alive. So..." He narrowed his gaze. "Are you going to come quietly?"
Vegeta glared at him as he hissed, "You know Saiyans never surrender, Ginyu!"
Ginyu smiled mockingly. "Hmph. Of course you monkeys don't. Very well then, I was hoping for an excuse to bash your head in anyway."
He then addressed the Earthlings. "As for the riff raff here, we hereby claim this planet in the name of Lord Frieza, the one true ruler of the Universe, and you shall all bow down before him or die."
Everyone was silent, the scale of what they were dealing with was unreal. If these were the people that Vegeta worked for, monsters that slaughtered entire worlds without remorse for a genocidal tyrant, then their consciences couldn't allow it.
Dende answered for them. It was his planet after all. "We have no qualm with you or whoever this Frieza is, but this planet belongs to my people! And we will never bow down to you like slaves!"
Some of the Ginyus seemed surprised, like it was the first time they encountered someone who had never heard of the name Frieza before. This really must be the boondocks of the galaxy.
Briefly taken aback, Ginyu just shrugged his massive shoulders. "Have it your way." He then turned to his men. "Alright gents, you know the drill. Time for rock-paper-scissors. But Vegeta is mine."
"What?!" The other commandos protested.
"Aw, come on Cap'n, you always take on the good ones! Why can't we all just have a go at 'im?" Jeice complained.
"No! I should have a go at him! I owe him one!" Said the smallest member of the bunch, Guldo.
"Those are your orders, men!" Ginyu said firmly. The rest of them groaned in reluctant obedience.
"But don't worry." He eyed the Earthlings. "There's plenty of other targets here to choose from. One for each of you and then some."
Almost without them noticing, Guldo was inching his way forward, his four eyes locked on Vegeta in utter contempt as he suddenly lurched forward, only to be caught unceremoniously by the largest of the group, Recoome.
"Whoa, hold on there little fella."
"Come on! Let me at 'im!" Guldo hissed.
"Ah, chill out little guy." Recoome chided. "You heard the captain, Vegeta is his. We still gotta play the game."
"But-"
"Guldo!" Ginyu commanded strongly. "That's an order!"
Guldo grumbled an alien curse under his breath and conceded, then gathered with the other three subordinates of the group to play a game of rock-paper-scissors to decide who goes first. First round was a tie, then the next, and the one after. Each time the Ginyus came up with the same hand, getting themselves more worked up over the excitement of the slaughter.
The humans from Earth watched in surreal horror as their fate was being decided by a children's game of all things.
"Are they really gonna kill us all?!" Bulma shivered in terror, cowering behind Yamcha. Chi-Chi clutched Gohan to her.
Vegeta turned to them. "Not if we can all gang up on them. As much as your power doesn't match theirs... I'm still going to count on it."
"Wait a second!" Yamcha interrupted. "We still didn't agree to help you out! You spent the last five days trying to kill us! Why should we-"
"The Ginyus will do far worse to you than what I ever could, if that should mean something." Vegeta interrupted bluntly. "But if you think you can take them on without me then be my guest!"
"A-ha!" As if on cue, Recoome suddenly cheered. Apparently, he won first dibs. He scanned the assembled Earthlings like he was window-shopping for an appetizer. Finally, he set his gaze on Yamcha. "I'll take that one, he doesn't look like much but should be fun either way."
Yamcha paled. Even at a distance the guy looked like a mountain of muscle.
"Well, good luck with him." Was all Vegeta said, too serious to even gloat.
"Um, uh-eheh, actually I take back everything I said. Could really use your help after all, Vegeta." Yamcha sputtered.
Vegeta scoffed in disgust, then turned to Krillin, "You. Do you see the small one over there? That's Guldo. He's the weakest of the bunch but he has psychic abilities."
"Really? L-like what?" The monk asked nervously.
Vegeta eyed Guldo from across the distance between the two groups. "Apparently he can stop time, if only temporarily. Whatever you do, never let your guard down around him even for a second."
"Whoa..." Bulma and Gohan breathed in amazement that such a feat was possible. That didn't matter to Chi-Chi though, for it meant more danger for her little boy whom she clutched to her harder.
Krillin eyed the squat little green alien with newfound respect and apprehension. "Got it."
"One more thing." Vegeta asked. "Is Kakarot and that mother of his really on their way here?"
"Uh, yeah, if Bulma's math is right, they should arrive any time now." Krillin answered.
Vegeta was silent for a moment, ignoring the cold look Chi-Chi was giving him at the mention of her husband. He didn't care what she was thinking or hoping for when that low-class clown arrives, they had bigger problems now.
He eyed the Ginyus warily. "Well, they better hurry then."
The tallest and smallest of the Ginyu Force stepped forward as Krillin and Chi-Chi stepped forward in front of Gohan.
"Gohan, stay behind me." Chi-Chi told her son without taking her eyes off of the approaching Ginyus.
"But... Mom. You just almost got killed!" Gohan protested. More afraid for her than himself. "I don't want you to-"
"You stay behind me no matter what, son!" Chi-Chi repeated forcefully. "You understand?! I will not let these monsters hurt my little boy while I'm standing!"
Gohan wanted to argue further but knew it was useless against his mother. She was going to put herself between him and harm's way no matter how badly she gets hurt or whatever the odds. And after seeing what Vegeta did to her, a dread he had never known before filled him when he saw how mean these Ginyus looked.
