Chapter 03
His earlier good mood spoiled, Vegeta left the compound and gathered a burst of ki in one hand. He reached back and sent it flying toward the horizon, then slammed his own ki signature down to almost nothing. He never got used to feeling "himself" disappear into the sky, but it was a good trick for making everyone think he was somewhere else. The ki bolt streaked across the darkening clouds like a shooting star far from the city to the wilderness.
Safe from prying eyes for a time, he found his way into the main house, waving idly to Mrs. Briefs as she tended her garden. Upstairs then, past Bulma's room, past Trunks' room, into his own sparse quarters. They all wondered why he didn't dress it up the way everyone else did. Trunks had his blueprints and video game characters. Bulma kept souvenirs of her travels. Vegeta's room was as clean as a hotel's, save for a handful of photos kept on the table by the bed and an electronic reader. His time in Freiza's service had left little leisure, and even if he'd had reading material, he wouldn't have indulged. Not on that ship, where being perceived as soft was an invitation to a beating from creatures that already held him in contempt.
Here, however, he had taken one of the readers Trunks used with his tutors and found himself spending more and more time with it. First were his son's lesson books, basic engineering and mathematics, some music, but what grasped him was literature. Humans had a love of stories. They spun them for profit, for sheer enjoyment. He had no idea there were so many kinds.
The stories his son read slowly moved beyond his interest as Trunks progressed into the university, but the cheap popular works--"pulp trash" Mr. Briefs was fond of calling it--held his interest for hours. He didn't understand why anyone read long stories of nothing but feelings, emotions and philosophy, not when there were novels of lurid sex, violence and cruelty. Murder and gang warfare--that was real life.
Well, that and the one story about falling into a world that was upside down and nightmarish, with a monarch that threatened to take everybody’s head and monsters getting snickersnacked. He had come to a nonsense world where low class soldiers outshone their prince and the dead came back to life. The little girl's bewilderment and perseverance had felt very true to him.
After all, what could be more nonsensical than falling in love with the low class trash that had humiliated him time and again?
Kakarrot was nothing if not infuriatingly naive, gullible and foolish. Vegeta often told himself that of course Kakarrot would be more powerful when all his brain wasn't occupied by thinking. It was a cold comfort. Had he fallen in love because he could only feel attraction to the strong? Was it because Kakarrot was the last of their kind?
He had told Kakarrot to give up his soft heartedness. He wished he could take his own advice. Pride, anger and joy had always been his masters. He was helpless to them. This strange thing between him and Kakarrot was just another bit of this world's insanity.
Kakarrot had said once that Vegeta couldn't help the way he was. Freiza had molded him into something terrible and Vegeta had never had a chance to be anything else. Decades had passed since then, and Vegeta still felt the inner conflict in his soul. He had learned to calm his fury and restrain his bloodlust. But only to restrain it, to quell violent emotions and hide the monster lurking within all too close to the surface.
One day, he feared that monster would lash out again. Perhaps that was why he allowed Kakarrot so close. The other Saiyan was the only one on earth that could truly stand against him if he lost control. Who better with which to allow himself that kind of vulnerability than the person who knew him so well and didn't turn his back on him in disgust?
He wondered if Kakarrot would still feel that way after the coming slaughter.
Growling to himself, he set the reader aside before he crushed it in his fist and wished he could rip the ugly emotions out of himself. If Kakarrot saw him covered in blood yet again, saw him the way he was in the past--would Kakarrot feel pity? Disgust? Would he turn away from him? Vegeta felt sick to his stomach at the thought.
"Hurry up and get here, you miserable bugs," he snarled. "I haven't needed to twist something's head off this bad in a long, long time."
*
Five hours later, every Z fighter stood in the valley outside Satan City, feeling the uneasy stillness of the minutes before battle. Vegeta stared up at the sky, allowing his ki to shine naturally. The Budoven, he knew, would spot their energy in the field from the atmosphere and come towards them, eager to put down any resistance before moving on to the easy kills. It was the way he, Nappa and Radditz used to work.
Gohan, Tien, Chaotzu, Yamcha, 18, even Roshi stood beside Goku while Goten and Trunks kept close to Vegeta, talking about school and movies. Piccolo meditated a few feet off the ground. Even the android 17 had been coaxed out of hermitage, standing beside his sister and unnerving Krillin.
The sun had long set, leaving just the moon reflecting silver light through the clouds. The city lights were a glimmer in the distance. Yamcha and Krillin both held ki up like lanterns for themselves, giving everyone enough of a glow to see by.
Neither of them saw as well as the others in the dark, but in a fight, that was fine. There would be enough ki sparkling in the night to see by.
"Now remember," Goku said, speaking like a general directing his troops. "You guys just keep a tight parameter."