"Bulma, Dende, I suggest you get back too." Krillin ordered. They didn't need to be asked as the blue-haired girl scooped up Dende, giving Yamcha a loving squeeze of his hand before backing away past Gohan. Krillin then turned to him.
"Gohan, I suggest you stay with them. If anything happens, you'll be their only defense."
The last thing Gohan wanted to do was to stand back and do nothing, especially if his mother was in danger. But he knew Krillin was right. If he couldn't be part of the fight, then at least he could keep his other friends safe.
"Alright." He said reluctantly and stepped back. "Be careful, Mom. Kick their butts!" He cheered.
Across the gap between the two groups, Recoome leaned down to Guldo.
"Say, why don't you go first? Take care of the small fries for us, will ya?"
Guldo looked indignant, but didn't say anything back. Then turned his four-eyed gaze towards his opponents.
Krillin, Yamcha, and Chi-Chi tensed up in their fighting poses.
"Now!" Krillin ordered as the three of them released their energy simultaneously. The scouters on each of the elite soldiers buzzed as they charged at Guldo, all of them surprised.
The three fighters from Earth jumped as high and spread apart as they could and fired their own energy blasts towards Guldo, their paths converging where he stood and exploding. Before the dust settled, they could see that Guldo was already standing a hundred yards away. He didn't have the ki to phase there nor the strength in his short stubby legs to run there that fast, so his time-stopping abilities seemed real. With that confirmed, they had to step up their tactics.
Phasing up and around him in random patterns, then fired at him again, he simply vanished from view and reappeared some distance away. Interestingly, not as far and looking out of breath.
"He's getting more worn out the more he uses his ability!" Yamcha yelled out. "Keep up the pressure and we'll get him!"
"Got it!" Krillin replied then fired again at Guldo.
The squat little alien leapt out of the way in time to vanish again. This time, he didn't appear out of anywhere.
"Where'd he go?!" Yamcha wondered.
"There!" Chi-Chi pointed to a large butte of rocks. Flying over it showed him sure enough, as if he was hiding.
"Die, you little bastard!" Chi-Chi fired a volley of ki blasts at him which caused the smaller alien to roll away.
"We got him cornered! Finish him!" Yamcha yelled out and both he and Krillin cupped their hands.
"KAMEHAMEHA!" They both fired at Guldo, and this time he did not vanish in time.
Guldo's screams were drowned out by the resulting explosion that engulfed him. When the dust cleared, what was left of him lay still and smoldering at the bottom of a deep crater.
The Ginyus stood there flabbergasted.
"W-what the? Guldo's dead?!"
"That's just great! Now how are we going to do our team pose?!" Ginyu whined. "Ugh. I'm gonna have to think of a new one!"
As if on que, they already grouped together to form a ridiculous routine, ignoring the Earthlings as they in turn watched in amazement at how little the Ginyus regarded their fallen comrade. These aliens truly were monstruous.
"Well, one down and four to go." Yamcha remarked as he and the others touched back down on the ground with Vegeta.
"Don't relax just yet." The Saiyan prince warned. "Now it's time for the real fight."
He did not mention how, despite himself, he was impressed by the gang's quick work they made of Guldo. These Earthlings were weaklings, sure, but they worked as a tightly coordinated team and took his advice seriously. He can begrudgingly see how he and Nappa lost to them through overconfidence, but he won't say it out loud. His pride wouldn't allow it. But it did seem to give him a sliver of hope that maybe, just maybe, he might survive this...
The gang got ready for the next challenger as the Ginyus were still caught up in their practice routine. Flustered, Ginyu turned serious.
"Ehem, that aside, we still got the rest of these runts to deal with. Recoome? It's your turn now. But remember: Vegeta is mine."
"Understood, boss." Recoome replied, and eyed Yamcha predatorily as he stepped forward.
"And Recoome, save the smaller ones for us! We gotta have some fun too, ya know?!" Burter reminded, getting only a wave of acknowledgement from him.
Yamcha gulped, suddenly feeling incredibly small at seeing who he was up next. He did his best to mask the worry he was feeling and focus on figuring out his opponent. The guy was massive and hid an incredible amount of power within. So brute force alone won't win him the battle, he would have to outsmart him. He didn't look that bright anyway. But he hoped to Kami that the dormant strength Guru unleashed in him would be enough...
"Er-heheh, don't worry. I-I got this." Yamcha chuckled nervously to himself, trying and failing to project his normally cocky self.
Recoome gave him a dumb smile and a mocking look. "You afraid, little guy?"
Apparently, the brute could see the fear in Yamcha's eyes. He cursed himself for showing a sliver of weakness and tried to regain his composure.
"No, but you will be once you taste what I got!" Yamcha growled back.
Recoome threw his head back and laughed. "Hahahahaha! Oh no, look at this guy! He thinks he's so tough that he can take on me! Hahahaha..."
His laughter died down and he looked Yamcha dead in the eye. "Believe me, I know a tough guy when I see one, and you ain't it, buddy. So, I'll tell ya what, I'll give you a free shot."
Recoome spread his arms wide, opening himself up to attack. "Go ahead! Take your best shot. Feel free to use whatever dirty tricks you want. Sucker punch me. Have all your friends gang up on me. I don't care. You ain't got no chance with me anyway, so I'll go easy on ya. So go ahead. Hit me, if you can! Hahaha!"
For some reason, this taunting seemed to touch a nerve in Yamcha. Being laughed at by this two-bit thug in front of his girlfriend did not sit well with the desert bandit, and it blinded him to reasoning a strategy, replacing it with raw anger.
Good, he let the anger flow through his veins and powered himself up. Clenching his fists and roaring with his rising energy, he will unleash all the fury this guy was asking for! He wants his best shot?! He shall have it!
"YAHHH" A field of ki surrounded Yamcha as he blasted towards Recoome without warning, knocking the bystanding gang over.
"WOLF FANG FIST!'
Recoome had time to change his expression from mockery to surprise when Yamcha's said fist collided with the larger brute's jaw, snapping his head around with his scouter flying away, beeping incessantly.
"No way!" Jeice called out from afar. "That fella's power level jumped up to nearly thirty thousand!"
Yamcha followed Recoome as he flew away. Changing course, he jumped up and over to drive his foot into the big man's sternum, plowing Recoome into the ground. Then, falling as fast as he could, pile-drived his knee into his chest again, shattering his armor.
Not stopping to catch a breath, Yamcha rapid-fired punch after punch into Recoome's face, his arms becoming blurs of flesh as he drove Recoome deeper into the ground.
After what felt like an eternity of machine-gun punching, Yamcha let up slightly, nearly out of breath and ready to deliver a powerful blow that would hopefully drive the guy's nose cartilage up into his brain and finish him off.
Recoome lay there, seemingly knocked out and expressionless. His face looked pretty scratched up, and Yamcha hoped to make it worse.
Yamcha pulled back his arm, summoned all the ki he could into his fist, ready to drive his signature Wolf Fang into Recoome's skull...
When Recoome suddenly opened his eyes and smiled up at him wickedly. "My turn!"
He leaned up faster than Yamcha could react to, and headbutted the desert bandit square in the face. The sound of Yamcha's nose snapping under the impact could've been heard from a hundred yards away and most who did hear it flinched.
Yamcha tumbled backwards, skidded to a stop, then curled into a ball on the ground, and wept like a child as he clutched his bleeding face.
Riotous laughter erupted from the Ginyus, with Jeice nearly doubling over.
"Hahaha, that musta hurt like hell, eh mate?!" He mocked.
"Hmph. Idiot." Was all Vegeta said, only to be brushed aside by Bulma as she cried out her boyfriend's name in horror.
"Yamcha!" Gohan did his best to restrain her from charging out into the battlefield.
Yamcha meanwhile, rolled around on the ground in agony. His nose was nearly flattened on his face and dripping blood like a faucet onto his gi, mixing with tears and snot. Some of his front teeth were shattered too. It was an ugly sight.
Knowing he was still in danger, Yamcha tried to get back up. He rolled onto his knees but as soon as he tried to stand, the pain flared up even more and made him dizzy. He dropped back onto all fours, eliciting more laughter from the Ginyus. The pain was so intense it took all of Yamcha's willpower not to throw up.
"You hurt him too hard, Recoome! Go easier on him or you'll end your turn too early!" Burter laughed aloud.
"Hey, not my fault he's a weakling!" Recoome's voice boomed over Yamcha, feeling his footfalls getting closer. Through the fog of pain and tears, Yamcha could see Recoome looming over him just a few feet away now, and despite all the damage to his armor and facial scratches, Yamcha could sense how the guy's power barely dipped or showed any damage even from his strongest attack.
The gang could see it too, with Krillin voicing what they all felt: "W-what kind of monster is he?! How are we supposed to wait for Kakarot against guys like this?!"
"Hahaha, is that all you got?!" Recoome laughed down at Yamcha, placing hands on his hips like a disappointed schoolyard bully who expected more of a challenge from his prey. "That was barely a warmup for me! If you ain't got anything else to top that, then, well... I almost feel sorry ya, bud."
Yamcha shivered. He was in big trouble now. He cursed himself even harsher for letting his anger cloud his judgement, letting this monster's taunts get the better of him and drop his guard. He felt like such a failure, and could only brace for what came next...
"Anyways... was nice knowing ya!" Recoome crouched and clenched his fists together, a field of purple energy surrounded him.
"RECOOME KICK!"
He brough his right leg up into the air, intent on slamming his heel down on Yamcha and squashing him into a bloody mess. And in that instant, Yamcha forgot the pain and hopelessness, replaced with instinct as he phased out of sight. Recoome's foot buried itself where the bandit once was.
"Huh?!" The confused brute temporarily lost his balance from losing sight of his target and tried to dislodge his foot, but he turned his head to meet a roundhouse kick square into the face from Yamcha, sending the larger man stumbling backwards.
Yamcha backflipped to put some distance between him and Recoome.
"I'm not done yet, not while I'm still breathing!"
Recoome recovered quickly enough to block Yamcha charging at him again, on the backfoot and expertly parrying his every strike, but was nonetheless impressed.
"Ah, so you do got some fight in ya, eh? Well good! Guess I might have some fun afterall!"