"Perimeter," Gohan said.
"Right, perimeter. Don't come in towards the main fighting. There's gonna be a lot of them and we have to protect the city."
"Isn't there a way to tell them to leave?" Krillin asked. "I mean, when they see how strong we are..."
"I'm gonna try to convince them to leave," Goku said. "I don't want to kill anyone."
Seventeen gave him a look. "You're going to try to talk to them?"
"Seriously?" Eighteen asked, mirroring her brother.
Goku nodded.
Without turning, Vegeta gave a low laugh. "That should be amusing."
"Watch it, Vegeta," Tien snapped. "We'll need everyone helping when the fighting starts."
"I won't need any help," the prince said. "You're just here to assuage Kakarrot's niggling conscience."
Tien frowned and tilted his head in puzzlement. "Huh?"
"Hopefully it won't come to that," Goku said without explaining, turning from Tien to Vegeta. "You'll let me talk to them first, right?"
Vegeta looked over his shoulder at him, tilting his head in a manner that usually meant 'come closer' instead of 'you're an idiot'.
"Do what you will. Just don't try to hold me back when the fighting starts."
Goku nodded once. "I understand."
"I don't get it," Yamcha said. "How do you know this is where they'll land?"
When the prince ignored him, Goku answered. "Vegeta said it's the best spot. Big clearing, right outside one of the biggest cities." He didn't mention Vegeta had said there were plenty of humans to eat. "And all of us standing here is sure to draw them in."
A beeping noise came from Vegeta's left, and Trunks picked his cell phone out of his jacket.
"Mom? Yeah, we're--where are they?" Oblivious to everyone's look, he looked up to the sky. "On top of us? Mom, I don't see any--hold on."
Shadows slipped over the valley, moving too quickly across the grass to be clouds. Gray ships, like Goten and Trunks had seen in the latest Saiyaman movie, came straight down and set in the valley before them, the grass withering from the heat of their engines. A hatch on the bottom slid out and formed a walkway. More opened on the other ships. Dozens of purple skinned humanoids stepped out on slender legs, their movements stiff around their segmented limbs as they marched out in rows until they colored the green valley purple. Their mandibles, shaped like beetles but much smaller, clacked and clicked until they couldn't hear anything else.
"They look like bugs," Goten whispered to Trunks, who turned off his phone.
"Exoskeletons," Vegeta said without looking away from the Budovens. "Crack that carapace and they'll die in a few moments."
"Oh." The teens nodded once and re-appraised how straightforward the battle would be. Too many to be easy, but hardly needing complex tactics.
"They're all landing," Goku said. "They're not gonna keep any ships in space?"
"They all want the first taste of the planet," Vegeta said confidently. "Make sure you destroy their ships so none of them think to fire from space."
From the main ship, twenty or so Budovens followed one that was a head taller than the rest and wearing a red cape. The throng of soldiers, wearing nothing but their exoskeletons and carrying large guns with blinking lights on the side, stood at attention as they waited for the signal. Foot-long antennae waved a few inches above their eyes.
Afraid that the pause before the battle would be too short, Goku stepped forward from the Z fighters and faced the one wearing a cape. "Who are you and why are you here?"
"That should be obvious," the caped Budoven said.
His features looked more human than the rest of his soldiers, although his carapace was segmented like a puppet's for his face and joints, and he stared at the fighters behind Goku. Nothing too threatening, a few fighters, even a couple of children, and--a surprise. His face was too stiff to smirk, but his antennae perked straight.
"Freiza's Vegeta," he said, mandibles clicking. "So it was your energy we sensed upon approach. I never expected to see you here."
"Obviously," Vegeta said, ignoring everyone's looks. "Or you wouldn't have come."
"Don't be so sure. My army is twice what you defeated in the Neptol system."
"And so was Reagel's army at Denduluri. Your point?"
"Reagel...?" His eyes widened as far as his carapace would let him. "Then, the Ojekella system--"
"News travels so slowly through the galaxies. I found three of your fleets in that system," Vegeta said. "Not one of you miserable vermin survived."
For a moment, no one said anything. The wind stirred the dust around the Budoven and fighters, an insubstantial barrier between the two forces. Still miles away, they could hear vans carrying reporters to the battlefield. All eyes focused on the Budoven leader, his purple mandibles clenching tight in anger.
"I will not be spoken to in such a matter." The Budoven commander flipped his cape back, revealing a set of spikes on his shoulders. "I am Lord Wain, and I expect to be treated in a manner befitting my rank."
You'd be surprised what that gets you here, Goku thought.