Breaking a lock in the exchange, Recoome pulled his leg back and thrust a kick into Yamcha's midsection, sending the bandit flying away with tremendous force. Recoome launched after him, ready for another strike to send him bouncing into the ground, but Yamcha was able to get the air back into his lungs to regain his senses and alter course in time before Recoome could punch him.
He had to keep his distance, for the guy's size made him too much a challenge at close quarters. Yamcha put more of his ki into his flying and blasted as fast as he could from him, but Recoome was keeping up and gaining.
He can't outrun him, and he can't get too close. Yamcha struggled for an idea, and one came. It was risky but it was life or death now.
Cupping his hands behind his back, a blinding blue light began building up, and timing it just right for when the guy caught up to him, thrust his cupped hands into Recoome's face.
"KAMEHAMEHA!"
The signature Turtle School energy blast engulfed them both from firing at point blank range, sending Yamcha flying backwards from the force of it.
"He got him!" He heard some of his friends cry out from somewhere, but he paid them no mind.
The answer to whether or not it worked was answered when Recoome flew at Yamcha even faster than before, appearing almost right in Yamcha's own face.
"Peekaboo!"
His elbow came down on Yamcha's head, sending the desert bandit crashing into the ground with an explosion of rock and dirt flying everywhere.
"YAMCHA!" Bulma shrieked again. She tried to run towards the direction of the crater but was again stopped by Gohan.
"No, don't go out there! They'll kill you!" He pleaded.
"THEY'RE KILLING HIM!" She screamed in the boy's face. "You guys have to help him!"
Meanwhile, on the other team, the Ginyus applauded.
"Way to go, Recoome!"
Recoome lowered himself back down to the ground and at the edge of the crater where Yamcha lay, buried beneath the dirt.
"Well, so much for that."
As soon as he said this, ground trembled, and the bottom of the crater exploded again as Yamcha flew at Recoome with a flying punch...
...only for it to be caught in Recoome's massive hand, stopping the disheveled Yamcha dead in his tracks, and looking more horrified than ever as Recoome gloated at him.
"Haha, nice try!"
Holding onto Yamcha's hand, Recoome swung the desert bandit over his head and slammed him into the ground with full force, causing the ground to shake with the impact. And then, Recoome lifted him up again, to slam Yamcha back down into the ground again, and again, and again, and again. Not letting go, Recoome laughing as he did and with each impact another bone snapped inside Yamcha, his screams drowned out by him being smacked into the ground like a bag of flour.
"YAMCHA!" Not willing to stand by anymore, Bulma pulled out a gun she kept in her capsule bag and aimed.
"Bulma, no!" Krillin grabbed the gun before she could fire. "You could hit Yamcha!"
An enraged Bulma ripped the gun back from him and aimed it squarely at Krillin's face, shocking everyone, including Vegeta. She glared at the short monk with a look that would've aged him decades from sheer fright.
"If you don't save my boyfriend from dying in the next five seconds, I WILL KILL YOU RIGHT HERE AND NOW!"
Back at Recoome, he held up a bloodied and barely conscious Yamcha by his dislocated arm. It popped free from its socket by being flung around like a rag doll yet miraculously wasn't ripped off completely. The desert bandit looked as broken as he felt, every limb had something snapped, sheared, fractured, or cracked. He hurt too much to even cry out in pain anymore but let out pitiful moans.
"Heheh, you alright buddy? You look like crap." Recoome held the limp bandit up closer to his face. Yamcha's head lulled weakly to his side, and he could only stare back at Recoome through eyes swollen nearly shut. Half his face was covered in blood not just from his nose but from deep lacerations down to the bone in some places.
"Oh? Had enough already?" Recoome taunted. "How disappointing. I was starting to like ya. Oh well, time to finish taking out the trash."
Recoome raised his other hand in front of Yamcha, opening his palm to charge up a blast to vaporize the Earthling. Yamcha could barely comprehend what was happening, possibly due to the multiple concussion he just sustained. But he faintly registers in his mind how this was likely to be his final moments and wished he was in Bulma's arms instead of this monster's grasp...
"NOOOO!"
Recoome felt a foot slam into the side of his skull before he could fire the blast, dropping Yamcha as he flew away, tumbling end over end as the blast vaporized a nearby hill instead.
Krillin and Chi-Chi touched down where Recoome stood moments earlier and crouched down by Yamcha who lay bleeding on the ground.
"Oh no, he's hurt real bad! Dende!" Krillin called out. "We need your help, now!"
He helped Yamcha put his slightly-less broken arm around Chi-Chi.
"Come on, man. Hang in there!" Krillin turned to Chi-Chi. "Take him back, I'll buy you some time!"
He eyed Recoome and froze, the big man had already recovered from the strike and was back on his feet before they could make off with the battered Yamcha.
"Very sneaky!" Said Recoome. "But you only bought your friend a few more minutes of pain... and costed yourself your own life!"
He turned to his compatriots. "Hey, Jeice! Burter! Since these little pipsqueaks attacked me, can I kill them too?! Please?!"
The two junior commandos looked steamed. They turned to their captain, but Ginyu just shook his head.
"Sorry gents, you know the rules. If the enemy intervenes, then its fair game."
Both Jeice and Burter groaned at this, and Burter turned back to Recoome.
"Fine, go ahead. But you owe us big time!"
"Heheh. Fine by me." Recoome chuckled darkly as he turned his attention back onto Krillin, cracking his neck side to side.
"Well, you heard him, shorty. You're mine."
Krillin cowered where he stood, suddenly feeling like he made a big mistake.
"Chi-Chi, get Yamcha out of here, now!" He called behind him, though she was already a few steps ahead and flying away from the battle carrying their friend...
"Oh no, you don't!" Recoome suddenly called out.
He flashed past Krillin, knocking him over from the shock wave. A second later, Recoome body slammed into Chi-Chi, sending her and Yamcha flying away and crashing onto the ground, both skidding to a stop.
"MOM!" Gohan cried out from where the others stood.
Chi-Chi groaned in pain as she tried to get back up, feeling her elbows and knees skinned raw from the impact and the sharpness of her shoulder dislocated. She had been hit by a literal freight train of a man, she could say. Yamcha landed not too far away from her, and he wasn't moving.
"Yamcha!" She called out weakly. He still didn't move. She can sense he was still alive, but only barely.
"Hahaha! I'm not done with him yet!" Recoome's voice boomed from above, hovering over her.
"He's not going anywhere, not after that little stunt you pulled." He then turned his sights back onto Krillin. "And you, little man, are next!"
He floated down towards Krillin, who backed away as the taller man got closer. Krillin tripped over and fell on his behind, causing Recoome to laugh out loud.
"Hahahaha. Wow, some rescue. You saved your friend only to doom yourself." He cracked his knuckles, ready to pummel the little human into oblivion.
"So, any last wor-"
He didn't finish his sentence before his head snapped forward, his eyes bulged wide and crying out in horrific pain as he fell forward. Krillin rolled out of the way before the giant crashed down on top of him.
As Krillin recovered his wits, he saw Vegeta standing over the the now unconscious Recoome with his foot planted firmly into the back of Recoome's skull. And Vegeta lifted up his foot to ram it back down onto the back of Recoome's head. Again and again, grunting with effort and hatred with every blow.
"Whoa... you got him!" Krillin nearly cheered.
"Tsh. No, he's only out cold for now." Said Vegeta, stepping back and letting Recoome lay face down in the dirt. "He made the mistake of letting his guard down while you distracted him with that pathetic rescue. So, I took the shot."
"Well, thanks anyway." Said Krillin as he got back to his feet. "Let's hope he stays that way for a while."
The Ginyus stood back in silent shock. They just saw Recoome get done in just like that? How could the big man have been so careless?!
"N-no way! They got him?!" Jeice complained, almost shaking with fury. "And Vegeta! This isn't your fight! You're supposed to be the captain's prey!"
Vegeta turned to the assembled Ginyus and called out contemptuously to them. "I didn't agree to your stupid rules, Jeice! I'll fight whoever I have to!"
Jeice looked ready to pounce on the insolent Saiyan, but Ginyu placed a hand on his shoulder guard.
"Now, Jeice. No need to worry, Recoome is fine." Captain Ginyu narrowed his gaze on Vegeta. "It's about time I did what we came here to do."
Jeice looked like he wanted to protest further but backed down, then turned towards Vegeta, eying him evilly. "Oh boy, you're in trouble now, Vegeta!"
Vegeta clenched his fist at them and got into fighting stance. "Do what you will, Ginyu. But I will not come quietly to Frieza over my dead body!"
"Hmph. Oh, don't worry, Vegeta. I'll bring you to him still breathing... but only barely." Ginyu threatened, before phasing out of sight faster than anyone could see.
Vegeta and Krillin scanned around them, but the captain reappeared behind Vegeta.
Before Krillin can warn Vegeta or jump Ginyu, the large purple alien had already slammed his fist into the side Vegeta's face, sending the Saiyan prince flying into a rock face with such force as to bury him into it, causing the rocks to collapse around Vegeta.
"Vegeta!" Krillin called out in panic and tried to fly to his aid while putting some distance between him and Ginyu, but the captain was faster. He already turned his sights onto the smaller human and swung a roundhouse kick into Krillin, sending him doubling over and tumbling through the air, crying out in pain when he couldn't get back up.
Ginyu checked his scouter and laughed. "Hahaha! Your power level took quite a plunge from that kick, you're a non-factor to me now." Then turned his sights toward Vegeta. "Now back to you."
Just as he began walking towards the crater, it suddenly exploded into a shower of debris as Vegeta came charging out and landing a punch square into Ginyu's face... and the captain only smiled.
"You'll have to do better than that!"
Vegeta barely leapt back in time to counter Ginyu's retaliatory strikes, but the captain didn't let up. He kept pressing his attack of constant punches, keeping Vegeta on the backfoot. Vegeta leapt into the air for more room to maneuver, but the captain still followed, not letting up the assault...
Burter and Jeice stood off to the side, watching the battle between their captain and Vegeta. Despite the action, they were looking rather bored.
"Well, there goes the captain taking all the fun." Jeice bemoaned.
"Hmm." Burter echoed. He had been aching for some action on this mission, but the small fry weaklings they were up against we too easy for Recoome to pick off and left nothing for them, at least before he got knocked out.
Although... he turned his gaze over towards the other end of the battlefield, noticing the four remaining Earthlings. Well, five if they count the near-dead weakling that Recoome pummeled.