"Instead," Lord Wain continued, "you hand me insults and won't even greet me properly. You let this nothing," he jerked his head towards Goku, "step forward and make demands. The death of your kind has warped your mind, if you've even forgotten the courtesies of war."
"Since when do the dead merit courtesy?" Vegeta asked, head tipping up slightly.
"Hm. True enough." Lord Wain nodded once. "So I won't extend you any more."
He snapped his clawlike fingers and two of his honor guard jumped into the air like crickets. They clacked their own claws, ready to slice Goku to shreds.
Faster than their jump, Goku's ki blast cut through one's abdomen, sending it to the ground in two pieces. Goku froze. He'd only meant to knock it backwards. It had come apart so easily...
The second one, leaping before he thought to fire again, landed on the ground in front of him and brought its claws down on Goku's shoulder, driving him back a few steps. Everyone but Lord Wain and Vegeta gasped when they saw Goku sway with the hit.
"Like ants," Trunks breathed. "Super strong proportional to their own size."
"Huh?" Goten asked.
Before Goku could ready another blast, his prince blurred between him and the Budoven fighter, startling both of them back. Lord Wain shouted a warning but too late. Vegeta grabbed the Budoven's nearest arm and pulled it out of its socket, sending a gush of purple blood over his hand. The Budoven fighter staggered backwards, blood dripping from its shoulder, and collapsed to one knee. It only had time to look up as Vegeta raised his hand to its face and immolated its head.
His excited eyes and feral grin left no room for misunderstanding. The prince had enjoyed that.
Before the body hit the ground, Vegeta looked at Lord Wain and began to laugh. "Well? Want to crawl back to your ships and run back to whatever hole you came from?"
"Go to hell," Lord Wain hissed.
"Been there," Vegeta said. "I could give you directions."
"Enough of this posturing," the Budoven said, raising his hand. "My legions, swarm!"
The ground shook as the army streamed out of their ships towards Satan City. Vegeta ascended once and disappeared into their ranks immediately, discernable only by the trail of purple blood flying into the air. The swarm swallowed him, a roaring mass of clicks and explosions that sprayed broken carapaces against the sky.
"Everyone, block them from the city," Gohan yelled.
In teams of two, they scattered in all directions to encircle the Budoven. Tien and Chaotzu took one point, Krillin and Yamcha the next, then Goten and Trunks, Piccolo and Gohan, and finally the androids in their own corner. Goku held his own vast section, struggling to find smaller and smaller ki bursts that wouldn't kill and being thrown by the occasional lucky hit. When the swarm threatened to get past him, eager to reach the city and the people inside--
They'll go for Satan City first, Kakarrot. Plenty of humans to eat.
--Goku told himself that they were bugs, just bugs, and he was protecting a bird's fragile nest from ants. Purple blood turned red in the sun.
*
In the midst of the fight, Vegeta found the past and present blurring together. Where the hell were Nappa and Radditz? Vegeta spun wildly, trying to find his fellow Saiyans, and instead found nothing but insect soldiers swarming around him. The Budoven had found that their guns were useless except at long range and most had dropped them, preferring their powerful limbs and crushing mandibles. The last time he had seen Nappa, his arm hung limp at his side, broken during the battle. He hoped Radditz was faring better. The battle was turning against them.
Something heavy hit him from behind. He sprawled forward, coughing blood, and blasted the handful of insects at his back. It made no difference. More just filled in, arms flailing, jaws aiming for his head. Stars reeled around him. How hard did they hit his head?
Shit, if he didn't do something to change the game soon, they were going to lose, and he did not want to end up on their menu. Hopefully when his Saiyans had been separated from him, they had been pushed far enough away.
This damn mudball had no moon and there was no time to create a false one. He flew up to the sky, higher and higher, winning himself precious seconds to charge and use a gallic gun attack. They were at his heels the entire time, leaping first up at him, then on top of each other, forming a strange ladder for themselves. They had almost reached him when he finally fired into them, burning the airborne tower they had created.
He followed his ki blast down, firing indiscriminately into the mass of insects. At the periphery of his sight, he spotted Nappa and Radditz, a little singed but laughing in relieved triumph as they managed to quell their own areas of the fight now that the center had been destroyed.
And then Vegeta paused in midair. No, not Nappa. Not Raditz. Goten and Trunks. Where was he? When was he?
"Earth," he reminded himself. "Earth..."
Below, waves of Budoven rippled back and forth as ki bolts blasted through them like currents. Hours had gone by, no doubt. Purple blood colored the field and spread out in a giant stain, and he grimaced at how much was on himself. He'd have to bathe in the sea after this, he thought, firing ki like a shotgun. As a thought struck him, he grinned. He'd have to bring Raditz--no, Kakarrot--with him to the ocean, to see him covered in the spray of the waves.