"Say Jeice, fancy a little slaughter?"
"What? Them?" The red alien gestured towards the humans and Namekian child. "They're a bit too easy, don't ya think? Highest level I'm seeing is six thousand."
"Yeah, but it's something to do at least while the captain takes care of Vegeta." Replied Burter.
Jeice thought this over for a few seconds, then shrugged.
"Eh, why not?"
...
"Come on, Yamcha, please! Don't die on me!" Bulma pleaded through tear-soaked eyes as she held his unresponsive hand, knelling beside him with Chi-Chi and Gohan.
Dende held his hands to Yamcha's battered chest, his hands pulsating with healing energy radiating across the broken body before them.
"He sustained massive internal injuries." Dende said as he channeled what he could into Yamcha. "I hope this new healing power works as well as Guru said it would!"
Gohan looked over his shoulders toward the battle between Vegeta and Ginyu.
"Oh no! Where's Krillin?!" He asked in alarm. The others looked up and saw that indeed their friend was missing from the fight. Was he hurt? Was he killed? They couldn't see him. But they could see the other two members of the Ginyu Force, the red and blue ones, starring menacingly at them.
Gohan turned to Dende. "Dende, please! You gotta hurry before they come for us too!"
"Not that it will do you any good." A voice suddenly interrupted. The four of them turned to see Jeice and Burter suddenly standing there, having just phased over from where they stood before.
Bulma shrieked in terror behind Chi-Chi and Gohan who put themselves before the trespassers.
"Leave us alone you big bullies! We never wanted any trouble with you!" Chi-Chi demanded.
"Hahaha, aw that's cute. This one thinks we care about what they think!" Burter mocked.
Jeice narrowed his eyes on them. "Sorry mates, but no one stands up to Lord Frieza and gets away with it. You and your friends will all pay for messing with the Ginyu Force! For making us waste our time retrieving that filthy little traitor, Vegeta!"
He crouched into his fighting stance. "So, shall we dance?"
Chi-Chi, sensing that these monsters were intent on attacking them, growled angrily.
"OVER MY DEAD BODY!"
She charged at Jeice with all her might and fury, catching the red alien with long hair by surprise. He barely dodged her punch before she threw punch after kick at him with a continual barrage. Jeice had to admit that he was impressed by this Earthling's ferocity, but she was still no match to his fifty thousand level high power. And quickly he was matching her energy, dodging and blocking her every move with ease.
"Suit yourself." Jeice said before backhanding Chi-Chi across the face, making her cry out as she crashed to the ground.
"MOM!" Gohan cried out and growled at Jeice. "Don't you dare touch my Mom!"
He charged at the alien too, but Jeice just smirked.
Totally focused on Jeice, Gohan failed to see Burter swing at Gohan with a fist that collided with the side of his head, sending the kid flying away like a projectile.
And before Gohan could righten himself in mid-air, Burter phased before him and kicked the Saiyan hybrid in the stomach, sending him crashing into the wall behind him, and falling to the ground, clutching his torso and crying.
"Hahaha. Such weaklings are so pathetic!" Burter remarked before turning to the last remainders of the group, just Bulma and Dende with Yamcha not fully healed still down.
"Heheh, you're telling me!" Said Jeice just as Chi-Chi was recovering enough to stand back up, only for her to be punched across the jaw by the red alien, sending her crashing back down into the ground and out for the count.
Both Burter and Jeice laughed sinisterly as they walked past her shaking form, slowly closing the gap upon Bulma and Dende.
"And as easy as it is to butcher innocents, at least it's some entertainment before we get off this worthless rock." Burter lamented evilly.
Dende whimpered in terror where he knelt beside Yamcha, still unable to leave.
Bulma, in sheer panic, drew out her firearm again.
"STAY AWAY FROM US, YOU FREAKS!" Bulma screamed as she closed her eyes and pulled the trigger repeatedly, her gun popping off again and again. And the bullets just bouncing off both Jeice and Burter.
They laughed at her when the ammo ran out, and she still squeezed the trigger in hopes of an extra shot. But it was all in vain, for the nightmare was still real when she opened her eyes back up and saw the two aliens still there, unharmed and still ready to do her in.
"Heh. Say your prayers to whatever higher power you want, lady, cuz no one's gonna save you now." Said Jeice.
He and Burter both raised their hands, ready to vaporize her, Dende, and Yamcha...
...
On the other side of the battlefield, Vegeta lay beaten, bloodied, and pinned down to the ground by Ginyu's massive boot.
The captain looked as if he had barely broken a sweat, was glad his task was all but accomplished, and with great satisfaction too at having had the chance to literally rub the insolent little prince's face in the dirt. Lord Frieza will be most pleased. He then looked up to notice Jeice and Burter had moved over to take care of the last of Vegeta's cohort.
"Ah, good. My men are finishing off the stragglers." He said cheerfully, before turning his gaze back down to Vegeta, still pinned under his foot.
"Please do enjoy the view of your friends getting offed, Vegeta. For their fate will be nothing compared to what Lord Frieza has in store for you."
Vegeta could see what was happening. Those Earthlings were not his friends, but he felt the sense of doom and loss all the same...
...
Bulma and Dende clutched each other tightly, cowering before Jeice and Burter as the duo prepared an energy blast to blast her into oblivion.
All was lost. Here she and her friends were, about to be killed off by some alien thugs on a godforsaken planet in the far side of the galaxy. And with no dragon balls left anywhere to bring anyone back. The weight of their failure came down on her in full force. She wanted to weep for the wonderful life she was will never live.
She closed her eyes, awaiting the inevitable.
"Please. Someone. Anyone. Help me!" She prayed into the open...
And then the expressions of Jeice and Burter changed as their scouters started beeping.
"Huh?"
Both the alien warriors looked straight up in confusion.
Bulma, temporarily shaken out of her dread, also looked up, wondering what stayed her execution even for just a moment. And there, high in the sky, was a streak of light stretching across the zenith, moving at high speed.
"Cap'n?" Jeice called into his scouter. "You seeing this?"
A moment later, his scouter answered back with Ginyu's voice. "I see it. Looks like we're about to have company."
Bulma looked up at the streak in the sky with incomprehension. Then noticed that as it approached the horizon, it slowed down and could make out the round and familiar shape of a Capsule Corp ship.
Realization rushing back to her all at once, Bulma wept in joy. Her prayer had been answered...
The inside of the No. 2 Capsule Corp ship looked like a war zone. Every piece of equipment, every appliance, every part, everything that could be broken was broken. The tiles of the gravity chamber lay scattered across the deck. Smashed, cracked, pulverized, or missing. The freezer, which was meant to store weeks of food was now completely empty. The onboard computers, navigation systems, and other major components were affected by the five-day journey from Earth. Frankly, it was a miracle in of itself that the ship survived the journey after its hasty construction, and through the brutal conditions it faced. Five days of faster-than-light travel while braving micrometeorite damage, dodging stray planets or stars, weathering electromagnetic storms, and most of all, five straight days of intense training by the three Saiyans aboard.
"Welcome to Namek. Thank you for flying with Capsule Corp." The automated computer system announced as the ship touched down.
"Alright. Let's get to it." Said Gine, who was already making her way over to the hatch and getting it to open.
"Finally!" Raditz whooped as he got up from his seat and stretched in his new set of armor and gi pants. "I don't know about either any of you, but I was starting to go stir crazy! Don't get me wrong, this ship is the height of luxury compared to those damned pods. Though uh, we did kinda make a mess of it, heh." He chuckled. "But I'm ready to for some action!"
"Yeah..." Kakarot said as he sat up too, frowning with concern. "Hopefully everyone's still alright."
"Aw, don't worry, Kakarot. We'll give Vegeta what's comin' to him." Raditz reassured his little brother, slamming a fist into his hand with devilish enthusiasm. He couldn't wait to see the look on Vegeta's face when he sees him now and how far he had come as a Saiyan warrior.
After incrementally increasing the artificial gravity up to one hundred times that of Earth, he, his brother, and mother were now quite possibly the strongest Saiyans in the history of their species, save the ones of legend. He too could barely believe it, but he could feel it in his bones. Despite the time spent with his new family, it was still mind blowing to someone who had been so used to being told all his life he would never amount to anything more than low-class cannon fodder. Now, he could put King Vegeta III himself to shame. He clenched a fist eagerly. Oh, he couldn't wait to see Vegeta now and make him eat his elitism...
And neither could Gine, for she had thought of nothing but getting here as fast as possible and killing the murderous prince before he could do more harm. She had focused that single-minded goal into her training with her sons during the journey, funneling the anger and hate into sheer determination that got her through the pain and struggle of the high gravity training.
It was quite a trip they made. She thought the Room of Spirit and Time was hard. But after experiencing the Capsule ship's gravity chamber, she felt like she had just fought a war. Its design and application was such an ingenious way to build strength that Gine wondered why her race never developed this kind of technology. With their ability to get stronger after such exertion, they'd have been unstoppable.
Training with both of her sons at the same time was quite a learning experience too. Raditz brought a brutality to their sparring that she had long forgotten since fleeing her old life, and she had to re-learn to fight like that, and to get Kakarot to do the same despite his good natured-ness; while Kakarot brought them the knowledge he learned from Otherworld to teach, giving them new abilities that pushed their powers to unforeseen heights. And of course, the three-way sparing matches and changing alliances of who ganged up on who that got quite chaotic and even heated at times. She couldn't count how many close calls they had with almost destroying the ship during their exercises and killing themselves. Not to mention almost dying from the near-misses they had with space hazards along the way (She couldn't thank Dr. Briefs enough for all his help guiding them from Earth whenever they had a problem). It was their first bonding experience as a family, and Gine couldn't think of anything more uniquely Saiyan than that.
Every muscle and bone in her body ached, despite the full day of rest they all took after they reached the 100g mark by day four. And they had eaten all of the foodstuffs stocked in the ship, for three full grown Saiyans got extremely hungry after all that training. And it certainly paid off, for Gine too felt how her power now far eclipsed the elite warriors of their race. A point of pride that she shared with Raditz when he spoke of it...
...
"Can you feel it, mother?" Raditz asked as they flexed their muscles for the first time after finally shutting the gravity machine off.
"I can." Gine said softly, inspecting her hands like she had never seen them before. Flexing them, clenching them, feeling the new power flow through them. "It's... It's incredible."
"Right?!" Raditz breathed in amazement. "If I'm guessing right, then my power level could be at around a hundred and forty thousand by now!"
Gine had long since lost belief in the measuring system used to determine power levels, but old habits die hard. And hearing that made her give pause for a moment as that number sank in.
"That's..." Gine struggled to find an equivalent to that power, and she couldn't, with the exception of Frieza himself. Her eldest son would be a whole force of Super Elites onto himself. After sparring with him nonstop the last few days, that would have been a frightening idea for any soul who dared go up against him.
"Yeah." Raditz nodded in amazed acknowledgement, taking her silence as how she knew what it meant. "And that's just me!" He continued. "You yourself ought to be much higher. One-sixty probably! And Kakarot, well..."
They both turned to see the aforementioned youngest son bouncing around the inside of the ship on his head, giggling to himself and looking as light as a feather. Gine and Raditz regarded him with eyerolls at his endearing childishness. But also, at how they both knew that Kakarot was the strongest of them all.
"You think..." Raditz began but caught himself. He wasn't sure if he could dare ask his mother what he wanted to ask, his inhibition borne from a lifetime of Saiyan social conditioning and learned helplessness.
"You think... father would approve?" He finally asked, the last word uttered with a hint of trepidation.
Gine knew what Raditz was asking. She asked herself that question her whole life too. As a low-class warrior wondering what the limits of her potential were, and by extension her own sense of worth. She had been drawn to Bardock because he didn't settle for his station. He always pushed himself to get stronger and better, to become more than what his place in Saiyan society dictated, not giving a damn about what those around or above him thought.
But he was cruel like any other Saiyan. He was not one for soft platitudes or words of encouragement, not above petty putdowns, and he never showed such gentleness or fatherly pride in his sons. But she knew that there was a part of him deep down somewhere that cared for them. Because why else would he risk trying to save them all those years ago. So, if he cared enough about them living to fight another day, then she trusted that he would care enough to be proud of them aspiring to rise above their stations as much as he tried to do himself. Especially now that they had achieved a strength he could've only dreamed of.
Gine smiled warmly and placed a hand on her eldest's arm in tender motherly pride. "He would, sweetheart... He would."
...
"Ah! Alright, I'm about as ready as I'll ever be!" Said Kakarot as he finished his stretching. He too was fitted with chest armor much like his older brother. It took some cajoling from Raditz to get Kakarot to wear anything else besides his beloved Turtle School gi, but after trying out the reverse-engineered armor and seeing how much extra padding it gave against blows, Kakarot was sold on it. There was even new armor made for Gine's size too, but she refused it. She didn't need or even want it. Going into battle in her Earthling garb was a show of how much she had embraced her new home. But more than once, she would do a double take upon seeing Kakarot clad the same way Raditz was, complete with gauntlets and boots but still wore the same orange pants as he was now. Aside from hair and height differences they looked identical. The resemblance to Bardock was too real, and she almost invoked his name when Kakarot asked her if she was alright from starring at him...
Gine shook her head. Her mind was wandering off. Now was not the time to dwell.
With a hissing sound and the whir of hydraulics, the hatch slid open and lowered its ramp onto the blue-colored mossy ground below. The three of them were squinting as their eyes adjusted to sunlight after traveling through the darkness of space for a few days.
Gine stepped down onto the surface of Namek with Kakarot and Raditz behind her, surveying their surroundings and feeling out with her mind's eye.
"We have to find them, quickly." Gine closed her eyes as she focused.
Be alive, everyone. Be alive... She prayed as her mental reach spread across the planet, her tail twirling anxiously behind her as she felt over the presences of every living thing she could sense.
"I can feel a few signatures, probably Namekians." Said Kakarot as he searched with his senses too.
"Okay, so let's narrow the search down..." Raditz got to work too, broadening the search with their combined senses.
Gine felt for the distinct energies of humans. Filtering out the clusters she suspected were villages of native Namekians, a couple stronger than others, and...
There! Concentrated not too far away were the bright lights of energy as unmistakable as their faces. Their friends and family. Some of their signatures were fluctuating in odd ways or shone very weakly. Was that Yamcha or Krillin or both on the brink of death? Gohan and Chi-chi were still alive, but Gine couldn't tell their current condition.
There were other signatures nearby too. Right away she spotted Vegeta's dark and malignant light as it was on Earth. Slightly more powerful than before, but leagues behind what the three of them were now. And... four more powers that were much stronger than him. What were they...
Raditz's eyes budged in shocked recognition as he cried out. "The Ginyus?!"
"Huh? Who?" Kakarot asked in confusion.
"Yeah, it's them alright." Gine confirmed, her heart suddenly racing. She remembered Frieza's elite commando force, the best of the best. Bardock told her about them before, their power and rumored abilities. What were they doing here on Namek? Were they here for Vegeta? For her friends and family? And did Frieza know they were here?
There was no time to answer those questions now, her family was in danger. But as she can sense them now, none of the Ginyus would pose a problem to her or her sons.
What a thought. How far she and her boys had come.
"Let's go!" She commanded. A moment later, a red aura surrounded her (one of the tricks she learned from Kakarot during the voyage) and leapt into the air as both her sons followed close behind. Three trails of angry red tearing across the green sky...